How to Get Up From the Floor for Seniors

In this Video...
Coach Sheree shares simple, progressive exercises for women 60+ to practice the essential skill of how to get up from the floor for seniors safely. A must-watch for longevity, mobility, and independence.

Mobility Training |  Core Strength  |  Floor Confidence

How to Get Up From the Floor for Seniors: Readable Version

Hi there, it's Coach Sheree here. How are you going? I want to show some of you that may be interested how to get down and up off the floor today and ways to strengthen that body so you can get up okay. Many people struggle at certain times of their lives in their 50s, 60s to get down and up off the floor.

Why This Skill Matters

It's an essential skill as a registered nurse and also a trainer, I am very aware of the long life falls that we have coming in and sometimes people will fall and they will stay in that one spot for up to three days and it is not a good look and it's not a good outcome usually when you've laid for that long. Now most people aren't there for that long but it can be.

I see too many of them to think that it's just a few people. So we're going to have a look at how to get up from the floor for seniors today. If it's not for you then look at your mother, your father, your grandparents, somebody that you can hand this on to and go have a look at this and see what you can do.

Starting on a Bed or Firm Surface

So I'm going to show you first of all different things. This is my pretend bed here. I'm going to show you some certain things that I would do.

Maybe lying on your bed first of all just to get a bit stronger but it can be a firm. You want something firm. So if your bed's too soft probably not ideal.

It can be a firm couch, can be a firm table, can be firm if you can't get down to the floor right now. Get onto your bed. I'm going to show you some things to do.

Rolling Side to Side

So let's just pretend this is my bed and I'm now lying on my bed. So I want you to start from being on your bed and from here we're just going to take roll. So learn to roll side to side.

You can bend up those legs or you can have those legs straight or you can have those legs in the air even but just learning to take that whole body side to side. Now if you can't take that whole body side to side you can take that top leg, fling it over to help bring you side to side then bring that leg up and flick it over. Otherwise just taking those knees up.

You might want a pillow under your head. I just don't have a pillow under mine but keep your head nice and comfortable.

Progressing to Elbows and Hands

Now if you can do that well then it's time for you to start to come up onto one elbow.

Go over the other side. Come up on one elbow. Up on one elbow.

Sorry I'm rolling out of the camera here as I roll side to side and getting too enthusiastic. But see if you can just come up onto one elbow. That takes a lot of work through that arm so we've got core work going on as we roll.

We come up on an elbow and then from here from that elbow see if you can actually come up onto that hand. So you can push up with the other arm if you want. I don't mind.

But then we're going to do all that again. We're going to roll side to side. Come up on that elbow.

Using Cushions for Knee Support

Now from here I know that some of you will complain you've got sore knees so if you want to practice this with a cushion under your knees please feel free.

But in this way this is how I teach my clients and it seems to work quite well.

Rolling Back to Knees

So from here and if you need to practice that a few times go onto your bum roll over onto your side. Come over onto your knees.

So bum over from here over onto your knees and then of course when you're doing it one side do it the other side because in a fall you could have a broken leg on one side and then you might need to learn to do it on the other side.

Putting the Steps Together

So this is all chunks of movement in being able to train that movement to the degree that we can get up off the floor. So when you're good at doing this on your bed you can then get down on the floor.

Now I'm going to need to move now from here I'll show you what to do next.

So from here I'll come over here and I'm at the end of the bed. I'm going to push myself up and standing up.

Key Muscle Groups to Strengthen

So some of the things we need to get stronger with are our arm, our core and getting our legs just to work for that last bit. I'm going to show you the same thing on the floor but if you can't get on the floor yet practice this on your bed then move to the floor and I'll show you how to do it.

Getting Down to the Floor

If you need a chair to help you down to the floor however you get down.

I like to just take my hands and swing my bottom under but you might need to have a chair where you kind of come down onto one knee and come down but however you can get down to the floor just glide yourself down. When we're down on the floor this is what we're going to do.

Floor Roll and Push-up Technique

So you're going to lie on the floor, you're going to roll, roll. If you get good at that you're going to come up on that elbow. You can try that a few times.

From there we're just going to come over onto our front. So when we're over on our front we are then going to curl those toes under and we're going to push up with our hands and our bum is way up in the air. So we're going to take that bum right up.

Now this is what you might have to practice for a while. If you can't do that and you can't get your bum up you can barely come off the floor just practice coming up off the floor with those knees. 

Coming up off the floor with the knees until you get stronger and stronger and then you'll find that if you get stronger through these arms and this core is working every time I lift up my knees then we can come up from there taking our legs.

Walking Hands Back to Stand

We can bend them and walk our hands back and standing all the way up.

That's how I've trained many of my clients and they seem to do really well with it but it's just practice, practice, practice.

Chair Based Strength Tips

If you can't get on the floor just get a chair and we'll have a look at that. So when we're trying to strengthen our body to be able to get up off the floor as I said we need a bit of a strong arms here and then also our core needs to work and our legs are going to do some work as well.

So I suggest at home if you want to get a bit stronger for this just have a plank over the top of your chair and you can hold if you don't have the side bits there then just put your hands on the chair just making sure you don't dip those hips down.

Core and Mountain Climbers

So holding up those hips and pulling the belly button in towards the spine.

So I want you to think about switching on your core and from here you can even stay here in that plank and bring some knees in. So some little mountain climbers. So those knees can come across opposite they can come straight in or they can come up with one knee to the same arm.

Chair Sit-to-Stand for Leg Strength

Then from there just the good good old sit stand from the chair to get those legs a bit stronger.

Sitting down pushing through the heels standing up squeezing that bum cheek at the end. Always think about those glutes want to be worked. So this is what you would be doing.

Training Movements, Not Muscles

So everything all things that we train are training movements not a specific muscle. So we're trying to train movements. 

Next Steps & Feedback

Let me know in the comments how you the how to get up from the floor for seniors article, and let me know if there's something stopping you from getting up off the floor. It could be at first you do need to let yourself down with a chair so you can get down on the floor but when you're on the floor or on your bed practice that roll side to side. So side to side coming up onto the elbow over onto your knees and then from there here bum is up and you walk those feet back.

Let me know what you think.