You don’t need to wait for a full-body checkup or expensive diagnostics to get a reality check on your health. In fact, one of the best indicators of your longevity might be hiding in plain sight, in how your body moves.
Dr Paddy Barrett, preventive cardiologist, shares in his July 13 Instagram post 1 incredibly simple test that can be done at home, offering unexpected insights into your risk of premature death.
Try this simple test at home to check your longevity risk
Dr Paddy says this simple test can be done at home to assess your risk of early death, based on your muscle strength, muscle mass, muscle power, and balance. He explains, “It’s called the single leg standing test, where you stand unsupported on one leg for 10 seconds. If you can do it, that’s good. If you can’t, that’s not great, but you can work on it.”
Dr Paddy says that people who could perform the test, i.e., stand unsupported for 10 seconds, were tracked over a decade. “And you followed them for about 10 years, you find that over 90% of them were alive after that 7 to 10-year period,” he says.
What it reveals about your health
“But for the people who couldn’t stand unsupported on one leg for 10 seconds, about 32% had died at that time point, which is a significantly higher number.” He advises taking the results seriously, but not fearfully.
“Now, there are several confounders likely to be at play here, but this is an important, simple test that you can do at home to assess your muscle strength and balance. And it’s something you can work on, so just because you can’t do it now doesn’t mean you can’t improve,” he adds.