One is Normal Accident Theory. This is a theory positing that in all complex systems, accidents will occur. We live in a complex world where pavement gets slick, bikes hit bumps, spouses leave their shoes lying in the middle of the floor. In other words, you don’t have to be of a certain age to run the risk of falling. And we’re all moving toward b

There’s a sneaky way to get a more robust position in your chair by adjusting its height (this only works with chairs that have rollers at the base). Set the height of your chair higher than usual, then see if you can get enough purchase with your feet to scoot the chair back and forth. When your chair is set high, it’s hard to powerfully move the

3. Long Sitting With your butt on the ground, sit with your legs straight in front of you. Try to sit with your back straight or with your torso leaning slightly forward.

What Your Results Mean Start by giving yourself a score of 10, then subtract one point for each of the following assists or problems: Bracing yourself with a hand on the wall or other solid surface Placing a hand on the ground Touching your knee to the floor Supporting yourself on the side of your legs Losing your balance

Sitting on the floor in a few different shapes is all that’s required of you here. You can lean lightly against the back of a couch or a chair or against a wall for support (ideally working toward moving away from any props), and you don’t have to stay in one position on the floor. Earlier

The program in this book—and our life’s work—addresses this whole network of movement components. Harnessing its power will help you achieve agility, ease, and quickness of step while vanquishing restriction, rigidity, and pain.

Functional at the level that allows us to do everything we want and need to do?

2. 90/90 Sitting With your butt on the ground, sit with one leg at a 90-degree angle in front of you (your thigh will be straight out from your hip). Slightly resting on the front leg’s side of your butt, bend the other leg at a 90-degree angle so that its foot is behind you. After five minutes (or however long is comfortable) in this position, switch

Before you go forward, keep a few things in mind. You get a gold star if you can both sit down and rise straight up from the cross-legged position without using any kind of assist. That shows you have basic, baseline hip flexibility. But it’s also okay to use an assist. Place a hand (or two) on the ground, roll forward onto your knees to brace your