Quick Fit with Cassy

- Welcome to Quick Fit .

I'm your host, Cassy Vieth.

The muscles of our core, pelvis, and thighs work closely together to flex our hips.

It may make better sense if I say lifting the leg.

For example, you need this move to put on your shoes and climb stairs.

Join me now to work this region and get you stronger.

[gentle music] We'll begin standing, but later on, we'll go down to the floor to strengthen your hips and stretch.

Let's begin with your feet at least about shoulder-width apart so that you can have a nice, soft bend in the knees and a little flex in your hips.

We're going to open those arms wide and hug a barrel.

Now remember, when you hug a barrel, you need room right in front of you, so hollow out the front.

Make sure you're bearing down by squeezing your glutes and your abs, really compressing.

Okay, breathe it in, exhale.

Do that again, bear down, good.

Now we're gonna wash some windows, so I'd like you to reach away and pull it in.

Reach away, pull it in.

Have those hands one above the other.

One elbow's up, one elbow's down.

Do it again.

Make sure you exhale.

And then, we'll tip over and do the other side.

[exhales] Bear down so it supports that spine while you extend.

Every time you extend, you're making your body have to control more weight, okay?

Now we'll go one more time to this side, but this time, we're going to use more force.

So really bear down and imagine you're pushing something that's hard to push, and pull it in.

Breathe it in, exhale.

Reach, feel that stretch on that outer hip and sides, and the other way.

Breathe it in, blow, press and pull, and press and pull.

Last time, press, press, press, and pull, pull, pull.

[exhales] Good job.

Bring your feet closer together.

Once again, we'll do a little bit of balance work at the same time.

If you need a chair handy, by all means, but it's a good idea to challenge your balance whenever you can.

Let's flex the hip by lifting your knee.

Good.

Now, if you have to immediately put the foot back down, then just keep the tip of your toes there, okay?

Trying not to put any weight down through your toes.

Otherwise, let's start moving the leg.

And if the movement causes you to have to put all your weight back down through your foot, then don't move.

Just do the hold, okay?

Lift, stomach's in.

Sometimes you have to go in stages to progress, okay?

There's nothing wrong with working at the stage you're at, because then you'll see more progress.

Okay, lift, lift, stomach's in.

[laughs] Head and shoulders are nice and tall, okay.

Lift for five, four, three, two, and switch legs.

You could feel that muscle working, stabilize, [exhales] go to just the toes, and then slowly lift.

Now either your toes are just barely touching the floor or you're just doing the hold.

If you can hold this for about four or five seconds, then I'd say you're ready to start trying to move.

[inhales] Now your standing foot, you're doing all kinds of benefits for that foot.

Especially the muscles that control the arch, lift.

Try to look at something that's not moving.

And we're standing tall for five, four, three, two.

And let's put that leg down and switch legs again.

Let's extend your leg straight out to the front, point that foot.

Once again, you can either just have your toes barely touching the floor or just doing a hold slightly above the floor.

If you can do this, then start the lifts.

Lift, lift.

Find something that's not moving to stare at, stomach's in, posture's nice and tall.

Let's do five, four, three, two, and flex and continue, lift.

If you need to take a break, do so, count to three and join us again.

Ah, hopefully I can freeze.

There we go.

And I'm not done yet.

Three, two, one; gotta fight for it.

All right, shake that off, we'll do the other leg.

[exhales] Stabilize, extend.

Get that whole leg, foot and toes pointed.

Either keep your toes down, barely skimming the floor, or you're lifting and holding.

If you got that, at least for a little bit, then you can start the movement.

Lift, do whatever you need to with your arms And lift, and height doesn't necessarily matter.

You're strengthening this leg.

You're strengthening your standing leg and your reflexes.

You're working your brain anytime you're doing something new and challenging.

[inhales and exhales] Stomach's in, posture's nice for five, four, three, two, and flex is next, don't forget.

[exhales] Three-second breaks are pretty, pretty helpful.

Doesn't sound like much, but it is.

So short break and join us again.

Okay, lift, lift, lift.

Five, four, three, two, and done, good work.

All right, shake that off.

Next, we'll be going down to the floor.

If you need something under your hip, then go ahead and get that now.

And we'll just lay down on your side with your elbow right under your shoulder.

Stack your knees to begin with and make sure you've got this nice, long spine, long neck.

Try not to sink down into that shoulder.

Let's take this top leg and extend it.

Maybe slightly back a little bit so you get a little bit more of the glute.

I like to put my hand out front to prevent my hips from opening up.

When that happens, you begin using your quadriceps, those muscles on the front of your thigh instead of these very weak glute medius muscles, which are typically weak on most people, okay?

And lift, stomach's in, long neck, checks that posture.

And if you wanna be all the way down, by all means, you can get a little bit more movement this way.

Lift, lift, lift.

You can flex your foot, touch the toes, lift through that ankle, okay?

You wanna touch the toes?

Keep the toes pointed forward instead of towards the ceiling.

Five, four, three, two.

Now let's move the leg to the front.

I feel like I have a little more strength if I'm up on my elbow for this part.

Nice, straight leg, touch and lift.

Touch, touch.

[exhales] Lift; these are hard, so do your best.

Small break if you need one, then join us again.

You can even bend the knee, making the weight a little less.

Lift, lift, lift, well done.

Now try to get the bottom of your foot on the floor and push your torso towards that leg.

[inhales] Exhale.

[exhales] This is the best part, isn't it?

Breathe it in.

[inhales] And then exhale.

[exhales] And we're not quite done yet, we get to do all that on the other side.

So swing your body around and get that elbow under your shoulder.

Start stacked.

And let's extend that arm.

Extend that leg slightly back a little bit.

And we wanna touch the toes and lift, lift.

A little smaller range of motion when you're sitting up like this.

And once again, take care that your hips don't move back.

Your quads wanna take over.

That's kind of what happens when one muscle is weak and it's supposed to be working and it's not.

Other muscles have to pick up the slack, and they're not necessarily meant for that movement.

And then you end up getting muscle spasms.

Your body wants you to stop, okay?

Lift, touch the toes.

Lift the ankle towards the ceiling, stomach's in.

Don't hold your breath, and try to move with a controlled squeeze of the muscles involved, not just throwing the leg around with momentum.

Three, two, last one, push yourself up if you've laid down and then extend the leg out to the front.

Touch the toes, lift the ankle to the ceiling.

The tendency is to do this and then you'll use your quads, cheating.

Don't do it.

Lift, lift.

I know you're getting tired.

You can take a three-second break.

You can always bend the knee, but let's keep moving.

Don't give up.

Five, four, three, two, time to stretch.

Get the bottom of that foot on the floor.

[inhales] Gonna stretch the muscles we were just working.

So exhale, sink your shoulders down.

Halfway up, breathe it in and exhale.

[exhales] Feels too good to rush through this stretch, so take your time.

[inhales and exhales] And then sit up.

That was great.

Just a few simple moves, but fitness doesn't need to be complicated.

With consistency, you'll see positive changes.

So come back tomorrow to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit where together, we'll keep you loose, strong, and pain-free so you can enjoy doing all the things you love.

Until then, keep on moving.

– Announcer: Funding for Quick Fit with Cassy is provided by Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.