In a recent episode of the Huberman Lab podcast, Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman sat down with Dr. Kelly Starrett, a r and movement expert, to discuss practical ways to improve mobility and movement patterns.
During their in-depth conversation, two remarkably simple yet powerful daily practices emerged that anyone can implement to enhance their physical wellbeing, regardless of their fitness level or age.
The First Game-Changing Habit: Floor Time
The first and perhaps most surprising recommendation from Dr. Starrett is remarkably simple: spend 20-30 minutes sitting on the floor each evening.
This practice, which can be easily incorporated while watching TV or spending time with family, has profound implications for maintaining mobility and preventing age-related movement issues.
“One of the things that we’re huge fans of in the evening is sitting on the ground for 20 to 30 minutes,” Starrett explained.
This isn’t about performing specific exercises or stretches – it’s simply about getting down on the floor and allowing your body to naturally move through different positions.
The beauty of this practice lies in its simplicity and effectiveness. You can sit cross-legged, in a long sit position, or in what Starrett calls a “side 99” position.
The key is to allow yourself to fidget and move naturally, changing positions as needed. This simple practice has been shown to have remarkable benefits:
- Reduces fall risk in elderly populations to near zero
- Lowers rates of hip and lower back osteoarthritis
- Maintains natural range of motion in hips and legs
- Provides passive mobility work without requiring dedicated exercise time
Starrett emphasizes that this floor-sitting practice works because it exposes your body to natural movement patterns that humans have evolved to perform but often lose in modern life.
“Cultures that toilet on the ground, sleep on the ground, we start to see fall risk in our elderly population attenuate to zero, approximate zero, lower hip OA, lower low back OA,” he noted.
The Second Vital Practice: Getting Up and Down from the Ground
The second crucial habit builds on the first: the actual act of getting down to the floor and back up again. This movement, performed at least once daily, serves as both a diagnostic tool and a way to maintain fundamental movement patterns.
Starrett introduced a simple test that everyone should be able to perform: the cross-legged stand-to-floor test. Here’s how it works:
- Stand with your feet crossed
- Lower yourself to the ground without using your hands
- Stand back up without using your hands or knees for support
- Repeat with the opposite foot crossed over
This test isn’t just about checking your mobility – it’s about maintaining a fundamental human movement pattern that many adults lose over time. “It doesn’t require massive hip range of motion, doesn’t require full range of motion in your ankles, it’s actually a really fair test,” Starrett explained.
The Science Behind These Practices
What makes these simple movements so effective? Dr. Starrett explains it through the concept of mechano-transduction – the idea that tissues in our body need mechanical input to express themselves properly and maintain their function.
Just as an orca’s fin in captivity can begin to fold due to lack of natural movement patterns, our bodies adapt to the limited movement vocabulary of modern life.
“If we have a movement language, an actual language made up of words, how many words are you using today?” Starrett asks. “Most of us aren’t using that many words. I sit, I stand, I walk very slowly, I sit, I stand, I walk very slowly.”
This limited movement vocabulary leads to adaptation, but not in a positive way. Our bodies begin to lose their natural range of motion, and our brains may start to perceive certain movements as unsafe, further limiting our movement options.
Implementation in Daily Life
The beauty of these practices lies in their accessibility and minimal time requirement. Here are some practical ways to incorporate them:
- Evening Floor Time:
- Replace couch sitting with floor sitting while watching TV
- Read on the floor instead of in a chair
- Have family time on the floor
- Use different positions: cross-legged, long sit, side sitting
- Allow natural movement and position changes
- Floor Transitions:
- Practice getting up and down from the floor daily
- Start with support if needed (using hands or furniture)
- Gradually work towards no-hands transitions
- Alternate which leg crosses over
- Use this as a morning or evening ritual
Common Concerns and Solutions
- “I’m Too Stiff to Sit on the Floor”
Solution: Start with support. Use cushions, lean against a wall, or sit on a low stool initially. The goal isn’t perfect form but rather exposure to ground-based positions. - “It’s Uncomfortable”
Solution: This is normal initially. Start with shorter durations and gradually increase time. Allow yourself to move and adjust positions frequently. - “I Can’t Get Up Without Using My Hands”
Solution: Begin with using hands for support and gradually work towards using less support. The movement itself is beneficial, regardless of how much assistance you need. - “I Don’t Have Time”
Solution: Combine this practice with activities you’re already doing – watching TV, reading, checking email, or family time.
