The 10-Second Test That Predicts How Long You'll Live

The 10-second balance test that predicts how long you'll live. If you can't stand on one leg for 10 seconds, one 2022 study found your risk of dying over the next several years was about 1.84 times higher, an 84% jump. That number comes from a 2022 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine by Araujo and colleagues, who followed 1,702 adults ages 51 to 75. Even after adjusting for age, sex, body mass, and major illness, the people who could not hold a 10-second one-legged stance had about 80% higher risk of death over a median seven years. In this episode, Dr. Sean Hashmi walks through four tests you can run at home today and exactly how to train each one. Balance, from that British Journal of Sports Medicine study. Grip strength, from the 140,000-person PURE study in The Lancet, where grip predicted death better than systolic blood pressure. The sit-and-rise test, from a 2014 study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, where each one-point gain on a 10-point scale was tied to 21% better survival. And walking pace, from a 2011 JAMA pooled analysis of more than 34,000 older adults, where every 0.1 meters per second faster meant about 12% lower risk of death. These are risk markers, not diagnoses, and every one of them is modifiable. Muscle and balance respond to training at any age. Run all four this week, pick your weakest, and train it daily. For the free guide with the home tests and the weekly training plan: https://guides.selfprinciple.org/kidney Dr. Sean Hashmi, MD, MS, FASN, is a board-certified nephrologist and obesity medicine specialist. The information in this content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have seen in this content. The views expressed here are my own and do not represent the views of my employer or any affiliated institution. Practice kindness and gratitude.