Lifting weights and walking several miles can demonstrate familiar forms of fitness, but daily movement may expose abilities that gym numbers miss. Rising from a low chair or getting off the floor asks the body to solve a more complex physical task.

Changing levels requires muscles, joints and the nervous system to coordinate strength, mobility and balance while controlling body weight. These combined abilities become increasingly important with age, though they matter long before older adulthood.

More than 1 in 4 United States adults age 65 and older report falling each year. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury and injury related death among people in that age group.

Maintaining everyday movement skills earlier in life can help people remain functionally active for decades. Difficulty standing, sitting or moving from the floor should not automatically be accepted as an unavoidable consequence of aging.

Standing from a chair requires a stable base, sufficient ankle and hip mobility, and enough lower body and core strength to lift the body. Balance is also needed to remain steady as weight shifts forward and upward.

Because the action combines several abilities, clinicians regularly use chair rises to assess functional limitations. The CDC includes a 30 second chair stand in its fall risk assessment, making the familiar movement a practical measure of physical capacity.

Chair rises can also become an exercise. Standing and lowering back down with control challenges the same strength, mobility and coordination needed during ordinary life, while failing to practice those skills can allow capacity to decline.

Floor movement may offer another revealing measure. A 2025 study involving more than 4,000 adults ages 46 to 75 examined whether getting down to the floor and rising again was associated with the risk of dying from natural or cardiovascular causes.

Researchers used a sitting and rising test that awarded as many as five points for sitting and another five for standing. Points were deducted when participants lost balance or used a hand, knee, forearm or side of the leg for support.

A score of 10 meant completing both movements without support or unsteadiness. During a median follow up of 12.3 years, participants scoring zero to four had nearly four times the risk of dying from natural causes compared with those earning a perfect score.

The lower scoring group also had about six times the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with those who scored 10. The findings linked a basic movement test with longevity even among adults in midlife.

One way to train is to sit near the front of a sturdy chair with the feet about hip width apart. Lean slightly forward from the hips, press through the feet, stand without using the hands if safe, then slowly lower with control.

A chair back or counter can provide support during the movement. For greater difficulty, place weight on one leg and lower to sitting before returning to standing, using support as needed while completing 5 to 10 repetitions.

People who struggle to reach the floor can practice with a sturdy chair nearby. Using the chair for support, move through a kneeling lunge, hands and knees, and a seated position, then reverse the sequence to return to standing.

Another exercise begins seated on the floor with the legs crossed. Bring the feet closer, push through them, and use the core and glute muscles to rise without the hands, then lower and repeat for three to five repetitions.

A resistance band attached to a solid support can provide assistance, while a pad or folded blanket can add soft elevation. Progress can include performing the movement with the feet together and uncrossed.

Before beginning this or any exercise program, consult a doctor or physical therapist. Dana Santas, known as the Mobility Maker, is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, a mind body coach in professional sports, and author of “Practical Solutions for Back Pain Relief.”

Fitness is not only about the amount of weight lifted or the distance walked. Strength, mobility, balance and control also determine whether the body can meet daily demands, making ordinary movements valuable skills to practice safely and consistently.