The Timed Up and Go Test: Standing, Walking, Turning, Sitting
The short answer
Sit in a firm chair, stand up, walk three metres at your ordinary pace, turn, walk back and sit down — timed from the moment you start moving to the moment you are seated again. It takes about ten seconds, needs a chair and a tape measure, and it is the only test here that measures the joins rather than the parts: getting out of a chair, moving, turning, and controlling the way back down. Published times exist and we are not going to print one, because a self-timed run in your own front room is not the assessment those numbers came from. Record it, note the conditions, and compare it against your own time three months ago.
Try it now
The thirty-second sit-to-stand
Sit on a firm chair, arms crossed over your chest. Stand fully and sit back down as many times as you comfortably can in thirty seconds. Tap the counter each time you stand. Stop early if anything hurts — an incomplete test tells you more than an injury does.
Stored on this device only. Nothing here is uploaded, and it is a movement measure rather than a health assessment.
Grip measures your hands, the chair test measures the rise, the four-metre walk measures the walking. This one measures the sequence — and the sequence is where most people first notice something has changed.
How to run it
You need a firm chair that does not slide or swivel, ideally with armrests, and three metres of clear floor in front of it. Measure the three metres properly with a tape and mark the far point with something you can leave in place — a book, a strip of tape, a chair leg. Guessing the distance once means every future test measures a different course, which is the one mistake that makes the whole exercise worthless.
Start seated, back against the backrest. On your own 'go', stand up, walk to the mark at your ordinary everyday pace, turn, walk back, and sit down fully. Time from the moment you begin to move to the moment your back touches the chair again. Do one practice run to learn the course, rest, then take one timed run. Use your walking aid if you use one, wear the same shoes each time, and write down which chair and which room.
Why the whole sequence is the point
A chair rise asks your legs to push you upright. A four-metre walk asks them to carry you at a steady pace. Neither asks you to change from one to the other, and neither asks you to turn. The transitions are their own skill: standing up and immediately going somewhere, decelerating into a turn, then lowering yourself back down under control rather than dropping the last few inches.
That last part is worth noticing on its own. Sitting down is a lowering movement, and it is usually the half of the chair rise that goes first — people who can still stand up briskly often land rather than descend. A single timed sequence catches that, where two separate tests taken on their own can both look fine.
About the published times
You will find cut-off times quoted for this test online, usually attached to a conclusion about the person who produced them. We are not printing one, for the same reason we print no chair-rise or walking-speed threshold: those values come from a standardised administration by a trained assessor, on a measured course, as one input among several — not from you and a phone stopwatch in your hallway.
It is also not how thresholds are meant to be used. A European expert consensus gives reference cut-off points for low grip strength of about 27 kg for men and 16 kg for women, and places them inside a staged assessment where a low result prompts further evaluation rather than settling anything on its own. Read any published up-and-go time the same way: a number below it is a reason to book a conversation, never a verdict you hand yourself in your own kitchen.
What it can and cannot see while you are losing weight
The reason a functional test belongs in this cluster at all is that the scale cannot see any of it. Across 22 randomised trials in more than 2,200 people, lean mass accounted for roughly a quarter of the total weight lost on GLP-1 medications — though lean mass as a percentage of body weight was unchanged. Something is going out along with the fat, and the number in your bathroom does not distinguish between the two.
What this test cannot do is tell you which tissue changed, or why. Ten seconds includes your legs, your balance, your knees, your shoes, your confidence turning at speed, and how you slept. That breadth is what makes it a useful early signal and a poor diagnostic. Treat a slower time as a prompt to look at the controllable inputs, not as a measurement of muscle.
What to do with your number
Log the time with the date, the chair, the room, the shoes and roughly how you slept, and repeat every two to three months alongside your chair-rise time. A second either way between two tests is noise — turning speed alone varies more than that. A consistent drift in one direction across three tests under the same conditions is the thing worth acting on.
When it does drift, the first two places to look are the ordinary ones: whether your protein has quietly slipped, and whether resistance training is still actually happening rather than merely still being planned. How to get enough protein on a GLP-1 and how many days a week to strength train on a GLP-1 cover both. If the direction stays wrong despite doing the work — or if you feel unsteady, light-headed, or something hurts rather than merely feels hard — take the written record to your healthcare provider. A dated list of times is far more use to them than the memory of feeling slower.
Ten seconds twice a year tells you the direction; the leg work in between decides it. Mira coaches short, form-scored sessions through your phone camera — squats to a chair, step-ups, controlled lowering — so there is something behind the number next time you run it.
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Common questions
How do you do the timed up and go test at home?+
Sit in a firm chair with three metres of clear floor measured out and marked in front of it. Stand, walk to the mark at your ordinary pace, turn, walk back, and sit down fully — timing from your first movement to your back touching the chair. One practice run, then one timed run. Same chair, same room, same shoes every time, or you have measured the conditions rather than yourself.
What is a good time for the timed up and go test?+
We will not print one, and we would be cautious about a page that does. The quoted cut-offs come from a standardised administration by a trained assessor as one input among several, and a self-timed run in your hallway is not that measurement. Reference thresholds of this kind work as a prompt for further assessment, not as a conclusion. The comparison that genuinely applies to you is your own time three months ago.
Why would my up-and-go time change on a GLP-1?+
Ten seconds folds in your legs, your balance, your knees, your shoes and your sleep, so plenty can move it that has nothing to do with muscle. It is worth measuring anyway: across 22 randomised trials, lean mass accounted for roughly a quarter of the weight lost on these medications, and the scale cannot show you that. Read the trend across several tests rather than any single result, and take a persistent decline to your healthcare provider.
Is it safe to do this test on my own?+
For most people a single walk across their own front room is unremarkable, but set it up sensibly: a chair that will not slide, a clear floor with nothing to catch a foot, your usual walking aid, and someone else in the house if you have any doubt. Skip it on a day you feel light-headed — eating and drinking less can do that for reasons unrelated to your legs. Dizziness, unsteadiness, or a fall is a conversation for your healthcare provider rather than something to retest until it looks better.
Keep reading
Strength Benchmarks on a GLP-1
Simple at-home tests — grip, chair rise, everyday tasks — to check whether you’re keeping your strength on a GLP-1, and what the numbers mean.
The Sit-to-Stand Test
A five-rep chair test that needs no equipment. How to do it consistently on a GLP-1, and why your own baseline beats any published table.
The Walking Speed Test
Measure your usual walking speed at home on a GLP-1: how to mark out the course, why clinicians use it, and why your own trend beats any table.
The Balance Test
A one-minute standing balance check to do at home on a GLP-1 — the three positions, how to test safely, and what a result can and can’t tell you.
The Stair Climb Test
Time one flight you climb every day. How to run a stair test at home on a GLP-1, why no table applies to your staircase, and what actually moves it.
How to Test Your Strength at Home
A simple strength check you can repeat every few months on a GLP-1 — grip, chair rise, a carry and your own task list — recorded the same way each time.
Everyday Strength on a GLP-1
Stairs, shopping bags, getting off the floor. The everyday markers that tell you more about your strength on a GLP-1 than any single number.
Staying Steady and Strong Over 60 on a GLP-1
Over 60 on a GLP-1, leg and grip strength are what keep daily life easy. Here’s why it matters more as weight comes off fast — and how to protect it.