A year ago, I wrote about the sit-and-rise test.
All the correlations with longevity aside, the sit-and-rise test is intriguing. It feels straightforward but it is anything but.
As part of my mobility work, I do the sit-and-rise test once every week.
This was challenging at first. I felt unstable when getting up. I could do it way better with my left leg. And I used to feel a muscle between my thigh and my groin hurt.
In the first months, out of every 10 sit-and-rises, 1 or 2 would be good quality. That number gradually went up to 3-4. Then to 6-7.
Ten months in, that uncomfortable muscle finally stopped acting up. And good quality is approaching 10. It is a lot easier to do.
Two lessons –
One is that it’s sometimes tempting to say, “I’m sore, I shouldn’t be doing this.” But muscle soreness is such a key part of their growth. There’s a beautiful parallel to learning as well – some things make us mentally sore, but that means they’re probably worth doing.
The second lesson is that it is important to stick with things that matter for a while. In this case, meaningful improvement took weekly practice over twelve movements.
Small improvements compound. It happens gradually, then suddenly.
A Learning a Day 