It might sound like an odd question, but your answer could tell you a lot about your general health and fitness. Perhaps understandably, as you get older, the length of time you should be able to ‘make like a flamingo’ diminishes but the average across age bands is
80+: 5 Seconds
70 – 79: 20 Seconds
60 – 69: 35 Seconds
50 – 59: 40 Seconds
18 – 49: 1 Minute
For Falls Awareness Week (22nd – 26th September) we are joining forces with clinicians in Suffolk and northeast Essex to raise awareness of the impact ageing has on strength, balancing and agility. So we ask how long they can stand on one leg ?.
Here are the rules:
- Keep your eyes open and your hands on your hips
- Stand on one leg without any other support
- Time starts when your foot leaves the ground and stops when you put your foot back down (or take your hands off your hips)
- See if you can maintain the pose for your age category, but even if you’re feeling confident, don’t try to maintain the pose for any longer than one minute.
Before testing yourself, make sure somebody is with you, that you’re in a clear area, and are wearing suitable footwear. If you feel unsteady or unwell at any time, stop the test.
Still unsure how to complete the Flamingo challenge, this short video explains in more detail
If you can’t stand for as long as you should be able to according to the figures above, they have some tips on how you can boost your strength and mobility. You can also check out the information from Carers UK’s Carers Active Hub
According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in mid to later life is linked to a near doubling in the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years. Unlike aerobic fitness and muscle strength and flexibility, balance tends to be reasonably well preserved until the sixth decade of life when it starts to wane rapidly.
