Stand up from a chair. Sit back down. Do that twenty times, slowly, and you have done one of the most useful exercises there is. No gym, no equipment, no lying on the floor.

It is also one of the most prescribed movements in falls prevention, for good reason. Getting out of a chair under control is the exact skill that keeps people out of hospital.

How to do it

Put a sturdy chair against a wall so it cannot slide. A chair without arms is better, because it stops you cheating with your hands.

From sitting, stand up over a slow count of three. Lower yourself back down over the same count of three, without dropping the last part. Keep your weight spread evenly across both legs and your knees tracking straight, kneecaps pointing towards your third toe. On the way down you should feel the weight shift back into your hips and heels, and your thighs and hips should be doing the work.

Twenty a day is a solid target. If that is too many to start, begin with ten or use a higher seat and build up.

If it hurts, stop and get it looked at by a physio.

What it is actually training

Leg strength where you use it. Standing from a chair loads the quads at the front of the thigh, the glutes, the hamstrings and the calves. Those are the muscles that get you up off the toilet, out of a low car and up a flight of stairs. Twenty repetitions a day is enough to keep them useful.

The movement itself. This is what makes it a functional exercise. You are not building strength in a position you never use, you are practising the exact thing you need to do. The transfer to daily life is immediate.

Hip and knee range. Each repetition bends and straightens the hips and knees through their full range. Doing that daily keeps the joints moving, which matters more with every year.

Balance and reactions. The moment between sitting and standing is where balance is genuinely tested, especially with your weight shifting backwards. Doing it regularly trains your body awareness and your reflexes, which is what stops a stumble turning into a fall.

Bone. It is a weight-bearing exercise through the hips, legs and spine, and that loading is what maintains bone density. Falls and weak bones are a bad combination, and this hits both at once.

Making it harder or easier

The beauty of the sit to stand is that the difficulty sits on a dial. Raise the seat with a cushion and it gets easier. Cross your arms over your chest and it gets harder. Slow the count down to five and it gets harder again. Put something on the floor in front of the chair that you have to reach past, and you add a balance challenge.

That is why the same exercise suits an eighteen year old and an eighty year old. Only the setting changes.

Build on it at home with our 30 Minute Standing Functional Pilates class — physio-led, on demand.

New to Pilates? Our The Beginners Program builds from first principles into full physio-led classes, free with a 7-day trial.

Working on your balance alongside strength? Read about the balance complex, or join our clinical Pilates classes in the Sydney CBD studio.