Another Health/Longevity Measure: How long can you stand on one leg?

[donheff]

I just tried the flamingo test and quit at one minute. I am 76 with Parkinsons so I practice balance exercises and other exercises regularly. I can bang out 10 pullups too.

I see others talking about the standing test. I am very skeptical about getting up from the floor with no hands as a reasonable test for most people. I would agree that if you can do it that is good. But very few people can, even at much younger ages. I follow Dr Peter Atia who is excellent for info on staying in shape. He did a good set of videos with a woman about a core set of exercises to help us age well (The Outlive Series). One focused on getting up as you age. It shows a sensible way to turn and place your hands to then stand. No talk about popping up like you are an 18-year-old snowboarder.

 

[Redbugdave]

I easily passed for my age. But I am active out in the woods a good bit.

However...does this test also involve alcohol and being able to touch your nose?

 

[Time2]

Who can get off the floor without using their hands? I'm quite sure I have never been able to do that at least as a very tall adult with very little leg muscle.

That was the first thing I tried, I stood up without much problem. However about 6 months ago I severely stubbed my big toe, it went through the healing process and was fine for a few months but now I notice some pain while walking. When getting up from the floor, I put pressure on the top side of my big toe, and found that is not what I want to do. Standing on one foot, I made it to 45 seconds on my right leg, stopped at 1 minute on my left leg, then tried again on my right leg and got the 1 Min. I'm 69 yrs old. I like the idea of practicing in front of the TV, I'll start doing that.

 

[chipper]

With my new hip I actually can stand better on that one. I sure do not want to get pulled over and have to do a field sobriety test completely sober. My balance stinks!! I would fail it!! I keep working on my balance as I get older!!

 

[Rianne]

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but instead of traditional exercise, I stand in front of our large smart TV, turn on Youtube music videos and dance. This includes balancing, raising arms high above my head, twisting, and moving enough to get cardio. Amazing what old 80s rock songs can do to your mood. Pink Floyd for slow move stretches, Rolling Stones for cardio, too many to mention but you get the idea.

 

[Time2]

With my new hip I actually can stand better on that one. I sure do not want to get pulled over and have to do a field sobriety test completely sober. My balance stinks!! I would fail it!! I keep working on my balance as I get older!!

Yes, I question that also, I might suggest I will do the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, but I don't have the balance to do the test. I don't like the field tests anyway, it is not a pass fail test, it is just adds up all the very subjective mistakes you make. It is very subjective. I've watched to many Youtube videos of field sobriety tests, and yes, they have usually been drinking, but sometimes not! I have no expectation that I will ever be driving after a drink.

 

[JJpop]

It is harder to stand on one leg on a padded surface than a hard floor. It is also harder if you close your eyes or watch tv. Also trying to get off the floor without using your hands over 70 is totally unnecessary and can cause problems if you are really straining. I can easily jump up using one hand and that is good enough for me.

 

[athena53]

I balance on one leg while brushing my teeth at night. I have one of those electric toothbrushes that buzzes every 30 seconds, so I switch legs after one minute. Maybe to increase time I'll start also doing this in the morning, too -- right leg in am for 2 minutes, then left leg in the evening.

Thanks for this- I've been doing the same, morning and evening! I don't always make one minute but I figure I'll get better with time.

 

[roh3]

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but instead of traditional exercise, I stand in front of our large smart TV, turn on Youtube music videos and dance. This includes balancing, raising arms high above my head, twisting, and moving enough to get cardio. Amazing what old 80s rock songs can do to your mood. Pink Floyd for slow move stretches, Rolling Stones for cardio, too many to mention but you get the idea.

When I was a child, my mother & big sister used to do similar to some sort of record album. I used to scream at them to move away from the front window! :0

 

[sengsational]

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but instead of traditional exercise, I stand in front of our large smart TV, turn on Youtube music videos and dance. This includes balancing, raising arms high above my head, twisting, and moving enough to get cardio. Amazing what old 80s rock songs can do to your mood. Pink Floyd for slow move stretches, Rolling Stones for cardio, too many to mention but you get the idea.

"If you keep on dancin' you'll never grow old"

No dancing for me. But I just did two minutes on each leg (@65). It got to be more of an endurance thing (ankle muscles got tired). Many years ago I adopted the single foot tooth brushing thing, but I fell off the wagon and never got on again. I should start again.

 

[PointBreeze]

I'm only 45. I was able to do 30 seconds but I was wobbly especially on my hip replacement leg. I am 6'6" with very skinny legs so I didn't think I could do 30 seconds but I guess i'm ok for now.

I’m 65. Every night for the last couple of years, when I use my electric toothbrush, I stand on one leg for the first minute and on the other leg for the 2nd minute. I was wobblier at first on my hip replacement leg but have been steadily improving. I can easily do a minute now and no doubt longer, just haven’t tried.

I just bought a bosu ball to do more balance training:

 

[slowsaver]

Like others, I've taken yoga classes for many years and can easily do poses on one leg. Funny thing is though, I am MUCH better doing poses while balanced on my left leg than my right leg. I wonder how they would interpret that!

 

[audreyh1]

One of your legs is weaker?

 

[sengsational]

@slowsaver it's probably your dominant leg, and it's probably your right. In snowboarding, if you put your right foot in front, they call it "goofy footed",

To find your dominant foot, stand with your feet together/even, and have your buddy give you a little shove from behind. The foot that goes out is probably your dominant side. Or if you do board sports, the one in the back is dominant.

 

[Ronstar]

I’m 65. Every night for the last couple of years, when I use my electric toothbrush, I stand on one leg for the first minute and on the other leg for the 2nd minute. I was wobblier at first on my hip replacement leg but have been steadily improving. I can easily do a minute now and no doubt longer, just haven’t tried.

