How good are you on this sitting and standing longevity test?

The ability to get down on the floor and stand up without using your hands, knees, or other assistive devices can be an important indicator of longevity, especially if you’re 50 or older. This deceptively simple task, called the sit-stand test (SRT), was developed in the 1990s to assess the non-aerobic aspects of physical fitness, namely muscle strength and power, flexibility, balance and body composition.

You can watch a demonstration of the SRT in the video below. Your score on this test, which can range from zero to 10, with 10 being a perfect score, is a predictor of all-cause mortality. In fact, every unit increase in SRT results in a 21% improvement in survival.

What is the sitting and standing test?

The sit-stand test is a simple method for assessing musculoskeletal fitness. To do this, stand with bare feet on a flat, non-slip surface. Wear loose clothing so as not to restrict your freedom of movement. Next, sit on the floor and rise from the floor, preferably without using your hands or knees to support yourself.

In one study, researchers instructed subjects to perform the SRT in this way: “Without paying attention to the speed of the movement, try to sit down and then get up from the floor with the least amount of support you think is necessary.” To get the highest score of 10, you should not only be able to sit down and get up from the floor without supporting yourself, but also without exhibiting instability or loss of balance.

For each action – sitting and standing up – there is a maximum of five points. Each time a hand, knee, or other support is used, points are lost in half-point increments. If you are unsteady on your feet, additional points will be deducted. This is explained in a 2020 study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology:

“The ability to sit up and get up from the floor is measured by the number of supports needed for each of the movements and the presence or absence of instability when sitting and standing up. The score for each of the actions ranges from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 5, with half-point intervals.

Starting from 5, one point is deducted for each support used, that is, for each hand, forearm, knee or side of the leg used, and an additional 0.5 points are deducted if the evaluator detects unsafe execution (partial loss of balance) during the actions.

If the test subject also places a hand on the knee to sit or stand up, this is also considered a support and one point is therefore deducted. Crossing your legs when sitting down or standing up is permitted if your feet are not used for support.”

For example, if you put one hand on the floor to sit down and then use one knee and one hand to stand up, you lose three points and get a total of 7 points.

What is a good SRT value?

The closer to 10, the better. On average, SRT values decrease with age. People who are 71 years old typically have SRT scores in the range of 0 to 3, while people who are 59 years old can achieve scores in the range of 8 to 10 points. Dr. However, Claudio Gil Araujo, who developed the SRT test, told USA Today that it is relatively rare for people over 50 to achieve a perfect 10, and that those who achieve it should be proud.

During more than 20 years of routine use of the SRT test in their clinic in Brazil, Araujo and his colleagues wrote: “A score of 10 is most common in men ages 16 to 25 and in women ages 16 to 40 years achieved. However, less than 8% of men and women over the age of 55 achieved a total score of 10”.

“Older adults are likely to use hand support to overcome problems such as muscle weakness and balance problems. This is to be expected because physical function, muscle strength, and postural stability decline with age. The use of such compensation techniques results in lower SRT values,” the researchers explained in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science.

However, this is not set in stone, especially if you stay active throughout your life. Another study suggests that a value of 7.8 may be a cutoff point that distinguishes healthy older adults from those with health problems such as chronic stroke. “A cutoff value of 7.8 can adequately distinguish healthy older people from those with more severe impairment due to a stroke,” the researchers explained.

Araujo told USA Today that he came up with the idea after observing older patients who passed aerobic tests but were largely sedentary:

“Many of them can ride a bike or run on a treadmill, but when you ask them if they can tie their shoes, it’s quite difficult. We realized that it’s not just aerobic fitness that’s important. You also need other elements in your life: strength, flexibility, balance.”

Araujo and colleagues also collected reference values for gender and age from 6,141 adults, as shown in the graph below. “Ideally, men and women of all ages should aim for an SRT value in the green or blue range, that is, equal to or above the median (P50) for their gender and age,” say the authors.

