What Systematic recommends
Where to start
- Stand next to the wall or stable surface with bare feet flat on the ground. Use a wall or other rigid surface that will not give way and a fixed visual point directly in front of you to focus on.
- Reach to the wall with two fingertips, using only very light contact. Keep your eyes focused straight ahead on your chosen visual point and use as little pressure through the two fingertips as possible.
- Begin with a 10-second hold. Work toward a 30-second hold. 3 sets. If you become too unsteady or the movement feels uncomfortable, take a step back and reassess.
Condensed from the published Development Pathway (Single-Leg Balance: Two Finger Wall-Assist Tripod Stand). This is a starting point, not a training program or medical advice.
How the protocols differ
The Single-Leg Balance test is a Systematic exact-protocol test, not a replication of Araújo or another published balance test. It is performed with eyes closed, one trial on each side, with no time cap. Timing begins the moment the eyelids close after the participant gets organized with eyes open.
One attempt per side is taken barefoot with hands on iliac crests and the free foot held in a natural step ~1–12 inches clear as an uncapped raw time. The protocol does not prescribe 90 degrees hip flexion or a high-knee position. The free foot and leg may not touch, rest on, or lock against the stance leg in this exact protocol.
What Araújo 2022 does and does not show
Araújo et al. 2022 studied 10-second one-leg stance and survival. In that cohort, inability to complete a 10-second one-legged stance was associated with mortality. The work remains directional outcome evidence and provides underlying health-outcome relevance but does not validate the exact eyes-closed Systematic protocol.
Published norms are not represented as exact Systematic norms because trial structure, limb capture, hand position, free-leg position, visual condition and time ceiling differ. The age-band anchors are Systematic provisional exact-protocol standards that are literature-informed and Systematic-defined, and these anchors are Systematic exact-protocol performance anchors, not published percentile cutoffs.
For this reason Systematic does not treat the Araújo 10-second eyes-open test as the exact Systematic protocol and does not claim 10 seconds is a universal Systematic clinical threshold, nor does it imply that Araújo validated the Systematic scoring thresholds. The mortality association from Araújo should not be converted into an individual risk prediction.
The evidence
Each cited source is labeled according to how it supports the particular claim on this page. Direct test evidence, underlying-capacity findings and population reference values are distinguished from Systematic-defined protocols and standards. Historical development notes are retained internally rather than presented as public evidence. A study of an underlying capacity is never presented as validation of the Systematic test itself.
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Underlying-capacity evidence
Araujo et al. (2022). Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
What it found. The study studied 10-second one-leg stance and survival and found that inability to complete a 10-second one-legged stance was associated with mortality in the studied cohort.
What it does not show. It does not validate the exact eyes-closed Systematic protocol and does not validate the Systematic scoring thresholds.
The Systematic Healthspan Assessment is a physical baseline. It is not a diagnosis, and it does not estimate a biological age, a disease risk or a lifespan.