- If getting down to the floor is something you avoid because getting back up has become too difficult, don't give up!

Hello, I'm Cassy with a special two-part Quick Fit series designed to loosen and strengthen those tight muscles that keep you from enjoying activities on the floor.

In this first class, we work on the flexibility you need.

So let's get moving.

[upbeat music] Loss of mobility doesn't happen overnight.

It's so gradual you don't notice a difference from one day to the next.

But the good news is you can reverse this decline much faster than it occurred.

Let's begin with simple ankle circles.

Just extend your leg out in front of you and do nice, slow rotations.

Taking your time, getting as big a movement as possible in every direction.

In this first class of the series, we are working to increase and improve your flexibility.

And remember, tight muscles are also weak muscles.

So as we get them back to their designed lengths, we'll also work on strengthening them in part two of this series.

All right, let's switch legs.

Extend and point, and nice, big, slow circles.

I hope you're standing nice and tall.

Don't forget about the posture.

And reverse directions.

Slow and full movement.

Breathe in nice and big.

We like to also exercise those muscles for breathing.

And then let's stretch the calves.

I like to use the chair back.

And just take a big step back.

All right, hands on the back of your seat.

And then press that heel into the floor.

Now make sure that you're nice and tall.

You have your heel on the floor.

And at this point, you have your knee straight.

And also check to make sure that your heel is behind your toes and that your foot hasn't shifted sideways.

Tight calves cause that foot to shift sideways.

So make it more effective and just have that heel straight behind the toes, knees straight, and we're up.

Sometimes I see people lean forward, and that takes the effect of the stretch away.

So push the hips forward.

Have your forward foot in front of you.

And spend a good one to two minutes on this.

Don't rush it.

Now let's shift the hips back a little bit so that you can get a little bend in the knee.

So we get both of the big muscles in the calf.

And once again, we are more, you know, upright.

We're not leaning forward.

Heel is on the floor.

Nice, big breaths in and out.

And continue to hold this for up to two minutes.

Let's say two minutes has passed and let's switch legs.

Extend that leg to the back.

You can also add some extra leverage by pressing down into the seat.

And you know, to get a full two minutes, all you have to do is hit pause.

That's the beauty of being online.

Okay, press the heel down, straight knee.

Nice and tall torso.

Hips are slightly pushed forward.

[inhales and exhales] And don't forget your breathing.

Now we'll shift to get a slight bend in that knee.

Heel is down.

Make sure your foot is aligned and that it didn't turn sideways.

All right, breathe it in.

For four, hold for four, and exhale for four.

And keep that up for a good one to two minutes.

All right, let's adjust now.

And let's do some quadricep stretches.

These are another important muscle to make sure that they're not too tight.

And for those of you that cannot grab your foot, you can use a band.

So a little strategy here is have your foot up on top of the seat and you can wrap the band around your ankle and then turn away from the seat, okay?

Now use the band or your hand to pull your ankle towards your glutes for a nice quad stretch.

This is another stretch you'd really like to hold for a good long while.

And alternately, you can press your foot into the seat.

Now, this is just a little technique for deepening the stretch.

Press that foot into the seat for about eight seconds.

And then pull with the band or with your hand, pull that heel to your butt.

Good, and then squeeze your glute at the same time.

That's another way to deepen the stretch.

And exhale.

All right, we'll switch legs.

Once again, you can get your foot up and then turn away.

Pull that ankle towards your glute with the band or with your hand.

Stand nice and tall.

While you're pulling, you can squeeze your glute to deepen the stretch.

All right, alternately, let's press that foot into the seat for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two.

And pull it one more time up.

Stand nice and tall.

Squeeze your glutes.

And release, and press it once more into the seat.

For five more, three, two, and done.

All right, good job.

Let's come out of that.

And you know, to get down to the floor, you have to continue to work on the calves, but also have strong legs.

So I'd like you to practice a little half lunge hold.

So let's slide your leg back.

And you're just in a little bit of a lunge.

So we're starting to strengthen this front leg, but while you're at it, let's just lift the heel up and press it down.

Working the toes and the calves 'cause you need flexible toes, and of course, flexible calves.

Good.

And you can set a timer and increase the amount of time you spend in this lunge position.

Really important to strengthen those quads as well as stretch them.

All right, let's go the other way.

All right, well, one big step back.

You're in this half lunge.

You can have your hand on the seat and let's work the toes and the calves.

Working all of your lower body all at the same time.

Heel up, heel down.

And you're standing nice and tall with the rest of your body, with your torso.

Head and neck is nice and long.

Shoulders are back.

[inhales] Control that breathing.

No slouching.

Last little movement here.

And done, good.

Now finally, let's begin to get your squat a little deeper.

And have your feet about shoulder-width apart and open those knees as wide as your feet.

Don't let your knees come together.

And up and just do a little hip shift, right and left.

Hopefully you'll continue to repeat this class and gradually getting lower with every class repetition.

'Cause with these squats, we're working on your ankles, your knees, and your hips, everything you need.

All right, and down.

All right, and that is it.

You've done such a good job.

Repeat this class several times a week if you've stopped getting down to the floor or if it's been getting increasingly difficult.

By addressing these key areas of tightness, you'll see improvements in other areas of your everyday movement.

And come back daily to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit to pair this class with the strengthening exercises needed for getting back up from the floor.

Until tomorrow, keep on moving!

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