The Sit Down, Stand Up Fitness Test

"[The test assesses] all the aspects of fitness that are not aerobic."

"Don't do this test on your own.  Your partner will watch you, score your test and, most important, steady you if you start to topple."

"[People ask me all the time, 'If my score is low, does that mean I'll be dead in five years?' I tell them, 'Of course not'."

But it can be a wake-up call. It's telling you, maybe you need to make some changes." 

Claudio Gil Araujo, research director, exercise-medicine clinic, Rio de Janeiro 

 

"It's a really helpful test, because it tells us so much about how well people are functioning." 

"It tells us about their strength, their balance and their flexibility. We know that there's some studies that suggest that it can help to inform whether people are at risk of things like falls, cardiovascular issues or even at a higher risk of dying."

 "What we're really worried about is that if people don't maintain their strength, their balance, their flexibility and their cardiovascular health, then they're more likely to fall." 

"If you're worried about falling, you're not [necessarily] going to go out and meet people and do other things. So it becomes a bit of a vicious circle." 

"Falls are a really big issue, because as well as minor injuries, muscle tears and sprains, there is a risk of significant injuries like hip fractures."

"We know that there are 70,000 hip fractures a year in the UK and around 30% of people will die within a year of a hip fracture." 

"What you can use them [the sit-to-stand test results] to say is – this is something we need to think about, and there are treatments or interventions that we should be doing to try to improve a person's health outcomes, their quality of life, their independence and to help them to live well for longer, which is the really key bit." 

"Doing these kinds of tests at home helps you to see where you are in relation to other people of your age and so it can be a really useful prompt to remind you to do all the things that you can do to get better and stay better. So, I think it's a really good way of empowering people to take control of their own health."

"You want to avoid 'bungalow legs' [i.e. weak legs from living in a single-storey home] – essentially you want to make sure you can carry on going up and down stairs using those muscles, maintaining your balance, and remaining independent."  

Jugdeep Dhesi, consultant geriatrician, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, professor of geriatric medicine, Kings College London, UK. 

Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• How easily you can sit down and stand up from the floor without using your hands or knees or wobbling may predict your risk of early death, according to a recent study.
• Lower scores on this “test” were linked to a much higher risk of early death from heart disease and other natural causes.
• Improving your muscle power, balance, flexibility, and body weight can help boost your score — and possibly your lifespan.

 The sitting-rising test, a simple test of balance, strength and flexibility, may be an early indicator of how long people will live, a new large-scale study of mobility and mortality concludes. Published in June in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, the study weighed how well, 4,282 men and women between the ages of 46 and 75 were able to lower themselves from a standing position to the floor, then rise to stand again with as little assistance as possible, from hands, knees, furniture or human assistance.

 

The aspects involved include muscular health, balance, flexibility and body composition, each one of importance for longevity and health. Middle-aged and older people who required no support to sit or stand were roughly six times less likely to die of heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions during the next decade, in comparison with people who wobbled, experiencing difficulty completing the task, according to the study results.

 

To self-conduct the sit-and-stand test, a partner should be involved. 

• Clear a level space for room to manoeuvre and if needed be close to a wall, chair or other nearby support;
• If the floor is bare, place a pad down to soften the blow if you land with a thump while in the act of sitting; 
• Remove shoes and socks;
• Stand with feet slightly apart, then cross one foot in front of the other; hold arms however feels comfortable;
• Lower yourself until you're seated on the ground. Try not to wobble or use any support to get settled, such as a hand, forearm or any part of your legs;
• From your seated position, stand back up, trying to remain steady, not relying on any support, including hands. 

Scoring the test: Begin with 10 points; subtract one point each time you use a hand or any other support to help you lower yourself or rise back up -- and half a point every time you wobble noticeably.

 

In this study, both men and women scoring between zero and four were potentially more likely to die of cardiovascular problems and other natural causes during about a 12-year-long followup period than those who scored a perfect 10. Scoring between 4.5 and 7.5, men and women had roughly a threefold heightened risk of dying during the followup period, compared to those who scored 10. 

 

For healthy middle-aged and older people, a relatively low score below 7.5 "should be a cause for some concern", remarked Dr. Araujo, who is 69 and himself recently scored 8.5. Dr. Araujo cautioned that the sitting-rising test is not foolproof as an indicator of health or longevity; most important, he emphasized, a low score is a portent, but not a promise. 

Find out how you compare

According to the CDC, the average STS test scores for each age group are:

• 60-64 the average score is 14 for men, and 12 for women

• 65–69 the average score is 12 for men, and 11 for women.

• 70-74 the average score is 12 for men, and 10 for women.

• 75–79 the average score is 11 for men, and 10 for women.

• 80–84 the average score is 10 for men, and 9 for women.

• 85–89 the average score is 8 for both, men and women.

 • 90–94 the average score is 7 for men, and 4 for women.