Struggling to Get Up Off the Floor? Here’s How to Make It Easier

You sat down on the floor to cuddle your dog or hang with your kid. All was well until it was time to get up — but you couldn’t.

Struggling to get up from the floor is “not common for a functional, healthy human, but it is common in our modern culture where most people have adapted to a sitting lifestyle,” says Chad Walding, DPT, cofounder of the health-and-wellness company NativePath.

“This chronically hunched position and stagnant lifestyle causes our bodies to negatively adapt as we lose strength and mobility in key areas that make natural movement like getting up and down from the floor possible,” Walding says.

Fortunately, most people can regain their ability to get up off the floor by doing some basic strength and flexibility exercises. It’ll take a bit of effort, but it’s definitely doable.

However, if the exercises described here are too difficult or cause pain, you may need to see a healthcare professional for an evaluation and personalized exercise recommendations. And if exercise causes chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, or lightheadedness, you should see a doctor before continuing.

Build More Full-Body Strength

Do you tend to “plop” when sitting down, whether on a chair, in your car, or on the floor? Do you also find it tough to get up once you’ve sat down? If you answered yes to one or both of those questions, there might be a simple fix: strength training.

For some people, the inability to get up from the floor is simply a matter of muscular strength. A consistent resistance-training routine can help you gain the strength you need to get up from the floor with ease.

Fix It

Walding and Danya Douglas Hunt, a physical performance coach, recommend these exercises for building strength to properly get up from the floor.

‌1. Lunge‌

1. Start with your feet hip-width apart and step forward.
2. Hold this position, then bend both knees to lower your body toward the ground, as low as you can go comfortably. Keep your back in a neutral position throughout the movement. Over time, you want your back knee to kiss the ground.
3. Straighten your legs to stand back up.

Tip

This is a static lunge, and after you master this, you can do a walking lunge, moving forward and bringing your back leg forward into the next lunge.

‌2. Sit-to-Stand Squat‌

1. Set up a chair facing away from a wall.
2. Sit down, then stand up. Focus on lowering your body slowly to the chair (no plopping!) and driving through the heels to return to standing.
3. As you get comfortable at that height, you’ll be able to use a lower chair over time.

‌3. Glute Bridge‌

1. Lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, gently rock your pelvis upward as if you’re tilting a bowl of soup toward your head.
2. Begin to lift your hips off the floor as you continue to roll up the spine, segment by segment.
3. Lift your hips as high as you can and squeeze your glutes, then hold.
4. Gently roll down the spine and bring your hips down to the floor for one rep.
5. Repeat for 10 to 15 reps for two to three sets.

‌4. Wall Push-Up‌

1. Stand 6 to 12 inches away from a wall and place your arms on the wall. Your arms should make a 90-degree angle with your body.
2. Bend your elbows to lower your body toward the wall; be careful not to go too fast.
3. Press back up so that your arms are straight.
4. Aim for two sets of 10 reps.

Tip

Once wall push-ups are easy, you can move down to a kitchen table, then down to a chair, then lower until you get down to the floor.

‌5. Plank‌

1. Get on all fours, facing the floor. Lower your elbows and forearms to the floor, and extend your legs, so that you’re balanced on your toes. Lock your legs straight and squeeze your glutes. You should be holding yourself in a straight line from head to hips to heels.
2. Brace your core as if someone were going to punch you in the stomach.
3. Apply a “pull” force with your elbows, where you bring them toward your toes.
4. Breathe and stay stable as you continue to breathe.
5. Try for three rounds of 20 to 30 seconds each.

Work on Mobility and Flexibility

For some people, the reason they can’t get up off the floor easily is because of tightness in their joints.

“Getting off the floor relies on good ankle mobility and knee mobility to get from the deep bend to standing,” Hunt says. “Our neck, lower back, and knees are meant to be stable, while our upper back, hips, and ankles are meant to be mobile. When there’s an imbalance in any of those parts of the body, that’s when a breakdown happens.”

“If we don’t use our full range of motion, our muscles get weaker and our joints get stiffer,” Hunt says.

Fix It

A variety of exercises can increase your range of motion and improve your ability to get up from the floor. Our experts recommend the following:

‌1. Hip Flexor Stretch‌

1. Stand tall, then take a medium step forward.
2. Tilt your tailbone forward to gently stretch the front of your hip.
3. To enhance the stretch, you can squeeze your back glute.
4. Repeat with the other foot forward.

‌2. 90/90 Stretch‌

1. Sitting on the floor, extend one leg in front of you with your knee bent at 90 degrees and your outer thigh resting on the ground.
2. Position your other leg to your side, also bent at 90 degrees, so your inner thigh is on the ground.
3. Keep your torso facing forward and bend at the hip toward the front knee to create a gentle stretch in the hip.
4. Try for 30 seconds to two minutes on each side for two to three sets.

‌3. Hip Internal Rotation‌

1. Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat, and hands behind you with arms straight.
2. Gently move your knees from side to side.
3. Exhale as you take your knees down to the ground and try to keep your hips level on the ground.
4. Continue moving back and forth for two to three minutes.

Focus on Balance

Balance and proprioception (your ability to understand where your body is in space) are critical to your ability to get off the ground. As you might guess, strength and mobility both play a role in balance skills — or lack thereof.

Fix It

Your muscles have to be strong and your joints have to be supple to maintain balance, Hunt says. Some great exercises for improving balance include all of the strengthening and mobility exercises above, as well as the single-leg balance and single-leg toe touch.

‌1. Single-Leg Balance‌

1. You can start by using external help, like holding onto a chair or a wall.
2. Lift your foot just an inch off the ground, and once you get comfortable, you can work up to balancing while your hand just hovers off that external object.
3. Work up to balancing on each leg for one minute at a time, but you can start with just 10-second increments.

‌2. Single-Leg Toe Touch‌

1. Assume the single-leg balance position and hinge at the hips, reaching down as far as you can. You can hold onto a wall for assistance if you need to.
2. Only reach as far as you can go without pain in your hamstrings. If you’re really flexible, you should be able to reach your toes, but it’s all right if you can’t.
3. Do two sets of 10 toe touches on each leg.

See a Doctor for Joint Pain

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If you have persistent joint pain, you should talk to your healthcare provider about a diagnosis and treatment options. If you know you have arthritis, you can ask your primary care provider for a referral to a physical therapist who can help you learn how to get off the floor with less pain.

In some states, you don’t need a physician’s referral to see a physical therapist. You can find therapists in your area by using this online search tool from the American Physical Therapy Association.

Treatments for other causes of joint pain may also include physical therapy, but you should get a diagnosis from your healthcare provider before trying to rehabilitate a painful joint.

The Takeaway

• Regular strength training and flexibility exercises can significantly improve your ability to get up off the floor by increasing muscular strength and joint mobility.
• Incorporating balance exercises, such as single-leg balance holds, can enhance stability, which helps with floor-to-standing transitions.
• If joint pain persists while trying to exercise, it’s important to consult a healthcare professional to determine the cause and best treatment.