{"id":50100,"date":"2025-07-09T00:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T00:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/50100\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T00:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T00:57:13","slug":"this-viral-at-home-fitness-test-claims-to-predict-longevity-but-theres-a-catch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/50100\/","title":{"rendered":"This Viral, At-Home Fitness Test Claims to Predict Longevity\u2014but There\u2019s a Catch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okay, but\u2026why? The test measures a few different things that are linked to better health and longevity, study co-author Jonathan Myers, PhD,<\/a> a clinical professor at Stanford University and a health research scientist at the Palo Alto VA Health Care System, tells SELF. \u201cWhen we think of \u2018fitness,\u2019 people usually think of \u2018aerobic\u2019 or cardiorespiratory fitness,\u201d he says. \u201cOver the last three decades or so, cardiorespiratory fitness has become recognized as a powerful predictor of health outcomes\u2014in many studies, it is even more powerful than the traditional risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, or [high cholesterol].\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardiorespiratory fitness is important, sure\u2014it\u2019s considered a strong indicator of overall health, along with being linked to a lower risk of developing certain diseases. But fitness is more broad than that, and includes things like strength<\/a> and balance<\/a>, Dr. Myers says. Strength has been shown to help with daily living (think: being able to carry your own groceries), while balance helps to protect against falls, Dr. Ara\u00fajo explains. These skills are important for longevity, and they\u2019re something that Hannah Koch, PT, DPT<\/a>, physical therapist at Michigan State University Health Care, tells SELF she checks with older patients, along with their range of motion.<\/p>\n

The sitting-rising test looks at strength, power, and balance, all in one move. So basically, you\u2019re getting more bang for your buck, looking at all of these factors at once.<\/p>\n

Added bonus: It can also give some insight on your cardiovascular health, Jennifer Wong, MD<\/a>, cardiologist and medical director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, tells SELF. \u201cOne could not do this after certain types of strokes<\/a> or if too weak from poor overall health,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

While the test is predictive, it\u2019s by no means perfect: There are some flaws with it. \u201cThe test does not identify the underlying cause of poor performance,\u201d Anna A. Manns, PT, DPT, lead physical therapist at University Hospital in New Jersey, tells SELF. Meaning, it can\u2019t tell if you struggle with getting up due to joint pain, an injury, or the fact that you went hard at the gym yesterday\u2014and those factors don\u2019t necessarily have an impact on your longevity.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also possible to game the test, say, by \u201ccompensating with upper-body movement or momentum by using arm swings or trunk movement to \u2018cheat\u2019 the test,\u201d Dr. Mann says, which would \u201cmask true lower-limb weakness.\u201d The test also only looks at lower-body function and core strength<\/a>, so it doesn\u2019t gauge your overall fitness, upper-body strength or endurance, \u201call of which are important for full functional capacity,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

The sitting-rising test isn\u2019t the only option to help gauge longevity either.<\/p>\n

While the sitting-rising test has a link with longevity, there are plenty of others that healthcare providers use regularly. Simple hand-grip tests, which measure grip strength,<\/a> are a \u201cpowerful predictor of mortality,\u201d Dr. Myers says. Case in point: A 2015 study<\/a> published in The Lancet found that grip strength was better at predicting someone\u2019s odds of dying from heart disease or other causes during the follow-up than systolic blood pressure, which is usually used to gauge cardiovascular health. Balance tests, like the ability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds or longer, can also be helpful, Dr. Myers says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Okay, but\u2026why? The test measures a few different things that are linked to better health and longevity, study…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[1081,1198,210,1732,5841,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-50100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-aging","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-strength","12":"tag-strength-training","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114820562548131981","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}