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I had a client who went to a regular health assessment via her medical insurance coverage, and was told in essence she had failed because she couldn't get herself off the floor without using her hands. She sounded as if she had been shamed in this assessment for not being able to do this.
When she told me this, I was horrified about the experience she had gone through, as it did not sound positive, but also because I knew damn well she could get off the floor without her hands and it was confidence that held her back not the ability to do so.
From that day onwards, we practised getting up and down off the floor sans hands, and she was able to do it every time. A lot of the time. I see clients who say they can't do things, when in fact they can, but are afraid to do it incase they fail. They are afraid of falling, and embarrassing themselves. I however am a great at making a tit out of myself in public and do it all the time, I used an ab roller at a friends house and promptly rolled my face smack bang on to the floor. It was mortifying, and also completely hysterical for everyone else. Once my pride got out of the way and my skin had recovered from the pinkness from hitting the ground at speed, I soon began to see the funny side of it. I do get it, why would we intentionally put ourselves at risk from falling, when we could just use our hands. I say though, if you do not ever try to get up without your hands then you will never ever get up without using those hands ever again.
Getting off the floor without using your hands will give you better...
Core control - if you can get up and down off the floor unaided, then this shows you have reasonable control of your core. You can use those stabilising muscles in your trunk to support your as you lower and lift yourself. Having a weak core, means weak muscles, which can lead to poor posture, bad back issues, and muscle injuries
Co-ordination - can improve your technique and form, which means that you can reduce the risk of injury. It also links into balance....
Balance - if you can get up and down off the floor unaided, this shows that you have good balance. Having good balance is a task of multiple things going on in the body, it requires coordination from your muscles, tendons, bones, eyes, ears and brain. If you have good balance you are less likely to fall, which means less likely to break or fracture bones.
Now that we know this, how can we improve our get up and get down unaided?
Ankle mobility - how is yours? A lot of people have poor ankle range. Exercises you can do to help increase your range are heel lifts, toe raises, squats, lunges.
Hip Mobility - can you get into a low (asian) squat comfortably without your heels raising Exercises you can do to help you with your hip mobility are spine curls, one leg stretch, 90 90, zig zag.
Core Strength - do you have enough abdominal control to engage your muscles to lift you up off the floor? Exercises you can do to help here is the ab series of 5 exercises (one leg stretch, double leg stretch, scissors, criss cross, double leg lift and lowers), the 100, and of course the beautiful plank and all its variations.
If you do not know the exercises I named, feel free to drop a comment, and I can send you a vid of the exercises you are interested in. Having good hip mobility and ankle mobility make it so much easier to get off the floor, and will make the process more comfortable.
We also have to give it a go, practice in a safe environment, where yes there is a risk you may fall but the risk is small and planned, and the chances of injury are mainly to your ego rather than to a bone. If you feel unsteady be near a wall, and you can grab it, if you really need it, but if you do not then, fantastic! You are then one step closer to getting away from the wall.
The main reason we want to practise getting off the floor without using our hands, is because it makes our life easier. We want to be able to play with kids on the floor, we want to be able to do a puzzle on that low coffee table, sit on the floor to meditate, no chairs left at a party you can sit on the floor, going to a picnic you want to be able to get off the ground with ease. We do not want to have to ask for help getting off the floor, or have to find something to cling on to either.
I like to think down the road a little, if we say to ourselves it's not such a big problem not getting off the floor unaided, then what happens next. When we find it hard to get in and out of a chair unaided, do we just let that go to? What about a bed? Do we just resign ourselves to being bed bound. All these things will happen in time, but I want to keep independent as long as possible. It's sad when you see a loved one who is imobile, lying in a bed, bored out of their minds, dementia getting worse because your brain has nothing to do.
To summarise...
Get up off the floor hands free - be independent - have less risks of falls, and therefore bone breaks.
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