Sitting-rising test: overhyped or not?

I don't know much about the rationale of the test, but if you have messed-up knees in your 20s/30s, it doesn't bode well for your geriatric health.

I had serious knee problems by age 22, but avoided the knife, and over the subsequent decades learned how to train intelligently and to make prehab/rehab part of my daily life (including staying off pavement, using trigger-point release, yoga and weights), and now at 58 am able to run safely and healthily up to 80 miles/week and working back towards the marathon distance for racing, all without any persistent dysfunction.

i wounldnt worry too much. its just a proxy for other things that do directly influence life expectancy. inability to perform the test correlates with a variety of other risk factors that DO directly influence your life expectancy. For example, obesity is certainly going to affect test performance. So is poor physical fitness and overall health. Someone with heart disease probably is weak because they cant work out. Someone with cancer who just underwent a bunch of chemo probably isn't going to perform well on the test either.

Also: having proportionally short legs helps a lot. I can't do it without a hand on the ground, despite being light years healthier/fitter than my overweight, smoker sister who has shorter legs and can.

I'd never heard of this before now, but just Googled it. Am I to understand that there are actual human beings who are able to sit down in the floor and stand back up simply by bending/unbending at the knees and waist without putting a knee or hand in the ground? Like they can just sit and stand from the floor the same way that I might sit down in a chair and stand back up?

I can't even begin to imagine how one might accomplish such a thing, regardless of fitness level or disease state. That just isn't how a human is shaped. Fit or unfit, once I've bent my knees and lowered my butt past a certain threshold, I'm going to fall on my ass and be unable to get back up without at least going to a knee first.

Bigger scam than global warming

is that even possible? wrote:

I can't even begin to imagine how one might accomplish such a thing, regardless of fitness level or disease state. That just isn't how a human is shaped. Fit or unfit, once I've bent my knees and lowered my butt past a certain threshold, I'm going to fall on my ass and be unable to get back up without at least going to a knee first.

Better get your final arrangements in order. Your end is imminent.

is that even possible? wrote:

I'd never heard of this before now, but just Googled it. Am I to understand that there are actual human beings who are able to sit down in the floor and stand back up simply by bending/unbending at the knees and waist without putting a knee or hand in the ground? Like they can just sit and stand from the floor the same way that I might sit down in a chair and stand back up?

You can get up from a chair? How do you do it? I assume you at least have a helping hand or a cane.

Yes, I had 3 surgeries. 2 in the knees and another in the left eye.

However,, I never smoked a single cigarette, and not much alcohol (ocassionally, 5 or 6 times per year I drink a cup of Wine or Fernet).

Cholesterol levels are OK. Hematocrit is 41/42%

I was worried because this test was supported by many scientists.

The test is a rule-of-thumb based on strength and flexibility. The weaker you are, the harder it will be to get off the floor without using your hands. But having an ACL injury doesn't all of a sudden make you more likely to die.

I couldn't do that test if my life depended on it.

define your terms when you start a thread. don't comment on an item without saying what it is.

jjjjj wrote:

define your terms when you start a thread. don't comment on an item without saying what it is.

This is not necessary when the subject is common knowledge.

easy peasy

Anonymous Pseudonym wrote:

I don't know much about the rationale of the test, but if you have messed-up knees in your 20s/30s, it doesn't bode well for your geriatric health.

I had serious knee problems by age 22, but avoided the knife, and over the subsequent decades learned how to train intelligently and to make prehab/rehab part of my daily life (including staying off pavement, using trigger-point release, yoga and weights), and now at 58 am able to run safely and healthily up to 80 miles/week and working back towards the marathon distance for racing, all without any persistent dysfunction.

I'm in a similar boat minus 30 years and currently cannot run. I would appreciate some details on what you did and what your injuries are.

At 22 I tore pcl in both knees and had some slight damage to lcl/mcl and did not have surgery. The left pcl is completely torn and that knee is fairly unstable. I ran up to 80mpw with no problems, they just hurt when it was cold.

Then at 26 I tore my meniscus on my left knee. I had a minisectomy last year but it did not help at all. I limp for the first 10min of a run until I get warmed up, have to keep it under 5miles, and have to take at least 2 days off between runs. I haven't ran much in about a year and have pretty much given up.

is that even possible? wrote:

I'd never heard of this before now, but just Googled it. Am I to understand that there are actual human beings who are able to sit down in the floor and stand back up simply by bending/unbending at the knees and waist without putting a knee or hand in the ground? Like they can just sit and stand from the floor the same way that I might sit down in a chair and stand back up?

I can't even begin to imagine how one might accomplish such a thing, regardless of fitness level or disease state. That just isn't how a human is shaped. Fit or unfit, once I've bent my knees and lowered my butt past a certain threshold, I'm going to fall on my ass and be unable to get back up without at least going to a knee first.

Just tried it. Took about 5 seconds from standing to sitting back to standing. I'd trade being able to do that for being able to run fast, though!

what the hell? for real? i'm 8 months pregnant and i can do it!

cb wrote:

what the hell? for real? i'm 8 months pregnant and i can do it!

I suspect a lot of people can't do it because of center of gravity issues, not fitness or balance or whatever else it's supposed to indicate. Pregnancy may help you in that regard.

cb wrote:

what the hell? for real? i'm 8 months pregnant and i can do it!

Ok, now that I see the appropriate technique, I can sit just fine (easy to do when you cross your legs and sit into a cross legged position--I'd been trying to do it by just squatting onto the ground). Still can't stand back up without a hand on the thigh.

unpreggo wrote:

cb wrote:

what the hell? for real? i'm 8 months pregnant and i can do it!

I suspect a lot of people can't do it because of center of gravity issues, not fitness or balance or whatever else it's supposed to indicate. Pregnancy may help you in that regard.

Yeah, I'm kind of wondering if this is basically just a test for gender. Women do better on tests like this because of their lower center of gravity. Women also live longer. So is the logic of the test basically that if you can score a ten, you're more likely to be female, and if you're female, you're likely to live longer, therefore if you can score a ten, you're likely to live longer?