Simple Test Predicts Longevity

[Alan]

I'm guessing that it is a good measure of strength in your legs to be able to slowly sit all the way down and back up. A Doc once told me that your legs are your 2nd heart, in that as your arteries become less elastic and unable to expand and then contract fully as the heart beats, then the heart has to work so much harder to get the blood to those extremities.

Squats and such exercises as "intense pose" in yoga are excellent for strengthening the legs. However, I can't even sit properly in a cross-leg position, let alone get off my butt as shown the demo video.

 

[LakeTravis]

I can squat over 400lbs, breaking parallel with free weights. I can leg press almost 800lbs.

I just watched both videos and tried it again. I hit the floor so hard on the way down my butt hurts.

No way I could get up without using a hand.

 

[tinlizzy]

I thought that was the test for ALS?

I'm quite sure that finding any task that most 76-80 year olds can't do would also indicate that most won't live another 6 1/2 years - because, well, they're 76-80 yrs old.

 

[Ally]

I have always been naturally flexible and can get down and up without using hands or objects for support. I sit on the floor alot, so that also may help. I really think it has more to do with flexibility than anything else, not so much health.

 

[photoguy]

I'm quite sure that finding any task that most 76-80 year olds can't do would also indicate that most won't live another 6 1/2 years - because, well, they're 76-80 yrs old.

+1

The article says that people who fail the test are 6.5 times more likely to die. But this isn't very useful information if it's correlated with obvious factors that a physician can see at a glance like age or BMI etc. I'm guessing that people who are 80 (at the top of the range) are probably 10x more likely die on average than people at 50 (at the bottom of the age range).

 

[Katsmeow]

+1

The article says that people who fail the test are 6.5 times more likely to die. But this isn't very useful information if it's correlated with obvious factors that a physician can see at a glance like age or BMI etc. I'm guessing that people who are 80 (at the top of the range) are probably 10x more likely die on average than people at 50 (at the bottom of the age range).

Sure, but I don't think that is the point. Is someone who is 70 and scores a 0-3 much more likely to die than someone who is 70 and scores 8-10?

Is someone who is 55 and scores 0-3 much more likely to die than someone who is 55 and scores 8-10?

I would guess the answer to both questions is yes.

 

[W2R]

I'm a goner! Or so says the test.

But actually I *did* see my doctor today, and although he wants me to lose weight, overall he is pleased with my labwork and health in general.

 

[Mulligan]

So when I tried it the first time I used one knee and one hand because that is the way I have done it my entire life, I am not going to live as long. But after figuring out how do it 30 minutes later by video without knee or hand assistance I am suddenly more healthy? I think it's a trick test to measure my intelligence from which I failed and had to use a video to cheat to pass.

 

[photoguy]

Sure, but I don't think that is the point. Is someone who is 70 and scores a 0-3 much more likely to die than someone who is 70 and scores 8-10?

Is someone who is 55 and scores 0-3 much more likely to die than someone who is 55 and scores 8-10?

I would guess the answer to both questions is yes.

We actually don't know the answers to these questions because the linked to articles doesn't break it out.

The question in my mind is how much of the person's frailty / mobility / health issues are obvious to the physician upon the patient walking in the door or with a cursory glance at their health history. I had listed age and BMI but other health issues may also be clear at a glance. My father in-law wouldn't be able to pass the test but you can tell just by how he walks that he isn't doing well.

It's only a useful test if it provides additional predictive power (or is cheaper to administer) and it's not clear that it does.

 

[Katsmeow]

So when I tried it the first time I used one knee and one hand because that is the way I have done it my entire life, I am not going to live as long. But after figuring out how do it 30 minutes later by video without knee or hand assistance I am suddenly more healthy? I think it's a trick test to measure my intelligence from which I failed and had to use a video to cheat to pass.

From looking at the video and what I read I have the idea that as part of doing this they "teach" people how to do it (the crossing the feet). If someone can learn that method and they do it then obviously that score would be correct. However, if someone is taught the method and still can't do it then the lower score would seem to be correct.

 

[audreyh1]

Clearly yoga helps. And from the article, a lot of things they mention (like flexibility and balance to pick up dropped objects). I can sit down gently into a cross-legged position - no problem. I automatically did it that way. Standing back up - almost!

Have to keep up with that yoga!

 

[audreyh1]

I have always been naturally flexible and can get down and up without using hands or objects for support. I sit on the floor alot, so that also may help. I really think it has more to do with flexibility than anything else, not so much health.

Maybe flexibility is a key component of health as you age? Or more specifically, greater flexibility may help prevent injuries or falling which can lead to a downward health spiral in older adults.

 

[RE2Boys]

Tried it, quite easy. But 20 years ago, I was running marathons & doing backpack trips. Now 63.

