Claudio Gil Araujo and his associates formulated a very simple sitting test to predict how much longer adults aged 51-80 have left to live which can be done anywhere.
This test was recently published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology (December 13, 2012) and has been reported on Discover Magazine.
How the Sitting-Rise Test Works
The first step is to wear comfortable clothes and be barefoot and then stand in a clear space with no objects near you. Lower yourself to the floor, into a cross-legged position and then stand back up again.
You may not lean on anything while lowering or raising yourself and each time you use your hands, knees, forearms or side of your legs for support or to help raise or lower yourself you lose one point and every time you lose balance you lose half a point. It takes five points to get up correctly and five points to lower yourself correctly.
Try It
1. Stand in comfortable clothes in your bare feet, with clear space around you.
2. Without leaning on anything, lower yourself to a sitting position on the floor.
3. Now stand back up, trying not to use your hands, knees, forearms or sides of your legs.
Scoring
The two basic movements in the sitting-rising test — lowering to the floor and standing back up — are each scored on a 1-to-5 scale, with one point subtracted each time a hand or knee is used for support and 0.5 points subtracted for loss of balance; this yields a single 10-point scale.