- Our gluteus muscles are essential for a strong core and stability.

Hello, I'm Cassy with today's Quick Fit routine.

We'll be focusing on the large muscle group on the posterior side of your pelvis.

The gluteus muscle group needs to be strong for correct movement and stabilization of the lumbar spine.

The glutes also contribute to the overall feeling of balance as you move, and since we don't wanna be unstable, join me for today's glute workout.

[bright music] If you take your shoes off, your feet will be able to stretch, and the sense receptors in the bottoms of your feet will be stimulated and communicate more effectively with your nervous system.

We'll begin using the chair.

I'd like you to just walk right up to the side of your chair, just let your feet go under, and don't stop until your knees are against the side of the chair.

This will help you to have nice form, and separate your feet as much as the chair legs allow.

We'll just do a simple squat.

As you can see, the chair's a great trick to keep your knees right above your ankles.

Keep your toes down.

Let your chest come forward so you're balanced.

All right, hips back.

Now squeeze the glutes at the top.

We're doing this to activate your glutes.

Kinda wake them up, remind them that they're still needed, okay?

Down and squeeze at the top.

Sit it back and squeeze.

Let's do about five more.

One, two, three, four.

Squeeze, one more.

And hold it just a little bit longer.

For five, four, three, two, release.

All right.

Next, step back a little bit from your chair, and we'll put your hands right on the seat.

Have your shoulders right over your hands, and have your ankles right under your hips.

All right, bend that knee.

So first, the knees are just side-by-side, and then extend straight out from the hips.

Side-by-side with the knees, and then a nice, long leg, and flex that foot.

Pull your toes towards you.

Check that your stomach is pulled in to support your spine, and make your neck neutral.

Okay, don't sag the head or arch.

Okay.

Extend.

Stomach in.

Arms are nice and long.

There's a lot going on for you to pay attention to.

[inhales and exhales] Extend.

Extend, now let's switch legs.

So start with the knees side-by-side.

Your knee's at a 90 degree, and now make it straight.

Extend it behind you.

Bend.

[inhales] Extend.

[exhales] Pull in your abs.

Flex that foot.

Extend completely.

Don't stop short with a bent knee.

And squeeze the glutes.

Three, two, one.

Good, I'll let you stand up for a moment, and we'll do that one more time.

[inhales] Squeeze and bend back over.

Start again with that first leg, and this time I'd like you to press the foot towards the ceiling, keeping the knee bent.

All right.

It's still a mule, just slightly different version.

But this time, you should feel a little bit more intense contraction of your glute muscles or the back of the leg, really high up.

And five, four, three, two.

Whoops, I was getting a little sloppy with my form.

Let's switch sides.

[inhales] All right, knee is bent.

Foot is flexed.

Stomach's in.

Legs are straight, head's neutral, squeeze and down.

Squeeze and down.

[inhales] Lift.

Lift.

It's hard to see what's going on back there with your knee and your ankle.

Hopefully, your knee's not getting out to the side.

Hopefully, you're not straightening that leg too much.

Three, two, last one.

Extra little squeeze at the top.

Good job.

All right, let's move the chair out of the way.

And we'll go down to the floor, laying on your back.

We'll do a few bridges.

So lay back with your knees bent, and they're about a foot apart, okay?

And hands at your sides, and just lift those hips up off the floor.

Do your best to get them in line between the knees and the shoulders.

A nice squeeze at the top, and lower and squeeze.

You can even lift your toes a little bit to intensify the contraction.

Lift and lift.

You know, our glutes get weak and atrophy from all the sitting we do, whether you drive or just work at a desk.

[exhales] And when that happens, your low back can start to hurt you.

We have glutes that come all the way around the sides of your hips too, and then that can allow your knees to move towards each other and cause you knee pain.

So it's important to keep all our muscles strong.

Let's put these feet together now, feet and knees together and lift.

Continue with the squeeze.

Now, if it feels bad on your knees, then move your feet and knees apart to where it doesn't hurt, okay?

And squeeze at the top and squeeze.

You can even keep the feet together and open the knees a little bit.

