Think About Getting Up Like a Fit Person
/The other day I noticed something about myself that made me laugh. Every time I stood up from the couch, picked something up off the floor or got out of a chair… I was making little grunting noises. You know the ones.
“Ugh.”
“Oof.”
“Ahhh.”
The classic “cranky, achy person standing up” soundtrack. Now for the record, I’m not actually in pain. I train regularly, my mobility is solid and physically I feel pretty good most days. But somewhere along the way I had apparently adopted the habit of sounding like I was 1,000 years old every time I got up off the couch.
So I made a small decision. I decided to stop. Instead, I told myself: Get up like a strong, fit person. No grunting. No dramatic sighs. Just stand up. And here’s the interesting part: my body actually started to feel better.
The Strange Power of a Simple Cue
This might sound a little silly, but there’s actually some real science behind why this works. In the physical therapy world, there’s a concept called motor programming. Your brain organizes how you move before the movement even happens. If your brain expects something to be difficult, it tends to:
move slower
stiffen joints
over-brace certain muscles
under-use others
All of which can make the movement feel harder than it needs to be. On the other hand, if your brain expects something to be easy, your nervous system tends to organize the movement more efficiently. When you tell yourself “stand up like a fit person,” your brain subtly changes things like posture, muscle engagement and movement speed—often without you consciously thinking about it. Physical therapists do this all the time with clients. Instead of saying “be careful getting up,” they’ll use cues like:
“Stand tall.”
“Drive through your hips.”
“Move like an athlete.”
Same body. Different cues. Different movements.
The Mind–Body Connection Is Real
When I mentioned this little experiment to a physical therapist friend of mine, she immediately lit up and told me she sees this connection all the time with her patients. She shared an example from running research that really stuck with me:
“One of my favorite studies in the running literature looks at something deceptively simple: your facial expression. Researchers found that runners who smiled during effort demonstrated measurably better running economy—meaning they used less oxygen at the same pace—compared to those who frowned. Even more interesting, frowning increased both perceived effort and physiological activation.
As a physical therapist and runner, I find this fascinating because it highlights how deeply the mind and body are connected. We spend a lot of time coaching movement mechanics, but something as small as relaxing your jaw and allowing yourself to smile mid-race can actually influence how efficiently your body moves. For runners returning from injury, that mind–body awareness becomes an incredibly powerful tool—recovery isn’t just physical.”
— Dr. Nicole Sabes, PT, DPT
Clinic Director, Renew Physical Therapy
Think about that for a second. A smile can make your body run more efficiently. If something that small can influence performance, it’s not a huge leap to think that the little “ugh” noises we make while standing up might be reinforcing the opposite signal.
It’s Not Just In Your Head
Of course, there’s also a mechanical side to this. A chiropractor friend once pointed me to the broader issue of how much we sit these days. Years ago there was a headline floating around asking, “Is sitting the new smoking?” While that article focused mostly on metabolic health, there’s also a very practical musculoskeletal problem that comes with too much chair time. As Dr. Eddie Arnold explains:
“Mechanically, what happens is the hip flexors tighten from prolonged sitting. This can lead to an anterior pelvic tilt and something called reciprocal inhibition, where the glute max becomes less active. When that happens, other muscles start compensating and becoming overused. The end result is that classic ‘old man or old woman’ feeling when getting out of a chair. The solution is hip opening, glute and core strengthening exercises, and simply getting up and moving more.”
— Dr. Eddie Arnold
Airrosti
In other words, the issue isn’t just psychological. Modern life has many of us sitting far more than our bodies were designed to, which can absolutely contribute to that creaky “getting up” feeling.
Expectation Matters More Than We Think
Still, what fascinated me about this little experiment was how quickly the mindset shift changed how my body felt. I mentioned in an earlier draft of this post that two people with identical strength levels can get out of a chair in completely different ways. One struggles. The other pops up like it’s nothing. The difference is often motor pattern and expectation, not strength. Another physical therapist pal of mine told me that observation resonated strongly with her clinical experience:
“The amount of times I’ve worked with a patient who says they can’t do something but I know physically they could would be too numerous to count. Constant reframing is key. Changing the approach and expectations can make a huge difference.”
— Hope Pickus, PT, DPT
ClareMotion Physical Therapy
That idea of reframing is powerful. Sometimes the biggest barrier isn’t our muscles — it’s the story we’re telling ourselves about what our body can or can’t do.
Try This Experiment
If you catch yourself doing the full symphony of:
“Oof… ahh… ugh… okay…”
every time you stand up, try a little experiment. Next time you get off the couch, tell yourself: “Get up like a fit person.” Stand tall. Move smoothly. No sound effects required. You might be surprised how quickly your body follows the story your brain tells it. And if nothing else, the people you live with may appreciate the quieter soundtrack.