Take a Stand

Categories: Blog Jan 11, 2015

[caption id="attachment_765" align="alignnone" width="350"] Stand strong![/caption]

If you could pick one movement, or one "exercise", that was the most important movement for you to own, what would it be? I guess another way to ask this is, "What is the one movement that makes the biggest difference in your life?" Is it squats? The deadlift? Bench press? No. It is none of these.

Once we have a foundation of Original Strength, I think getting up from the ground is the most important "movement" for any of us to own. I'm not necessarily talking about the turkish get-up. That's a fine exercise, but I'm talking about simply being able to rise up from the ground, from whatever position you might find yourself in.

The ability to move from being on the ground to standing is the one thing that will help you keep longevity. Owning that skill will determine whether or not you can enjoy life at an advanced age.That is, the easier you can move from the ground to standing, and the more ways you have within your movement capability to execute this ability, the better off you are and the better chances you have at living life when you're older.

Studies have been done that reveal a correlation between life expectancy and moving from sitting on the floor to standing. The easier a person can do this, the longer they are expected to live. This alone could point to the importance of being able to get up off the ground, however, life is more than just a length of time. Life is also a quality of enjoyment. Your quality of life depends on your ability to move well and be strong. Getting up and down from the floor requires both strength and mobility. The more strength and mobility you have, the more ways you get up and down from the ground.

Think about it. When you were a baby, you spent at a few years learning and mastering how to get up and down from the floor. The more you practiced standing, the more you practiced getting up, the stronger you became. This daily practice eventually gave you a body that was quite strong, mobile and resilient. Today, as an adult, this same practice can help return to you a very strong, capable body that is able to live a life of strength and health; a body that can enjoy a quality of life, not just a time of life.

If you don't yet practice getting up from the floor, you should really investigate adding this "practice" into your movement toolbox. Explore how many ways you can go from the floor to standing: lying on your back, lying on your belly, one hand, no hands, one leg, no legs, whatever ways your creative brain will allow you to think up. The more ways you have to stand and the easier they are, the healthier you are.

This is the one skill that will allow you to have a life worth living, should living life be something you really want to do in your 80s and 90s, or even your 100s. We should always be strong and able. The ground should be our friend; it is really our training ground.

Become strong from the ground up so you can live life on your feet. Learn all the ways you can to stand. And when you have done all, stand strong!

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