NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar appeared on the TODAY show<\/a> on March 8, 2023, to demonstrate a surprisingly simple test that may predict how long someone aged 51 to 80 has to live. The test is called the sit to stand test, also known as the sit-rising test or SRT, and it takes less than a minute to perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The test is pretty simple. Go from standing to sitting cross-legged, and then go back to standing without using any parts of your body besides your legs and core to help you get up and down. The test measures multiple longevity factors, including heart health, balance, agility, core and leg strength and flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You begin the test with a score of 10<\/a> and subtract points on your way up and down for doing the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hand used for support: -1 point<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Knee used for support: -1 point<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Forearm used for support: -1 point<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n One hand on knee or thigh: -1 point<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Side of leg used for support: -1 point<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2012 study published by the European Society of Cardiology<\/a> found a correlation between the SRT score and how long people live. A follow-up study published in 2025 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology<\/a> further confirmed the SRT as a strong predictor of both natural and cardiovascular causes of death, reinforcing the original findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study was conducted on 2002 people, 68% of whom were men, who performed the SRT test and were followed by researchers in the coming years. The study found that \u201cMusculoskeletal fitness, as assessed by SRT, was a significant predictor of mortality in 51\u201380-year-old subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who scored in the lowest range<\/a>, 0 to 3, had up to a 6 times greater chance of dying than those in the highest scores (8 to 10). About 40% of those in the 0 to 3 range died within 11 years of the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Azar distilled the study on TODAY saying: \u201cThe study found that the lower the score, you were seven times more likely to die in the next six years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEight points or higher is what you want,\u201d Azar said. \u201cAs we get older, we spend time talking cardiovascular health and aerobic fitness, but balance, flexibility and agility are also really important,\u201d she stressed. A score of eight or nine means you\u2019re allowed to roll forward onto your knees and then rise, which a lot of people will find more comfortable. If you can rise that way, you\u2019re still in a pretty good spot health wise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One should note that the people who scored lowest on the test were the oldest, giving them a naturally elevated risk of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Greg Hartley, Board Certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist and associate professor at the University of Miami, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/a> that we should take the study with a grain of salt. \u201cFrailty, strength, muscle mass, physical performance: those things are all correlated to mortality, but I would caution everybody that correlation doesn\u2019t mean causation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And of course, the test doesn\u2019t take into account injuries or disabilities that may make doing the test impossible. But one of the study\u2019s authors says that the study is a call to take our mobility seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe more active we are the better we can accommodate stressors, the more likely we are to handle something bad that happens down the road,\u201d Dr. Claudio Gil Araujo, told USA Today.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n What should you do if you can\u2019t manage a good score on the SRT? First of all, don\u2019t panic! It\u2019s never too late to improve your overall health, fitness, and strength, so regular exercise is a great thing to incorporate<\/a> if you\u2019re not already doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A couple of specific skills that will help are boosting your ankle flexibility, hip mobility, and core strength. Trainers<\/a> recommend incorporating squats, lunges, and planks into your regular routine. Just using your own bodyweight is plenty to get started, though if you\u2019re up for incorporating any added loads, the strength training will do wonders for your bone density, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But remember that the SRT is just a measure of strength and mobility, which could correlate to an older person\u2019s likelihood of suffering from a fatal fall. It doesn\u2019t do anything to measure your cardiovascular health (vitally important especially in older people), for example. And it may not even be the most reliable longevity test out there<\/a>. It has been criticized for its extremely unnatural range of motion. For starters, rising by pushing up on the sides of our ankles with our knees pointed outward is certainly not representative of a real-life situation. Some doctors<\/a> insist that your comfortable walking speed is a better indicator of health and longevity, while others say grip strength is the key measurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, it is never too late to start healthy routines for a better quality of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Adults should aim for a score of 8 or above. Death: It\u2019s hard to talk about, and sadly, even harder to avoid. That\u2019s why everyone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/723838810_1486999776794342_7790632038133157799_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9366,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9364\/revisions\/9366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to take the sit to stand test<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Two studies, 13 years apart, came to the same conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What does your score actually mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"seniors,](\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/origin-34759.png?w=1200&quality=80\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat to do if your score is low<\/h2>\n\n\n\n