The test that predicts your lifespan and that you can do right now

How long you stand on one leg says more about your future than almost any other measurement. And balance can be trained.

I'm going to ask you to do something while you're reading this.

Stand up.

Stand next to something sturdy to hold on to if necessary a kitchen counter, the back of a chair. Lift one foot a few inches off the floor, without holding on. And count how long you can stay standing before you have to put your foot down or grab a hold. Ten seconds? Longer? Shorter? Keep that number in mind, because it says more about your future than you might think. I’ll explain that now.

The test that surprised scientists.

A few years ago, a study was published in one of the major sports medicine journals. The researchers followed just over 1,700 people between the ages of 51 and 75, for an average of seven years. At the start, everyone had to do a simple test: stand on one leg for ten seconds, without support.

Then the researchers waited, and saw who lived and who didn't. The results were striking. Those who couldn't stand on one leg for ten seconds had about an 84 percent higher risk of dying in the coming time and that held true even after the researchers took into account age, gender, weight, and illnesses. Among those who failed the test, significantly more died during the follow-up than among those who passed.

A simple balance test.

Which takes ten seconds and costs nothing, turned out to be one of the better predictors of survival.

And it got more interesting. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic later showed that balance is the bodily measure that disappears the fastest as we age faster than grip strength, faster than walking speed, faster than leg strength. Balance is simply the most sensitive gauge we have of how the body is aging neuromuscularly.

Why balance matters so much

Why would the ability to stand on one leg have anything to do with longevity?

It almost sounds too strange to be true.

Scientists themselves are cautious about explaining exactly why, and I intend to be one of them.

But the likely explanation is that balance is not an isolated ability. Standing steadily on one leg requires a whole range of systems to work together: the muscles in the legs and torso, the nervous system, the inner ear, vision, and the brain's ability to weave everything together for control in a fraction of a second.

When balance fails, it is often a sign that several of these systems have started to lose momentum at the same time.

In this way, balance becomes a summary health indicator it captures something about the whole that individual tests miss.

But the most tangible explanation is simpler than that, and it involves cases.

The case that takes independence

A fall after seventy is not like a fall when you were younger.

You get up, brush yourself off, and move on. After seventy, a single fall can change everything. A hip fracture can be the beginning of a long downhill slide hospital, surgery, reduced mobility, and a recovery that for many is never complete. Some never regain their previous independence after a hip fracture.

And it doesn't stop there.

After a fall, many people become afraid. Fear makes them move less, take fewer walks, avoid what feels unsafe. But less movement makes them weaker and less balanced which increases the risk of the next fall. A single fall can start a downward spiral that is difficult to break.

So when balance predicts survival, it's largely about this.

those with poor balance fall more often, and falls are dangerous. It's not a mystery. It's one of the most concrete risk chains that exist in the older body.

The good news: balance can be trained

Now comes what makes this entire text worth reading.

Because everything above sounds gloomy, but the conclusion is the exact opposite.

Balance is not an innate trait.

That you simply have or don't have, nor is it something that inevitably disappears with age. It is an ability .And like all abilities, it gets better with use and worse with disuse.

This means that the poor balance of many older people is not primarily due to age itself but to the fact that they have stopped challenging it.

We live in a world of flat floors, support surfaces and sedentary lifestyles. Nothing in everyday life forces us to stand on one leg, keep our balance on uneven ground or react quickly when we lose our footing. So the ability atrophies, just like a muscle that is never exercised.

And the great thing about abilities that have withered away from lack of use is that they can be brought back to life. Balance training is one of the most well-documented ways to reduce the risk of falls in older people. It works, it's quick to get started, and it costs nothing.

How to train your balance for free, in the kitchen

The best thing about balance training is how easy it is.

You don't need any equipment, no space, and no set time. You can weave it into your everyday life, like every time you're standing at the kitchen counter waiting for your coffee to be ready.

Here are the exercises, from easiest to most difficult:

Stand on one leg.

Hold onto the kitchen counter. Lift one foot a few inches off the floor and stand as long as you feel stable. Switch legs. When you feel safe, let go of your hand but keep it close to the counter. The goal is to be able to stand steadily without holding on.

Walk heel to toe.

Walk along an imaginary line, like on a plank, placing one heel tightly in front of the other toe with each step. Keep the bench or wall close.

Weight transfer.

Stand with your legs wide apart and slowly shift your entire weight from one leg to the other, clearly, back and forth. Simple and safe, and surprisingly effective.

Challenge yourself gently.

When it becomes easy, you can do the exercises with your feet closer together, or eventually with your eyes closed while holding the bench vision helps a lot with balance, so closing your eyes makes the exercise significantly more difficult. Just do it with support close at hand.

A few minutes a day is enough. The most important thing is not how long you do it, but that you do it often. And it will be easiest if you connect it to something you do every day anyway.

Test yourself, and follow it.

Because balance is so easy to measure, you can also track your own progress.

Which is motivating. Do the ten-second test properly: stand on one leg, without holding on, with your eyes straight ahead and your arms at your sides. Time yourself. Note how long you can do it, on both legs. Write it down.

Then train your balance for a few weeks according to the exercises above.

And retake the test. Most people are surprised at how quickly it improves. Balance responds quickly to training you often notice a difference within a few weeks.

And once you see your own number moving up, you've got something that's hard to argue against: proof, from your own body, that what you do matters.

An honest ending

Let me be clear about one thing.

Because I don't want to exaggerate. The balance test shows a correlation , not a causation. It doesn't predict your death date, and those who can make it ten seconds are no guarantee, just as those who can't are doomed to something. What the test captures is how well your body is functioning right now – and poor balance is often a sign worth taking seriously and doing something about, not a judgment.

But that's exactly why it's so useful.

Unlike your age, your genetics, and many other factors that affect your health, balance is something you can actually improve with a few minutes a day, for free, starting this afternoon.

I'm 63 years old, and balance exercises are among the things I do most faithfully of all, precisely because they are so simple and so easy to sneak into everyday life. I stand on one leg when I brush my teeth. I walk heel to toe down the hall. It doesn't take any extra time, and it's one of the best investments I know of for staying steady and independent well into my old age.

So I'll leave you with the same thing I started with, but now you know why it matters:

How long do you stand on one leg?

Do you want to train balance, strength and stability in a way that suits you after fifty? The Bodyweight Diet app has programs you can do at home, without equipment built to keep you strong, steady and independent all the way.

A word of advice: if you feel unsteady, have fallen recently, or have dizziness or another illness, practice your balance with something steady to hold on to and preferably with someone nearby at first – and discuss recurring unsteadiness or falls with your doctor, as it sometimes has causes that can be addressed, such as medications, vision or inner ear. This text is general information, not medical advice.

All the best,

Kennet Bath

Founder, Bodyweight Diet