Quick Fit with Cassy

- Thank you for joining me for today's Quick Fit class.

I'm Cassy and I love to help people feel great at every age.

I think you're gonna be pleasantly surprised at how many things we can do right from this chair.

It is simply an excellent tool, so don't discount it.

Try it, and when this class is over, I'll bet that you'll feel refreshed and sharp.

[gentle music] We'll be sitting forward in the chair.

We don't recline during these classes.

And have a nice, wide base with your feet.

And let's just start by shifting one hip up and the other, one and the other, pushing with your feet, trying to get your hind end off the chair.

You really have to squeeze from the side.

[inhales] Start your breathing, then let's widen the feet a little bit and start turning the leg, dropping the knee.

We're not glued to the chair, so shift around.

[inhales] Keep breathing nice and big, nice and deep, extra long exhales.

Let's start into a little bit bigger twist and reach across each way.

[inhales and exhales] Warming up that spine.

[inhales and exhales] Keeping your arms up.

Your arms have weight to them and it's going to help get your heartbeat going.

All right, and let's just stay forward, and we'll reach over the ear one way and then the other.

[inhales] Once again, wide feet will help you lean further, okay?

[inhales] Starting to pick up the pace a little bit more, so don't hold your breath.

Make sure you match it with deeper breathing.

Breathing as heavy as you need to.

All right, then across.

Across, feet come a little bit more forward so you can twist and reach across the body.

Couple more.

[inhales and exhales] And to the front.

Feet come a little bit more forward, right in front of you.

Extend and back, stomach in, supporting the spine.

[inhales] Reach, pull those elbows back.

Reach, pull those elbows back.

[inhales and exhales] Keep it going.

[inhales and exhales] Use your feet to push you back to upright.

Reach and pull, maybe a little higher above your head.

Not down towards the floor.

[inhales and exhales] All right, take a moment and catch our breath.

Press, [inhales] press, press.

[inhales] Reach, extending the ribs, lengthening through the shoulder.

All right, and a little tail tuck and arch.

We're just rocking on the pelvis very gently, giving you a few more moments to catch your breath as we warm up into this routine.

Tuck and arch.

All right, back at it.

We're going to lift, lift, try to reach the ankle.

Try to reach under the foot.

These are great exercises.

They remind me of, you know, when we have to put our socks and shoes on.

You need the strong hip flexors.

Reach and reach, reach.

Remember, the foot that's on the floor is helping you lift the other leg.

[inhales and exhales] Lift, lift, lift, keep it going.

Lift and reach a little further.

Stomach's in.

All right, catch your breath one more time.

[inhales] Hip lifts.

[exhales] Inhale, [inhales] exhale.

[exhales] Shift one more time.

Maybe the shifting is a little easier this time around.

And a simple hug of the leg, [inhales] and exhale.

[exhales] So the other benefit of these deep, deep inhales and long exhales is we're also exercising your breathing muscles, okay?

We don't want to be shallow breathers.

[inhales] All right, sitting forward again with your feet wide and slightly in front of you.

We're going to do these deep ankle reaches, left and right.

Breathe it in, exhale, breathe it in, exhale.

Lifting the other elbow, both arms are working.

Stomach's working, core is working.

[inhales and exhales] Feet are keeping you in your chair.

Keep going.

We'll come a little higher now, just reaching in line with each thigh, right over the knee.

[inhales and exhales] We're sitting on the edge of the seat, using our feet to keep us sturdy.

All right, a little higher now.

Feel your upper back stretch, opening up the armpits.

[inhales and exhales] Reach a little further than you think.

But stomach's in, chest is out.

We're trying not to do this, okay?

Reach, reach, reach.

All right, opposite ankle.

Reach and lean, picking up that other arm, stretching your sides by lifting these elbows.

[inhales and exhales] Good.

All right, twist and reach across the body.

Reach, reach, reach.

Reach, reach a little higher, higher.

Nice, wide feet really enables you to lean extra far out of the chair.

[inhales] In fact, the chair's there, but we're hardly even putting our weight on it.

Legs are holding us up.

All right, and nice, wide arms, all right?

[inhales and exhales] Lean, lean, stomach's in.

Reach, reach.

Keep it going, don't give up.

[inhales] We'll take a rest in a bit.

[exhales] All right, and one more time.

Opposite foot and up.

[inhales and exhales] Opposite foot and up.

Couple more.

Go with the pace you need to.

If we're going too fast for you today, that's okay.

In a few weeks, you'll be able to repeat this class and go as fast.

All right, just consistency.

All right, now a little higher.

We're on a diagonal again.

[inhales and exhales] All right, and arms out again.

Shoulder height, [inhales] catching our breath.

[exhales] Okay, little circles, and reverse.

Wide legs again, leaning deeply again.

Right and left.

[inhales and exhales] So we're a little slower, catching our breath, but we're still working.

All right, reach and reach, reach.

Let's go ahead and turn in our seat so we're half on, half off the chair.

Have your feet comfortable to support you, and we're going to lean way out and pull back.

Deep rows, reach and pull.

Stomach's in.

[exhales] Reach and pull, reach and pull.

Few more.

[inhales] Keep your arms high; don't let them drop down, all right?

Lift and pull.

Reach and pull.

Now one arm, nice, deep star lunge and then rotate.

Inhale, exhale, reach, [inhales] exhale.

[exhales] And reach.

If you need to take a break and join us again in a moment or two, that's just fine.

All right.

And two hands.

Reach low, [inhales and exhales] middle, and high.

All right, very good.

Take a quick breather, switching to the other side.

Make sure you remember that you can use the power of your feet, the one in front and the one in back, as we go through these.

Right, inhale, [inhales] deep rows.

Reach and back, reach and back.

[inhales and exhales] This is a great leg strengthener as well.

Keep going.

[inhales and exhales] Lean it out, pull it back, lean it out, pull it back.

All right, now one arm forward, one arm back.

Nice, deep star lunges, rotating those arms.

Exhale [exhales] and lift.

[inhales] Exhale, reach.

Reach, one more time, and exhale.

[inhales and exhales] And then two arms low.

Reach, pull, middle, pull.

High, do it again.

Low, [exhales] middle, and high.

Fantastic, all right.

Facing the front again.

[inhales and exhales] All right, let's lift the knee.

We're working the abs.

[exhales] We're on the front of our seat.

We don't want to lean or recline against the chair back.

Lift, lift, lift, and lift, other leg.

Lift, use your other foot that's on the floor.

Press it into the floor for leverage.

All right, now one, hang on to the chair.

Two, press, press.

Rolling back, squeezing your butt, pulling your abdominals in.

All right, kick, kick.

Other leg, kick and kick.

Other side.

All right, and sitting up and stretch.

All right, lift, lift, lift.

Circle, other side.

Extend, lift, lift, circle.

Lift, lift, lift, and circle.

[inhales and exhales] Other leg, extend, lift, lift.

Knee in, kick, circle.

Lift, lift, knee in.

Kick and circle.

[inhales] One more.

Extend, kick, and circle.

Lift, lift, lift.

Kick and circle.

All right, finishing up here.

[inhales and exhales] Slowing down to catch your breath.

You did a really, really good job.

One more, arm up [inhales] and exhale.

[exhales] Just one more time, over to each side.

Stretching, catching your breath, bringing the heartbeat back down.

[inhales and exhales] These last few deep breaths are oxygenating your blood and carrying it to your brain.

So many, many benefits from just a few minutes a day.

I'll be waiting right here to do more great classes with you next time at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit.

So come back soon and make it a part of your daily routine.

And remember, life is movement.