Quick Fit with Cassy

- Hello, I'm Cassy, and this is Quick Fit , your place for aging well.

I firmly believe that, and include moves to keep you feeling great and remaining independent.

Today's class is just the thing to keep your legs strong and loose.

Those two things go together, so remove your shoes and join me as we strengthen and loosen your legs all the way to your toes.

[upbeat music] We'll remain standing for today's class.

I hope you have a mat or a nice rug to work on, especially if your feet are tender.

We'll just start with some easy heel lifts.

And if you tend to get a little wobbly during any one-foot standing moves, then just have a chair nearby that you can easily reach out and touch.

Okay, easily lifting and lowering.

Put all your weight on your right leg and let's extend and flex that foot.

[inhales] Good.

Standing up nice and tall, that helps your brain and your muscles coordinate your movement.

Point and flex.

Let's do the other one.

Stabilize, extend.

And whenever we do balancing moves, just focus on something in the distance that's not moving.

[inhales and exhales] Good, flex and point.

Just warming up.

Good, and now that foot is down.

And we'll work the toes.

Just a little tuck and fold.

When your toes are tight, it affects your ankles, your knees, your hips.

If you like to run and you have a tight toe, then you're not going to be able to perform as well as when your toes are loose, and have good flexibility and strength.

Okay, flexibility and strength goes together.

All right, so now let's line up your feet and I'd like you to drag your foot back, but not too far.

Just so the toes are lined up near the back of that heel.

And I don't mean one foot in front of the other, okay?

Have a decent width.

And now shift your weight so that it is evenly distributed between your front and your back foot.

And then just a slight bend of the knees.

We are staying upright for this particular move with the heels down.

This is a calf stretch and we're just holding it here.

And then come up and we'll do that again.

So straight down, your knees are just bending a little bit.

And then we'll do a little bit greater distance between the front and back.

All right, sit straight down.

And up, and one more time.

Straight down.

Nice stretch to that back heel, and up.

And then we'll turn and do the other side.

So now draw your other leg back.

Once again, your back toes are pretty close to your front heel.

And then balance your weight so it's evenly distributed and sit straight down.

Enjoy that stretch to the back heel.

All right, back up.

[inhales] Same thing again, straight down.

[exhales] Stomach's in, nice posture.

And then we'll make a greater distance between the front and the back foot.

Distribute your weight evenly and sit back, sit straight down on that back leg.

Up, one more time, and down.

All right, feet side-by-side.

We'll be doing a little deeper stance now.

So drag that left leg, drag it back, and then balance your weight so that as you lower yourself, you get a 90-degree bend in the front knee and the back knee.

Take your time to stabilize.

Make sure your feet aren't lined up, but you have a decent width between your front and back leg.

Okay, nice, stable base, and up.

[inhales] And lower yourself.

Make sure you're not going knees forward like that.

Okay, you can push through your front foot to help push your weight back or forward.

Do you see that?

And up, one more time.

[inhales] So it helps sometimes if you just think about dropping your weight straight down through the back leg.

And up, all right.

Let's switch legs.

So now you'll draw your right leg back.

Sometimes it's further than you think.

It's difficult if you just stay all crunched up.

So get it back there.

90-degree bend in the back knee and the front knee.

Adjust your weight.

Hold it here, stretching the toes, ankle.

And up.

[inhales] And down, stabilizing.

It's okay to have the chair to reach out and grab it if you need to, but try not to give it the death grip.

And up.

One more time, down.

[exhales] Good job.

All right, and let's bring those feet side-by-side.

We'll do another one, slightly different.

Take this left leg, drag it back, down for that 90.

90-degree angle in the front and the back knee.

Now this time, we'll stay down, but now I want you to extend that back leg, stretching that calf a little more.

Then bend it.

[inhales and exhales] Do it again.

Still staying low, and bend it.

One more time.

Check your posture.

Stretch that back leg.

And pop it up.

We'll do the other side.

Reach it back, stabilize.

Adjust your weight.

Drop it down through that back leg.

[inhales] Hold.

[exhales] Nice, tall spine.

Extend that back leg.

And bend it again.

Extend and stretch, stabilize.

[exhales] Bend one more time.

Hang in there, I know everything's shaking.

Good, [exhales] stretch, and pop it up.

Well, we're not done with these lunges yet.

We've got a few more.

So we'll take your left leg and we'll drag it back.

Stabilize, drop it down.

Now we're gonna explode up to the front leg.

We'll do this five times.

You ready?

One.

Reach it back, get down.

Two, reach it back, stabilize.

Three, reach it back.

Four, last one for this leg.

And five, good job.

Take the other leg back.

Stable, drop it down.

Explode, one.

[exhales] Two, no need to rush.

Three, reach it back.

Four, go as slow as you need to to stabilize every time, okay?

Is that four or five?

I'm not sure, we'll do another one just in case.

All right, one last variation.

Take this left leg back.

Down and stabilize.

But this time, we're gonna push off with that front leg to the back, okay?

One.

[inhales and exhales] Get set, that's two.

Down, three.

Four.

Last one, five.

Good job, walk back to the beginning.

Drag that other leg back.

Drop it down.

Now remember, we're gonna explode backwards again.

So push off for one.

[inhales and exhales] Two.

[exhales] Three.

Last two.

Four.

Last one, ready?

And go!

Good job.

Let's do a little stretch, shall we?

Catch your breath and grab that ankle.

All right.

At the same time, I'd like you to squeeze your bottom.

Stir, and stir, and stir, good job.

Release, catching your breath, bringing your heart rate down.

[inhales and exhales] Stabilize on that leg so you can grab your ankle, maybe you've got that chair nearby.

Challenge your balance.

That's what we're here for.

Squeeze your hind end, press that knee down.

[inhales] Stir to make it a little deeper.

Well done, everybody!

I hope you're seeing how important full range of motion in every joint is to healthy mobility.

Something as small as your big toe, when it's tight, can prevent you from going down to the floor.

I understand.

So please join me again here at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit, where I promise to work with you to regain mobility, reduce pain, and keep you strong.

Until next time, keep on moving!

– 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.