Science

Can You Stand on One Leg for 10 Seconds?

By Kim Fisher · October 2026 · 4 min read

Ten seconds. One leg. Eyes open, arms wherever they like.

That's the whole test.

It sounds almost too small to mean anything...

and then you see what it predicted.

What the study actually found

Researchers followed 1,702 adults aged 51 to 75 for about seven years. At the start, each person tried to stand on one leg for 10 seconds, unsupported. One in five couldn't. Over the follow-up, the people who had failed that quiet little test were 84 percent more likely to have died from any cause, even after the researchers accounted for age, sex, and existing health conditions.

Honest framing, because that's the whole brand: this is an observational study, so it can show a strong link and it can't prove the test itself changes anything. The group was mostly men and all from a single Brazilian cohort, and the researchers didn't have data on falls, activity, or medications. So the number isn't a sentence handed down to you. It's a reading, the way blood pressure is a reading, and a reading is something you get to respond to.

The part nobody puts in the headline

Here's what gets left out of the scary version. Balance answers to practice, and the evidence for that is stronger than the evidence that scared you.

A review of 108 trials and more than 23,000 older adults, about three-quarters of them women, found that exercise programs built mainly on balance and standing work cut the rate of falls by roughly 23 percent. The reviewers rated that finding high certainty, which is the strongest grade they give.

Honest framing again: the people in those trials averaged 76, older than you, and the programs were structured and often guided, so this tells us balance training reliably moves the needle, not that one minute at your kitchen counter equals a supervised class.

Still, notice the shape of it. The frightening number came from a mostly-male group. The hopeful, best-evidence number, the one that says you can change this, came mostly from women.

The reframe

So here's the gentler read. You don't need to fear the test. You need to treat it as practice.

A number you can't change is a verdict. A number you can train is an invitation. And balance is about as trainable as the body gets, at any age in these studies.

Three things to carry with you

• Balance is a vital sign, not a personality trait. It's a live reading of how your eyes, inner ear, muscles, and attention work together, and like any reading, it's information, never a label.
• It responds to practice faster than almost anything. Stand on one leg while the coffee brews, about 30 seconds a side, most days. Hold the counter at first, then one fingertip, then air.
• Train it where you already stand. Brushing your teeth, waiting for the kettle, on a phone call. The habit holds when it borrows a minute you're already spending.

I am steady. I am trainable. I'm not declining, I'm practicing. Today I stand on one leg while the coffee brews, and I notice how much is still mine to build.

Frequently asked questions

How long can the average woman stand on one leg by age?

In the study above, almost everyone aged 51 to 55 could hold the 10 seconds, and by 71 to 75 about half could not. So a clean 10-second hold through your 50s and 60s, eyes open and unsupported, is a fair personal benchmark to check yourself against now and again.

Is it normal to lose your balance as you get older?

Some quiet decline from midlife is common, yet it is not fixed and it is not a one-way door. Balance is a skill, and skills come back with practice. The research on balance training is some of the most encouraging in the whole field of aging.

What exercises improve balance for women over 60?

Start simple and near a counter: the one-leg stand, slow heel-to-toe walking in a hallway, rising from a chair without using your hands, and gentle weight shifts side to side. Make it harder over time by holding less, closing the gap to no support, then adding a head turn.

Can balance really be improved after 60?

Yes. The strongest-rated evidence we have comes from programs run with people averaging 76, most of them women, and balance work lowered their fall rate meaningfully. The capacity to improve is still very much yours.

If this landed

If you like your science translated with warmth and never fear, this is the room for it. The Ageless Reset is six weeks of coaching held by a full year of community and support, and Cohort 3 is next. The waitlist hears the dates, the details, and the early-enrollment bonus first.

I see you. I've got you. You're not behind.

With love,
Kim

PS. If you want something smaller to hold onto every morning, I send one text at 6am: a mantra, a little science, and one small win for the day, in my voice, before the noise starts. The first seven days are free, then $5 a month, cancel anytime. Text MANTRAS to 833-868-4346, or start here.