Getting Up From the Floor: A STEPS Approach to Recovering Well
Falls are a normal part of life. They happen to all of us, at every age and every stage of fitness. On their own, a fall usually isn’t the real problem.
The real problem shows up afterwards, when getting back up feels very difficult, or even impossible.
That difficulty leads to fear; fear inhibits normal movement; and that combination can turn a simple, manageable fall into a frightening, panicked event.
This is completely understandable, especially as it can affect our dignity as well as our options, choices & independence.
The good news is that this whole chain is trainable. With the right preparation, most people can find - or rebuild - a safe, confident way to get themselves off the floor.
Here we walk through exactly how, using the same STEPS framework (Safety, Train the skill, Everyday strength, Progress, Steps to bounce back) we use in class for building strength, balance and confidence generally.
Getting up off the floor is, in fact, one of the everyday-strength movements STEPS is built around, so it’s a natural place to apply the whole approach in one go.
S - Safety First
Safety doesn’t necessarily mean having to stay still and waiting for help.
It means starting from the right checks, so that whatever you do next is genuinely safe for your body and your surroundings.
If you find yourself on the floor, here is the order to work through before you attempt to stand.
Check your body
Before you move anything, ask yourself:
Are you in any pain, anywhere?
Do you feel dizzy or light-headed?
Can you move each part of your body in turn - hands, feet, arms, legs?
If any of these raise concern, the safest move is to stay where you are.
Check for a drop in blood pressure
This is a step people often skip, but it matters. A sudden change in position, or the shock of the fall itself, can cause a temporary drop in blood pressure - which is exactly what produces that woozy, light-headed feeling that makes moving and standing up feel unsafe.
Take slow, deep breaths, and check that your head feels normal: no dizziness, no light-headedness. If it doesn’t feel right yet, that’s not a problem - simply stay a little longer.
keep breathing steadily before you try to move any further.
Rushing this step is one of the most common ways a fall turns into a second, avoidable stumble.
Check your environment
Take a moment to look around you:
Are you somewhere too cold, or exposed to a heat source such as a radiator or fire?
Is there enough space around you to move freely, without obstruction?
Is there anything nearby - a sturdy chair, a bed frame, a low wall - that could help support you as you push up?
Check who’s around you
If someone else is present, their instinct will often be to grab an arm and pull. Understandable - but not helpful. Ask them instead to respond to what you need. That means:
No pulling on arms, shoulders, or any part of the body that could be vulnerable.
No rushing - let the process take whatever time it takes.
A helper’s job is to support your plan for getting up, not to take over and replace it with their own.
Useful kit, if you have it
A few small items make a real difference to how comfortable and safe this process feels:
A call alarm or phone - ideally within reach already, or brought to you by someone nearby.
Water - for hydration, especially if you’ve been on the floor for a while.
A blanket or an extra layer - for warmth and comfort while you take the time you need.
If there’s pain, injury, or dizziness that doesn’t settle: stay where you are and use your call alarm or phone. Getting help is always the safe choice - there’s no such thing as making too much fuss over your own safety.
T - Train the Skill
Just as balance is a trainable skill and not a fixed trait you either have or don’t, getting up from the floor is something you get better at with deliberate, repeated practice - not something to figure out for the first time in an emergency.
The most effective way to build this skill is to rehearse it in stages, well before you actually need it:
Start with a bed. Practise getting on and off a bed - a higher, more supportive surface that’s more forgiving while you find your technique.
Progress to a lower level, such as a step or stair, once the bed transfer feels comfortable and confident.
Build up to using the floor itself, using backward chaining. Over time learn the full sequence in reverse order, starting with the last (and easiest) step, and gradually working backwards to the first. This is the same method taught on the PSI (Postural Stability Instructor) course, and it works because each new step you add is one you’re already confident with everything after.
One important caveat: some people naturally settle into their own way of getting up that doesn’t quite match this “textbook” sequence.
That’s absolutely fine. As long as the method is safe and appropriate for their body and their environment, an individual approach is just as valid as the taught one. The goal isn’t uniformity - it’s a method that works reliably for you.
