Quick Fit with Cassy

- Hello there, I'm Cassy, and this is Quick Fit .

You know, I firmly believe aging well is possible, with a little daily effort.

If you feel the same way, then join me now as we go down to the floor, and don't leave because I said the floor.

And if you find yourself avoiding the floor, then all the more reason you should do this class.

Okay then, let's get at it.

[bright music] As we begin, we'll begin taking our time getting down to the floor.

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, and we'll start easing our way down, little by slowly warming up the hips, the knees, and the ankles.

Also, if you're very tight and uncomfortable on the floor, I recommend you have a band and a block.

Okay, inhale, exhale, [inhales] working our way down, doing some shifts.

You could easily have a chair handy to take off some of the pressure, if it's really uncomfortable for you.

[inhales] Inhale and exhale, working all the way down, shifting around, letting one heel come up and pressing down the other.

Deep breathing to allow and help to allow your body to stretch out.

All right, and settle down in.

And I'd like you to press your elbows into your knees.

Okay, this will help give you a little bit of leverage to stretch that back and arch.

And now completely relax.

[exhales] You can bring your feet a little closer together if it feels better.

[inhales] Relax the spine and arch.

Now, if you really struggle getting your heels on the floor, like lots of people do, you can be doing this in a doorframe, in a doorway, so you can grab kind of the edges of the doorframe so that you don't fall backwards.

That's a trick I have used at the gym for years.

All right, so we've been shifting.

Now, I'd like you to try to get those heels up under you, stretching the toes, heels down, heels up.

All right, very good.

One more time to get up and down, burning already, right?

[inhales] Inhale, exhale, and down.

Go ahead and sit on your bottom.

And we're going to let two knees go to the side.

Now, as we sit here, you can push on the floor, lifting your chest, and you can use your block if you need to, to have something to push against, help you be a little more comfortable.

These are just great tools, okay?

You can push on the floor behind you with two of them, and lift.

All right, grab this leg.

For some of you, grabbing this leg is not easy.

But I want you to grab that leg and lift, and over.

All right, put that hand down on the floor.

And I'd like you to twist, [exhales] come out of it.

Let this bottom cheek sit on the floor, and get up.

So we're twisting through the hips, working on this hip socket, all right?

And we'll reach up [inhales] and over.

[exhales] Very good, one more time, lift and over.

See, you're loosening up already.

Already that one felt easier.

All right, two hands on the floor by your knee now.

And I'd like you to stretch the other leg to the back, getting up over this foot, and weight on your hands, shifting your weight up and over that foot.

Very good, opening up that hip flexor.

[inhales] And don't forget your breathing.

Good, let's switch legs.

All right, so bring the knees up, and try to get two knees down on the floor.

Shift through the hips.

Use that handy block if you need it to help you.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Use the tools that will make this job easier.

Good, all right, grab for this leg.

I can tell I'm tighter on one side than the other.

This one feels much further away.

Lift, oh, and over.

It's like, I'm not getting very far.

So let's do this side.

Lift, and over.

Lift through that elbow, stretching these ribs a little more.

Tight ribs can make you feel very tight.

All right, I'm gonna twist a little this way, looking behind, come out of it.

Big inhale.

[inhales] Try to sit this butt cheek on the floor and up, down and up, working this hip socket, and up and over the ear.

[exhales] A little looser.

That's nice.

All right, two hands on the floor.

We'll extend this other leg.

Get to whatever position is comfortable for you, with lots of weight on your hands, if need be, but shifting over that foot.

[inhales and exhales] Really sink into those shoulders.

That'll be a little added benefit to this stretch.

You'll see, you'll feel it down your ribs.

All right, sit on your bottom.

Bend both knees and bring the bottoms of your feet together, all right?

[inhales] Lift through the chest.

[exhales] Pull, pull, pull.

Use the leverage of hanging onto your ankles to lift the chest tall.

Now, if you find that you're really leaning back, once again, that's what the blocks are for.

You can easily put one or two of them side by side underneath your butt, so that you are more comfortable.

All right.

Big inhale, and we're going to round our spine.

Let your head relax.

When it starts to feel ugly, or very uncomfortable down the back of your neck or spine, I want you to come out of it.

Big inhale, [inhales] exhale, and try it again.

[exhales] Okay, again, up, [inhales] and exhale.

[exhales] Very good.

By the third time, hopefully you're loosening up a little better.

All right, straighten up these legs, and let's pull.

Good, and extend one leg, and then we'll do the other.

[inhales and exhales] Just a little bit.

All right.

Go a little further so that you can point your toes.

Flex, pull on the back of your legs to get you a little further forward.

Point and flex.

If you have two blocks, you can easily push yourself forward with a nice, flat back.

Good, all right, one leg.

[inhales] Lift, exhale.

[exhales] This is where the band comes in handy.

You can wrap that band, exhale.

[exhales] Ooh, tight.

Let's do the other leg.

[inhales and exhales] And pull, just a gentle pressure.

Very nice, okay.

Let's bring two feet together again.

Knees are open.

And I'd like you to press those knees down, lift and reach over the head.

[exhales] Good, one more time, lift and reach over the head.

Good, all right, extend that left leg.

If you're mirroring me, this will be your left leg.

All right, and I'd like you to shift your hips.

So lift this one bottom off the floor and sit it back down.

Off the floor and sit it back down.

Flex that foot and lean it forward.

Do the other side.

Shift your hips, lift the hip up and down.

Lift the hip up and down.

Very good, flex that foot, inhale.

[inhales] All right, and try to lean forward.

[exhales] Try to relax your back.

Very nice.

All right, so switch legs one more time, and then cross over, and reach across with the opposite elbow to your knee and reach it on back.

Inhale, [inhales] exhale, whew, and twist.

[exhales] Try to relax your spine.

And then I want you to pull your ribs towards your leg.

Very nice.

Let's untangle from that one.

Cross the other leg.

Now, you can push on this block to help you, or push on the floor.

Reach across to the opposite arm one more time.

Inhale, [inhales] exhale, [exhales] and twist.

A tall spine twists easier than a rounded-over spine, so tall spine twist, [inhales] and now relax.

[exhales] Relax your spine.

Sit up one more time to pull the ribs towards the leg.

Flex that foot.

Very good, all right, one more move.

Let's lay on your back, and roll it on down.

Cross that ankle over your knee.

And gently pull the knee back.

Very good.

[inhales and exhales] That is such a nice stretch all through your glutes, the top of your hamstring.

And now while you're pulling this leg, press the bent knee away.

Perfect, let's switch legs.

First things first, bring that leg toward you.

Inhale, [inhales] exhale.

[exhales] Very nice.

Take your time.

[inhales] Don't jam it.

And then finally, push this knee away, and pull this one towards you again.

Very good.

[exhales] And that's it.

[inhales and exhales] Very good, roll on up.

Thank you so much for following along with me.

You are now one day closer to enjoying more time on the floor with your grandchildren or gardening, and just being less vulnerable.

Here at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit, my goal is to keep you strong and independent your entire life.

It's what I refer to as living better, longer.

See you next time.

– Announcer: Funding for Quick Fit with Cassy is provided by Greg and Carol Griffin, founders of ElderSpan Management, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programming, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.