This test can predict how long you’ll live here’s how to do it

If you want to live longer, flexibility exercises can be a step in the right direction.

Brazilian researchers calculated a joint mobility score called the Flexindex for about 3,100 healthy middle-aged adults who performed a series of 20 movements.

Men and women with low scores had up to five times higher risk of death, in some cases, than their resilient counterparts, the study found.

“Being aerobically fit and strong and having good balance have previously been associated with lower mortality. “We were able to show that reduced body flexibility is also associated with poor survival in middle-aged men and women,” said study author Dr. Claudio Gil S. Arajo, a sports medicine physician.

Arajo developed the test used for the study more than 40 years ago. Flexitest measures range of motion in seven joint groups: ankle, knee, hip, torso, wrist, elbow and shoulder.

The exercises, which are done on the right side only, include knee extension, shoulder rotation, and elbow flexion.

Women fared better than men, with 35%. Female participants aged 61 to 65 were on average 10% more flexible than men aged 46 to 50.

This is surprising because joint mobility tends to decrease as we age thanks to loss of muscle mass, thinning of cartilage and/or the onset of arthritis.

The researchers followed the participants, who were between 46 and 65 years old, for about 13 years.

During that time, nearly 10% of the study population of about 300 people died.

Flexibility scores were nearly 10% higher for participants who survived compared to those who died.

“To our knowledge, this is the first cohort study to show that a reduced level of body flexibility … is associated with higher mortality in a large cohort of middle-aged men and women,” the researchers wrote in their findings. published Wednesday in the Scandinavian Journal of Sports Medicine and Science.

Other research has found a link between lack of flexibility and early death. A 10-second balance test and a sit-to-stand test are said to predict longevity.

A UK fitness trainer recently shared five exercises you can do at home to prove how well you’re aging.

The Brazilian researchers say further studies should explore whether stretching or flexibility exercises, such as Tai chi chuan or yoga, affect longevity.

The 20 movements that make up Flexitest

• Ankle flexion
• Ankle plantar flexion
• Bending the knee
• Knee extension
• Hip flexion
• Thigh extension
• Hip adduction
• Hip abduction
• Torso flexion
• Torso extension
• Lateral flexion of the torso
• Wrist flexion
• Wrist extension
• Bending the elbow
• Elbow extension
• Posterior shoulder adduction to 180 degrees of abduction
• Shoulder extension and posterior adduction
• Back shoulder stretch
• Lateral rotation of the shoulders to 90 degrees of abduction
• Shoulder medial rotation to 90 degrees of abduction