Quick Fit with Cassy

- Hello, and welcome to Quick Fit with Cassy .

If you work at a computer for a living, you know all that sitting can be very exhausting, which seems counter-intuitive.

So today, we're going to use your desk and chair to help you stretch out and reset.

I want you to feel refreshed, so hopefully by the end of your workday, you'll still have some energy left to enjoy your family.

So let's get started.

[upbeat music] You know, as we get into what we're doing, we're just falling forward and really focusing on our computer and we're not thinking about our posture.

So I'd like you to start by sitting up really tall and reversing everything we've been doing by concentrating and not thinking about our posture.

Sitting up tall, think about your spine, your vertebra opening up and stretching, creating space.

[inhales] Inhale, exhale.

Let's lift that chin, bring those hands down behind the neck.

Support your head, and I'd like you to roll back and lean back against your chair and just roll over the back of it.

[exhales] Very nice, very nice.

Okay, now put one arm on the table, and I'd like you to twist in your seat, okay.

Hang on to the table and twist.

[exhales] Good, let's go the other way.

[inhales] Open up those legs, [exhales] lift through the chest, and turn the neck.

Good.

All right, now two hands on the table and I'd like you to gently pull on the table as you lift through the chest and spine.

Very good, very good.

All right, now reach back.

Put two hands on the chair.

I'm gonna scoot back a little bit, make some room.

Two hands on the back of your chair.

Pull your shoulders back.

Big inhale [inhales and exhales] and lean it forward.

Widen your legs as much as you need to to start getting some movement through the hips.

Good.

Now, release one arm, inhale, exhale, and hang forward.

Try to relax the shoulder that's hanging on, to lengthen, and now relax the spine, [exhales] and we'll roll up, chin coming up last.

Reach with that other arm [inhales] and we'll let the other arm dangle now.

[exhales] Let the shoulder relax of the arm that's hanging onto the chair back.

You can let your spine relax now and the head, and then we'll roll up with the chin.

Remember your breathing, nice and big, lift.

[inhales] All right.

Scooch to the front edge of your seat and extend one leg, and you can hang on to the seat and lean forward.

Let's pull the foot up and now reach.

[exhales] Use your other leg to keep you in your chair and reach, inhale.

[inhales] Long spine, okay?

Try not to be rounded over.

Lengthen the spine, reach, and feel that stretch clear down to your heel.

We'll do the other side.

Okay.

And get as much of your hind end off the chair as possible so that you have more room to move.

Lean forward, inhale, pull that foot forward.

[exhales] Good.

Nice.

Good, scoot back if you need to.

Widen those legs as far as you can and press against that knee, open up that groin.

Go the other way.

Press your hand into the knee to open up the groin.

[exhales] You can drop your shoulder.

Use a stiff arm, press into that leg, and twist.

This feels so good.

Go ahead and twist your neck.

Drop your shoulder.

As much movement as you can get, go for it.

Good, each way.

Let's get those elbows back up on your desk.

Make a little space.

Scooch your chair back so you can really move the hips back and let's put the elbows up on the table.

[exhales] Lengthen through your shoulders and spine.

Maybe you can get your head down through your arms without hitting the table.

Good.

[inhales] Inhale, exhale.

Experiment with arm placement for comfort for you.

Turn the head.

[exhales] The other way, turn the head.

[exhales] Okay, round your back.

Tuck your chin and lift again.

And now, let's press.

So use your left hand, press it into your forehead, bit of a diagonal, and press.

Press your head right into your hand.

Good, and we'll go the other way.

And press.

[exhales] And then one forward, press forward, your hand's resisting.

It doesn't have to be a lot of pressure, guys.

Just a little bit to wake up those muscles because these muscles are constantly droopy.

So giving them a little work in a more upright position.

Now, to the side, okay?

Press right into the palm of your hand.

Maybe about 70% of your neck muscle strength, and the other way.

[inhales] Ready?

Press, press.

Feels so good.

All right, now let's grab your wrists, okay?

I'd like you to pull your wrist across.

You can have a slouchy spine, and now up.

Stick your chest out and keep working your way around.

[inhales] Exhale.

[exhales] Facilitates the movement in your muscles.

Now, let's go the other way.

Press, grab this wrist.

Sit back so you're pulling on the arm and you're leaning back at the same time.

Come up, work your way around, chest out.

Pull both ways.

One way and then the other and add your neck, okay?

Good.

All right, turn sideways in your seat so you have one hip on, one hip off.

Let this leg and hip just sink towards the floor, but reach over.

Stay seated, but enjoy the stretch from your elbow all the way down the side of your hip.

Very good, come out of that slowly, switching sides.

[inhales] All right, ready?

Inhale, exhale.

[exhales] Hang on to the chair and enjoy that stretch.

This is one of my favorite stretches.

Try to relax that arm.

Feel the ribs spread and come up.

All right, next, we're going to stand and actually use your desk.

So if you need to scoot your computer or your keyboard out of the way, do that and then bring a knee up, okay?

Grab that shin and let's put it right on top of your desk.

Now, I also recommend that you pull up, so two things.

It gives you a little bit of leverage and if your table's kind of wobbly, make sure that you don't end up on the floor.

All right, press the knee into the table.

Feels good, very good.

On both sides of the leg, the inside of the thigh and the outside.

Let's do the other leg.

Let's lift.

[inhales and exhales] Let it settle in.

Pull on from underneath your desk, press the knee down.

Shift your hips around.

You know, different heights are going to find this different.

If you're taller, you'll have a little bit more movement.

If you're shorter, might not be working so well, but try.

All right, next, just use your chair.

So one leg up and the other leg, kick it back.

Big inhale, all right, and then exhale, sink down as far as you can.

If you're super tight, go at it, take a few more reps to get into it, inhale and settle in, inhale and settle in, okay?

[inhales and exhales] Try to bring this knee away from the center of your body.

Add a twist and then the other way.

Readjust and try to twist the other way.

[exhales] Other leg.

Get it up there, hop it back.

[inhales and exhales] When you get down, I want you to open that knee, but keep your foot flat.

Feels different, doesn't it?

Twist towards your leg and twist away from your leg.

That one feels wonderful.

All right, let's get this chair out of the way a little bit and use the desk again for a downward dog.

So make sure you have a little bit of room here.

So I want you to step back, take a big inhale, [inhales] and then as you sink down, walk your fingers across.

You can let your knees soften.

[exhales] Inhale again [inhales] and exhale.

[exhales] Feels so good.

You can deepen the stretch by dropping one arm and the other one.

[clears throat] Feels so good.

[exhales] You can shift your hips around a little bit.

Shift one way and the other, straightening and bending the knees, and bend 'em both together for more of an upper back and shoulder stretch.

Now, round that spine.

[inhales] Tuck your chin and then bring it up last.

Very nice.

All right, standing nice and tall for a final twist.

Twist it to the left, and I'd like you to push your hand into the back of your hip.

[inhales and exhales] Reach it around and go the other way.

Press that hand into the back of your hip [exhales] and reach it across.

Oh, that feels so, so good.

Thank you so much for doing that with me.

I know it'll make a difference in how the rest of your day goes.

In fact, I'd suggest you do it twice a day when you have eight hours at your desk.

And this way, you'll gain more you time after work instead of being so thoroughly spent.

Find this class and more right here at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit, where a little bit of effort pays back in much larger benefits.

See you next time, everyone.

– 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.