The ability to sit and stand easily can predict all-cause mortality

In 2012, Araujo and colleagues conducted a study of 2,002 adults ages 51 to 80. Higher SRT levels were associated with longer life expectancy and were highly correlated with participants’ risk of death during the 6.3-year study period. In detail:

• Those who scored 0 to 3 points were 6.5 times more likely to die during the study than those who scored 8 to 10 points
• Those who scored 3.5 to 5.5 had a 3.8 times higher risk of death
• Those who scored 6 to 7.5 points had a 1.8 times higher risk of death
• Additionally, a composite score below 8 was associated with a two to five times higher mortality rate during the study period, while scores in the range of 8 to 10 “indicated a particularly low risk of death.”

“If a middle-aged or older man or woman can sit and stand with just one hand – or even better, without the help of one hand – not only are they in the upper quartile of musculoskeletal fitness, but their prognosis for survival is probably better than that those who are unable to do so,” Araujo said in a 2012 press release. He continued:

“Aerobic fitness is known to be strongly linked to survival, but our study also shows that maintaining high levels of physical flexibility, muscular strength, strength-to-body weight ratio and coordination is not only good for performing daily activities, but also has a positive influence on life expectancy.”

Sitting too much promotes illness

Although the study did not measure activity levels, it is likely that those who can sit and stand comfortably without assistance are also those who engage in regular physical activity and daily exercise, which helps keep them mobile and healthy. On the other hand, people who regularly sit for long periods of time may find it more difficult to perform the SRT.

Sitting and other forms of prolonged, continuous sedentary activity promote cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, and all-cause mortality in adults, and are linked to obesity, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in children.

Increased musculoskeletal symptoms are also associated with prolonged sitting, and sitting for long periods of time during the day even appears to accelerate aging at the cellular level.

Among nearly 1,500 older women who took part in a study, those who sat the longest were biologically on average eight years older than women who exercised more frequently, and researchers concluded that avoiding a very inactive lifestyle can bring health benefits at the cellular level.

Another study found that excessive sitting increases the risk of lung cancer by 54%, the risk of uterine cancer by 66%, and the risk of colon cancer by 30%. A separate study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine also found that sitting caused 3.8% of all deaths in the 54 countries studied. Those who spend the most time sitting and moving the least are also likely to perform worst on the sit-to-stand test.

Incorporate daily exercise into your life

In order to counteract the harmful effects of sitting and the loss of function that often occurs with age, it is necessary to create an environment rich in movement. This not only includes exercise, which stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis, but also standing and moving as much as possible throughout the day.

The chiropractor Dr. Basic exercises developed by Eric Goodman can help counteract some of the damage caused by sitting and strengthen the core muscles. Fundamental training teaches your core muscles to work together through integrated chains of movement, the way you are structurally designed to move, as opposed to compartmentalized movements like crunches.

These exercises are used by many professional and elite athletes, but more importantly, they address the root cause of lower back pain, which is due to weakness and imbalance along the posterior muscle chain. The video above demonstrates “The Founder,” a key exercise that helps reinforce correct movement while strengthening the entire back by shifting weight through the posterior chain.

This shifts your weight back toward your heels and “loosens” your pelvis. By doing this, you lengthen your hip flexors and gain length in the front of your body. The Founder is an excellent exercise that can reverse the effects of frequent and long periods of sitting.

In the workplace, standing desks are also a good start. You can even stand on a wobble board to become more active, which will benefit your balance and posture while training your core muscles and improving your coordination. An under-desk treadmill is another option. Sitting increases metabolism by only 5% compared to lying down, but walking, even at a slow pace, increases energy expenditure by 100%.

If you haven’t already, try the sit-stand test yourself. If your score is lower than you would like, you should move more, improve your flexibility and balance, and strengthen your body. The more you incorporate standing and movement into your day, the more you’ll find that you’re no longer automatically searching for a chair like you used to – and you’ll likely have better SRT results in the process.

 

yogaesoteric
March 2, 2024