- Did you know your triceps, these muscles back here, are very large muscles that work together with your chest any time you need to push?

They also contribute to healthy shoulders and more.

So join me, Cassy Vieth, for today's Quick Fit class to zero in on these important arm muscles.

[gentle music] For today's class, I'd like you to have a sturdy chair without arms or wheels, and also a band so we can create some resistance.

We'll begin warming up, just using the back of the chair to stretch our wrists and fingers.

So just let the wrist fall down and stretch those fingers.

We kind of forget about the hands, you know?

They do so much for us.

So take your time, breathe it in and exhale.

Just like any muscle, the wrist gets super tight.

And then we'll also stretch them the other direction.

I just hooked my thumb under my wrist and I'm pressing down on the back of the hands.

And the other side.

Hook that thumb under there and stretch.

It feels good.

All right, nice, big open arms.

Let's do a nice figure eight.

Imagine there's an eight lying on its side and you're just tracing your hand along it, doing your best to rotate as far forward through the shoulder, and as far back, opening the shoulder, as possible.

We do a lot of forward rolled posture, so let's open up that chest.

Good; it feels good.

And now let's reach up overhead, like you're poking a hole in the ceiling.

You're really trying to stretch through that shoulder girdle as much as possible.

Now someone's pulling your arm behind you, right from the shoulder.

Don't bend the wrist.

Good.

And now arm back down at shoulder height, just some simple rotations, forward and back.

Think about the palm moving, but it's actually pulling that shoulder joint.

Good.

All right, now let's open the arm as far behind you as possible.

Don't let the chest follow, just stretch the arm back, stretch the chest, and move your head and neck the opposite way.

Breathe it in [inhales] and then exhale, [exhales] get a few more centimeters out of that stretch.

Good job.

Now, a wall is best, but your chair's fine.

I'd like you to place your hand on the back of your chair.

Make sure your elbow is completely extended and then flex your wrist.

And now turn your torso away.

You should feel, or you might feel, hopefully, in your biceps a stretch.

You can do this, like I said, on a wall with your arm up like this, or just use the chair back.

Good.

All right, final thing on this side.

Open up that arm and now touch your shoulder, reach across to the other.

Good.

First one and open.

Let's just do two more.

This is a really nice tricep stretch.

Get that elbow up.

Good job.

Let's switch sides.

So bring that arm up and do some figure eights.

Rotate forward and back.

Make it nice and pretty and smooth.

I hope you're standing tall with your head up over your shoulders, chin tucked, stomach in, and your weight evenly distributed on your feet, not just over your toes.

Good, and then reach it to the sky.

Lift through the shoulder and then move that to the back.

And we'll bring it down and rotate just with the arm straight.

I hope you're breathing, long inhales, long exhales.

And stretch that arm behind you.

Turn the chest away and the face away.

Good.

All right, now you can use the wall, or just move your chair around so we can use the chair to keep our arm in place.

I'm gonna place my hand on the back of the chair.

Okay, make sure that elbow is completely open and twist away so that the arm gets pulled behind you.

Keep pressing that elbow open.

And now, to make it a little deeper of a stretch, once again for your bicep, lift those fingers off the chair, or off the wall.

You're extending that wrist.

All right.

All right, extend that arm up at shoulder height.

Touch your near shoulder, touch the far shoulder, lifting the chin and the elbow.

Move it out.

Stomach in, nice posture.

One more.

Good job, stretch, stretch, stretch.

Lift the head into the arm and grab your band.

The band's nice 'cause it offers a little bit of resistance, a little different than just using dumbbells all the time.

Now, what I'd like you to do is put the end of your band in your right hand.

Put it at your, let's see, this is your right hand and your left armpit, and then extend.

Now, make sure you have enough tension, okay?

So I'm gonna hike up a little further on the band so that it's challenging.

We're only doing five.

We don't want it to be easy.

So make sure you have enough tension.

Four and five, and then out to the side, extend.

Make sure you are completely opening that elbow.

Reach, reach.

Completely reach it, like you're pushing or punching something.

Last one; we'll go forward again for five.

Five, four, keep that elbow up at shoulder height.

Now back out to the side.

Shoulder, elbow's at shoulder height.

Four, three, two, one.

To the front again.

Five, four, three, two, last one on this arm.

Bring it out to the side and extend.

Four, three, two, done.

Good job, stretch that one out.

And now let's switch sides.

So grab the end of the band in your left hand, put it across to your right armpit, and make sure you've got the right tension.

All right, let's go to the side first this time.

You ready?

Elbow at shoulder height and extend.

Make any adjustments you need so that it's not too easy and not impossible.

Okay, don't drop the elbow.

And to the front.

Elbow forward, right in front of the shoulder.

Extend completely.

Three, two.

Don't forget about your posture.

Your abs need to be in, your head needs to be up over your shoulders, not jutting forward.

Three, two, and then once again to the front for five, four, three, two.

Last one out to the side for five, four, slow and controlled, okay?

Or slow enough to be controlled.

Last one's out to the front.

Five, four, three, two.

Good job, guys, very good.

You can put the band aside and then rotate your chair so that you have access to the front of it.

We're gonna do a few planks and a modified pushup.

So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to do a pushup hold, and it's gonna be a little bit more than just a pushup hold.

Your shoulder is going to push and lift like that, but it's going to happen because you're going to relax through your shoulders so that the shoulder comes up.

No, don't drop your hips.

That's not what we're doing.

And push into the seat so that it feels like you're coming out of your shoulders.

Okay, if we were standing with our arm up overhead, it's one of those cues I've given you where I've said, "Lift your shoulder up by your ear and pull it down."

It's essentially what we're doing, but in a slightly different plane.

We're working on muscles that are in your ribs, under your armpit, and they're really important for good shoulder stabilization.

All right, so this is just the teeny little pushup.

Now let's go down into a plank.

Stand up if you need to, otherwise try to lower yourself one arm at a time.

Big inhale, [inhales] exhale.

One arm and the other.

You do need a sturdy chair so that it doesn't tip over.

You could also modify with one foot slightly forward, okay?

If you have one foot forward, you're gonna have to try not to put too much weight on your foot, okay?

Maybe move it back a little bit until you find the sweet spot where it's a challenge, but not impossible.

Down and up, down.

[exhales] Good, we'll take a little break.

Stand up so you can shake that off and do a few more, okay?

In fact, you can lift your arm up in the air, drop that hand down behind your head, reach up, and pull.

Do the other arm, let it drop down, reach up and pull.

All right, let's get back at these planks before we finish up.

So start here and then drop down to one elbow, and then the other.

Make sure your hips are in line between your ankles and your shoulders, and push, and down, and push, and down.

Good job.

Okay, if you wanna be fancy, adjust your hands.

Maybe you can push with two at the same time.

It's a goal.

Now get your hands under your shoulders.

[inhales] Inhale, exhale.

And you guys are finished.

I know that wasn't easy.

I imagine that parts of that class were quite difficult for some of you and you needed to modify, especially with the chair planks, but be encouraged.

People tell me all the time how quickly they experience greater strength.

So don't be discouraged.

Your body wants to be strong.

So come back here again tomorrow to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit and give your body what it wants.

And in return, you'll be rewarded with less pain, reduced injuries, and more confidence.

See you soon.

- 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.