Quick Fit with Cassy

- This is Quick Fit and I'm your host, Cassy Vieth.

LPHC stands for the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex.

Impairment in this region can have negative effects on overall movement quality.

Follow along with me today as we work to loosen tight muscles and improve mobility so you can feel better ASAP.

[gentle music] 60% to 80% of the population experiences low back pain.

Sadly, additional injuries are likely.

The good news is you can do something about it.

That's why you're here, right?

We're going to begin by placing your foot up on the seat.

Have two soft knees, and just let that bent leg fall gently to the side.

Now let's focus on the pelvis.

We're going to tuck your tailbone under and arch your low back alternately.

So if you're not sure what I mean, just put your fingers right here on your hip bones and let's push it back.

So now we have our rounded low back, and then push that hip bone forward so we're arching the low back.

In this way, we are stretching that lumbar, lower back region of your spine, and don't forget to breathe, okay?

Breathe it in and then exhale as you tuck that tailbone under, or rounding, and breathe it in, and exhale as you arch.

The breathing helps everything to just lengthen easier.

Breathe it in and out.

[exhales] Let's do one more.

I'm feeling great stretches in my low back, as well as in my inner thigh.

You could be feeling it in your arm.

It doesn't matter, just stretch and stretch.

Whatever's tight is going to loosen up.

All right, now let's work on the psoas, that deep muscle.

So notice I hopped back my standing foot just a little bit.

And I'd like you to come up on your toes and let your knee bend and squeeze your bottom.

And now straighten that standing leg, pressing that heel into the floor.

I hope you have your bottom still squeezed, and release.

We'll do that again.

So come up, let the knee bend, squeeze your bottom, and press that heel into the floor.

Good job.

All right, now one slightly different.

Come up on your toes, bend the knee, squeeze your bottom, breathe it in, and then lower yourself.

You should feel a deep stretch all the way down to your knee.

And we won't hold that one, we'll come out of it.

[inhales] Reset, come up on your toes.

Let the knee bend as you squeeze your bottom, the tailbone tucks, and then drop down.

Good job, all right.

Let's come out of that and we'll do the other side.

All right, put your leg up on top one more time.

We have two soft knees, and I'm slightly toed out.

All right, and we'll just let this leg relax out to the side.

Work the pelvis now, so you'll pull the hip bones back to round the lower spine and push the hip bones forward.

Good.

Your pelvis needs to move freely so that your low spine can remain flexible.

[inhales] Inhale, exhale.

[exhales] And having your knees slightly bent just seems to help the pelvis move easier.

All right, don't forget to breathe, in and out.

And now let's hop back a little bit with that standing leg.

Come up on your toes, and at the same time, squeeze your bottom and let the knee bend.

And then now we'll press that heel to the floor.

We're still squeezing the bottom, [inhales] and then come out of that.

We'll do it again.

Come up on the toes, tuck that tailbone under, let the knee bend, and then we'll press that heel down into the floor.

Good job.

Now we'll add the stretch to the quad.

So come up on the toes, tuck the tailbone, let the knee bend, and now lower your weight down onto the chair.

You might need to adjust a little bit, and take care that you don't go too far over the front.

[inhales] And we don't wanna hold that 'cause it's a really powerful stretch.

Tuck the tailbone, bend the knee, exhale, lower yourself.

Good job.

All right, come out of that.

And we'll move our chair and do two more exercises.

All right, get your leg up top again.

And we'll keep our top leg fairly straight.

It's okay to have a little bend in the back of the knee.

Your standing leg, let it be soft, and we'll reach over the top.

Breathe it in [inhales] and then exhale.

[exhales] Good.

Do your best to have your hip bones reaching towards your thigh.

Okay, this will stretch the hamstring better.

Come up and we'll just do a little twist.

[inhales and exhales] To the front.

Breathe in and sit down on that standing leg, and reach.

Stand up and twist.

All right, let's work on this IT band.

You can flex your foot and rotate this leg away, and lift and drop the hip.

Lift and drop the hip.

Lift and drop.

[exhales] See how much movement you can find.

And let's switch sides and do the other leg.

Start with the hamstring.

So fairly straight top leg.

Your standing knee is slightly bent and reach out over this leg, having a nice, long spine.

Reaching forward with these hip bones, okay?

[inhales and exhales] And come up, twist.

As you switch positions, breathe it in.

When you go to stretch, exhale.

Come up and sit back down into it.

[exhales] Lengthen, come up and twist.

And we'll work on that IT band.

So flex that foot, rotate that leg, and lift the hip and lower.

You might not get very much movement.

That's quite all right.

Lift and lower.

Last one, lift and lower.

Well done, okay, two feet down.

Let's just do a few hip circles as we finish up here.

[inhales] Breathe it in and out, and reverse.

and a few heel lifts.

Going right onto the ball of that foot.

Don't let your ankle tweak sideways.

And that's it.

You know, taking control of your health gives you hope for your future.

It takes effort though, and I'm proud of you for returning each day.

Tell a friend to log on to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit so they too can begin feeling better.

And remember, now that you're done, keep on moving.

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