I’m 71 and I Can Stand on One Foot for 60 Seconds — Can You?
I am over seventy years old, and every morning I stand on one foot for sixty seconds. Then I switch and do the other foot. It takes about two minutes, it costs nothing, and I think it may be the highest-value thing in my entire protocol.
Here is why.
Four Friends Died Recently. Two of Them Fell.
Not cancer. Not a heart attack. They fell down, and that was the beginning of the end.
Nobody plans for that. We spend our money on supplements and bloodwork and gadgets, and then we trip over a rug at eighty-four and break a hip. Richard Rossi said something to me that stuck: do not die from stupid stuff.
The Ten-Second Test That Predicts Survival
There is a study out of Brazil, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2022. Researchers led by Claudio Gil Araujo followed 1,702 people between the ages of 51 and 75. Each one was asked to do one simple thing: stand on one leg for ten seconds without holding on.
About one in five could not do it.
Over a median of seven years of follow-up, 17.5 percent of the people who failed that ten-second test had died, compared with 4.6 percent of the people who passed. The gap held up after the researchers adjusted for age, sex, body weight and existing health conditions. You can read the study here.
Ten seconds. No equipment, no lab, no appointment.
More Than Half of People My Age Failed
This is the number that got my attention. The failure rate climbed steeply with age:
- Ages 51 to 55: 4.7 percent failed
- Ages 56 to 60: 8.1 percent failed
- Ages 61 to 65: 17.8 percent failed
- Ages 66 to 70: 36.8 percent failed
- Ages 71 to 75: 53.6 percent failed
More than half of the people in my age bracket could not stand on one foot for ten seconds.
Standing on one foot does not make you live longer by itself. It is a marker, not a medicine. Balance pulls together your inner ear, your eyes, your nerves, your ankle strength and your core all at once. When it slips, several systems are usually slipping together. And the fall that follows is what actually kills people.
Take the Test Right Now
Stand near a wall or a sturdy chair, close enough to grab but not touching it. Place the top of one foot against the back of the opposite calf. Keep your arms by your sides and your eyes straight ahead, and do it barefoot, which is how the researchers ran it. Then hold for ten seconds.
Did you make it? If you wobbled and put your foot down, do not feel bad about it. Feel motivated, because this is one of the most trainable things in the body.
What I Do Every Morning
My whole balance routine takes about three minutes:
- One-foot stand. Sixty seconds on one foot, then sixty on the other. I have been doing this for nearly a year and the second foot is still harder, which tells me the weaker side stays weak unless you make it work.
- Heel-to-toe walking. Indoors I follow the seam where my carpet meets the wood floor, heel touching toe, about ten feet up and back, four or five times. Outdoors I walk a straight line about fifty feet each way.
On walks I add more balance work: curb walking and walking backwards.
No equipment. No gym. No cost. It is the cheapest item in my protocol and probably the one with the best odds attached to it.
If You Cannot Hold Ten Seconds Yet
Start where you actually are and build up:
- Hold the back of a chair with one hand.
- When that gets easy, use one finger instead of a hand.
- Then let go and hold as long as you can.
- Add a few seconds each week rather than chasing a number today.
- When thirty seconds feels routine, try it with your eyes closed. It is far harder, because you have just removed the sense you were leaning on.
Do it barefoot on a firm floor, not on carpet or in cushioned shoes. Soft surfaces do some of the work for you.
Why This One Matters More Than the Fancy Stuff
I am trying to live to two hundred. Getting anywhere near that means getting past cancer, heart disease and dementia. But it also means not going down on a wet floor and never fully getting up again.
The exciting parts of this experiment get all the attention. This one is free, it takes three minutes, and I would not trade it for any supplement on my shelf.
Try the test today and tell me in the comments how long you held it. I would like to know how this audience does.
You can see everything I take on my protocols page, everything I do for training on my fitness page, and every number I track on my tests and stats page.
Richard Rossi and I talk about balance training, including Mick Jagger’s routine, in our full interview on YouTube.
Live long and prosper,
Gary
A note from Gary: I am not a doctor, and I am definitely not your doctor. This is a 129-year experiment I am running on myself, and nothing here is medical advice. Talk to your physician before changing anything.
These are products I use on my push to 200. I only put something on this list after I’ve tested it on myself. The links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
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