Is Your Life in Balance?

How is your balance? How fast do you walk at a comfortable pace? Are you able to stand from the floor without your hands? Surprisingly, the answer to all three of these questions may correlate to your likelihood of survival if you are over 50 years old. Although none of these are solely related to longevity, all three of these questions are correlated cardiovascular health, and thus may be related to mortality or likelihood of survival over the course of 10 years.

When it comes to balance, a group of more than 5,000 people between the ages of 50-80 were screened using the Modified Romberg test (see video above), and those individuals without a balance deficit were significantly more likely to survive 10 years than those with a balance deficit. This held true for all-cause mortality, death due to cardiovascular disease, and cancer death. Based on the current studies available it is not known whether or not the balance deficits cause the issues, or if there is just a correlation in the group of people that were studied.

One aspect of balance is strength, and a simple test that will test your strength, power relative to your body mass, flexibility, and balance is the sit and rise test. To perform this test, you will start standing, transition to sitting on the floor with your legs crossed, and stand back up without bracing with your arms, hands, or other appendages (see video). If you are able to perform the test as prescribed, you score 10/10. One point is lost for every time you support yourself with a limb or appendage that is not allowed. People who score 8-10 points were 5-6 times more likely to survive during the study period than those that score 0-3 points.

Who knew how fast we walk is correlated to our overall health? In a study examining data for more that 50,000 people, those who walk at an average or brisk/fast pace were significantly more likely to survive the full study period than those walking at a slower pace. For every 0.1 m/s of speed increased, a decrease in mortality from all causes and cardiovascular disease was noted. A common number reported is 1 m/s, or a little faster than 2 mph. If you are walking at least this fast without an assistive device such as a cane or walker, that may be a good indicator for greater longevity. There is one caveat with gait speed as a slower speed it is not as correlated with mortality for individuals who meet the recommended duration of exercise/activity on a weekly basis which is 150 – 300 minutes weekly (link to previous post?).

Although these tests are not perfect and may only give a small picture of your overall health, these are three quick assessment to check the health of your musculoskeletal system which we all know has a large impact on our overall health. If you do not meet the criteria mention for one or all of these, does that mean you are doomed? Absolutely not. It is never too late to get started with exercise and balance to improve your ability to move throughout our world. If you feel like you need some guidance, give us a call and we will help get you moving.