I fell over and couldn't get up - what exercise do I need?

As much as I like seeing posters recommending seeing a physio, as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner Physiotherapist who specialises in frailty and falls my advice, as previously stated is to see your GP.
I don’t want to alarm you but the (brief) history you have given in the OP is highly unusual. As an ACP I have the experience and skills to screen for and rule out alternative diagnosis other than this being a musculoskeletal issue, a physio without this training would not.

Speak to your GP first, then if they are happy that this is a problem that can be sorted with a physio then go for it.

I'm 51 and reading your post, I don't think you can't get up because you are unfit. You said you already walk, swim and do weights. Are you sure there isn't something else wrong with you? For comparison. I can get up easily from the floor without using either hand to push up. Look up the get up from floor test.

Reformer and matt pilates.
Yoga
Rock climbing.

You need movement which tests your balance and moves your body across planes it not used to... once you loose your balance it's hard to get back in old age (your not old YET!).
Future proof your hips... move them in other ways than walking.

@Frenchcremefraiche you should start with your GP. Not being able to get up from the floor at a fairly young age is quite concerning, it's best to get checked out.

At 46 I was showing my 6 year old how to do handstands and cartwheels! 🙈

OP don’t get any knee pain?

otherwise it’s your thigh muscles. I had an injury that meant I had muscle wasting in my quads and legs generally, I lost 50% of my leg strength.

You need squats, lunges, wall sits, leg extensions and anything weight bearing on your legs. If you swim, try marching through the water as fast as you can too - do half-lengths up and down and see how many you can do before you feel any burn.

If there's no temporary injury and it's genuinely a weakness and you already do exercise then I agree with everyone else that it's time to see a physio. I think practice going down on your knees and getting back up 10 times a day, alternating which knee you do the proposal stance on (with hands at first if needed), but if you can't do that then definitely get professional help as I think that would be an abnormal weakness.

Functional training too. Get on the ground/yoga mat and get up several times.

If could be an injury. I hurt my knee more than I realised and just could not put anything on that side to get up.

Yoga is risky because it’s so wildly unregulated and if you’re weak you may be more prone to injury, I know people who have permanently damaged their spines from taking yoga classes with instructors who don’t know what the fuck they’re doing. I think you need to be assessed by a physiotherapist, go private if you can afford it. It is very concerning that you can’t get up from the floor, you need to take this seriously

Saying this kindly, I'm your height and age. (Weight a bit less.) But I can definitely get up myself from any position unless my bad arm is playing up and maybe I'm balancing a drink in the other hand.
If practice doesn't help or you keep falling I'd speak to a doctor

What you lik to @Tonissister is adapted from the idea of the spiral - it's a move in modern dance (adapted from Martha Graham's technique). It's actually a really efficient way of getting up off the floor to standing.

Thinking about a spiral helps with both momentum, and spreading the load of your body - so it's not all in your wrists or legs as you get up. You sort of swing around yourself while pushing upwards.

Surely the best thing to practise is getting up and down off the floor? You can start using hands and knees and move onto doing it without hands from cross legged.

Hope you didn’t bruise yourself too much? I hate falling over, especially slipping.

Pilates and yoga would help with your balance and flexibility.

Do at least 50 squats a day. I do 20-30 every time I clean my teeth.

And practise getting up and down from the floor. It can help to add a sort of spiral movement.
You could have found it easier to get up if you had twisted your torso to one side, hands on the ground. I can't explain it very well, but look it up online. There are you tube videos on how to get up from the floor in an easy spiral.

Just to say, with my health authority, you can self refer for physio so you don’t have to wait for a gp’s approval. Might be worth looking into.

Pilates, but I think the kind my teacher does is functional? Anyway we literally practice getting up. I injured my knee a couple of years ago and she taught me how to get up. In proposal pose, though, can't you push off the upper knee (the one that isn't on the ground)?

I don't think getting up from legs crossed or without using your hands particularly matters, you just need to be able to get up, with your hands, easily.

Yeah, I don't think it matters as such, I just know some people can and I wonder why I can't! I'm quite fit (I think), not overweight, fairly strong, do yoga, ballet fit, Zumba...

I don't think getting up from legs crossed or without using your hands particularly matters, you just need to be able to get up, with your hands, easily.

I always got up with my hands as a kid and didn't get straight up from cross-legged. In fact I used to get terrible pins and needs sitting cross legged as a kid and don't get that now! So if I got straight up I'd have fallen over as one of my legs would be numb. And I'm hypermobile in my knees.

I can do the same stuff at 50 I did mucking about as a nine year old- forward rolls, plough pose and shoulder stands, hand stands and head stands. And things I couldn't do when I was younger like full press-ups and side plank.

I can't get up from legs crossed, not without uncrossing them. How do you do it?

