Bodyweight exercises are great. But most people focus on limited applications in using them to get stronger and fitter. A largely untouched area is doing all manners of movement as a true exploration of what you can do. With this in mind, I set out to come up with as many different ways you can get off of the ground as possible. I stopped at 52, but many more possibilities are available.
I’m going to come straight out and say it – if you have trouble getting off the floor you are not in good shape. Think about the immobile elderly. Often they can have trouble getting out of a chair, let alone off of the ground. But for most of us merely getting off the floor is quite easy. Making the movement more complex and tough to do becomes the challenge.
So, I came up with 52 ways to get up off the floor. I’m not going to spend a lot of time explaining each one, as you’ll be able to see them in the video. This isn’t a complete list of every way you can get off of the ground but it’s a good start. These “get ups” can be used as a pure movement exploration, seeing what is easy to do and what is not, including a few that may be beyond your abilities at this time. Identify these weaknesses and you have something you can work on in your training in the future.
You’ll see that these are broken down in starting from different positions on the ground. Also, you’ll be going to both sides. Not only will these moves take strength (like in the one-limb movements you’ll see), but they’ll also require a good degree of mobility and flexibility. With this type of training you can skip the stretches and mobility drills and just focus on movement.
When practicing with these myself I found that if I did one of each, getting up and down the same way, and strung it all together that it would be quite the workout. For some it will be easy. For others you’ll see just how little coordination you have in your non-dominant side. Personally, I was sweating by the end of filming this video that demonstrates all 52.
From Sitting Position With Legs in Front
1. Rollback to momentum up to feet in squat
2. Rollback to momentum up to right one leg squat
3. Rollback to momentum up to left one leg squat
4. Bend left leg. Place right hand back, lift hips, and get up
5. Bend right leg. Place left hand back, lift hips, and get up
6. Bend right leg. Place right hand back, lift hips, and get up
7. Bend left leg. Place left hand back, lift hips, and get up
8. Place right hand back, lift hips with straight legs, and step left leg around to lunge up
9. Place left hand back, lift hips with straight legs, and step right leg around to lunge up.
10. Roll back for momentum, straddle legs, roll forward, and press up
11. Place both hands back, crab up, and bring left leg under to stand
12. Place both hands back, crab up, and bring right leg under to stand
13. Place both hands back, crab up, walking feet in, then come to squat and stand
14. Roll backwards and stand
From Cross-Legged Sitting Position
15. Cross-legged stand-up with right leg in front
16. Cross-legged stand-up with left leg in front
From Seiza Posture
17. Step to forward kneel with right leg
18. Step to forward kneel with left leg
19. Step to side kneel with right leg
20. Step to side kneel with left leg
21. Jump to squat
22. Jump to one-legged squat right
23. Jump to one-legged squat left
24. Come up on toes and rock back to ball of foot, squat, and stand
25. Come up on toes and rock back to full squat, then stand
26. Place hands down, come to all fours, push back to stand
27. Roll over left shoulder, then stand
28. Roll over right shoulder, then stand
29. Forward somersault, then stand
30. Roll over right side, then stand
31. Roll over left side, then stand
From Lying on Back
32. Backward roll over right shoulder
33. Backward roll over left shoulder
34. Get momentum, then roll up to squat and stand
35. Roll to left side, place hand down, and get up in squat
36. Roll to right side, place hand down, and get up in squat
37. Roll to left side, place hand down, and get up in lunge
38. Roll to right side, place hand down, and get up in lunge
From Lying on Front
39. Pushup, then squat up
40. Left one arm pushup, then squat up
41. Right one arm pushup, then squat up
42. Superman pushup, then walk up
43. Wide pushup, then walk up
44. Get momentum to do the worm, then jump feet to stand
45. Pushup, then lunge right up
46. Pushup, then lunge left up
47. Right one arm pushup, then lunge right up
48. Left one arm pushup, then lunge left up
From Lying on Back to a Bridge
49. Pushup to bridge, then stand up
50. Pushup to bridge, then kick over to standing
These can be made even more complex by combining different moves into them. Here are two options that involve a handstand:
From Seiza Posture
51. Come to all fours, kick both legs up to handstand, do a negative press to standing
52. Come to all fours, kick both legs up to handstand, fall into bridge, then stand up
Play around with some or all of these. Please post your results or what you learn about yourself and your movement in the comments below.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
