The balance can say a lot about your future health
We are used to measuring health in numbers. We check our weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. All of these are important – but as we get older, there are other values that can tell us just as much about how our bodies are actually doing.
Can you stand on one leg? How quickly can you get up from a chair, walk a few meters, and sit down again? How many times can you get up from a chair in 30 seconds without using your hands?
These may sound like simple everyday movements, but according to a new study, they can reveal something much bigger: how much physical reserve the body still has left.
A new study of over 13,000 older adults
In August 2026, a comprehensive study was published in the scientific journal JAMA Network Open . The researchers followed 13,423 people in Taiwan who were 65 years of age or older.
The participants, whose average age was just under 73 and 62.5 percent were women, completed several standardized tests of fitness, strength, mobility, balance, and speed.
The researchers then followed the participants for an average of seven years. During the follow-up period, 1,631 people died.
What was interesting wasn't just how much the participants said they exercised. The researchers also looked at what their bodies were actually capable of.
That is an important difference.
Saying that you walk or exercise a few times a week tells you a lot. But a practical test shows the results of many years of activity, diseases, muscle strength, nervous system, coordination and biological aging.
Balance and speed had the strongest correlation with survival
The participants were divided into five groups based on how well they performed on each test. The researchers then compared the top fifth with the bottom fifth.
The results were clear:
Those who performed best on a standing and walking test had a 59 percent lower mortality rate during follow-up.
Those who performed best on a single-leg test had a 50 percent lower mortality rate.
Those who managed the most rises from a chair had a 45 percent lower mortality rate.
Those who performed best on a two-minute fitness test had a 42 percent lower mortality rate.
When the researchers combined all physical tests into a common fitness and functional index, the group with the best results had a 61 percent lower mortality rate than the group with the worst results.
The associations remained even after the researchers took into account factors such as age, gender, BMI, medical history, socioeconomic factors and the participants' self-reported physical activity.
This does not mean that a good balance test will automatically make you live longer. This was an observational study and therefore cannot prove cause and effect.
But the results show that physical function can contain important information that is not always visible in a regular health check.
What were the researchers actually testing?
The study included seven different physical tests in four areas:
Fitness
Muscle strength
Mobility
Balance and speed
Three of the tests were particularly interesting.
1. Stand on one leg
Participants were asked to stand on one leg with their eyes open. They made two attempts and the best result was counted. The test was stopped after a maximum of 30 seconds.
It sounds simple, but standing on one leg requires several systems to work simultaneously: vision, the balance organ in the inner ear, the brain, the nervous system, and the muscles in the feet, legs, hips, and torso.
2. Get up, walk and sit down
In the so-called 8-foot up-and-go test, the participant would:
Get up from a chair.
Walk 2.44 meters.
Circle a selection.
Go back.
Sit down again.
The time was measured and the fastest of two attempts was counted.
The test doesn't just measure walking speed. It requires leg strength, balance, coordination, the ability to turn, and enough control to sit down safely.
3. Stand up from a chair for 30 seconds
Participants sat on a chair with their arms crossed over their chest and stood up as many times as they could in 30 seconds.
This primarily tests leg strength and functional capacity. This is the same ability we use when we get up from the toilet, sofa or bed.
The researchers saw that the risk curve improved significantly at the lower performance levels. This is an important point: the biggest gain does not have to lie in becoming elite trained, but in going from weak and unstable to functioning better in everyday life.
Why does the balance tell us so much?
Balance is not an isolated ability. It is a kind of summary of how several parts of the body work together.
To keep you upright, the brain constantly needs to collect and process information from:
The eyes
The balance organ in the inner ear
The feeling under your feet
Joints and muscles
Nervous system
The body's perception of where it is in space
Then the body must react quickly and activate the right muscles with the right force.
If vision deteriorates, bone strength decreases, reaction time becomes slower, or the nervous system functions less well, balance can be affected – often before the person themselves feels sick or weak.
This is probably part of the explanation why balance, speed and leg strength had a stronger correlation with mortality than, for example, mobility.
Balance can be seen as a measure of the body's physiological reserve: how much capacity you have left when something unexpected happens.
Balance is not just about avoiding falls
Falls are a major part of the problem. Poor balance and weak bones increase the risk of falls, fractures, hospitalizations, and loss of independence. But the connection is likely broader than that.
