This One Daily Practice Can Improve Your Mobility As You Age

Longevity is often associated with complex routines, high-tech gadgets, or all-consuming protocols—but what if one of the most powerful longevity tools was as simple as sitting on the floor? 

At this year's Revitalize summit in Miami, mobility coach and bestselling author Juliet Starrett joined mindbodygreen co-founder and co-CEO Jason Wachob to discuss the urgent necessity of having mobility practices—and revealed one daily habit that's easy, accessible, and comes with some serious health benefits. 

Falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide, second only to road traffic injuries, according to the World Health Organization1. 

Research also shows that if you're over 65, there's a 25% chance you'll experience a fall. If you fall once, studies show your risk of falling again doubles2. 

If you fall and break your hip, there's a 30 to 40% chance you'll die within a year—not necessarily from the fall itself but from complications like infection, surgery, immobility, and even depression.

All of this highlights one simple truth: If you want to live well—and live independently—as you age, you need to reduce your falling risk. 

"The National Institute on Aging believes that all this fall risk is happening for three big reasons: lack of strength, lack of balance, and lack of mobility," Starrett says. 

For further proof, just look to populations in which floor sitting is a common practice. 

"In cultures where people sleep on the ground, toilet on the ground, and eat on the ground, the fall risk in the elderly is near zero," she says. 

Why does this matter? Because modern life has moved us into chairs, cars, and couches—often keeping our joints locked at 90-degree angles. 

Here's the good news: "Unlike muscle mass and bone density, your mobility doesn't have to decline with age. Not only can you maintain full mobility as you get older—you can actually improve it if you've lost it," she says.

Of course, to maintain full mobility, you have to put in the work.

"The Sit and Rise Test is based on a 2012 study3 showing that the ability to get up and down from the ground is a significant predictor of overall health and mortality," notes Starrett. 

Looking at musculoskeletal fitness indicators as a predictor of all-cause mortality, the researchers evaluated over 2K individuals aged 51-80. After rating the study participants' ability to perform the Sit and Rise Test, they followed up several years later and found that better scores in the test were strongly correlated with improved survival rate. In fact, each unit increase in the test saw a 21% improvement in survival rate. 

"It is the greatest and simplest way to get an insight into your own mobility," she says.

So, how do you do it? Simple: "Cross one foot over the other, then lower yourself to the ground with control," she says. "So, you lower yourself to the ground, and then you stand back up, ideally without putting a hand or knee on the ground." 

In the 2012 study, they ranked individuals from 0 to 10, deducting points if support (i.e., hands or knees) was used. If you want to track your ability and progress, you can judge yourself using the same metrics. 

"My favorite mobility practice—something everyone can do and has time for—is spending 30 minutes a day sitting on the floor," she says. "There's no magic way to do it. In fact, the best way is to keep changing positions. Sit cross-legged, sit 90 long. Your hips and your low back will thank you. Sitting on the floor is one of the most powerful physical practices that I do."

Want to make this even easier to fit into your schedule? Combine your floor sitting practice with your Sit and Rise Test.

We've become pretty strong advocates for following a strength training program. That's because it's shown to improve overall health in a wide variety of metrics—from bone health to mental health. 

It can also complement your mobility practice. 

To support mobility and longevity, aim to move your body as much as possible—and do so in ways that move your muscles and joints through the full spectrum of their range. One way to make sure you're doing that daily? Just a little bit of floor time. Done consistently and intentionally, floor time can restore your body's natural capacity to move with freedom.