Quick Fit with Cassy

Stretches for Sitting too Long

“Streches For Sitting Too Long” Transcript

Hi, I’m Cassy and welcome to Quick Fit! I’ll be showing you some easy and effective movements to help you stretch, strengthen, and balance your muscles …and help you live better longer!

No matter where you are right now, chances are you’ve been sitting for way too long. So join me for a quick workout to reverse all the negative effects of sitting and bring in some natural healing. Now, let’s get moving!

As we begin today’s class, I’d like you to sit forward in your seat and have your knees a nice V right out from your hips with your feet right under your knees. And you don’t need any special equipment. All we’re going to be using today is a chair. You don’t even need a mat, with the exception of I like to tell people to take their shoes off so you can get nice movement in your feet, and if your feet are tender, having the extra cushion of a mat is helpful.

So, let’s begin with a nice tall lift of the arms, doing your best to straighten those elbows and extending through the shoulders, lift right and left, and don’t forget your breathing. deep belly inhales [Cassy inhales] and long exhales. [Cassy exhales] Lift and press, and press. Very good.

Now, let’s just let those hands move down behind the head. And then, let your head fall back in a relaxed way right against your fingertips. Pause when it gets tight. Inhale, exhale, pressing those elbows back. Very nice, and release. Reaching back with two hands, grab somewhere along your chair, either under the seat or wherever you can reach along the chair back. Deep belly breath. Inhale, and then we’ll exhale leaning forward, letting gravity stretch those shoulders and then you can relax the head and neck pausing when it feels the least bit tight. Inhale, exhale, and letting the head fall forward. Really feel the neck lengthen, the shoulders lengthen. And don’t rush it because if you rush it and you’re not relaxed you’ll just tighten up and that defeats the purpose. So release one hand. If you’re mirroring me, this will be your left. Another deep inhale, exhale, and twist through your torso so that your shoulder aims towards the middle of your knees. Pause, inhale, exhale. Enjoy it. Letting the head and the neck turn as you relax. Let’s switch sides. Okay, reaching back, deep inhale. [inhales]

That breathing lets your body know that you’re not going to hurt it [exhales] and it helps your muscles relax, which will speed up pain relief. One more, inhale [inhales], exhale [exhales], and enjoy it.

Letting the head turn. And now, as we come up, let’s extend your right arm and twist. Let’s just leave your hips right where they are. Switch arms. Inhale [inhales], exhale [exhales], and when you get to where it gets tight, just stop. Come out enough so you can take a deep inhale. [inhales] You can even push against your leg and exhale. [exhales] See if you don’t get another inch or so. Turning through the eyes, looking down that arm, then we’ll lift up overhead and I’m gonna slide my arm down the inside and extend over. Remember, as soon as you feel it getting tight, you pause and take a deep inhale and exhale. And do another repetition. All right, switching sides. Inhale, [inhales] let it go. [exhales] Long, long, extra exhale, even turning your eyes to look down your arm, a little extra leverage pushing with this leg, then we lift. And we’re going to be stretching all that fascia, that tissue between your muscles and your skin. Let it go. {exhales] Very good. And come up, all right.

Now, we’ll sit up and press forward, making sure you’re sitting towards the front edge of the chair, so you don’t end up leaning against the chair back. Scoot to the front edge and then what you’ll do, you’ll roll back on that tailbone, pushing forward. Good. Sit up once and pull those elbows back, and then we’ll reach it forward, and we’ll hold here, grab one of your wrists and pull across.

And if all these seem a little complicated and it’s just your first time, don’t worry. Just give yourself a little bit of– just be patient with yourself. Give yourself some time to figure all these things out. It just takes about four weeks for your brain and your muscles to communicate again, for those neurological pathways to clear out.

All right, scoot back a little bit in your seat and we’ll do some hip shifts. shifting right and left. I’m just pushing my feet into the floor and doing my best to get one hip up and then the other off the seat. And when I teach my classes, I often see people leaning away from this hip. Let’s try to turn and look at it. So, if you’re mirroring me, this is your left hip. Let’s just turn your face towards the left. You can even grab the chair. Let’s just pause a minute. Deep inhale. [inhales] Do that again. Exhale. [exhales] Lift the hip, turn the face, and now, your right shoulder. Find that. Pick that up by your ear. [exhales] Good, let’s do the other side. Big inhale [inhales], exhale [exhales], lift that hip up, turn the face, trying to lean into it, squeezing these sides. Inhale, exhale, left shoulder up by your ear to deepen the stretch.

I know that’s a lot so just be patient. All right, we’ll shift a few more times in your seat. And as you do this, start dropping one knee in. You’ll need your feet really wide for that. And the other. stretching this leg back, and then, the other leg back a little further and further with the goal to lengthen this leg completely. Think about that back heel as if you could press that to the floor. And if you’re super tight through here, which is common, just move your leg out towards the front, as far enough as necessary, until you can completely open up this knee. Then, you can get this open more. Inhale, exhale, and twist.

So, we’re just coming at that hip flexor from a different angle. We can get it done. There’s always a modification. And now, let’s twist the other way toward your right, and reach back as far as you can with this leg. You can always hook your arm around the back of the seat. Good, and stretch it back. Inhale, exhale. Very good.

Now, as we wrap up these simple, yet effective exercises, I hope you find that you aren’t quite as stiff as you were before you began today. Feel free to repeat this workout again any time you’ve been sitting for a while and want to enjoy some relief.

And don’t forget to check out our other videos online at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit. And remember– Life is Movement, so get up and move! See you next time.