BIOLOGICAL AGE INDICATED WITH THIS SIMPLE EXERCISE

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BIOLOGICAL AGE INDICATED WITH THIS SIMPLE EXERCISE



  

According to new Mayo Clinic research, standing on one leg for a long time is a more telltale measure of aging than changes in strength or gait. The study appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.


Good balance, muscle strength, and an efficient gait contribute to people's independence and well-being as they age. Understanding how these factors change and at what rate can help clinicians develop programs to ensure healthy aging. Individually, people can train their balance without special equipment and work on maintaining it over time.


In this study, 40 healthy, independent people over 50 underwent walking, balance, grip strength, and knee strength tests. Half of the participants were under 65, and the other half were 65 or older.

In the balance tests, participants stood on force plates in different situations: on both feet with eyes open and closed, on the non-dominant, and on the dominant leg. In the one-legged tests, participants could hold the leg they weren't standing on where they wanted. The tests lasted 30 seconds each.


Standing on one leg -- specifically the nondominant leg -- showed the highest rate of decline with age.


"Balance is an important measure because, in addition to muscle strength, it requires input from vision, the vestibular system, and the somatosensory systems," says Kenton Kaufman, Ph.D., senior author of the study and director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Mayo Clinic. "Balance changes are noteworthy. If you have poor balance, you're at risk of falling, whether or not you're moving. Falls are a severe health risk with serious consequences."


Unintentional falls are the leading cause of injuries among adults who are 65 and older. Most falls among older adults result from a loss of balance.


In the other tests:

  • Researchers used a custom-made device to measure participants' grip. Participants were seated and instructed to extend their knees forcefully for the knee strength test. Both the grip and knee strength tests were on the dominant side. Grip and knee strength declined by a decade but not as much as balance. Grip strength decreased faster than knee strength, making it better at predicting aging than other strength measures.
  • Participants walked back and forth on an 8-meter, level walkway for the gait test at their own pace and speed. Dr. Kaufman says that gait parameters didn't change with age, which was not surprising since participants were walking at their average pace, not their maximum pace.
  • There were no age-related declines in the strength tests specific to sex. This indicates that participants' grip and knee strength declined similarly. Researchers did not identify sex differences in the gait and balance tests, which suggests that male and female subjects were equally affected by age.

Dr. Kaufman says people can take steps to train their balance. For example, standing on one leg can train you to coordinate your muscle and vestibular responses to maintain the correct balance. He says you are doing well if you can stand on one leg for 30 seconds.

"If you don't use it, you lose it. If you use it, you maintain it," Dr. Kaufman says. "It's easy to do. It doesn't require special equipment, and you can do it daily."


This study was funded by the Robert and Arlene Kogod Professorship in Geriatric Medicine and the W. Hall Wendel Jr. Musculoskeletal Professorship.

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