Are you Aging Well?

Original Hot Classes help increase your longevity and help you age well.

Check out the following simple tests that measure your body’s potential for longevity.

The Sitting-Rising Test

The goal with this assessment is to go from standing to sitting on the floor, and back up again, using the least amount of support as possible. The test is scored on a 10-point scale — five points for sitting down and five points for standing up — and you lose a point for every hand, knee or other body part you use to help yourself. Subtract a half point if you’re unsteady or lose your balance.

Adults in their 30s and 40s should aim for a perfect 10. Anyone over 60 who gets an 8 is in very good shape. The test evaluates strength, power, balance and flexibility and it can be a predictor of mortality. A recent study looked at more than 4,000 adults age 46 to 75 and found that, over the course of 12 years, the people who scored 4 or below on the sitting-rising test had death rates nearly four times higher than those who scored a 10, primarily because people with low scores were at a higher risk for falls. In the Original Hot Yoga Class, we sit and rise multiple times throughout the class, and thus decrease our potential falling risk as we age.

Single-Leg Stand

Just as strength naturally declines with age, so does balance. And that raises the risk for falls — a major cause of injury and death in older adults.

Testing one’s balance is as simple as standing on one leg. Adults should aim for a minimum of 10 seconds on at least one side. According to a study from 2022, 20 percent of adults age 51 to 75 were unable to make it to 10 seconds. And those individuals had an 84 percent higher chance of dying in the next seven years, possibly because they were unhealthier at the start of the study.

You can’t predict an individual’s precise mortality with these types of tests, but if you’re below average on any of them, it’s likely you won’t fare as well long-term. That said — strength, fitness, balance — can be improved, and as you improve, your risk of falling and hurting yourself diminishes.

In our Original Hot Yoga Classes, we stand on one leg for up to 1 minute at a time, repeat this over several balancing postures and improve our balance with each posture and each class.

Grip Strength Test

Grip strength is also related to longevity. While that connection may seem far-fetched, experts say a grip strength test serves as a helpful indicator for how active a person is in their daily life.

When you’re using your hands more, it’s probably because you’re doing things more, like carrying groceries, opening the car door, you’re picking up a grandchild. Activities (like Original 26 & 2 Hot Yoga) specifically work your hands and grip strength and the more you do them, the better your longevity.

So go ahead and Interlock your fingers, release your index fingers, and keep your thumbs crossed. See you in the Hot Room.