Quick Fit with Cassy

- Hello, I hope you're ready to start your day off right.

You must be; that's why you're here.

If you're new, welcome, I'm Cassy, and this is Quick Fit , your place to stretch, strengthen, and balance your whole body to relieve pain.

We'll be working on the floor today.

So have a couple of blocks, and we'll get started.

[gentle music] If you're new, you may not know if you need blocks.

The rule of thumb is that if you cannot straighten your spine while sitting like this on the floor, then raising your bottom up off the floor a bit can help tremendously.

Even a short stool or an ottoman if you're really tight through the back, hips, or hams.

All right, so we'll be sitting tall.

Knees are soft.

In fact, let 'em just fall out to the side in a nice, comfortable, relaxed way.

[inhales] And throughout this whole class, make sure you're breathing nice and deeply in and extra long out.

This'll help your muscles to loosen up.

All right, so let's arch and round alternately, okay.

You can do a gentle pull on your legs to help deepen the moves, but don't make yourself cringe, all right.

So a nice, big inhale [inhales] and an exhale.

[exhales] When you're doing the stretches, that's the time to exhale.

Breathe it in when it's easy, and exhale [exhales] when you're starting to feel some resistance.

Open the chest.

Good, a little circle with the arms, [inhales] opening the chest, [exhales] stretching through the front of the shoulder, and then arms up, [inhales] trying to lengthen through all of your vertebrae and your shoulders.

Reach it up, reach it up, sitting lightly on the floor or the blocks.

All right, hands down and let's just rock it back and forth on your tailbone.

Try not to fall off your blocks if you're on them.

Okay, roll it back and forth.

[exhales] A little gentle pull on your legs to help deepen the stretch is just fine.

[inhales] All right, nice and tall, and then we'll relax and roll forward as far as feels good for you.

[exhales] Remember, if it starts to pull too much, you're going to stop, breathe in and go back into it with an exhale.

Reach two hands across, breathe in as we switch sides [inhales] and exhale, [exhales] and maybe you're not leaning as far forward as I am.

No matter, do what you can do.

Inhale and exhale.

[exhales] I don't want your body to tense up, okay.

And it will if you push it too hard, too fast.

All right, let's straighten one leg enough that you can cross the other.

We'll do a little pretzel.

[inhales] Good, so grab that leg.

If you can get an arm around it and reach back with the other, [inhales] sitting tall and switch legs, [inhales and exhales] reach across, twist, come halfway out, inhale, and then exhale.

[exhales] Good job.

Let those legs relax one more time.

And we're going to reach for this rope and pull, other arm, reach and pull, now make sure you're not jamming.

You're going slow and controlled, [exhales] letting some of the gravity and momentum stretch your muscles.

[inhales and exhales] Lots of breathing.

All right.

So if you're mirroring me, just extend your left leg out in front of you and your other one is gonna be bent, and you can pull on the back of your bent leg to lift through the chest and spine.

[inhales and exhales] Nice.

All right, let's round, push it forward.

Let the pelvis rock back, sit up and arch, lengthening, lifting through your head and neck even.

Good, one more.

Let's round.

So we're loosening through your hips as we do this, as well as through the lumbar spine.

Let's reach it back, [inhales] little circle, opening further behind you.

Lift, point those thumbs behind you.

Good, arms up [inhales] and up.

Imagine you're hanging by a bar.

[exhales] Good job, all right, let's bring those arms down and we'll rock the pelvis.

The top of the pelvis is rocking back and forward.

Rock it back and forward.

Cross, reach past that leg and open that arm, [exhales] halfway out, big inhale, exhale.

[exhales] Good, switch sides.

Reach across, open that arm.

When you start to meet resistance, pause, a little ways out, [inhales] and then back into the stretch with an exhale.

You can just feel those muscles loosen up.

All right, and so it was your left leg that we had it straightened.

Keep it straightened one more time and we'll finish with this leg, okay.

We're grabbing that rope and pulling, grab and pull, grab and pull.

[inhales and exhales] Good, take your time, we're not jamming or making ourself cringe.

All right, now we'll switch legs.

So the straight leg would be your right leg.

The other one's bent.

Sitting tall, we'll lift.

Get a little leverage by pulling on the bent leg, [inhales] lifting through the spine, lifting through the head and neck.

Very good, now we'll completely relax.

See if you can reach your toes without making yourself cringe.

When you start to feel resistance, you'll stop and lift [inhales] and go back into it.

In fact, push away.

Good, and push away.

[exhales] Arch, open that chest, little circle, stretching the front of the shoulder again.

Good, one arm up, [inhales] other arm up.

Hands down on your hips and we'll rock it back and forth on your tailbone or on your sit bones.

Whatever makes sense to you.

All right, and lean it forward, flat back, and then relax.

See if you can reach across, two hands on the other side.

[inhales and exhales] Let this leg relax out to the side, slight bend, reach for the rope and pull, reach for the rope and pull.

Reach for the rope and pull, exhale and pull.

[exhales] Let's do two more, exhale and pull, exhale and pull.

Now straighten this one so we can do the pretzel.

Saved it for last this time.

Reach across, reach behind, halfway out, inhale, [inhales] blow.

[exhales] Very good.

All those muscles up your spine just relaxed.

Okay, two legs are straighter this time, as opposed to this kind of a soft knee or straight if you're more flexible.

[inhales] Big inhale, we'll go nice and slow, leaning forward.

Imagine you can touch your ribs to your thighs instead of trying to touch your shoulders to your knees.

Okay, ribs to thighs.

This is a flatter back.

[inhales and exhales] See if you can reach your hands to your shins, come up, back down to your shins.

[exhales] Up to the knees, exhale down to the floor.

[exhales] Good, back up to your knees, we'll alternately straighten.

[inhales] Big, long, deep breaths in and out.

[exhales] Good.

Reach, grab that rope and pull.

Grab the rope and pull, maybe a little further this time with a little more of a twist.

[inhales and exhales] Nice, I know it's not nearly so tight as it was when you first started.

Muscles take a good 30 to 60 seconds to start loosening up.

Do you know, as you stretch, your muscles become more fluid and more supple?

That's right, last one.

[inhales] Exhale [exhales] and we're finished.

If you had a tough time with this class, be patient, but be encouraged; you will loosen up.

The floor is a place we must not avoid if we want to remain strong and independent.

Your chances of injury are greatly reduced when you release tight muscles.

So plan on returning here often to this class, by logging in to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit, where staying healthy is a daily practice.

And I'll be here waiting so we can do it together.

See you soon.

– 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.