Stand on one leg for a minute while you brush your teeth
Balance and strength exercise programs reduce falls by about 24% in older adults living at home.
Your toothbrush runs for two minutes, and you spend them staring at your own reflection with a foamy mouth. Those minutes of standing still are a ready-made slot for balance practice. This habit asks for one foot up while the brush runs, split between both legs, and it costs you no extra time at all.
What it helps with
Falls in older age
Balance and strength exercise programs reduce falls by about 24% in older adults living at home.
Poor balance
Regular balance training improves balance in healthy older adults.
Key facts
- 1In a Brazilian study of 1,702 adults aged 51 to 75, about one in five could not stand on one leg for 10 seconds.
- 2People who failed that 10-second test had a higher risk of dying over about seven years, even after accounting for age and health conditions.
- 3A 2019 Cochrane review linked balance and functional exercise programs with about 24% fewer falls in older adults living at home.
- 4A 2015 meta-analysis found that balance training improved measured balance in healthy older adults.
Why your balance needs practice
Balance depends on your leg muscles, your joints, your inner ear and your eyes all working together. That teamwork tends to decline from middle age, and you rarely notice, because everyday life seldom asks you to stand on one foot. You find out on an icy step or a wobbly ladder. Falls are one of the leading causes of injury in older adults, so steadiness is worth protecting long before it feels like a problem. One foot up while the brush runs is a simple way to give it a little daily attention.
How a small wobble trains you
When you stand on one leg, the small muscles around your ankle, knee and hip make constant tiny corrections. That wobble is the training itself. Balance improves mostly with specific practice, so spending time on one leg trains the exact skill you want to keep. Physiotherapists call this a single-leg stance, and it is one of the most basic balance exercises there is.
Brushing your teeth makes a good partner for it. You already do it once or twice a day, it lasts about two minutes, and the sink sits right in front of you as a handrail. A minute split between both legs fits easily inside a normal brush.
What the research found
In a 2022 study from Brazil, researchers asked 1,702 adults aged 51 to 75 to stand on one leg for 10 seconds. About one in five could not do it. Over roughly seven years, those people had a noticeably higher risk of dying, even after the researchers accounted for age, sex and conditions such as diabetes. This shows that balance is a useful sign of overall health. It does not prove that practicing balance will lengthen your life, because the study only observed people.
The evidence for training comes from trials. A 2019 Cochrane review of 108 trials with more than 23,000 older adults living at home found that balance and functional exercise programs cut the rate of falls by about 24% compared with no exercise. A 2015 meta-analysis found that balance training improved measured balance in healthy older adults. One honest limit applies here: those programs were longer and more varied than a minute at the sink. Treat this habit as a modest daily start, and expect changes to show over weeks rather than days.
Making it stick
Stand within arm's reach of the counter, lift one foot a few centimetres, and switch legs halfway through. Daily practice is fine, because standing on one leg puts very little strain on the body and needs no rest days. If you brush twice a day, you can practice both times. On a bad day, ten seconds on each side still counts, and so does holding the sink with one hand. You may drip a little toothpaste on the mirror at first, which is the price of progress.
After a few weeks, one foot up while the brush runs feels as ordinary as rinsing, and you become someone who keeps their balance in practice every morning. If you feel dizzy, have fallen recently, or are recovering from an injury or surgery, talk to a doctor or physiotherapist before balancing without support. Which foot will you lift first at your next brush?
Action steps
- 1Stand close to the sink. Before you start brushing, stand within arm's reach of the counter so you can steady yourself if you tip.
- 2Lift one foot for half your time, then switch. Split a minute evenly between your left and right leg, raising each foot just a few centimetres off the floor. With a two-minute brush, a minute on one leg leaves a minute to brush with both feet down, or you can practice at both your morning and evening brush.
- 3Make it harder only when it feels easy. Once you can hold a minute without grabbing the sink, try it hands-free or on the softer bathmat, keeping the counter within reach.
Suggested routines
- Sitting too much
Walk 8,000 steps every day
More daily steps are linked to a lower risk of early death, with benefits levelling off around 8,000 steps.
- No time to exercise
Do three one-minute bursts of vigorous movement a day
For adults who don't exercise, three 1 to 2 minute bursts of vigorous activity a day are linked to a 38% to 40% lower risk of early death.
- Heart disease risk
Do 10 bodyweight squats every morning
Regular strength exercise is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and early death.
References
- Araujo, C. G., et al. (2022). Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 56(17), 975-980. doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-104705
- Sherrington, C., et al. (2019). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019(1), CD012424. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2
- Lesinski, M., et al. (2015). Effects of balance training on balance performance in healthy older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 45(12), 1721-1738. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0375-y