Do you get down?
Do you get down?
To the floor I mean?
Personally, there was a point in my life where I didn’t really like getting up and down from the floor. It was an effort and certainly for dance it wasn’t an option. I was terrified of hurting my knees with level changes.
I think the point it changed was a class with amazing Anasma where suddenly I was getting up and down from the floor and sliding round the place with ease… Solidified not long after at the first ODI Dance Intensive where we did a TON of floorwork. At this point in my journey I was going to the gym regularly in addition to home training and dance training so I was getting pretty strong for the first time in my life!
It also really hit home hearing about a study* showing that the ability to get up and down from the floor without using hands and knees may be a marker for longevity. Whilst this study was done on a specific age group (51-80) and doesn’t account for genetics, lifestyle or injuries, it definitely provides some food for thought.
I think many people struggle with this - certainly in my regular fitness class one of the exercises that gets the most groans is one where we are going quickly from the floor to standing and back again.
It just gets harder and harder to get up and down as we age if we are not making a point of practicing it. But what if we were to have a fall and not be able to get up? Do you want to be scared to be on the floor as you get older? Or even just being able to pick something up off the floor or reach something that has rolled under the bed. Maybe it’s not something you’ve not considered before as old age seems a long way away…. but it’s definitely worth investing in these skills now for your for future self!
I’m sure there’s people out there thinking “I already can’t get down to the floor because of my knee, hip, wrist…etc. What can I do?”
Don’t worry - there’s always a starting point! The key is to work out what you would like to achieve and where you are now and take it from there. Find a movement that you CAN do now that is part of the transition to the floor. Make it part of your regular practice and as it becomes second nature your body will become ready for the next stage. Start small and practice regularly for consistency!
And if you are already comfortable getting up and down from the floor - fantastic! My challenge to you is to find some new ways to do it. Do you always go to one side? Favour one leg? How many options do you have? Movement variability is essential for our health and long life.
Let me know in the comments what you discover!
*Araújo et al (2012) Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality [online] European Journal of Preventative Cariology available from https://web.archive.org/web/20141021082254/http://geriatrictoolkit.missouri.edu:80/srff/deBrito-Floor-Rise-Mortality-2012..pdf [accessed 19th May 2023]