- If you like to run, you may have experienced a painful IT band and/or TFL muscle.

They can be tricky to get to, so join me for today's Quick Fit class as we stretch this area down the side of your hips and legs so you can get back to doing what you love.

[bright music] We'll be working on the floor today, so have a nice mat or rug to work on.

We'll begin on the knees to warm up, doing a simple child's pose, all right?

Shifting your hips up and back, as far as you're comfortable.

Widening those knees, pushing forward and back.

Left.

Circle over to the right and back.

Good, and hips back, arms forward, head's down.

And coming up and shifting left and right.

Let's draw that right knee forward and line up your foot pretty close to the back knee, sitting up as tall as you can.

A big inhale, exhale, and reach forward with the hands.

[inhales] And don't force it.

Allow your hands to take off any undue pressure that you might be feeling.

Lower the head.

Tuck the chin and roll back up.

[inhales] One more time, getting a little lower.

You can alternate between arching the back and rounding the back.

Arch and round.

[inhales] Let's shift these hips forward and back.

This top hip, rock it forward and back.

Forward.

Two hands down again.

Reach with the chin and the chest.

Tuck the chin.

Pushing it up.

Let's walk the hands on the side of your leg by your thigh.

Lift.

[inhales] And exhale.

Walk the hands around in front of the shin.

And over.

[exhales] And tuck the chin, and up.

[inhales] And then one hand again on either side of the knee.

As you loosen up, let's start making a greater space between the foot and the back knee.

[inhales] Exhaling.

[exhales] Over.

Tuck the chin, push it up.

Shift this hip forward and back.

Sitting up tall, walking those hands by the thigh and the hip, and then unwinding, having the hips in front, hands in front of the shin.

And over.

[exhales] Good job.

All right, do you have any more space?

One last time, over.

And let's put more of your weight on your hands now.

Lift that hip off the floor and shift your weight over your heel and back down to the floor.

Good, up and down.

[exhales] Good job, let's do the other side.

Once again, starting with the knee and the foot fairly close.

Lengthen through the spine.

Let's rock this hip forward and back.

Two hands, one on either side of the knee, and drop the forehead.

[exhales] You can put as much weight through the hands as you need to so that it's not such a cringing experience.

You don't want your body to associate this with terrible pain, okay?

So moderate how much strain you're putting on those tight muscles.

[inhales] We want things to feel better.

We don't want your body to react by tensing up, okay?

Let's walk your hands back by the thigh, lengthen, inhale.

[inhales and exhales] And then untwist; two hands by your shin and over.

Tuck the chin and up.

Make a little more space.

Okay, let's start by dropping the head.

And then moving longer through the spine, lifting the head and up.

Good, shift this hip back and forth.

[inhales] Up tall.

Walk those hands over by your thigh.

And unwind.

And we'll start by dropping the head towards the floor, tucking that chin.

And now extend through the spine and the neck.

Exhale, lean it over.

And rolling it up.

See if you've got a little bit more space you can find.

And over.

[exhales] And up.

Put more of your weight on your hands and we'll lift the hip up and down, rocking over that foot and back down one more time.

[inhales and exhales] Really, really, really good job.

All right, let's get in, like a side plank position.

Okay, extend that bottom leg.

And get your top leg, the foot on the floor, in front of your thigh, with a nice, firm base, with the elbow under the shoulder, long neck.

Ribs are up.

Reach forward, [inhales] good.

Now, I'd just like you to rock your hips.

Back and forth.

Rocking on that IT band.

[inhales and exhales] Okay, settle.

And just lift the sole of your foot towards the ceiling.

All right, the arch.

Good, and don't roll back so far that your toes are straight up.

Be on your side of your hip and just invert that foot as if you want to put a plate on the bottom of your foot.

Now, let's bend that knee.

Let your shoulders sink up by your ears and then push up onto your hands.

Making a greater curve between your hip, your knee, your hip, and your shoulders.

Excellent.

Okay, let's change it up just a little.

So we're working on your bottom leg, that IT band on the bottom leg.

But now I want you to stretch that leg and we're gonna work the quad of the top leg.

If you need a band to grab your ankle, then go ahead and get that.

I'd like you to pull this foot towards your behind.

Now, take a big inhale.

[inhales] Squeeze your bottom, [exhales] and push the knee back, hanging onto that foot.

Good job, release it for a moment.

Inhale.

[inhales] Do it again.

You're squeezing the bottom, pressing the knee back.

[inhales and exhales] Now, one thing extra, drop the knee towards the floor.

Fabulous.

All right, release it all.

Let's do the other side.

Swing around into that modified plank position again.

So you've got your elbow right under your shoulder.

Nice, long, pretty spine.

Extend the bottom leg.

Top leg is bent, foot's on the floor.

[inhales] Slightly reach forward and let's rock forward and back on that hip.

[inhales] Take your time.

Breathe.

Breathe, breathe.

I don't want you to make it so that you're cringing with pain, okay?

Work slowly and at your own pace.

All right, so you're on the side of your hip.

Let's put the bottom of that foot towards the ceiling.

Okay, inverting that foot.

Good job, hold it there.

And release.

Let's bend that bottom knee.

Good.

Let your shoulder sink down by your ears and then push up onto your hands.

[inhales] And then let that shoulder sink up by your ear.

Good, enjoy the stretch.

So you're stretching your whole side, down your hips, straight down to your knee.

All right, release that.

Come back down to your elbow.

I'd like you to extend that bottom leg.

And reach for that ankle; big inhale.

[inhales] Hang on to the ankle.

Squeeze your hind end, press the knee to the back.

[exhales] That's a big pull.

Release that.

Start again, inhale.

[inhales] Squeeze your bottom, press the knee back.

[exhales] Exhale.

Then let the knee drop and touch the floor.

That feels really, really good.

[exhales] You did it.

Hopefully, that'll begin to give you some relief, but there's always more we can do.

So come back here to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit to make sure you're caring for all your joints, so you can avoid future injuries of all types.

Because life is movement, let's make sure that movement is pain-free.

See you next time.

- 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.