I’ve Fallen and I Can Get Up!

I’ve Fallen and I Can Get Up!

You know those commercials we have all seen on television advertising a fall-alert button of some sort where someone elderly has fallen and calls for help “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”?  Well, I don’t want to be one of those people, and I don’t want any of my clients to be one of them either.

Very often I recommend to my clients (both young and elderly) that they should get down on the floor at least one time every day and then get back up again.  Some of them understand why, but some look at me and wonder “why on earth would I do that?”  They explain there is no reason to get on the floor.  Their grandchildren are older now so there is no reason to do it.  Well, the simple truth of the matter is we all want to keep our independence.  In order to do this we need to do it to keep the “getting down on the floor and getting up off the floor” muscles working.  The old saying “use it or lose it” is very true when it comes to the functioning of our muscles.

I suggest that if you are able to get down on the floor and back up again now, then great!  Keep doing it even if how you do it looks graceful or not.  The more you do it, the easier it will become.  If you are unable to do it today, then start by lowering where you try it from but don’t start on the floor.  For example, sit on an ottoman instead.  This is lower than a chair but higher than the floor.  Practice from this point until you are able to do it.  Then maybe lower to a foot stool that is lower than the ottoman.  Work lower and lower until you can get on the floor and back up again.  You may need to make sure there is a piece of sturdy furniture around so you can pull yourself back up again, but over time and with practice you should be able to do it with less and less assistance.  Try to achieve getting all the way down on the floor (on your butt) and back up again by yourself with no assistance so that one day if you ever fall in the middle of a room or outside where there is nothing to grab onto, you can say “I’ve fallen and I can get up!”