I just bought a bosu ball to do more balance training:

This was part of my therapy when I broke my ankle

 

[leeg]

I'm 73. When I started yoga decades ago, I couldn't balance on one leg. I can now, but usually quit at around a minute. However, a few comments:

First, it makes a big difference whether you do this barefoot or with shoes on. I do barefoot consistent with yoga practice.

Second, as someone mentioned, it makes a difference whether you stand on hard floor or a carpet. I actually find carpet easier, so I do it on hard wood floor

Third, what you do with your non-standing leg makes a big difference. In yoga you put the sole against the inside of the standing leg just above the knee, which really requires that both the foot and the leg be bare, so the foot doesn't slip down. In my case, that makes the pose harder than just lifting the leg or hooking it behind the ankle/calf. There are countless variations on this, including wrapping the idle leg behind the standing leg, or making your entire body (except the standing leg) horizontal. I never came close to mastering that. Oh, and there are yoga hand postures with this pose.

Fourth, a yoga teach taught me a trick many years ago - you need a "drishti." That's the term she used, and I believe it means simply to focus on an object. However, her advice was to gaze upwards, not straight ahead. In a yoga studioI will "gaze" (focus my attention) at where the wall meets the ceiling in front of me. At home, I focus on a distant object out the window, which seems to work as well. Once the yoga teacher told me the "gaze upward" trick my balance improved significantly. In any event, you can't glance around the room while balancing,

I can't balance with my eyes closed - I fall over right away. However, my "birth sister" (wife's friend who was born same day/year as me) does practice with eyes closed. I really need to start practicing this!

So, on my points 1-4 above, when I read about how this is a test of health/longevity I always wonder whether the test asks the subject to go barefoot, whether the test is on a carpet or hard surface, what the subject is told to do with the idle leg, and whether the subject knows the "drishti" trick. It seems there's a hack for everything, including balancing on one leg.

Namaste!

 

[audreyh1]

I like standing facing forward with one knee raised to hip height in front. The full yoga pose has you putting your opposite hand on the raised knee and twisting your torso towards that side.

 

[leeg]

That's only one of many youga balancing poses. The one most often used in my classes has been "the tree", where you wrap the non-standing foot behind the calf of the standing leg, and you wrap you hands/arms around each other. I'm not gonna try to describe that in more detail - look it up! It's very challenging.

 

[audreyh1]

Right, I’m familiar with the tree pose and its variations - tree pose has one leg out to the side with the foot pressed somewhere on the other leg.

The wrapping one is called eagle pose.

 

[skipro33]

Every day I put on my socks standing up, not leaning against anything. Stand on one leg, put the sock on my raised foot, then repeat with the other leg. This could be considered doing one leg stands barefoot. I do this on both carpet and on hard floor, depending on if I'm in the bedroom or the bathroom at the time. I also put on my shoes and tie them this way. After the shoe is on, I tie it by placing the heel against the knee of the standing leg, then tie. My wife says I look like a flamingo when I do this because my raised leg and because my head has to bend low and under my arm. Ha! At least one shoe is done with shoe on the standing foot, not barefoot.
Part of my ski training is to ski a run of slalom gates on only one ski. Some may point out I have two ski poles to help with balance, but actually, poles are used for timing, and do not manage any weight/pressure. But no matter, skiing on one leg, then the other on consecutive runs, which lasts at least a minute per run for non-professional racers.

 

[tulak]

I can't balance with my eyes closed - I fall over right away. However, my "birth sister" (wife's friend who was born same day/year as me) does practice with eyes closed. I really need to start practicing this!

Start by partially closing your eyes. It’s still a challenge and can eventually get you to eyes fully closed.

I find that if I’m thinking too much, I’ll
lose my balance.

 

[imjustawarrior]

Just did enough to max my age group, ouch. Back in the 80’s would routinely hit the Army Physical Readiness Test max for my age with 71 in two minutes. Those days are long gone.

Start by partially closing your eyes. It’s still a challenge and can eventually get you to eyes fully closed.

I find that if I’m thinking too much, I’ll
lose my balance.

Once you master standing on one foot with your eyes closed, try it while leaning your head back. Be careful.

When my kids were little, we would have various competitions that included balance. The one foot, eyes closed, and head back was always challenging.

 

[Music Lover]

The stronger your legs are, the easier it is to make minor balance corrections.

 

[aaronc879]

One of your legs is weaker?

One leg can be weaker than the other for many reasons. My left leg is weaker than my right due to 3 major hip surgeries including a total hip replacement that never healed well. Someone might have severe knee arthritis or a bum ankle making one leg weaker than the other. I would expect the majority of people in the senior age group to have one leg weaker than the other.

 

[aja8888]

Every day I put on my socks standing up, not leaning against anything. Stand on one leg, put the sock on my raised foot, then repeat with the other leg. This could be considered doing one leg stands barefoot. I do this on both carpet and on hard floor, depending on if I'm in the bedroom or the bathroom at the time. I also put on my shoes and tie them this way. After the shoe is on, I tie it by placing the heel against the knee of the standing leg, then tie. My wife says I look like a flamingo when I do this because my raised leg and because my head has to bend low and under my arm. Ha! At least one shoe is done with shoe on the standing foot, not barefoot.
Part of my ski training is to ski a run of slalom gates on only one ski. Some may point out I have two ski poles to help with balance, but actually, poles are used for timing, and do not manage any weight/pressure. But no matter, skiing on one leg, then the other on consecutive runs, which lasts at least a minute per run for non-professional racers.

Amazing!