Is floor phobia – a sign of the end ?

For many people, the idea of spending time on the floor evokes a minor panic…..

The phobia is not just because it is dirty………. it’s difficult. It takes musculo-skeletal fitness, to drop to the floor and then rise.

But, the more proficient you are at doing it – the more likely you are to be around for the long haul. This is the finding of a group of Brazilian physicians, who have nicknamed this no cost test… the sit-rise test.

Taking the sit-rise test

“Without worrying about the speed of movement, try to sit and then to rise from the floor, using the minimum support that you believe is needed.”

Get a “friend” to observe how you do, they need to tally up how many times you use a hand or a knee for support.

To start off with, you have a score of 5 for each move i.e. the going down and the getting up. Each time you use a knee or a hand for support, you lose a point.

A perfect score is a 10. An 8 is still pretty okay, anything below 6 – you’re in a little trouble.

PS. Do watch the surface you try this out on. We initially tried it on the kitchen floor, the hidden layers of soap, nearly turned it into the sit-rise-splat test.

Here is a short clip of someone doing the sitting-rising test

Cheaper than an MRI

The Brazilian doctors found this no cost test, was able to reliably predict a person’s STAYING POWER. They scored 2002 adults, both men and women, ranging in age from 51 to 80 years in 2005. They then kept tabs on them – recording all deaths. During the 6 and a half year follow up period, 159 of the people who had been tested, died.

Those with the lowest sit-rise test scores, were way more likely to no longer be rising every day, at the end of the study period.

The test was not perfect, two of the dearly departed, actually scored a 10 on the test.

But, since the test only takes 2 minutes to do and costs absolutely nothing, it is a fun way to check up on your health status, without spending a fortune.

Musco-skeletal fitness is important too

The health world is more often than not, fixated with cardio-vascular fitness – how you cope on a treadmill, gets way more attention, than whether you can get out of the chair.

Musco-skeletal fitness impacts your ability to perform a wide range of activities needed for daily living. Scoring low on this fitness test, seriously impacts on your quality of life, but this research suggests it also impacts on the quantity of life.

Make sure you’re able to pass the sit-rise test with flying colours.

So what is your score ?

I can manage a 10, but getting up with no hands, is no joke.

My 81 year old Mom, needs two knees to go down and a knee/hand move to get up – leaving her with a total score of 6. Not too shabby for a seriously old, lady !

Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention (2012) 13 December issue, Brito LBB, Ricardo DR, Araujo DSMS, Ramos PS, Myers J, Soares de Arajuo CG

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