- Today's Quick Fit class is all about recruiting your core musculature.

Finding those muscles, engaging them, and strengthening them.

My name is Cassy, and I'll be showing you how to strengthen your core so you can produce more power in all your daily activities.

Let's get started.

[gentle music] We'll be seated today.

And as always, I recommend you set your feet free from your shoes.

Just have a cushy mat if your feet are tender.

We'll be starting by warming up the core with some circles and vacuums.

Meaning I want you to hold your abdominals in tight the whole time, all right?

That helps to activate those deeper core muscles that are attached to your spine.

The ones that are really responsible for stability, and they don't always activate immediately.

So pull it in.

[inhales] All movement comes from your core.

It's like leverage for every other move.

The stronger your core, the easier and more powerful all other movements will be.

Less painful too.

And remember, as you're circling around, you can really feel your abs engage, particularly on the lean back.

[inhales] Breathe it in, exhale to help you compress, hold.

These little engagement circles are super helpful to give your abs time to all kind of wake up and do their job, all right.

So we're still pulling it in.

Tailbone slightly tucked under to help you kind of get a scooped out appearance in the front.

Okay, right and left drops of the shoulders to help you find more muscles, pull them in, wake 'em up.

Exhale, every time you exhale, pull in more.

Very good.

Let's do a couple more circles, we're dropping a shoulder, pulling it back, dropping a shoulder.

[inhales] Let's do it the other way.

[exhales] You'll feel more of them waking up, compress and hold, inhale, exhale, [exhales] pull it in.

And we can sit up a little more, but I still want you to be pulling in.

You can push on the lower abs to make sure that they're tense, all right.

Pull in, exhale.

All right, now we'll sit up a little taller, still pulling in, [inhales and exhales] and now lift and allow your pelvis to tip the other way and stretch.

Like you're sticking your belly out, sticking your chest out, pulling the hips back.

Let's do the other side, good.

[inhales] Breathe it in because we're going to re-engage, all right.

So squeeze the hind end.

[exhales] You can feel the hips shift so you can recruit the abs again.

All right, they're re-engaged, now we're going to kind of shoot from the hips.

So we're gonna take this hand and we're gonna press it across.

[inhales] All right, engage, press, inhale, engage, press, [inhales] inhale.

Exhale as you engage and press, okay, ready?

Pull it in, press, again.

Press, [inhales and exhales] press, press.

It's kind of a one, two, okay.

From the core to the arms, all right.

From the core to the arms.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Very good, we'll do the other side.

Do a little stretch first.

[inhales] Pull the belly button in.

Feel the ones below the belly button get tense.

All right, tense here, press across.

Exhale, tense, press, okay.

[exhales] Press, pull it in, press, pull it in and press, let's do 'em a little quicker.

But remember, starts here, pull it in, press, three, four, five, very good, all right.

Arch your back to release any tension [inhales] and feet are wide, slightly in front of you.

Let's roll it forward [exhales] and roll it back.

I should say, press it forward, roll it back.

You're in a big rowboat and you're gonna reach, grab the oars, pull them back.

It's a whole body move, okay.

Now you can push with your feet.

Just make sure your seat doesn't push backwards, okay, or flip over.

But use the whole body.

[exhales] Reach, stomach's in, pull with the arms.

Reach, pull with the arms.

Good, reach, pull with the arms.

A few more, [inhales and exhales] pull.

Reach and pull, all right.

Nice and tall, lengthen the muscles, okay.

We often spend a lot of time kind of slouched, which pushes our organs out forward.

You'll have a longer, sleeker appearance if you lengthen.

All right, turn sideways in your chair, okay.

We'll work the abs a little bit more.

Now I'd like you to squeeze your hind end.

This helps you to roll it on back, all right.

We'll be working our abs, once again, we're holding.

The idea is to be sitting slightly back from vertical, but you can't do it by arching.

So squeeze your hind end to create more of a rounded bottom.

[exhales] Exhale, pull those abs in.

We're holding it back here.

See how far you can go back.

Hold, let's the lift the knee.

[exhales] Keep the abs engaged, keep them pulled in.

Exhale.

[exhales] Good, and up.

[inhales and exhales] Exhale, twist.

[exhales] And up.

[inhales and exhales] They starting to shake, that's good.

All right, extend the leg.

Walk it up.

[exhales] Walk it back, walk it up.

Walk it back.

[exhales] Four, three, two, one, and hold.

You can even grab that leg.

Pull the belly in and release.

Good job, arch your spine to stretch.

[inhales and exhales] All right.

Let's switch sides and do it all again, all right.

All right, so you squeeze your hind end [exhales] so you can roll back, a little bit past vertical, stomach's pulled in, hold it here.

Check, make sure everything's engaged.

[inhales and exhales] Exhale, pull the abs in, slight twist, hold, and up.

[inhales and exhales] Twist, and up.

Let's bring that knee up and twist, [exhales and inhales] twist, exhale.

If you need a break, count to three and join us again.

It doesn't sound like a long time, but it really helps.

Okay, extend that leg, slowly reach for it, slowly reach it back.

Slowly reach up, [short exhales] reach, reach, reach, back, almost done.

All right, and up, arch that back, stretching all through the front.

Lean it over.

[exhales] That feels so good, all right.

Face forward, have your feet really quite wide.

We're not leaning against the chair back.

Nice, wide arms.

All right, the wider your feet are, they will be able to help you.

So I want you to lean using those obliques, those muscles all down your sides, and by pressing your heel into the floor, it'll give you some leverage.

Lengthen, pull it in.

Pretty neck, don't be all over like that, all right.

Lengthen and other side, exhale.

[exhales] One more to each side, right, press, and press, now hold it here.

[exhales] Hopefully your arms are shoulder height, stomach's in, long spine and neck, lift, [inhales] hold, hold, hold.

Use that foot into the floor to give you a little more leverage.

We work the whole body here.

Not very often we do things isolated.

[exhales] And the other way.

[inhales] Big inhale, exhale, hold it over.

[exhales] Similar to a yoga pose, the warrior yoga pose.

Stomach's in, long neck.

Reach it over, stomach's in, breathing.

Foot's into the floor.

[inhales] And up, really, really good.

So now let's stretch it out to tie this all together.

Bring this knee up, across.

[inhales] All right, opposite arm.

So if you're mirroring me, it's you're right arm and your left knee.

Reach it out, inhale, [inhales] exhale, [exhales] looking down that arm when you can't move your face anymore and your neck, use your eyes.

Big inhale and then exhale.

[exhales] See if you get a little further.

All right, relax that arm.

Let's just switch sides.

Inhale, pull it up.

[inhales and exhales] Grab that knee with your elbow.

Extend your opposite arm.

[exhales] Big inhale, [inhales] exhale.

[exhales] Looking down your arm, trying to relax through the hip.

Those glutes.

Enjoy that.

Very good, very good.

Isn't it surprising how much you can accomplish even from a seated position?

I think the chair can be a really, really great tool.

Combined with the standing and floor classes, you'll find the widest variety of stretches and strengthening moves.

They're all right here at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit to help you remain active, independent, and live life better.

Until next time, 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.