The Bigger Picture: Movement as Language
Dr. Starrett’s approach to movement is unique in that he views it as a language – one that modern humans are speaking less and less fluently.
Just as a limited vocabulary restricts our ability to express ourselves verbally, a limited movement vocabulary restricts our physical capabilities and health.
This perspective helps explain why simple practices like floor sitting and standing are so powerful. They’re not just exercises; they’re ways of maintaining our fundamental movement vocabulary.
They help ensure that our bodies remember how to perform basic human movements that we evolved to do but often lose in our chair-bound modern life.
The Role of Regular Exercise
It’s important to note that these practices don’t replace regular exercise. Instead, they complement it by maintaining basic movement patterns that make exercise more effective and safer.
As Starrett explains, “What is it that we need to put into our movement diet, and then we can start to separate out should that be exercise or should that be movement?”
This distinction between exercise and movement is crucial. Exercise is often about performance, strength, and conditioning, while these movement practices are about maintaining fundamental human capabilities.
The Impact on Aging
One of the most compelling aspects of these practices is their potential impact on aging. Many age-related mobility issues stem not from aging itself but from the loss of basic movement patterns. By maintaining these patterns through simple daily practices, we can potentially avoid many common age-related mobility problems.
As Starrett notes, “At no age do you stop adapting, at no age do you stop healing.” This is a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to start incorporating these practices into daily life.
Modern Life and Movement Poverty
The conversation between Huberman and Starrett highlights a crucial point about modern life: we’re living in a state of movement poverty. Our environment has changed dramatically from what our bodies evolved to handle, but our physical needs haven’t changed.
This movement poverty manifests in several ways:
- Excessive sitting in chairs
- Limited range of motion in daily activities
- Reduced time spent on the ground
- Fewer varied movement patterns
- Reliance on supportive furniture and devices
The solution isn’t necessarily to return to a prehistoric lifestyle, but rather to consciously incorporate more varied movement patterns into our modern lives.
Prevention Versus Treatment
One of the most valuable aspects of these practices is their preventive nature. Rather than waiting for mobility problems to develop and then treating them, these simple daily habits help maintain natural movement capabilities and prevent problems from developing in the first place.
The Neural Component
An often-overlooked aspect of movement that Huberman and Starrett discuss is the neural component. Movement isn’t just about muscles and joints – it’s about training our nervous system to feel safe and comfortable in different positions.
When we regularly expose ourselves to varied movement patterns, we’re not just maintaining physical capability; we’re also:
- Training our brain to recognize these movements as safe
- Maintaining neural pathways for different movement patterns
- Improving our body’s proprioception (awareness of position in space)
- Enhancing our balance and coordination
Looking Forward
As our society becomes increasingly sedentary, these simple movement practices become more crucial. They represent a practical way to maintain basic human movement capabilities without requiring additional time, equipment, or special training.
The key takeaways from this discussion between Huberman and Starrett are:
- Movement is essential for health, and simple daily practices can have profound effects
- Floor sitting for 20-30 minutes daily can maintain crucial movement patterns
- Getting up and down from the ground is a vital skill worth practicing
- These practices are accessible to everyone, regardless of fitness level
- It’s never too late to start incorporating more movement into daily life
Conclusion
In a world where complex exercise programs and expensive equipment often dominate the fitness conversation, these simple movement practices stand out for their accessibility and effectiveness.
As Dr. Starrett emphasizes, our bodies are “adaptation machines,” capable of maintaining or regaining movement capabilities at any age.
By incorporating these two simple practices – regular floor sitting and getting up and down from the ground – we can maintain fundamental movement patterns that support our health and mobility throughout life.
These aren’t just exercises; they’re a return to basic human movements that our bodies are designed to perform.
As we continue to navigate our increasingly sedentary modern world, these simple movement practices offer a practical way to maintain our physical capabilities and prevent mobility-related problems. They remind us that sometimes the most effective solutions are also the simplest ones.
