GETTING OFF FLOOR WITH NO HANDS.

[Notveryfit]

Hello, I have been of late trying to get myself more fit and I have noticed the get off the floor with no hands exercise. I can get into what is called the 90 90 position which is one leg bent back at 90 degrees and the other leg the same but in front of you. I have seen pics. etc of people sitting like this then raising them selves up onto their knees but I cannot do this. What must I do to be able to do this. Thank you all for any help.

I did hear a physio talking about this on the radio and he said this is a fad that is injuring people. It comes from cultures who sit on the floor a lot and who do this all their lives. We don’t and so we shouldn’t try. He’s seeing lots of knee and hip injuries with torn knee cartilages thst the require surgery!

Get a PT for a few sessions and get them to show you safe exercises. Your “firm” when doing exercises is vital.

I can’t picture your starting position. Are you doing the splits?

Firstly, don't judge yourself by this one exercise.

I've always been able to do this, even when overweight, because I'm hypermobile. My very slim husband has stiff joints and has never been able to.

In terms of the exercise itself, if you have the flexibility, it's a case of practising the technique and as with any exercise, the fitter you are, the easier it is.

If you are learning to do it, take it step by step and practise the different stages. There are different techniques, the ones that involve going onto your knees are easier than those that involve going onto your feet without an intermediate knees stage.

Pilates.

Do it every day for 10-15 mins you will transform your balance and strength and you will be able to get up off the floor with no hands. It’s simple, safe and will totally transform your body too :)

ETA - having good balance and core strength as you age is vital. It can be the difference between falling and breaking a hip and not.

It's kind of an everything exercise

But if you're struggling with the initial movement, then it core, glutes, hip flexors.

This is interesting

I'm seeing a lot of exercises that people want to use to judge themselves by and quite often they don't make sense - it feels like more how your body is built, so for example we're not all built to be ballet dancers.

It's a good stretch because you're externally rotating one hip and internally rotating the other
Shows up imbalances and weaknesses

A simple and safe exercise to build strength would be to sit on your bed, stand up, sit back down, stand up and repeat until you feel a muscle ache/ fatigue. Do this every morning, gradually increasing reps each day.

No you don’t do. Sit cross legged. Just push straight up using sides of your feet and simultaneously roll them flat. You then are standing with crossed legs. Uncross.

Ok I just did it for you. There’s a slightly dominant foot. That one goes flat faster than the other and the majority of your push is off that one. Leaving the other to uncross and float as you move

It's mostly joint mobility/ flexibility rather than strength. I could do it 9 months pregnant because I'm hypermobile even though I could barely walk to the end of the road.

Can you do a deep squat? Do that 5 times a day for as long as you can each time. Once you can basically sit on your heels with your feet flat you'll find all these silly tricks very easy.

You just have to push forward and up. Momentum, but also

and this is the significant bit:

core strength, spine flexibility and leg strength.

Just keep trying - it takes practice if you're not a regular exerciser.

Are you talking about from cross legged?

OP is talking about doing it from a 90/90 position.

Does rolling onto the behind knee and then pushing up count as doing this successfully? Another method is to sit on the floor on your bottom, feet flat down directly in front as close to the bottom as possible, then push up using only feet (no hands).

Ah, perfect, thanks! @ElectoralControversy

@Hnjk67 I think that counts but I just tried that and it was harder!

Yes. What OP is doing is frankly weird.

Why?

I want to know what this is because I’m intrigued !

@Blahblahblahabla just to add

My sister, who is much fitter than I am, also asked me why I would try to do that. As she can't.

It was covered in a hybrid strength yoga class I did - it's really good for all kinds of strength reasons.

do you see that picture that @ElectoralControversy put on the thread

It's sitting up from that position.

@Hnjk67 I can't sit up from sitting and having my feet as close to me as possible, I have to manoeuvre myself in a different way.

It’s just very strange. I could do it but if your aim is to sit and stand effortlessly without hands then this is not the way lol 😂

We are designed to squat. So to me that’s the making most sense to keep feet together.

I’m in my 60’s and can get up off the floor not using my hands. But not in the way you describe. I don’t think it matters how you do it as long as you can do it. I couldn’t do it at first. Practice every day and you’ll do it eventually. Then keep doing it every day.

Oh, I see

I think this is a good interim exercise that will help ultimately getting off the floor in other ways IYSWIM. So doing a few repetitions of this will really help with the strength you need for the other exercises.

It might be too much to start with trying to get off the floor from cross legged although clearly I have to work on the other one that you said.