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

[Frenchcremefraiche]

Basically that.

I fell over twice yesyerday. I wasnt hurt but couldn't get myself back up from kneeling/proposal style and had to ask strangers for help. I'm 46.

When I got home I tried again and on one side I can just about do it with a lot of effort but on the other I can't. I dont know why, I just cant.

Is it yoga/pilates or something else that will help?

I already walk/swim/strength train several times each week. I'm overweight (working on it).

Dont be concerned about me falling over btw. They were both my own stupidity. One was a slipping on wet paving and the other was treading on my trouser hem.

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 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...

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)?

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.

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.

Pilates and yoga would help with your balance and flexibility.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

@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! 🙈

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.

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.

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.

Squats plain and simple, start with just body weight and work on form so getting nice and low but keeping chest and torso upright.

GP. Now. Or at least tomorrow. this could Be really serious.

you need some tests

If you are already doing strength training, I think you need to change your training approach for that. What kind of strength training/which exercises are you doing?
Not to sound flippant, but why not ask ChatGPT to recommend you exercises that target your specific situation? It’s really usefulness giving starting points for that sort of thing.

I can self-refer to a physiotherapist through my GP surgery. I think falling would be a sufficient reason, although you understand why you fell. I haven't gone through the process but it might be worth exploring. I have PD and go to a Pilates class specifically for people with the condition. We spend quite a bit of time on exercises which help with turning over, sitting up from lying and getting up off the floor.

Lots of good advice on here already. Make sure that every time you get up from a chair, you don’t use your hands. And stand on one leg daily. I do it for a minute each side when I’m brushing my teeth.

I agree with seeing a GP. Surely the vast majority of people your age should be able to get up from the floor.

You can book an appointment with a physio directly, no need to go through the GP. Contact your surgery about it.

They might just give you a few exercises but I assume they’ll also be able to tell you what would be best (like yoga vs Pilates vs PT)

Tbh I simply would start with sitting in the floor at home and getting up. And slowly using let’s say the sofa to help you.
I think many of us are like this. It’s just that we don’t normally fall over and realise how bad things are. We just unconsciously avoid it.

I think many of us are like this. It’s just that we don’t normally fall over and realise how bad things are

She's 46 though, not 86.

A middle aged woman who is fit enough to "walk/swim/strength train several times each week" should be able to get up from the floor.

She also says she doesn't know why she just can't, so it's not because of an injury.

I really don't think many of us are like this.