The Truth About Functional Fitness For Longevity: A Powerful Guide For Women Over 50

Small Space Fitness: Cat Corchado

Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Kuel Life Vlog for June 2025. I am Cat Corchado, I am your movement specialist. You know, I’ve been watching on social media and you know how sometimes they have these exercises, they’re not even exercises, it’s do this to see how long you’re going to live, or how long you can do this, which will prove your longevity. Okay. Let’s debunk that a little bit. 

Why Functional Fitness For Longevity Matters More Than TikTok Trends:

Okay. I want to debunk the common myth about aging and exercise. So many people believe that certain things that you do can determine how you’re aging. 

But is that really the case? Let’s find out. So you’ve probably heard about exercise that supposedly tell you how well you’re aging. These might include flexibility tests or strength-based exercises. 

The idea is that if you cannot do these exercises, you’re aging, you’re not aging well, or if you can do them, that you are aging well. But these exercises don’t necessarily give an accurate picture of how well we’re aging. They often focus on isolated skills rather than overall functionality and wellness. 

Let me give you an example. You know how you sit on the floor, you cross your ankles, supposed to be to come, you know, be able to get up and without using your hands. Okay, just to be clear, I’ve never been able to do that. 

Even when I was a child. You know why? I have narrow hips and long legs. When I cross my ankles, my knees are in my nose. 

Traditional Exercise:

There’s no way I’m getting up. But is that a good predictor of, you know, longevity? No, it is not. I would much rather use functional movements. 

So what are they? So, instead of these traditional exercises, functional movements provide a more accurate gauge of our aging process. Functional movements are exercises that mimic the activities we do in our daily lives, i.e. sitting in a chair, standing up to squat, reaching up and across, reaching behind you. These are all things that we do all the time. 

They focus on balance, coordination, strength and flexibility. These are the factors that truly determine our physical longevity in the process. So all of these functional movements require strength, they require flexibility. 

If you’re trying to, you know, do something with your hand and you can’t, there’s a weakness there, but there’s no exercise or longevity thing that you can do to predict that. So if you are able to sit down in a chair, stand up out of a chair and not use your hands, hello, that’s a functional movement and you’re doing well. If, however, you feel like you have to put your hands down and of course, this is to make sure, let me repeat that. 

Physical Longevity:

Let me say that another way. If you have to use your hands because of an injury or anything, okay, I’m not talking to you. I get it. 

But if you’re fully functional and you have to use your hands to sit down or stand up, we need to look at that a little bit more. So we’ve already debunked this, the single exercise, whatever they are, functionality type of exercises that determine your longevity. What does increase your longevity is doing your weight workout, your cardio, being able to do those functional exercises. 

So you’re not reduced to being in a chair all the time. So make sure you have an accurate picture of your physical longevity. And that is the Kuel Life Vlog for the month of June, 2025. 

I’m Cat Corchado, your movement specialist. And as always, keep it moving.

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