Yoga, pilates or similar. And just practising sitting down and getting up again at home. Your core strength, leg and arm strength must be absolutely awful for 46. I had no problem getting up at that age even when I was obese.

I’ve just tried this and I’m surprised. I can get up from a cross legged sitting position without putting my hands on the floor or leaning on anything. I don’t struggle at being up from a kneeling position with and don’t need to lean on anything at all. And I am far, far from fit. I do not work out, at all. Not I was shocked I could get up without issues. I have lost weight though, down to 12.5 stone from 17.5

It’s probably a combination of things, especially a weak core and possibly your weight distribution. Losing weight will help both your mobility/ability to get back up and your balance. People often don’t realize that most fat just sits on top of your muscles and isn’t actually controlled by anything the way that your skeleton is, so if you start to lose your balance it will quite literally drag you down as your muscles can’t compensate for it. If you are pear-shaped (weight in butt and thighs) it can also impede your range of motion in your legs and hips.

Aside from weight loss, focusing on your core strength and range of motion in your hips/legs will probably be most helpful. I think practicing methods for older people to get up is a good shout for the meantime. Remember, you’re only 46. You can definitely get yourself back to springing up unaided, it will just take a little work. :)

I thought the same thing, that doesn't seem right at all. I don't do any exercise at the moment, am overweight and have diagnosed weaknesses in my hips, glutes, legs etc from my pregnancies and I can get up from kneeling no problem at all, hands free.

I'm glad you posted @Frenchcremefraiche because aged 46 and not being able to get up off the ground or the floor at home is actually quite shocking. I'm also a bit shocked that you can't do 6 floors of stairs. I think you should do them all, not just 3 flights - can you allow extra time for stopping and catching your breath? (Alfred Wainwright great fell walker, wrote that a pause to catch your breath is always excusable, to enjoy the view!

Your heart fitness must be quite low as well. How far do you walk each day? Can you stop using a car, and walk for at least an hour a day (10,000 steps minimum?)

My PT trains me hard, and he also trains a woman who is heading for 90. We both do burpees (he made me do 67 on my birthday - one for each year). My gym friend (who's around 88 I think) does burpees very slowly, but the point is that she can get up off the floor.

So: burpees - do them slowly, break then down into the separate movements required (I wouldn't worry about the jump at the end). Squat, reach forward with your hands, full front body on the floor, then push on your arms & bring first one, then the other leg into a table top position (hands under shoulders, knees under hips, like a crawl position) and use your legs to get you upright.

The strength to get up off the ground is in your glutes, then your arms and back. My pT has me do all sorts of crawling movement patterns as well - good for mobility & getting you used to working your body at different levels.

You say you're doing strength training, but frankly if you're not strong enough to get up off the ground, it's not enough! Are you doing squats with dumbbells or a barbell? Or a weighted back pack if you're at home? Put books or tins of beans in it ....

A proper, full depth squat will help to mobilise your hips. Keep you chest & eye line up, keep both feet on the ground firmly, hinge a bit at the hips - push your butt backwards - then think about dropping your pelvis between your legs, keeping your chest as high as possible & your chin up& eyes up.

The child's squat is habitual in many countries (India, African countries) for many people who squat like that, instead of sitting on a chair. Google it, you'll see. Here's a good discussion of ways for older adults to squat (at 46 you're not actually "older" but your body is behaving as if you are):

https://movement-x.com/older-adults/three-variations-of-the-squat-exercise-for-older-adults/

https://www.hingehealth.com/gb/en/resources/articles/benefits-of-deep-squat/

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=5cf68b8f0ed15ed3&hl=EN&gl=UK&udm=2&sxsrf=ANbL-n52hwZY6yj8-Ls89Lla7sbG6YZQBg:1770040179377&q=squat+sit+pose&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAFvEyldcWJpYolCcWaJQkF-cCgA8GqfDEQAAAA&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiw7YTB-bqSAxUaZ0EAHdGqBfcQrNwCegQIdhAA&biw=1413&bih=793&dpr=2&aic=0

This deep squat feels lovely for your hips. Once you're comfortable in it, you can move around a bit to stretch your sides, or open out your hips a bit. Or can you just sit on the floor more at home? I'm 67 and I tend to sit on the floor more than I sit on my sofa.

If you are doing yoga & pilates & can't get up off the ground, I'd be looking for better instructors, or I'd be working harder! You've had a wake up call, and it's not too late to do something to save your body.

Good luck. Movement is medicine, remember.

dance and parkour are good for this. it sounds a mixture between balance, strength, and agility are needed.

Can you book directly with your NHS physio ie is there one at your GP surgery who you can book with? (at mine you can choose whether you book with a GP, physio, nurse etc). If you can, you could make clear when you request the appointment that you're looking for help with prevention/investigation rather than a simple injury or a recovery programme.