In today’s advanced society, there are thousands of studies and endless research into the topic of aging. You could spend the rest of your life reading about what will make you live longer, what will make you die younger, and what will help you get the most out of your life as you get older. While these are all good things, they are somewhat useless to the average person who doesn’t have the time or energy needed to go through this endless data.

For most people, what they really want to know is how well they are aging and how long they will be able to live a good, independent life. Everyone knows that they will eventually pass away, but they want to be able to work, spend time with family, travel, hang out with friends, and do other things on their own for as long as possible.

For that, there is a very simple test you can do from the comfort of your own home. You don’t need doctors or nurses to help either, which makes it a great option. All you need is a stopwatch (or any way to track seconds) and a straight-backed chair with no armrests.

To start, simply sit in the chair and when you start the stopwatch, stand up all the way, then sit back down. Repeat this as many times as you can in 30 seconds.

The more you can do, the more mobile you are likely to be as you age.

This test is simple, but it is accurate because this activity requires the use of a lot of different muscle groups, all of which are essential for maintaining mobility. Mobility is, perhaps, the most important factor when it comes to living independently as you get older. In an interview with IFLScience, Dean Garland (M.Ost.), who is an osteopath in London, explained:

“‘Sit-to-stand’ is a widely recognised assessment for strength and stability of the lower body utilised by many cross-disciplinary practitioners such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists. It can be used as a measurement of patient progress and agency (where movements are scored out of 10) and also adapted to become part of progressive rehabilitation exercises and programmes. Sit-to-stand was first developed and used within clinical movement practices in the 90s and continues to be a common element of many practitioners’ tool-kits.”

If you do this test, you will need to know how you compare to the average. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have listed the average number of times people should be able to do this activity in various age groups, so you can compare. Their comparisons start with people aged 60-64, where men should be able to do 14 and women 12. These numbers slowly drop as people get older, with a man aged 90-94 being expected to do 7 and a woman 4.

Knowing how you do in this type of test is important, but what about knowing how you can improve your score (and therefore, improve your health long term).

Fortunately, that is another simple activity. While there are many different exercises, weight lifting routines, weight loss efforts, and other things that you can do to benefit your long-term health, the one that is likely to be most effective is simply walking. Walking more is so good because it engages muscles throughout your body. It is also highly recommended because you don’t have to overthink it or purchase any equipment. All you have to do is walk more.

So, with that in mind, take some time to test your sit-to-stand count, and whether you are happy with your results or not, go for a walk to improve your health today.

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