Grab a Chair and a Timer (This Test Predicts a Lot)

Before you read the rest of this, let’s do 3 super quick tests. Don’t skip ahead! Grab a chair, a timer, and find 8 feet of open floor.

Test 1 – The up-and-go: Sit in the chair. Hit start, stand up, walk 8 feet, turn around, walk back, and sit down. Stop the timer.

Test 2 – The one-leg stand: Stand on one leg. How long can you hold it? At least 30 seconds?

Test 3 – The chair stand: Cross your arms over your chest. How many times can you stand up and sit back down in 30 seconds?

Got your numbers? Here’s why they matter.

A new study called Physical Fitness and All-Cause Mortality in Older Adults, published in JAMA Network Open in August 2026, gave these exact tests to more than 13,000 adults over 65 (nearly two-thirds of them women), then followed them for 7 years.

• The fastest people on the up-and-go (Test 1) had a 59% lower risk of dying than the slowest.

• The best one-leg balancers (Test 2) had a 50% lower risk.

• In women, leg strength (the chair stand, Test 3) was just as strongly linked to living longer as balance was.

• The surprise: flexibility mattered least. Once you weren’t really stiff, more stretching didn’t add anything.

On every test, the better people did, the lower their risk.

For women, the benefit on the up-and-go leveled off around 7–8 seconds. If you were slower than that, now you have a target.

Here’s an important part: the biggest difference was between the bottom 20% and everyone else. You don’t need to be an athlete. You just need to not be at the bottom.

This is an observational study, so it shows a link, not proof. But it lines up with what I saw for years in the ER. A fall that ends in a broken hip is often the moment everything changes for a woman. Strong legs and good balance help keep you steady on your feet in the first place.

Write your numbers down. Then, if you want to work on exactly what these tests measure (balance, leg strength, and the power to catch yourself in time when you trip), start here:

• Watch my video: The 10-Second Test That Predicts Your Independence After 60

• Get the free guide that goes with it: Ready, Steady, Floor! It shows you what’s holding you back and how to train balance, mobility, and strength so you can get down to the floor and back up safely.