In our culture we tend to avoid the floor. We sleep in elevated beds, sit in chairs while eating and working, and sit while reading or watching TV. When we were kids we were on the floor all the time, and could easily get up from it. But, in a classic case of “use it or lose it” many adults can no longer get up from the floor. It also becomes a downward cycle - when you visit the floor after a long absence, and try to get back up and it takes a while, folks can get discouraged. At that point a lot of folks decide to abandon the floor, rather than improve on the movements. And the skill and ability completely fades away. Years later they may find themselves in an “uh-oh” moment where they have fallen…and they can’t get up!
A 2016 study linked the ability to get down and up from the floor to life expectancy. That might be a bit dramatic, but getting up from the floor is definitely an important skill!
At Square One Fitness we do spend time on the floor. We work on finding our internal core for stability, and then building strength and coordination to roll onto our elbows. From there we keep building. We use the developmental patterns that we were born with to reacquaint adults with this important movement skill.
No matter where you are born no one teaches you how to go from an uncoordinated unstable newborn to (about a year later) a little dynamo that can stand upright. Taking adults back through these patterns is super fun, and to your brain, it does feel kind of familiar! This technique comes from the Prague School’s Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, and all of our trainers are trained in this technique.
Getting up from the ground takes not just strength, but timing and coordination. That’s why the practice that we do in class is so important. If the time comes when you actually need this skill you’ll be able to do it without a second thought!
Thinking through the progression of movement in our culture, we spend a lot of our early years sitting, lying, and playing on the floor. But then abandon that as we get older. However, it comes full circle…often the biggest motivator for parents and grandparents to re-acquaint themselves with the floor is when they have little ones in their lives.
If you want to play with your kids and grandkids at their level then Square One Fitness can help you get there!
And, if you are already good at getting up from the floor, let’s try it with some weight. Learning the Turkish Get Up, or the Prague School DNS version, the Czech Get Up, is all about building mobility, stability and strength, all in one important movement pattern. You’ll see many elements of the TGU in our Smart Strength classes!
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