Transcript

00:00:00So they call it the old man test. It is difficult. You can be very, very strong and do incredibly
00:00:04poorly on this test. People are probably laughing at this. Go try it. Many people will find this
00:00:08difficult. Doing this every day is a little mini workout for those muscles. I think we tend to get
00:00:14so lazy as we get older and complacent. You can't be seeking easy. If you seek easy, you're going to
00:00:20get old a lot faster. This is a very cool test and I force myself to do it now. Folks, trust me,
00:00:26you want to do this every single day. You have a post that really humbled me and people are going to
00:00:36laugh. They're going to be like, I can't believe you can't do that. Well, now I can do it. I'll
00:00:40explain what it is in a moment, but a longevity test that includes test of balance, strength,
00:00:47and inner fortitude. And that's the put your shoes and socks on, standing on one foot, obviously one
00:00:55foot, then the other, not sitting down, but doing that in the morning, every day. And I'll tell you,
00:01:01if you're training hard, that lower back's going to ache a little bit when you first, you know,
00:01:06first thing in the morning, this is a very cool test. And I forced myself to do it now. And I have
00:01:11to say a lot of mornings, I'm like, I just want to sit down and put my shoes on, you know,
00:01:14and I got this puppy now and he's grabbing my shoelaces, which makes it even more dynamic.
00:01:18But in all seriousness, it's, it's a very interesting, very simple test. If you could
00:01:23just explain what it is, folks, trust me, you want to do this every single day.
00:01:28So they call it the old man test. It's a gender neutral though. It could be a woman test. Everybody
00:01:32is fair game. The goal here is to simply put your sock and your shoe on the floor on both sides,
00:01:39lay them down in front of you, untie your shoes, make them sure they're, they're loose enough that
00:01:44you could get them on your foot, stand on one foot to begin the test, lean over, pick up that shoe or
00:01:50pick up that sock, put the sock on, pick up that shoe, put it on, tie it, and then put the foot down
00:01:57only after you've tied the shoe can you put it down and then go and do the other side. And it is
00:02:02difficult. It is very, very difficult. It happens to be one of the tests that I do a little bit better
00:02:07than other tests. But we were joking before I told you that I about twice a year, I still get back
00:02:13pain every now and then. And mine came from leaning over to put my sock on the other day and my whole
00:02:17back felt like it was going to blow up on me like that. So there's a lot going on inside the body when
00:02:24you're doing this, right? Why would my back all of a sudden seize up on me when I'm going to put on my
00:02:28sock? Because you don't realize the responsibility that those lumbar paraspinal muscles have in trying
00:02:34to control even just leaning forward. And they're trying to make sure that you're doing it at a pace
00:02:39that's safe for your spine. So doing this every day is a little mini workout for those muscles. And
00:02:46again, I think we tend to get so lazy as we get older and complacent. And so that once you start
00:02:54sitting down, you're just going to sit down when you put on your socks and shoes. What's the need
00:02:59to get up and do this every day if I'm comfortable putting it my, you know, doing this sitting down or
00:03:04wow, this was easier because I sat down today. You can't be seeking easy. If you seek easy, you're
00:03:10going to get old a lot faster. So this test is testing your balance. It is testing against some
00:03:16of the mini dynamic control from those muscles in the low back. It's testing your ankle mobility in a
00:03:24way because you're going to get a lot of this going on, the perturbation through your ankles and your
00:03:27knees. And it's testing your hip strength because again, once you go on one leg, you're now talking
00:03:32about pelvic control the same way we did before. So you have to have good strength there, but it's not
00:03:38uncommon for people to not be able to pass this test. But with practice, like anything else,
00:03:44you're training these muscles to get stronger and you're training these, you're balancing your,
00:03:48these are all skills that can be learned and improved. They're all trainable. I actually put a
00:03:52video out not long ago about different measures of, of longevity. And one of them was that test.
00:04:01Another one was pull-ups. Another one was the number of push-ups you could do. We could talk about
00:04:05these after, but the number one was like going back to your glute media strength. And can you lay
00:04:10in a side lying plank position with the top leg up about 45 degrees? You can keep it stacked. It's a
00:04:18lot easier to stay in a plank position. You raise that leg off of the other. Now it's all relying on
00:04:24that lateral pillar strength of the underside hip, the one closest to the floor. So one arm down,
00:04:29on the, on the, on the elbow. Okay. Heels stacked at first. Yeah. At first. Okay. On your side. So side
00:04:35plank, not just lying on your side. No, side plank. It's not the, the, the picnic date stance. It's
00:04:41lying on your, so side plank, and then you're going to raise the top leg up to make a 45 degrees
00:04:48and see if you can hold that even for just 30 seconds. And it's difficult. You'll feel a lot
00:04:54shaking. You'll feel a lot of, of, uh, sagging of that bottom hip because you're, you're asking your
00:05:01glute medius on that underside leg to hold you up into that position. So the beauty about that series
00:05:08of tests though, is that they're all trainable. So if it's trainable, it's fixable. You can improve
00:05:14as you have, right? You've, you're now much better at the test.
00:05:17The old man test. Yeah. Oh yeah. The old man test. Yeah, definitely. Um, there are mornings when I
00:05:22want to cross one leg over the other, kind of go into like, what do they call it? That like
00:05:25kind of pseudo crow pose they talk about in yoga to just like rest the ankle and then it's like,
00:05:29uh, and sometimes people are probably laughing at this. Go try it. Yeah. Some people might do it
00:05:36just right away. It's very easy. Many people will find this difficult, like to the point where you're
00:05:40like, I don't think I can do this, but you can quickly get good at it. Yeah. Strength is not even,
00:05:45uh, uh, like a determining factor or predictor here either. You can be very, very strong and do
00:05:50incredibly poorly on this test because you're not strong in these areas or you could just have
00:05:55bad vestibular balance, right? You could, it could be that alone. Once you start to lean forward or look
00:06:01down, you don't have good control, but it is testing a variety of things. And if it, if you do poorly
00:06:07on it, you can look a little deeper, investigate a little deeper through additional
00:06:10test to try to find out exactly where your weakness is, but it, but it's a good broad spectrum test to
00:06:16see how, how good your, your functional balance is.
00:06:40Oh