A person with good balance and leg strength often has an easier time:
Continue walking and exercising
Walk up stairs
Moving on uneven surfaces
Get outside the home
Complete everyday tasks
Maintain your independence
Recovering from illness or injury
Poor balance, on the other hand, can create a fear of falling. This fear often leads to the person moving less. Less movement leads to weaker muscles, poorer fitness, and even worse balance.
It becomes a negative spiral.
Walks are good – but they don't provide all the exercise
Walking is one of the best and most accessible forms of exercise. It improves fitness, circulation, and overall health.
But regular walking doesn't always challenge balance enough. To improve balance, training needs to include situations where the body has to work to stay stable. This could involve reducing the support surface, standing on one leg, changing direction, or shifting body weight under control.
A large Cochrane review found that balance and functional training reduced falls in older adults by about 24 percent. The WHO also recommends that older adults do functional balance and strength training at least three days a week.
Five simple exercises to train your balance
Use a stable chair, railing or kitchen counter for support. Practice on a flat, non-slip surface.
Here are five balance exercises with the pictures below:
Standing on one leg with support
Stand on one leg and hold onto the chair lightly. Start with 15–20 seconds per leg and increase to 30 seconds. Do 2 rounds.
Heel-to-toe gait
Walk slowly forward, placing your heel directly in front of your other foot's toe. Take 8-12 steps, turn around, and walk back. Have a wall nearby.
Get up from chair
Stand up in a controlled manner without using your hands. Sit back down slowly. Do 8–12 repetitions × 2 sets.
Toe raises
Hold the chair lightly and lift your heels as high as you can. Pause for a second and lower slowly. Do 10–15 repetitions × 2 sets.
The bell exercise
Stand on one leg and touch the floor in front, diagonally to the side and to the side with the other foot. Do 3-5 directions per leg and repeat 2 times.
Do the exercises 3–5 times a week . Use a stable chair without wheels, sturdy shoes and a non-slip surface. Stop if you feel dizzy or feel pain.
How often should you exercise?
Balance responds well to regular training. It doesn't have to be long sessions.
Five to ten minutes, three to five times a week, can be a good start. The exercises can be done at home and require almost no equipment.
Feel free to combine balance training with:
Strength training at least twice a week
Regular walking or other cardio exercise
Exercises for legs, hips and torso
Everyday movement every day
Balance and strength are closely related.
If your legs aren't strong enough to catch your body when you stumble, it won't help that your brain detects the imbalance.
Test safely – and don't compare too much
A one-legged test can be a simple alarm clock, but it is not an accurate life expectancy calculation.
The result is affected by factors such as age, previous injuries, vision, medications, fatigue, surface and neurological or orthopedic problems.
The study also does not provide a single cut-off value that determines whether a particular person is healthy or sick.
The important thing is therefore not to compare yourself with anyone else, but to follow your own development.
Can you stand a few seconds longer after a month of training? Can you get up from a chair more easily? Do you feel more confident when walking up stairs or on uneven ground?
It is progress that is noticeable in real life.
When should you seek help?
If your balance suddenly deteriorates, you should not try to train yourself to correct the problem.
Seek medical attention if you have new or severe balance problems, especially if they occur together with, for example:
Dizziness or feeling faint
Weakness or numbness
Speech difficulties
Vision changes
Severe headache
Chest pain
Repeated cases
New hearing problems
A physiotherapist can also help assess balance and adapt training for someone who feels very unsteady or has already fallen.
The scale shows what you weigh the balance shows what you can handle
The new study doesn't change everything we know about health. Blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids and body weight are still important.
But it reminds us of something that is often forgotten:
Health is not just the absence of disease. Health is also the ability to use the body.
Being able to stand up, walk, turn, react and stay upright is crucial to continuing to live an active and independent life.
We can't stop time. But we can influence how well our bodies function as time passes.
The question is therefore not just how old you are.
The question is how much function you have left – and what you do to maintain it.
All the best, Kennet Båth
Sources
Wu M, Hsu C, Hsu H, et al. Physical Fitness and All-Cause Mortality in Older Adults. JAMA Network Open, 2026.
Sherrington C, Fairhall NJ, Wallbank GK, et al. Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019.
World Health Organisation. WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour.
