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.
Researchers followed them for a median of seven years and found that people with the best one-leg balance had a 50 percent lower risk of dying during that time than those with the poorest performance.
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.
They also note that a one-leg stance test may pick up early declines in neuromuscular control before a person has developed an obvious disability.
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.
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