# Can standing on one leg save your life? Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/do-you-really-know-452837/can-standing-on-one-leg-save-your-life Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/do-you-really-know-452837/can-standing-on-one-leg-save-your-life.md Podcast: [Do you really know?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/do-you-really-know-452837) Published: 2026-07-16T02:59:00+00:00 Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/BABA9416194386.mp3 Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/BABA9416194386.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/do-you-really-know-452837/episodes/can-standing-on-one-leg-save-your-life Duration seconds: 290 ## Resource Surprising as it may seem, balance is more important than you might think. In September of 2022 the British Journal of Sports Medicine published the results of a ten year study which involved more than 1,700 middle-aged participants. They concluded that not being able to balance was associated with an almost twofold increase in risk of death.  Volunteers were asked to stand on one leg with their arms by their sides and keep their eyes looking straight ahead. They discovered that an inability to hold the position for 10 seconds was associated with an 84% heightened risk of death from any cause. Participants were allowed to try 3 times. Balance is quite difficult to explain. It involves several different systems in your body: muscles, nerves, eyesight, the inner ear and even the sensory system that lets you recognise where your body is in space. What is balance? How did they test participants for balance? Why does losing your balance matter? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: ⁠How does eldest daughter syndrome affect some women?⁠ ⁠What is a kakistocracy, in the world of work ?⁠ ⁠What does vaping do to the body?⁠ A podcast written and realised by Amber Minogue. First broadcast: 13/12/2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/do-you-really-know-452837/episodes/can-standing-on-one-leg-save-your-life/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/do-you-really-know-452837/can-standing-on-one-leg-save-your-life.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.