Key Takeaway

Putting on socks and shoes while standing on one foot evaluates critical functional balance, ankle mobility, hip strength, and core stability required to prevent accelerated aging.

Highlights

  • Putting on socks and shoes while standing on one foot without sitting down serves as a functional longevity indicator.

  • Strong individuals can fail this test due to weaknesses in balance, ankle mobility, hip strength, or lumbar control.

  • Lower back paraspinal muscles manage the dynamic control required to lean forward safely during the process.

  • Side planks with the top leg raised 45 degrees for 30 seconds test lateral pillar and glute medius strength.

  • Daily execution of this movement acts as a mini workout that trains balance and stability skills.

Timeline

The Old Man Test for Longevity

  • A daily test involving standing on one foot to put on socks and shoes challenges overall balance and fortitude.
  • Complacency and sitting down for routine tasks accelerate physical decline over time.

Routine daily habits often encourage unnecessary sitting, leading to physical laziness. Performing everyday tasks through active balance routines serves as a practical gauge of physical resilience and aging speed.

Execution and Biomechanics of the Test

  • The test requires laying shoes and socks on the floor, standing on one foot, dressing that foot completely, and tying the shoe before placing the foot down.
  • Lumbar paraspinal muscles experience high demands to control forward leaning movements safely.

Sudden back strain during simple movements highlights the significant load placed on lower back muscles. Avoiding physical challenges in favor of comfort leads to faster physical degradation.

Underlying Physical Metrics and Alternatives

  • The assessment measures balance, lumbar control, ankle mobility, and hip strength simultaneously.
  • Side planks with the top leg elevated at 45 degrees isolate and test glute medius and lateral pillar strength.
  • Physical deficiencies identified by these tests remain fully trainable and correctable through consistent practice.

High overall muscle strength does not guarantee success on functional balance tests. Specific weaknesses in vestibular control or stabilizing muscles require targeted investigation and consistent physical training to improve longevity metrics.

Community Posts

No posts yet. Be the first to write about this video!

Write about this video