Slightly different feel.

Slightly different muscle tissue being focused on, and lift.

All right.

Hold up in the air with your hips and lift, and press one heel into the floor.

Press and press.

Five, four, three.

Don't drop the hips.

Two, one, and switch legs.

Lift and press.

Okay?

Hang in there.

Is it a challenge?

I hope so.

And if it's not, then just do more.

Okay.

Five, four, three, two.

And we'll rest.

Roll your back down.

[inhales] Take a big inhale.

[exhales] Can move those arms overhead if it feels good.

[inhales and exhales] And start again with your legs wide, and up.

Squeeze and down.

Lift.

Simple moves, but they're very effective.

Squeeze.

If you found yourself starting to pull yourself up from a seated position or push with your hands, that's a sign that your glutes are getting weak.

So try not to do that.

Just keep your glutes and your hamstrings and your legs strong.

That's what all those big muscles are for.

Let's bring those legs together and continue.

Let's do about eight of these.

Seven, six, five, four, three, two.

And then we need to march.

So five.

Pop a balloon.

So squeeze your muscles as if you need some force, and the other side.

And five, four, three, almost done.

Hang on, two, and one.

Good job, all right, roll it down.

You can bring those knees to your chest.

[inhales and exhales] Big breath.

And then we'll roll onto our sides.

Let's have your elbow right under your shoulder, and our knees are stacked.

As you do this, try not to let the hips roll back.

To prevent that, just reach forward a little bit, and try not to get all like this, okay?

Long spine, long neck, reaching forward, and lift.

So when your glutes get weak, other muscles learn and start to take over the job of the weak glutes.

Your quadriceps are one of those muscles that will start doing it.

And if you're doing this exercise and your ankle's dropping, it's because this muscle's weak, and this muscle's taking over the job.

So get that ankle up.

Even if you can't perform as many, do them correctly so you can begin to strengthen the weak muscles.

There we go.

And lift.

If you need to take a break, that's okay.

Usually three seconds is enough, and then you just start again.

In fact, let's do it.

Let's count to three, two, one.

Do it again, lift.

Stomach's in.

[inhales and exhales] Five, four, three, two.

Last one.

And spin around and we'll do the other side.

All right.

Elbow under the shoulder, long neck, legs are stacked.

Slight reach forward.

[inhales] Making sure the ankle is as high as the knee.

By strengthening these muscles, you might find maybe some of your nagging back pain or knee pain starts to reduce.

[inhales] The body's all connected.

It can be very difficult to just nail down which muscle isn't doing its job.

So when you work the whole body, chances are, you're strengthening all the muscles that need to be strengthened.

That's the goal.

Let's take a three-second break.

Three, two, one.

Keep going.

[inhales and exhales] And one day you'll realize that not everything hurts that used to hurt.

Good.

And five, four, three, two.

Last one.

Rest.

[inhales] Now let's roll over onto your stomach, and we'll lay face down.

You can rest your chin on your hands, and let's bend your knee, and have your foot flexed again.

And this time, imagine you've got a tray on your foot and you need to pick it up.

Trying to get the knee off the floor.

Okay, knee is bent.

Foot is flexed.

Squeeze the glute.

To press.

Press.

Let's do ten, nine, eight.

This is very focused.

Six, five, four, three, two, and one; let's switch legs.

Bend and press.

Little extra squeeze hold, and down and lift and lift.

Now you can of course be comfortable with your upper body.

Try not to let that ankle or that leg go out to the side either way.

Try to keep it in line.

It can be hard to see what's happening back there.

All right.

Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and done with that.

Next let's touch out to the side, and in.

To the side and in.

Five, four, three, two.

Switch sides.

And last, five, four, three, two.

Last one.

You did it.

Excellent!

[inhales and exhales] All right, let's roll up to a seated position.

Remaining strong and fit isn't complicated, and it doesn't take a lot of time.

In fact, these Quick Fit classes are the best value for your time to keep you loose, strong, and pain-free.

Join me again right here at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit.

Choosing several classes to string together workouts that will keep you feeling great all over because life is movement.

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