This Simple Test Can Accurately Determine Your Biological Age

A new study has found the most important indicator of a person’s age, and it’s not strength or gait. As it turns out, balance—or, more accurately, how long someone can stand on one leg—plays the biggest role in how we age.

This is according to new Mayo Clinic research, which was recently published in the medical journal PLOS ONE. For the study, “forty healthy, independent people” over the age of 50 were recruited, with half younger than 65 and the other half older. The participants the underwent a number of tests to measure their walking, balance, grip strength, and knee strength.

For the balance tests in particular, participants were given a variety of exercises to perform, each for 30 seconds. Positioned on force plates, they were asked to stand on both feet with their eyes open, both feet with eyes closed, on their dominant leg with eyes open, and on their non-dominant leg with eyes open.

What the researchers found was that across all of the strength and mobility tests, standing on one leg, or specifically the non-dominant leg, indicated the highest rate of age-related decline for both males and females. As we age, the findings underscore the importance of maintaining a healthy balance.

“Balance is an important measure because, in addition to muscle strength, it requires input from vision, the vestibular system and the somatosensory systems,” said Kenton Kaufman, Ph.D., senior author of the study and director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, per Science Daily. “Changes in balance are noteworthy. If you have poor balance, you’re at risk of falling, whether or not you’re moving. Falls are a severe health risk with serious consequences.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury for adults ages 65 years and older, which the agency notes are “common, costly, and preventable.”

However, the good news is that Kaufman says there are steps than can be taken to improve your balance. He says that even by practicing standing on one leg, you can train yourself to coordinate your muscle and vestibular responses. The ability to stand on one leg for 30 seconds is a good overall indicator that you’re doing well.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it. If you use it, you maintain it,” Kaufman added. “It’s easy to do. It doesn’t require special equipment, and you can do it every day.”