Now if only my right knee wouldn't ache when I run or my Achilles tendonitis wouldn't ache most of the time!

 

[W2R]

Now that I think of it, my mother (who died at 98) could never have passed this test. She had a trick knee due to an old college basketball injury, and needed a helping hand to get up easily from the floor.

However, once she was up, she was very athletic and active. She walked at least 5 miles a day until she was 70 or older, loved swimming and tennis, and was always active around the house doing something or other all the time. When she was in assisted living she went to the on-site gym regularly.

So, I am suggesting that probably this test is too simplistic to be of much use.

 

[WestLake]

I'm not gonna try - might throw my back out!

 

[Telly]

So simple. I've always been able to do this, never thought about it. Do it quite often. Also useful for getting up/down when you have something in your hands. Never would have thought that it is a challenge for many.

I wonder if there is a physical design factor involved in the ease of doing this - The length from heel to middle of knee, versus the length from middle of knee to butt structure. It is harder for me to do it the thicker heels on shoes are. Work boots with a heel makes me feel like I am throwing myself forward, whereas doing it in socks is easy and graceful.

For the same height, we can be proportioned differently.

 

[Katsmeow]

So, I am suggesting that probably this test is too simplistic to be of much use.

Possibly...but the fact that it may not be relevant to an individual person doesn't mean that it might not be accurate to the group of people and it may suggest that things like strength, balance, and flexibility and whether you have them or don't have them says something about overall health.

That said, I think more research would need to be done to find out just how useful this really is.

 

[ERD50]

I do NOT consider myself to be in good shape, I just hate to exercise, but this seemed very easy for me... until I realized that rolling on your knees to get up was a no-no (I thought they just meant pushing a hand against knee/floor).

I could not do it like the young lady (but I'm not a lady, nor
young). But it was pretty easy for me to cross feet, and get down, and to rock forward on crossed feet to get up (like the guy in the other video). Kind of like a scissors jack. After watching the scoring video, and a little practice, I think I score a 5 on each.

Though I have been doing some stretches for my back, went to PT for 12 visits (I should update the back pain thread I posted to), so maybe my legs and core are a bit better than they were 2 months ago

Guess I can't up my SWR?

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

I could not do it like the young lady (but I'm not a lady, nor young). But it was pretty easy for me to cross feet, and get down, and to rock forward on crossed feet to get up (like the guy in the other video). Kind of like a scissors jack. After watching the scoring video, and a little practice, I think I score a 5 on each...

Guess I can't up my SWR?

-ERD50

Nope! We are doomed to a low WR.

I watched the 2 videos carefully, and discovered that I had to cross my feet like the guy in the 2nd video. That was said to be OK. And with some practice, I was able to stand up without wobbling (OK, I had to do it on an empty stomach, not after a big dinner). I want to see my wife do it again, to see if she has to cross her feet.

I am glad many posters here could do the same, even in their 5th or 6th decade, so that I have some people here to hang around with, after the others are gone.

 

[Nemo2]

I wonder if living in a house with lots of stairs makes a difference

Last October 12 I did 7,375 stairs in one session......but, with bone-on-bone osteoarthritis in both knees, there's no way I can do this.......but my lady did it relatively easily, before watching the vid.

 

[Texas Proud]

Well, I guess I need to get out and lose some weight....

I scored a 4.5/3.5... which seemed to be OK.... but not what I would like...

I think that my mom would score low, but she is 93... and a sister had a muscle disorder which puts here down to 0... hope she is OK...

 

[Purron]

Well, I guess I need to get out and lose some weight....

I scored a 4.5/3.5... which seemed to be OK.... but not what I would like...

I think that my mom would score low, but she is 93... and a sister had a muscle disorder which puts here down to 0... hope she is OK...

Here's the thing. I don't think this is such a great test of health. But what may be important is knowing someone who lives alone can't get up if they fall. I worry about my mom that way. Yeah, we all see those ads on TV. "I've fallen and I can't get up". But if someone who lives alone can't get up after a fall, might be time to look into something to protect them.

 

[NW-Bound]

Here's the thing. I don't think this is such a great test of health.

No? And here I am, about to suggest to Andy to add a feature to FIRECalc to allow entry of the TSL score to automatically set the WR calculation to a person's expected longevity.





PS. Just joking. As [-]always[/-] most of the time.

PPS. Seriously, I observed that my FIL had problems just getting up from a dining chair. Within a year, he fell and broke his hip. That was 4-5 years ago. He is in a nursing home now, has lost all mobility, and cannot even bend his arm to feed himself with a spoon. He is in his early 90s.

 

[braumeister]

The Economist had a piece about longevity this week, and they used the line "80 is the new 70."

 

[powerplay]

Here's a device to give a little assist to those needing help with this test.

The Human Hoist - The Ultimate Powered Shop Chair