How to Quickly Test Your Balance at Home

I want to teach you a quick, easy, and effective way to test your balance at home. 

As a physical therapist, when I evaluate a patient’s balance and fall risk, I’m testing their strength and I’m performing a multitude of balance tests. I’m assessing their posture and gait pattern, and I’ll also include an outcome measure. 

An outcome measure is a standardized test, and its scores have been well-researched to categorize levels of ability, limitations, or in this case, fall risk. 

The “Five Time Sit to Stand Test” (5TSTS) is one of my go-to’s when it comes to outcome measures for my balance patients. It’s a simple test that doesn’t take up much time at all, and it is easy to retest a few weeks later to measure progress. 

The 5TSTS test has been well researched to identify those at increased risk for falls based on their score. I’ll teach you how to test yourself (or a family member!) at home. 

Equipment: a sturdy chair of standard height with a straight back (a dining room chair usually works well), a timer, and good footwear - sneakers with tread that are in good condition, for example. 

Set up: wearing your sneakers with a good tread on the bottom, sit in the chair with your back against the backrest, and your feet flat on the floor. Your hands should be folded across your chest. 

Start the test: Start the timer and immediately stand all the way up from the chair, then sit back down, keeping your arms folded across your chest the whole time. Do this 5 times in a row: stand all the way up, then sit all the way back down. 

Stop the test: Stop the timer as soon as your bottom hits the chair after your 5th and final stand. 

Assess your results: the time on your stopwatch is your score. The lower your score is, the faster your time, and the better your test results! if you’ve completed the test in under 12 seconds, keeping your hands crossed over your chest the entire time, congratulations! The research shows that you are at low risk for falls. If you took more than 15 seconds to complete this test, the research shows that you are at risk for a fall. You can read more details about the scoring interpretations of the 5TSTS test from the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy by clicking HERE. 

Room for improvement: If you took more than 12 seconds to complete this test, or if you needed to use one or both hands to complete this test, or if someone had to assist you to get up or down from the chair, these are all signs for you to work on your balance (and usually your strength too)!

HOW to improve your 5TSTS test score:

1. Fix your body mechanics: for sit-to-stand transfers, your body mechanics make a huge difference. So much so that I wrote an entire post about this - there are so many helpful tips! You can read it by clicking HERE. 

2. Strengthen your legs: you can easily swap the 5TSTS test into an effective exercise! Sit-to-stand is one of the best exercises, because it recruits all of the major lower body muscle groups, and it’s so functional. Meaning, you are working the muscles exactly how you need them to work during your day (your muscles need to be strong enough to get you up from a sitting position, and your leg muscles should have enough strength to do so without your arms having to help them!) So, you can improve your 5TSTS test, simply by making an exercise out of sit-to-stand itself. Try doing 5 to 10 sit-to-stands in a row: the specific number will depend on when your muscles get tired. Then rest for 1-2 minutes, and then repeat another 5 to 10 times in a row. Try and use your legs for as much of the effort as you can, and only use your arms to help as much as needed.

My recommendations: jot down your initial 5TSTS score, and put a reminder on your calendar in 1 month from now. When that day arrives, retest yourself and see if your score has improved (remember, the lower the score = the faster your time = the lower your fall risk, so a lower score is better!). This would be a great monthly check-in to see how your score is doing, whether you’re actively working on your balance and strength, or not. If your score starts to worsen, or the test seems more difficult than it did last month, that’s your cue to make some changes and get things heading back in the right direction. 

Want a couple of other exercises that will boost your balance and your 5TSTS score? Try my Top 3 Balance-Building Exercises - I will email these to you for free, just click HERE to get them! 

Questions about the 5TSTS test? Email me at [email protected], I’m happy to help!