Did you know that there is a simple test that has been developed that can show your expected life span. It is based around your level of fitness, flexibility and balance. I often use this test in my Yoga classes, but didn’t realise how the scoring worked, so I have done some investigation.
The test is just this: Sit down on the floor, then get back up again. But you lose points depending on how you complete the test.
This test is based on the findings in a study, “Ability to Sit and Rise from the Floor as a Predictor of All-Cause Mortality”, which discovered a link between standing up and sitting down and your life span.
Here’s how you do the test: You start with 10 points and deduct 1/2 a point for each time you lose your balance and 1 point for each knee, arm or hand you use for steady yourself.
Life Expectancy Test Study
The study was carried out from 1997 to 2011 and was comprised of 2002 individuals, 1356 of which were men(67.7%). The participants were between 51 and 80 years old at the time of their evaluation.
The participants were followed from the date they each performed the test until October 2011, or until the date they died if they did happen to die.
The SRT (Sitting-Rising Test) was performed on a non-slippery flat surface with the subject standing barefoot and wearing clothing that did not restrict body movements. Before the SRT, the evaluator instructed: “Without worrying about the speed of movement, try to sit and then to rise from the floor, using the minimum support that you believe is needed.”
The people performed the SRT to and from the floor which was scored from 0 to 5 with one point being subtracted from 5 for each support used (hand/arm/knee). An additional 0.5 point was subtracted if the evaluator perceived an “unsteady execution” (partial loss of balance) occurring during the action.
The final SRT score, varying from 0 to 10, was obtained by adding sitting and rising scores arranged in four categories for analysis: 0–3; 3.5–5.5, 6–7.5, and 8–10
Study Results
6 years after the tests were concluded, 159 of the participants had died (7.9% of participants). Lower SRT (Sitting-Rising Test) scores were associated with higher death rates.
People who scored fewer than eight points on the test were twice as likely to die within the next six years compared with those who scored higher.
Participants who scored three or fewer points were more than five times as likely to die within the same period compared with those who scored more than eight points.
Each unit increase in SRT score saw a 21% improvement in survival.
As you can see in the photo, the survival rate in the four SRT categories differed significantly.
The death rate decreased with the higher SRT scores.
Final Thoughts
This test is a good guide and can be improved upon if you simply practice this test regularly, repetition of this test helps your body learn how to improve it.
If you don’t score well, maybe this will give you the motivation you need to workout and improve your score.
I also recommend that you add Yoga based moves into your daily routine, this can help your flexibility and strength which are all needed for this test.
Please consider that joint disfunction may score you lower on this test than you would expect, but maybe I can help you with that.
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