Can a simple test help predict how long a person may live? A new study suggests that if you cannot stand on one leg for 10 seconds, it may mean you won’t live another 10 years.
Medical researchers monitored hundreds of volunteers who agreed to do the 10-second challenge every year for seven years. The research found that those who failed the test died earlier than those who passed.
Social media is now filled with videos of people having fun with the 10-second challenge.
In one case, a woman took it took another level as she stood on one leg and stretched the other out in front of her. In another, a 64-year-old man stood on one leg for more than a minute.
Just about every person Inside Edition asked at random to try the challenge was able to stand for the full 10 seconds.
And the people taking R3Bar Training Yoga in Santa Monica, California, found the challenge to be a cakewalk.
The test is really meant for people over 50.
“The idea of balance is, it’s a functional test,” Dr. Jordan Metzel of the Hospital for Special Surgery told Inside Edition. “Meaning, how have you been taking care of your body? How strong are you? How much have you been exercising and moving? Are you overweight? Are you fatiguing easily?”
The study was limited in scope and focused on 1,702 participants from ages 51 to 75. The average age of participant was 61.