If you ever have difficulty standing up from a seated position, this blog post is for you!

Does it take you a few tries to stand up from a low sofa? Do you have to use your hands to really push yourself up from sitting? Do you often feel frustrated that you don't seem to just "pop right up" like you used to? You aren't alone!

Going from sitting to standing is actually one of the most difficult tasks our bodies have to do on a daily basis, from a biomechanical standpoint. It’s even more taxing than going up and down stairs. Luckily, there are several key tips and tricks that can make a huge impact on our ability to get up from sitting. 

If sit-to-stand transfers (as we call them in physical therapy) can be challenging for you, the first thing you can do is become a little more choosy when it comes to where you sit in the first place. The lower a chair or couch is, the more difficult it will be to get up from. Likewise, the more soft a surface is, the more difficult it will be to get up from. So if you’re at your friend’s house and there is a low, squishy sofa - you may want to look for a different seating option. It may seem obvious, but you'll also want to avoid any swivel chairs or rocking chairs, because they are that much more unstable which will make it more work to get up from.

On the other hand, the higher a surface is, and the more firm a surface is - these places are generally much easier to get up from. Another factor to take into consideration is whether the chair or bench has armrests, because the armrests will make it easier for you to use your arms to help push yourself up. 

Now here are the best and most important tips when it comes to standing up from sitting: body mechanics! Remember I said that sit-to-stand transfers are biomechanically a lot of work for our bodies - so this means that our setup and our body mechanics can make a big difference. The reason why this transfer can be so challenging is because in order to be successful, our bodies need to move our center of gravity (which, in sitting, our center of gravity is located in our trunks) over our base of support (which is our feet on the ground). In sitting, our center of gravity (our trunk) is way back in the chair, and our base of support (our feet) is way forward. So we need to use some body mechanics knowledge to our advantage to make this task easier. Here is how we will do that: 

First, when you’re ready to get up from sitting, you’ll want to scoot your bum forward so that it’s near the front edge of your chair or sofa.

Next, slide your feet underneath you. This helps to close the gap between where our center of gravity is (way back in the chair) and where it needs to move to (over our feet). 

Then, and this is key, think to yourself “NOSE OVER TOES.” This simple yet effective phrase will help remind you to lean forward until your nose is directly over your toes. If we fail to lean forward far enough, we cannot successfully stand up, no matter how strong our legs are! Seriously, try it- sit in a chair, and see if you can stand up without leaning your shoulders and trunk forward- bet you can’t!

Now that you’ve got your nose over your toes, stand up with some zip! By this, I mean: don’t move in slow motion; instead, really try to stand up in one fluid motion. The slower you stand up from sitting, the harder it is on your muscles and the more difficulty you’ll have with it. However, when you sit back down, you DO actually want to go slowly. The slower you lower yourself down into the chair, the more control you have over this movement. This is not only safer, but it’s also good for keeping your leg muscles strong. You want to avoid “plopping” down into sitting. 

A lot of times just these tips alone help people to be able to stand up from sitting, without using their hands. I’ve had many patients tell me “I thought I was too weak, but it turns out I just needed to fix my body mechanics!” Of course, leg strength does play a significant role in standing up from sitting, and sometimes, even with proper body mechanics, you may need your arms to help you stand up. If this is the case, it’s a sign you need to build up your leg strength.

Do you have topics that you’d like to see me cover in a future blog post? Email me at [email protected]