Can You Pass The Sitting-Rising Test?
Movement is life. Being able to use the muscles and joints of your body adequately doesn’t just correlate with how you feel. Lack of mobility and movement has far reaching effects on human health. Even your ability to sit down and stand up can affect your performance, quality of life, and life expectancy. Enter the Sitting-Rising Test….
This is a simple test you can challenge yourself (and your friends and family) with:
Step one: sit down on the ground. Step 2: stand up.
That’s it! I told you it was simple!
The Sitting-Rising Test or SRT for short.
I bet you’re thinking: well most people can sit down and then stand back up…what’s the point?
A Brazilian physician performed a study on over 2000 individuals over the age of 50. He got them to perform this test and then followed them for 6.3 years. Here’s what he found:
– those who scored three points or fewer had a five to six times higher risk of death than those scoring more than eight points.
– a score below eight was linked with two to fivefold higher death rates over the study period
I bet you’re curious now.
This is how the scoring works:
Each of the two basic movements (sitting and standing) is scored out of five, combined for a total score out of 10. One point gets subtracted for each support used such as a hand or knee and half a point is subtracted for a loss of balance.
Some takeaways:
– High levels of body mobility, muscle strength, power and coordination are essential for performing daily activities and also a predictor of overall health
– Sufficient daily movement (leading to better mobility, strength, power and coordination) is a REQUIREMENT for the body to function optimally.
Of course there are flaws and limitations in this research study… you cannot rely on one basic test to determine life expectancy (many other factors are involved). However, what the test does tell you is how healthy your joints and tissues are. In seconds, it brings to light what you’ve lost in your adult life – ask any child to perform the test and its likely they will be able to pass with flying colours.
News flash: you SHOULD be able to still complete the test without any challenge.
We have found that MOVEMENT is something that NEEDS to be addressed if you are going to heal and function the way you want to. If you want to be the best version of yourself in whatever roles you play, you need your body to be working in your favour. For most people it’s working against them, limiting their ability to the do the things they need, want and love to do.
We now incorporate Functional Movement Analyses and Functional Exercise Progressions into the care that we deliver at ECC. Our clients are scored on how well they perform in a series of Functional Movements. From there, specific exercise protocols are used to restore optimal movement to their body in conjunction with their hands on chiropractic care and postural corrective protocols.
This new Segment – Posture – Movement Method is what allows us to help our clients get the best results possible.
If you want to improve how you move, schedule a Consultation with one of our doctors.
