When did getting up off the floor become such a freaking problem?

[LuckyCharms]

I laid down on the floor to pet my dog.

Thought I was going to have to call the paramedics to stand back up again.

I've been working out too.

It apparently isn't working.

[pfitz59]

1. I roll on my side

curl my knees. then roll halfway over. enough to get one knee and a hand down. then push upright. no more springing up.

[LuckyCharms]

6. I do something like that.

All kinds of contortions that involve using arm strength to get up. Arms are good. Legs are good. Back is not good.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. The body, sometimes, does not listen to the brain.

Hope you got off.....the floor.

[LuckyCharms]

5. Now that I think of it...

My serious back problems started in 2015, when I did a ton of remodeling on my house.

I had the brush attachment on the vacuum, and there were about 20 pairs of shoes on a shoe rack in a closet near where I was working.

The shoes were covered in construction dust, so I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor vacuuming them.

No one was home.

I got stuck on the floor for 2 hours until my wife got home. I tried everything. No dice.

Now I'm depressed thinking that I was old 10 years ago.

But as I think more...I've had periods since then where I did fine.

Weird how aging works.

[NewLarry]

61. Aging is not a binary thing

where one day, wham, you're old! It's a roller-coaster with up and down slopes, curves, and the occasional moment of terror. But still, I'd rather get old than not.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Oh, I hear you, my dear LuckyCharms!

Strength is important but so is balance and knowing how. I've seen YouTube tutorials on this topic. I'm afraid to try them without someone really strong to help me in case I can't do it!

Best of luck.

[LuckyCharms]

14. Yes! Please make sure you have someone with you Peg!

nothing worse than getting stuck on the floor.

Hey, you might surprise yourself though on how well you do with the tutorials!

Good luck, Peggy.

[some_of_us_are_sane]

4. Sounds familiar!

I have to get up on my knees, then crawl to somewhere so I can put the palms of each hand on two things stabilzing and higher...... then PU-L-L-L myself up.... (knees yelling and creaking all the while like OLD DOOR HINGES THAT NEEDS OILING.) ROFL!!!

[LuckyCharms]

12. Even when I get up out of a chair...

my body sounds like a drum solo. Cymbals and all.

[some_of_us_are_sane]

17. LOL! Yes, and even

in restaurants, to rise out of a booth the creaks are so loud I'm afraid people will think I'm farting!

[Ocelot II]

30. My knees sound like bubble wrap.

And I moan a little bit.

[erronis]

24. If I bend over (or fall over), I try to take care of anything at the ground level while I'm there.

Maybe look for things under the bed or furniture.

[AloeVera]

27. Lol. Yup. May as well make the best use of my time down there...

Since it will be a while before I can get back up again...

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

53. 😃

[Luman]

7. Practice

Tried to get up when I was 55. Started practicing that and stretching. Move it swing it or lose it.
75 now practice every day! Good luck with your new hobby!

[LuckyCharms]

15. My problems started at 57...

I try to do all kinds of stretching exercises now.

Welcome to DU!

[Ziggysmom]

45. Welcome to DU!

Yes, practice crawling on your hands and knees to eventually pull yourself up to something very sturdy is definitely helpful. After I had a hip replacement my surgeon stressed doing that type of exercise daily. It makes you feel less fearful and more confident if you do actually fall, knowing you can help yourself.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

52. Movement is medicine!!!!

[True Dough]

8. Just don't tell us

you cocked your leg and peed on the couch while you were down there!

[LuckyCharms]

10. Was that wrong to do?

[True Dough]

33. Urine your own home, Lucky

It's up to you to decide what constitute acceptable behavior!

[LuckyCharms]

34. Can I do it in your own home?

[True Dough]

38. I'd be willing to compromise

and let you in our backyard to do your business.

[LuckyCharms]

39. In this weather?

[True Dough]

41. How long

can you hold it?

[True Dough]

47. You do

have two hands, don't ya?

[Skittles]

9. hey

make it a daily thing, lay down on the floor and get up

seriously, it will do ya good

[LuckyCharms]

11. Skittles...

Why do you want to hurt me?

[Skittles]

13. STOP SCREAMING OR I'LL STOP!!!

I would be yelling that in record time with you.

