The “Flamingo Test” for Longevity

 

Yes – you heard that right – the Flamingo Test – or one legged stance test is directly correlated with your risk of dying as you age!    Balance is a strong indicator of your overall health, and as you age keeps you from falling which can cause serious injuries and death.    

Falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths world-wide with an estimated 684,000 people dying from falls each year!   

In a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine researchers tested people between the age of 51 – 75 asking them to balance on one leg with their heads up and their arms at their sides for 10 seconds.

20% of them failed.   When the scientists followed up seven years later, those who failed the test were 84% more likely to have died than those who passed.

When you consider that you spend the vast majority of your time on one foot during all movement you can begin to see why the ability to maintain balance while on one foot is so important.

Simple Exercises to Improve Balance and Decrease Fall Risk

Do single leg balance exercises daily – and do them near a solid base of support you can hold onto if you feel like you are going to fall.    Over time you will improve your ability to balance on one leg, and you can continue to improve balance by increasing the level of challenge once it gets easy.     You can do this in several ways:

1.     Try closing your eyes – be careful this is really challenging but if you build up to the point where you can stand on one leg with closed eyes you will have dramatically improved your balance and ability to prevent falls.

2.     Build your lower body strength and core strength through strength training exercises.

3.     Use the reACT Trainer – there is no better way to build lower body and core strength and stability resulting in dramatic improvements in balance.    To learn how to use the reACT Trainer click here:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuwTn-fHAYmTlZ64o-wcMPYaWawTfKZnl

4.     Make sure you get your vision checked and corrected – vision problems account for many falls!