The one-leg standing test, which you can perform at home, can reveal to you whether you have reached old age or whether your health remains. How do you do the test? What is its importance? How can it help you improve your health?
A new study – conducted by researchers from the Mayo Clinic Medical Center in the United States of America, and the results of which were published in the journal PLOS ONE on October 23 of this year – revealed that the period during which a person can stand on one leg is a more indicative measure of aging than changes in strength. Or gait.
Good balance, muscle strength and efficient gait contribute to people’s independence and well-being as they age. How do these factors change? At what rate? Answers to these questions can help doctors develop programs to ensure healthy aging. Individually, people can practice balance without special equipment and work to maintain it over time.
In this study, 40 healthy people over the age of 50 underwent tests of walking, balance, grip strength, and knee strength. Half of the participants were under 65 years of age; The other half were age 65 or older.
Participants in balance tests stood on force boards in different ways. Force boards are tools used to measure forces generated during walking, jumping, or any other type of movement.
In the first condition participants stood on both feet with their eyes open, in the second condition they stood on both feet with their eyes closed, in the third condition they stood on the non-dominant leg with their eyes open, and in the final condition they stood on the dominant leg with their eyes open. In single-leg tests, participants could hold the leg they were not standing on where they wanted. The duration of each test was 30 seconds.
The one-leg standing test – especially the non-dominant leg – showed the highest rate of deterioration with age – that is, the weaker the standing, the greater the deterioration.
How standing on one leg can reveal aging
Dr. Kenton Kaufman, one of the study’s authors and director of the Movement Analysis Laboratory at Mayo Clinic Medical Center in the United States of America, says, according to the “Eurek Alert” website: “Balance is an important measure because in addition to muscle strength, it requires input from vision and the vestibular system (in the ear), which is responsible for… Balance and somatosensory systems: Changes in balance are noteworthy. If you have poor balance, you are at risk of falling, whether you move or not. Falling is a serious health risk with serious consequences.
Unintentional falls are the leading cause of injuries among adults age 65 or older. Most falls among the elderly result from loss of balance.
Grip and knee strength testing
The researchers used a specially designed device to measure participants’ grip strength. To test knee strength, participants sat in a chair and were asked to extend their knees as hard as possible. Both the grip and knee strength tests were on the dominant side. Grip and knee strength showed significant declines over time, but not as much as balance. Grip strength declined at a faster rate than knee strength, making it a better predictor of aging than other measures of strength.
Walking test
Participants in the walking test walked back and forth on an 8-meter flat walkway at their usual pace and speed. Walking parameters did not change with age. “This was not a surprising result because the participants were walking at their normal speed, not at full speed,” says Dr. Kaufman.
There was no difference in the decline in strength with age between men and women. This suggests that the participants’ grip and knee strength decreased at a similar rate. The researchers also did not notice differences between genders in the gait and balance tests, indicating that males and females were equally affected by age.
Use this discovery to train yourself
Dr. Kaufman says people can take steps to train their balance. For example, by standing on one leg, you can train yourself to coordinate your muscle and vestibular responses to maintain correct balance. If you can stand on one leg for 30 seconds, you are doing well.
“What you don’t use, you lose. If you use it, you keep it. It’s easy. It doesn’t require special equipment, and you can do it every day,” says Dr. Kaufman.