[IA8IT]

18. 73 and chainsaw day cleaning up dead ash tree mess. Will update getting out of bed tomorrow.....

If I remember or can.

Getting off floor seems a bridge too far.

Leftover lasagna and some wine and now over and out for the evening.

[Skittles]

19. I do daily exercise that sometimes includes pilates

getting up and down is pretty standard stuff......well, for now it is

[IA8IT]

32. Daily is my problem. Slacked off exercise after Thanksgiving. Now my jeans are too tight.

Making family size casseroles living alone in cold weather is tubby season for me.

[Skittles]

37. OK I am challenging you

new year starting - get back in the game! You don't have to go all out - just get moving

[IA8IT]

54. Deal!!

[Skittles]

55. outstanding!

I think a big problem with New Year's resolutions is people go all out, from nothing to overwhelming, and give it all up in short order

just start with a 10 minute walk or so, ease into it! It's good for the body and soul, yes indeed.

[The Blue Flower]

16. I'm 76 and care for my baby granddaughter

Last year I could get down on the floor to play and then get up without thinking about it. This year, she can run out of the room and be all the way across the house before I can manage to get back up on my feet. I'm also having balance issues. I'm not as active as I once was, but I am working on strengthening my legs.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

50. The kids in my neighborhood kneel/lie directly on the sidewalk to chalk it

No padding under the knees. My knees scream just seeing this.

Those bouncy young joints..I had them once.

[patphil]

20. As I got older (79), I noticed that the floor is farther away than it used to be.

It must be, because it takes a lot longer to get down to the floor, and then get back up again.
If it gets any worse, I'll have to pack a lunch.

[GreenWave]

21. Planks!

[NotHardly]

22. Time is a bitch

[erronis]

23. I watch this and marvel. "Sit To Rise". Only in my dreams.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

70. This from some kid who's probably in his 40's.

Wait a few decades. Then tell me how easy it is to sit with ankles crossed, much less all the other stuff.

[PatSeg]

25. The first time it happened to me

it was such a shock. It was like certain muscles just quit working. I don't think anything quite prepared me for getting old. Inside I am pretty much the same person, but my body doesn't agree.

[reACTIONary]

26. I know, right?

sheesh what's becoming of me?

[AverageOldGuy]

28. I'm 81

Old soldier, ran marathons for 20 years, moderate workout 5 days a week.

Getting up off the floor is the most difficult thing I do. In fact, I returned this afternoon from grocery shopping. Had to kneel on the kitchen floor to put groceries in fridge, real struggle to get up — walk on my knees to the kitchen island and pull up on the counter.

[Figarosmom]

29. I always make sure I'm near something i can use

For leverage. Falling would be a problem though. Last time I fell I did consciously try to land in a position and place that would help me get up though. Don't know if I could always do that though

[LudwigPastorius]

65. Yep, you've got to crawl to a straight-backed chair and grab the seat to help pull yourself up.

(I know, easier said than done, sometimes.)

[chouchou]

31. A few months ago, I was thinking of putting a block and tackle lift thing, attached to the ceiling.

My husband usually has a great sense of humor....not that day.

[pbmus]

35. Your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill....

[LuckyCharms]

36. I've loved this song for years.

[pbmus]

44. When I saw my father at 85 dance like this, I almost lost it

[xuplate]

40. Stretchs for hip flexible help a lot with that--and yoga squat poses.

[dflprincess]

43. I make a point of getting down on the floor at least once a day

to make sure I can get back up. Somedays it seems easier than others.

My favorite scene in the latest "Freaky Friday" movie was when the teenager inhabiting Jamie Lee Curtis' body discovers she can't get up from the floor. Says something like "I want to, this body won't."

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

51. Good plan. I do floor exercises, lying on my back, kicking legs in the air

All sorts of movements

[IcyPeas]

46. Getting out of the bathtub is quite a dance too.

[lastlib]

48. NEVER get down on the ground/floor.....

...without a DEFFINITE plan for how to get back up!

For me, it started 6-1/2 years ago when I broke my leg. It never healed right, and I walk like a Neanderthal man.

[Tree Lady]

49. Highly recommend better bones and balance

Class. My funky older teacher even funkily videotaped a class on YouTube look for Gary Shade.

He is almost 78 and teaches our class, when he forgets a step we remind him and laugh.

