Can you get up off the floor without using your hands, arms or knees?

[bzar]

i can. it's 6 AM in the morning, and DH comes walking out and sees me doing this, and goes "that's pretty good!"

edited to add: the comments are hilarious - like the 2nd one from the NBC link.

[susan p]

Originally Posted by bubbles76

Wow really? I must have better hip flexors and core strength than I thought. I can do this without any problem. That's good to hear, as I do have hip issues

I think she meant that open hip flexors and good core strength are the key to doing it with wonky knees, not the key to doing it in general.

I could do this with ease until I was about 40. I am now measurably stronger, I have measurably better cardiovascular endurance, and I am measurably more flexible in my tight spots, but NOW I can't do this because of knee arthritis. So I figure that for me it's a really bad measure of overall fitness.

[TinierTina]

Originally Posted by susan p

I think she meant that open hip flexors and good core strength are the key to doing it with wonky knees, not the key to doing it in general.

I could do this with ease until I was about 40. I am now measurably stronger, I have measurably better cardiovascular endurance, and I am measurably more flexible in my tight spots, but NOW I can't do this because of knee arthritis. So I figure that for me it's a really bad measure of overall fitness.

I've got chronic inflammation in at least one of my knees. It mimics having a torn meniscus (which I may actually have, but I've not got it tested). Oh, my cardiovascular/ischemic issues don't help either.

I am not sure about solely an anatomical (bone/joint /tendon-only) problem, as that is not my experience. And many with anatomical problems (causing only pain) could possibly do this even if sparingly, and after a warm-up ...

[wishiwasinhawaii]

What is the point of these 'tests' that TV doctors come up with? I'm just happy I can get up from the floor without any trouble, so why does it matter whether or not I need to use hands, arms or knees to get me there? As PhyllisG said, her 77 year old SIL can't do this, but she plays tennis, etc. Isn't that a far more important way to measure fitness? Just saying...

[TinierTina]

I have progressed from rolling on my side, kneeling plus using both my elbows, then my hands, then gruntingly hoist ... umm, I'd been young and had great and strong lower limbs; but everything had on my body been very (physically) heavy ... I think heavy people with big, strong glutes get this despite having any all-round heavy weight ... Had never been one of them, with my weight being in my upper and lower gut ...

Later, it was kneeling on one knee and use one or both hands for a very long number of years ... I had lost the bulk of my excess weight by then ...

Now, marginally nearly underweight, I still need one hand (preferably my stronger of two) ... but I've challenging self-instructions I follow ...

[luvcritters]

With a knee replacement and a bad back, I won't even try.

[TriciaR]

Here is a link to an article about this from Katy Bowman with a video that made sense to me.
http://www.katysays.com/sit-down-stand-up/
Tricia

[shoegoddess]

a visual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQIbffQj2xM

[TinierTina]

Originally Posted by shoegoddess

a visual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQIbffQj2xM

Exactly!!!

I have that in my instructional file, narrated in .mp3 audio (when I didn't want to keep remembering it ...)

The first part of the exercise, I'd "stolen" from a seasoned jazz dance aerobics teacher I'd chance to take classes from (in my lengthy travels) ... she'd taught it in class, and called it "How to Fall (Like a Dancer)" and allowed the most obvious modification, i.e. falling on your keister ...

The second part of the exercise - much more recently - at The Master Swami's yoga studio, there was a yoga instructor/dancer who'd practiced mindful, slow, forgiving yoga since early childhood; and who'd rescued me from the Trendy " Lineage-'Authentic' " Yoga Place a mile away from there; and believe me I'd "stolen" "Rising Gracefully Up" from her.

To her credit, not one wince or gratuitous comment, either negative or positive, about my hands/knee use or other modification ...

[mtnmom]

When I first saw this post, I did it with no problem. But I lowered myself to the floor with my feet straight below my hips and crossed my legs once I was down. To get up, I uncrossed my legs, set my feet a little wider than my hips and stood straight up.

Now that I've watched the videos, I'm a little confused. Is a requirement of the test to lower and elevate yourself with your feet crossed? I can do that too, but it's not comfortable or natural to me.