E - Everyday Strength
Getting down to the floor and back up again is one of the clearest examples of what we mean by everyday strength - strength that matters not for sport or performance, but for the ordinary demands of daily life.
It draws on much the same physical capability as several other everyday movements:
Getting out of a chair
Managing stairs
Carrying shopping
Turning safely, whether standing up or in bed
Managing yourself more effectively if you wobble
Specifically, it calls on pushing power through the arms and legs, core control through the trunk, and the ability to shift your body weight confidently and deliberately as you change position.
None of this is about becoming “sporty” - it’s about staying capable and involved in the things that matter to you day to day.
This is also why practising the floor-transfer movement pays dividends well beyond the movement itself.
Every rehearsal reinforces strength and coordination you’re drawing on constantly, in dozens of other situations you might not immediately connect to it.
P - Progress
Progress in this context isn’t about rushing towards the full floor version, and it isn’t about staying at the bed-transfer stage indefinitely either. It means moving forward when you’re genuinely ready - which might look like a little more range of movement, a little less reliance on support, or simply more control through the transition.
It doesn’t need to be dramatic. A small, sensible change is still real progress, and it’s far more sustainable than trying to leap straight to the hardest version.
In the moment, this also means choosing whatever method suits the environment and your capability right now - which might look different from how you’d manage the movement on a good day. That’s completely fine. The aim is a safe, sensible transition to standing up, not a fixed technique performed identically every time.
S - Steps to Bounce Back
No one has perfect balance, perfect strength, or a perfect week, all the time.
There will be off days, low-energy days, and moments when confidence dips. A wobble isn’t the end of anything. A fall isn’t a failure.
What matters is knowing how to respond calmly in the moment, and how to rebuild confidence afterwards, without guilt or all-or-nothing thinking.
Here is the complete in-the-moment sequence, brought together as a single reference:
Pause and breathe. Slow, deep breaths before anything else.
Check your body. Pain, dizziness, and the ability to move each part.
Check your head. Keep breathing slowly; make sure there’s no ongoing light-headedness — this is your blood-pressure check.
(If there’s pain, injury, or ongoing dizziness: stay still and use your call alarm or phone.)
Check your environment. Temperature, space, anything nearby to help you push up.
Check who’s around. Ask for support that responds to your needs, not a rushed pull to your feet.
Gather useful kit if needed. Alarm or phone, water, a blanket.
Choose your method - whatever suits the environment and your ability right now.
Get up slowly, pausing whenever you need to.
It’s worth printing this sequence out and keeping it somewhere visible - on a fridge, by a bed, wherever it would be easiest to glance at if you ever needed it.
From the class: a real story
One of our regular class members had always carried a quiet worry about what would happen if he fell, especially when he was out.
It wasn’t something dramatic or often discussed, but it sat there, shaping how cautiously he moved.
This kind of worry is common, so we have built getting on and off the floor into class as an optional weekly activity - something offered gently, week after week, never presented as a test or a requirement. Just a standing invitation to practise, at everyone’s own pace, in a supportive environment.
The result has been a genuine and visible change in his confidence. Not only in the floor-transfer movement itself, but in how he carries himself day to day - walking a little more freely, moving a little more naturally.
He has fallen outside, he recognised the adrenaline rush, and then he checked the environment, took his time and slowly got back up on his feet. His confidence has grown because he now knows that if he should fall again, he knows exactly what to do.
That’s Steps to Bounce Back in practice: not trying to eliminate the possibility of a fall, which nobody can fully do, but being genuinely ready for one if it happens.
Bringing it all together
The STEPS approach works because it puts the right ingredients together in the right order: safety first, a skill trained deliberately, strength that transfers directly into daily life, progress that’s sensible rather than rushed, and a practical way to bounce back when things don’t go perfectly.
Confidence, in the end, doesn’t come from stronger muscles alone. It comes from understanding your own body a little better, trusting it a little more, and having a clear structure to fall back on - quite literally - when you need it.
Want to practise this in class? Ask us about our weekly floor-transfer practice. It’s optional, low-pressure, and built up gradually - just as it was for the class member in this story.
The STEPS Method framework referenced in this post is adapted from Dawn Roe, The Balance Mentor.
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