Life is too short to be stuck on the ground

[buzzycrumbhunger]

56. Since forever

I shattered my left knee—working as a unit commissioner for the Boy Scouts, of all things… When they say their insurance covers “everything,” they mean $1000 max.

But I digress. I had reconstruction and a looooong rehab. Have basically no cartilage left at this point, so I usually wear a hinged brace to keep the upper and lower halves walking in the same direction.

Needless to say, I haven’t been on the ground since (except for the time I fell on our effed-up driveway and miraculously didn’t break anything else except skin) because I can’t kneel and sure as hell can’t get up unassisted.

I obviously exist so that people like you can feel like you’re in pretty good shape in comparison.

[HappyH]

57. When it is cold I have to get down on

the floor several times a day to tend to our little woodstove. It is considerably harder this winter than last. There is a small table close that I can use to push myself up. I have learned that I cannot use the dog or the woodstove to push up.

[Dear_Prudence]

58. Books!

I have artificial knees, so getting off the floor is really tough. One trick I learned off Youtube helped. If you fall, you slither your way over to the book case. You sit up on the floor. You place a book under one buttocks. Then you lean over and slide a book under the other buttocks, then lean back over to stack a book atop the first book, and so forth until you are elevated enough on the two stacks of books to stand. Well, crazy, but whatever works. (I read all your ideas, just in case I fall with no books nearby!) 📙+📘+📙 = 📚

[phxjurist]

59. Do squats. A lot and often. Maybe 10 reps 3 times a day.

[Joinfortmill]

60. Gotta get up the 'old folks' way...

Roll over onto your hands and knees. Reach up and hold onto the sofa with one hand, or both hands if needed, pull yourself up, and quickly flop onto the sofa. Voila! Now, don't do that again! Lol.

[Golden Raisin]

62. 76 with balance issues plus lousy feet

and a lot of huffing, puffing and mental/physical planning getting up/down from the floor. But I still get down (slowly and deliberately) on my hands and knees to clean the kitchen and bathroom floors. Perhaps foolish/stubborn but proves to myself that I can still actually do it. I live in Manhattan and the same goes for negotiating subway stairs and getting on and off trains or buses. Stairs anywhere have become a major hurdle. Thank God for banisters!

[ColoringFool]

63. Just Got My First Cane! 👩‍🦳👩‍🦯 Well, At Least I've Lived ...

Long enough to need one, haha! 😆

[Laffy Kat]

64. We all need to practice getting up.

It kills my knees.

[Grokenstein]

66. Ah, that was the day I officially became Old

Tripped on some uneven sidewalk while carrying a fragile item, and instinctively held the item up with both arms as I hit the concrete. Couldn't get up for several minutes. Pair of jerks sitting in a truck less than thirty feet away didn't even laugh, just watched as I alternated between struggling and resting. Bruised ribs didn't get better for days. Fun!

One night not long after, I was speed-walking around the workplace after shift for exercise, went around a large container and tripped over a black vehicle chock in its shadow. Down I go again, this time with the bonus penalty of a heavy backpack I can't wriggle out of. An entire van with a sanitation crew drives by--inches from my head--and once again everyone gawks but nobody stops or helps. I think it was the blind rage that finally got me up on my feet...a few minutes later.

Now it's a daily ritual of Tylenol and Aspercreme and waiting for the next joint to flare up...and the one that, at long last, never gets better. In the meantime, I stupidly adhere to Batman's bullheaded philosophy of persisting into an early grave:

Batman: "You don't ignore pain, you use it."
Superman: "For what?"
Batman: "Motivation."

[Yonnie3]

67. Should I include my bar hopping days in my answer? n/t

[OldBaldy1701E]

68. Tell me about it.

I have gone from someone who rode his bike for hours and loved to hike into the wilds and just wander. I used to climb trees and scale slopes.

Now? I can barely get on the floor (other than falling, of course), much less get up from it without some serious effort. Lots of grunting and 'ready, set, GO' type crap.

It is really doing a number on my mental state because I am just not in the habit of asking someone to walk with me or to help me bring some bags back from the car.

And, it royally sucks.

[Faux pas]

69. I just don't get on the floor any more

lucky for me my Kitty Boy accommodates me by jumping up on my lap.