- Welcome back to another effective and easy Quick Fit class.

I'm Cassy, and I'm so glad you've decided to join me.

Today, we'll be working the joints of the spine to lengthen and strengthen the abdominal muscles, which support your entire structure.

You may need to have a pillow handy.

So grab one and we'll get started.

[gentle music] As we warm up, we'll just be doing these simple hip circles.

Even in a short class like today, we still have to warm up, get your blood flowing, and loosen the joints.

Inhale, [inhales] exhale.

[exhales] Keep it going.

Go the other direction, widening your feet a little bit and getting deeper and deeper into the hip joints.

And remember, it's your hips that are moving around the base of your feet.

Not your shoulders, okay?

So push the hips forward, side, and around the back.

One more time.

[exhales] Nice, deep breaths as deep as you can.

[inhales] Nice, long exhales.

Now this next move, I'd like you to have your feet starting side by side and then you're just take a little step back and lift that elbow.

We'll do it again.

We're stretching your ribs, okay, lifting that elbow, and pull it back.

A couple more.

Exhale, [exhales] inhale.

[inhales] And back, other side.

Okay, so step it back, pull the elbow back, and forward.

Step it back, pull it forward.

[inhales] One more, and now we'll do this like a full shovel move.

Can you tell I live in Wisconsin?

Pull it back, dig it in, and throw.

Pull it back, dig it in, and throw.

Nice twist through the torso, back, up, then throw.

Let's do the other side.

So step it back.

If you're mirroring me, this will be your left side.

So step it back, elbow back.

Dig in, throw.

Again, back.

[inhales and exhales] Kind of a funny move, but it does the job.

Back and forward, one more, back and forward.

Two arms up.

[inhales] A nice upper waist rotation, all right.

Think of from about here up, think of your spine from about there up as if the spine is just rotating, all right?

Pull the ribs in.

Stick the ribs out.

Where are your arms?

Are they straight and by your ears?

Lift.

[inhales] Lift through the ribs, exhale.

[exhales] Let's go the other way, lift.

And now we'll deepen the stretch.

So as you go over to your right, lift that right hip and around.

[inhales] Do it again.

[exhales] So you're over to your right, lift that right hip.

Other side.

Lift the hip, circle around, exhale.

[exhales] Lift the hip, all right.

Press the ceiling.

[inhales] Press the ceiling.

One more.

All right, so that's good.

Now let's do the vacuum.

Now it doesn't look like anything's happening, but we're pulling in the abdominals as if you could just squish your belly button into your spine.

You can tighten your behind a little and pull in the abs.

Now, this is a hold.

So as I said, it doesn't look like a whole lot is happening, but by holding in your muscles for a long period of time, we're conditioning them, we're practicing and waking up the deep abdominal muscles that are around your spine.

So it's very, very effective.

And what you won't notice while I'm talking, just keep holding it in, is that you will probably release them without even realizing.

So I have to keep reminding, pull it in, pull it in.

You're pushing on the muscles to make sure they're actually contracted.

And by squeezing your butt and gut together, you can hold this a little longer.

This move is something we can do standing, in a chair seated where you press your back into the chair.

You can do it on your hands and knees, against a wall, on the floor.

So you might find that you're doing this at various times throughout the day.

And it's really effective for strengthening the abdominals.

So keep pulling it in, inhale, [inhales] exhale.

[exhales] Suck it in even further.

All right.

That's a really, really great hold.

So practice doing that, I'm still holding, practice doing that for longer and longer periods throughout the day.

All right, so next we're going to be going onto the floor.

And so if you need a pillow for the side of your hip, grab one now.

All right, so let's work our way down.

We'll be on your side.

So if you're mirroring me, this will be your left side.

And I'd like you to get that elbow right under your shoulder.

Don't get too elongated.

Keep that elbow right under the shoulder.

And then if you're kinda slouchy, I want you to get to your neck nice and long.

All right.

[inhales and exhales] Let's just do this nice, long overhead stretch, reaching in two different directions as far as you can with your arm, and as far as you can with that leg, opening up the hips.

And then we'll just do a little lift.

[inhales] Stretch, stretch, stretch.

