Try it now. Lift one foot a few inches off the floor and start counting. If you can hold the position steadily for 10 seconds without grabbing something, that small ability says a lot about your health.
A new study published on August 10, 2026 in JAMA Network Open followed 13,423 Taiwanese adults aged 65 and older for a median of seven years.
Older people in the top fifth of balance and agility performance had roughly half the risk of dying during follow-up compared with those in the bottom fifth. The effect held after adjustment for age, sex and self-reported activity.
The one-leg stance test, held for up to 30 seconds with eyes open, produced an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.50 for the fittest group. A related agility test, the 8-foot up-and-go, was even more predictive, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.41.
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Balance out-signals more familiar tests
Balance turned out to be more strongly linked to survival than several better-known fitness measures. In men, balance and agility showed the strongest association with mortality of all four fitness domains the researchers tested. In women, balance and lower-body strength were about equally tied to survival.
The study authors describe the tests as an objective window into physiological reserve that can help identify older adults at greater risk of death.
The 10-second threshold itself comes from an earlier and now widely cited Brazilian study of 1,702 middle-aged and older adults published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2022. In that cohort, people who could not hold a single-leg stance for 10 seconds had an 84 percent higher risk of death from any cause over the next decade.
Nearly one in five participants failed the test, and the failure rate rose steeply with age, as our earlier report on how you compare by age laid out.
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Why a wobbly leg is a survival signal
Balance is not just a party trick. Holding one leg steady requires the inner ear, eyes, joint sensors, brain and several muscle groups to coordinate in real time. When any of those systems weakens, the wobble shows up quickly.
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in adults 65 and older in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends screening and targeted strength and balance work through its STEADI initiative.
Poor balance also tends to run alongside age-related muscle loss, slower reflexes and cardiovascular decline, so an unsteady leg often reflects a broader loss of physiological reserve. Unlike cardiovascular endurance, balance tends to drop sharply after age 50 and is almost never checked at a routine physical.
The good news is that balance is trainable
Research on healthy older adults suggests measurable gains within weeks. A systematic review of balance training found that programs of about 11 to 12 weeks, with three sessions of 31 to 45 minutes a week, produce the most consistent improvements. Yoga, tai chi and simple resistance training have all been shown to help.
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A basic daily routine at home can include:
Standing on one leg while brushing your teeth, switching sides
Heel-to-toe walking along a line on the floor
Sit-to-stand from a chair without using your hands
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Slow tai chi or yoga sequences that shift weight side to side
Anyone with a history of falls, dizziness or a diagnosed neurological condition should talk to a doctor or physical therapist before starting a new balance program, and it is wise to have a chair, counter or wall within reach for the first sessions.
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This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.