To See How Well You’re Aging, Try Standing on One Leg

Your ability to stand on one leg may just seem like a handy skill for when you’re running late and rushing to put your shoes on. Turns out, it may also be a surprisingly useful clue about how well you’re aging and what kind of longevity you can expect.

Research suggests that better one-leg balance is linked with a lower risk of early death, and declining balance may be an early sign that physical function is deteriorating with age.

Here's why researchers think the one-leg balance test may be a future indicator for both lifespan and healthspan (how long a person lives in good health, free from chronic disease and pain), and what you can do to improve your balance.

“We found that the thing that declined the most in our cohort was the ability to stand on one leg,” Kaufman says about the study, published in 2024. The effect was strongest when participants stood on their nondominant leg.

Good balance matters for healthspan because the goal of healthy aging isn’t simply to add years to your life; it’s to preserve the physical abilities that help you remain active and independent. “It’s about healthy aging,” Kaufman says. “We are trying to maintain our ability to function as we age.”

The ability to stand on one leg may also offer clues about lifespan. In a study of more than 13,000 adults aged 65 and older that was published in 2026, participants completed a one-leg stance test with their eyes open, along with several other fitness tests that included cardio, strength, and agility.

One reason a fitness test that includes balance may be informative is that it captures what your body can still do, according to the study authors. They describe those abilities as part of your “physiological reserve” — essentially, your body’s capacity to function despite the effects of aging and illness.

“Physical fitness reflects how multiple body systems work together,” said coauthor Li-Lin Liang, PhD, a researcher at the Institute of Public Health in the College of Medicine at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan.

“It captures the cumulative effects of habitual activity, illness, and biological aging — in other words, a person’s physiological reserve and what they can functionally do, rather than simply which diagnoses they have accumulated.”

The researchers also offer some possible reasons balance could be connected with lifespan. Impaired balance is a risk factor for falls and fractures, which can lead to hospitalization, disability, and a higher risk of death in older adults.

It’s important to note that the study was observational, so it can show an association between better performance on the one-leg stance test and a lower risk of death, but it can’t prove that better balance caused people to live longer.

If you want to check your own balance, Kaufman says being able to stand on one leg for 20 to 30 seconds is a good result. In his study, adults over 65 averaged about 11 seconds.

“The number that causes concern would be below five seconds. That says you’re at risk of falling,” he says.

Because the Mayo Clinic study included only 40 people,  its findings are not conclusive enough to support treating any single number as a universal cutoff.

Kaufman says practicing the one-leg stance itself is one simple option. “You can do this at home while you’re washing dishes or brushing your teeth. Just time yourself on how long you can spend on one leg,” he says. “It’s easy to do. It doesn’t require special equipment, and you can do it every day.”

Here are some tips for practicing to improve your one-leg balance:

• Keep safety in mind while you do the exercise.
• Have support within reach. Stand beside a counter, wall, table, or sturdy chair so you can steady yourself if necessary.
• Start with your eyes open. See how long you can comfortably stay on one leg without holding on.
• Make it a regular habit. “If you don’t use it, you lose it. If you use it, you maintain it,” Kaufman says.

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