Lift, one more.

Stretch and enjoy it.

Now lift, elbow to knee.

Stretch, touch the floor.

Lift, elbow to knee, extend, over, up to the knee.

Very nice, now let's move into a side plank.

This is a modified plank, and we're still not slouchy.

We've got our neck up, our ribs long, make it pretty.

Now let's squeeze your hind end, press your elbow into the floor until your hips come up.

Now, you can also extend your top leg if that makes it more comfortable for your knees.

Reach it long, stomach in.

Now if holding is too much, all you've got to do is go down and up.

You continue to go down and up, and we can continue to hold if you're strong enough.

Now reach under, explode.

Reach under, explode.

Reach under.

So this movement challenges your balance and your core even more.

All right, very good.

That's it, let's go to the other side.

Swing around.

Being able to move easily on the floor is another... just moving around is another challenge for your flexibility.

So just, you know, children move around, they don't think about what they're doing or think about any particular moves.

[exhales] So get down on the floor as often as you can and use it.

It's a natural stretching tool.

[exhales] Stretch and lift.

[inhales] Exhale.

[exhales] All right, lift, one more.

Lift.

Now, bring the knee and the elbow together.

Extend, over.

Stomach's in.

Stretch, over.

Lift, one more.

[exhales] Very good.

All right, back to that modified plank.

Now, if you've gotten too elongated and slouchy, press that elbow into the ground, squeeze your hind end, lift the butt.

Very good.

Hips are nice and pushed forwards.

You have a nice, flat front, [exhales] arm extended.

Remember, do the down ups if holding is too much.

There's always a way to modify and start where you're at and improve with time.

It's a good marker to see that you're making measurable improvements.

Go down and up, down and up.

I like to extend my top leg.

It feels a little better on my knees.

[inhales and exhales] One more, down and up.

Very good, so ease your way down, roll over onto your hind end.

All right, a nice, controlled roll back.

Don't just fall, control every, every inch.

Pull the stomach in.

Remember, we warmed 'em up earlier with that vacuum hold.

Very good.

All right, so squeeze your hind end.

Lift your legs up in the air, [inhales and exhales] and just these easy, little lifts.

Pull the belly in, lift the hips, activating the very lowest abdominals and you can actually push between your hip bones right above your pubic bone to make sure that they're activated.

All right, one more.

All right, two hands on your sides, windshield wiper.

So drop it first to one side, then pull the stomach in as you lift the hips over.

Stop and lift.

Good, over.

Lift, over a few more.

[inhales and exhales] Lift, over, and lift.

Very good, two feet down.

All right, squeeze your butt so that your back goes onto the floor.

Roll up, reach to one side.

Reach, reach, reach.

[inhales and exhales] Press your belly button into your spine.

Make sure it's not pushing up towards the ceiling.

Reach, reach, reach, and reach.

Good job, roll it back.

Make sure you're still pulling the belly in.

Extend your leg.

All right.

My right leg's in the air, right hand is behind my head.

Reach up towards the foot and back and reach.

Try to get past the leg.

[inhales and exhales] Stomach's in, and reach in a nice, little stretch.

And we'll do the other side.

Left leg in the air.

Left hand behind the head, [inhales and exhales] and reach and back.

So it's a controlled reach and twist.

Reach, and reach and hold.

Grab that leg and pull.

Very nice.

Okay, we're going to roll up.

Very good, lift it to the ceiling.

All right.

Get your legs comfortable out in front of you.

Maybe they need to be slightly away from you.

We'll lift it to the ceiling.

[inhales and exhales] Get those arms by your ears.

[exhales] You can pull on your legs.

One more stretch to the ceiling.

Imagine you're hanging by a bar and it's stretching out your spine.

[exhales] And grab your legs one more time.

Lift from the very base of your spine and pull.

Now I know these exercises can be challenging, especially when we're on the floor.

But be encouraged that with consistency, you will be able to perform these moves.

Improvements may seem slow in the beginning, but within a few weeks, they'll begin to snowball.

That's been my experience with my members.

So please, come back tomorrow to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit so this can be your story too.

Have a great day.