Quick Fit with Cassy

- Welcome to Quick Fit , your place to stretch and strengthen so you can reduce pain and injuries and improve performance so you can live better, longer.

I'm your host, Cassy Vieth.

Today's slow class will become one of your favorites because of the time we'll be taking in each of the few targeted moves.

So grab a chair and get ready to feel loose and ready for your day.

[upbeat music] All right, simply stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.

Let your weight shift into that right hip.

Breathe in deep and exhale.

Hopefully, you can relax and really allow time to stretch through this hip, okay?

And then we're leaning over as things are loosening up.

If you're starting first thing in the morning, you might be super tight and it might take a few pauses and resets to shift.

So I've got both my knees straight and I'm just sinking into the hip, trying to relax.

And now we can deepen that stretch by letting your torso twist towards the ceiling.

You can put your hands on your back hip.

Pull your stomach in.

And enjoy it; very good.

Let's go back to the other side now.

So we'll shift.

Take your time.

[inhales] Breathing in and out.

Legs are straight, stomach's pulled in, and as you relax and stretch, just enjoy it.

Good, a little pause.

[inhales] And exhale.

[exhales] We're gonna twist through the shoulders.

Put your hands on your back hip, looking up, and enjoying that stretch all through your ribs.

It feels good.

All right, let's just do a few hip circles.

Keep your feet in place, keep your shoulders in place.

And it's just the hips that are moving forward, to the side, and around the back, okay?

Try not to move the shoulders around.

That's not what we're after.

Hips are moving around your feet, the base of your feet.

And then we'll go the other way, taking your time.

Think about the ball and socket that your hip joint is.

Oops, I moved forward.

Good.

All right, now we'll go back into a little bit wider stance and let that hip shift to the right.

And then this time, we're just gonna lean forward and back.

Still trying to keep the hips shifted.

Breathe it in and exhale.

[exhales] Nice and simple.

Pushing that hip away.

And then we'll go to the other side slowly.

Lean it back and forth.

Take your time.

All right, no need to rush.

You can feel stretches deep into your glutes as well.

All right, let's get your feet about hip-width apart, and I'd like you to draw your left leg back.

All right, press that heel down.

Now, make sure your feet aren't too close together.

So I'm gonna widen my base a little bit.

My back foot, let it toe out a bit.

Okay, breathe it in.

And then press your hips forward by squeezing your hind end.

Exhale.

You should feel a stretch right about here.

It's called the TFL.

It's a little bit of muscle that flexes your hip.

And as you loosen up, you can move your front foot forward a little bit more.

Good, now, let's extend the arm up.

[inhales] Good.

[exhales] Squeeze your hind end, push forward, lengthen also, through the torso.

Now, you can let your shoulders rotate.

[exhales] The hip will rotate a little bit as well.

And if you have space, you can lean it over the back.

Fantastic.

That's a really great stretch for the hip flexor.

It's also the top of your IT band that goes all the way down here.

All right, let's reset.

Feet are about shoulder-width apart.

We'll reach back with that right leg this time.

And then we'll toe out the back foot just so you feel stable.

[inhales] Squeeze the hind end.

You can lean the torso back a little bit to enjoy that stretch right through here.

As you stretch and get more flexible, move that front foot forward.

Now, let's extend the arm.

[inhales and exhales] Push the hips forward, slight lean back of the torso.

And now, rotate.

And enjoy.

It's a good, good one.

All right.

Stretch those legs apart now, and we'll do the inner thighs.

So first thing I'd like you to do is lean over towards your right, okay?

And as you do these, make sure your hips actually move towards the back of you so your knees don't go forward.

Okay.

Keep this leg straight; this should be your left leg.

Keep it straight so that you get that inner thigh stretch.

We're just going in and out of it.

When it starts to feel kind of cringing tight, you want to pause, come out and inhale, [inhales] and then exhale going back into it.

You never want to make it terribly uncomfortable, okay?

And then you can do a little twist through the torso, deepen the stretch.

And we'll go to the other side.

All right, hips back.

Make sure those knees aren't going forward of the toes.

It gets a little tight, you pause.

[inhales] Go right back into it.

[exhales] Let's deepen that stretch.

Twist through the shoulders if you can.

Make sure that leg stays straight and come out of that.

Good job.

All right, let's make use of the chair.

And I'd like you to cross your right leg in front of the other and let it go onto the side of your ankle.

Hopefully your shoes are off.

All right, and now let's take that same side arm.

Big inhale, exhale.

[exhales] Trying to stretch that fascia that goes all the way down from your hip, all the way down to your knee.

Now, my arm has come forward, so let's lift that up.

Good.

Let your head and neck turn so you're facing the floor.

That feels wonderful.

All right, get your foot up onto the chair, and then just let the knee fall out to the side.

This feels really good.

All right, now, soft knee on the standing leg.

And you can lean forward and up, a little lean back, squeeze your butt, and [exhales] exhale.

Adjust the foot wherever it needs to be for comfort.

And let's do that other side.

Okay, so let's take your left leg, cross it in front, and let the foot turn onto the side of the ankle.

You don't have to put any weight down there, but it's nice to have it across the body, turned on its side a little bit.

So now you can feel this stretch all the way up your hips, your ribs, all the way up through your elbow.

[exhales] Exhale.

When it starts to be too tight, inhale, exhale.

Good, let your face and neck turn.

[exhales] One more, big breath in and blow it out.

[exhales] Feels so good.

Let's put that foot up onto the chair, let that knee fall open, and we'll just lean it forward and back.

Don't bother forcing it if it's tight.

Bend that standing knee just a little bit.

One side's always gonna be easier than the other.

We're not machines, you know.

Good, one more.

I'm gonna adjust my foot.

Exhale; that feels better.

All right, last move is a hydrant.

So we've done hydrants before, where we have our hands on the floor or the chair and you just lift that leg out to the side.

But now, I want you to move that leg anywhere you can behind you.

You can bring it down, and up again, and to the back.

Move it around.

Find what feels good for you.

[inhales and exhales] And down, one more.

And down, and really stretch it now.

And bring it back, and we'll do the other leg.

I'm gonna turn my seat.

All right, let's make sure you're stable.

Get that leg out to the side, then try to bring it more behind you, letting the hips move wherever.

[inhales and exhales] It's a good stretch to the standing leg as well.

Down.

Up, out.

You can even get down on your elbow if you feel super flexible and you want to deepen the stretch.

And last one.

Out to the side and around.

[exhales] So good.

And it feels better with the doing.

The more you do, the better it feels.

Now, I know you feel looser after that.

In fact, these are moves I do frequently when traveling and finding myself sitting way too long.

With repetition, your body will want to repeat these often.

Log back in daily to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit to plan tomorrow's time right now.

That's the number one strategy for consistency, planning your workout time and making the rest of your day revolve around that.

Until then, 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.