Chair Mobility and Stretch

Hey, Get Healthy U TV Squad. I'm Chris Freytag and I have trainer Sheila Chenier with me today. Hi there. Hello. How are you today?

I'm great because today is chair mobility and stretch. Normally you guys see me, I got my hair slicked to my head. I'm ready to sweat. But today is a little more caszh. We are going to be stretching.

We are gonna work on joint mobility. We're gonna stretch out the muscles. We're even gonna use a few yoga poses because yoga is mobility and stretching. Absolutely. Right?

Many of you say you love these chair workouts so we wanna keep continuing to bring you more. Maybe you are someone who's just a beginner and this feels good to be sitting in a chair. Maybe you are someone who's injured and a chair is the best place... You wanna put a little less pressure on those legs or you don't like to get down to the floor. Maybe you're just somebody who's been working out really hard and the idea of a chair stretch sounds amazing.

Whatever or wherever you are, we are here for you. So we're gonna go about 20 minutes. We're gonna stretch and we're gonna talk about the different joints and everything and we'll just get going and join us and enjoy yourself. Now find a chair that you can sit at the edge of with a nice long spine, right? So you don't wanna a mushy arm chair in your family room that you just kind of sink into.

You need to- we've got folding chair here, right? But maybe it's your dining room chair or your kitchen chair. Just take a couple of really nice deep breaths and roll those shoulders back. Ah, bend down. So many people carry so much tension in their neck and shoulders.

And sometimes- Or you sleep in a different way, little funky way and your neck and shoulders start- Sleeping can be a problem, but often we just forget... Oh my gosh, just roll your shoulders. It makes a difference. So we're just gonna go with one more shoulder roll and then really nice and easy we're gonna take our head forward stretch your neck all the way down then bring it back up and go back now move at your own pace. So you're just coming forward and back.

And you know, back in the day, this is gonna show my age. This is how we used to start every aerobic class Back in the day. Do you remember? We'd go head forward and back and side to side. Just one more, just release through your jaw and then pull forward.

Beautiful and awesome. Okay, let's shoulder our arm circles, I should say. So we'll go back, we're back stroking. So your shoulders and your hips are ball and socket joints, which is complicated. They're very complicated and you have to treat those ball and socket joints well.

And one of my favorite sayings, Sheila, you know this, is: motion is lotion. Oh yeah. If you're stiff and sore, the best thing you can do is get those joints moving, get your own natural synovial fluid flowing, and you will feel so much better. Go the other direction. Doesn't matter which arm you're on.

Okay, here we go. Just pedal forward. Yeah, there we go. Yep. We like to be in unison.

But you don't have to at home- Synchronized swimming. Right? You can go faster, you can go slower. So just roll the shoulders. Beautiful.

Roll the, or circle those arms. Awesome. Just even this can make a difference in the health of your shoulders. It's absolutely crazy. Sometimes it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference.

Now just give yourself a couple of hugs a little gratitude right here. Big swing. Yeah, We're hitting each other's fingertips. Well you might notice when your shoulder rolls in one direction, you might get stuck. Yeah, that's okay.

That's okay. All right, cat-cow is seated in a chair. So your cat stretches that arched back. So really round. I want you to scoop out your abdominals just round, and then come to cow.

So you press forward, you try to get the crown of the head away from the tailbone. Let's go cat, inhale. Cow, stretch. And if you feel so inclined to stand up during some of these, please feel free to do so. That would be totally fine.

Yeah, cause you could stand behind your chair and actually do the same exact thing. Absolutely. Just getting your back moving. Again, people complain about their back pain all the time. And then I say, "hey, do you work on any mobility?" And they look at me with, you know like a deer in headlights like, huh?

What do you mean mobility? You gotta get movement between those vertebrae in your back. Last one, right here. Good. We're gonna work on some rotation.

Easy rotation to get started. So just grab around a big stability ball right here and we're gonna turn to the side. Doesn't matter which side. So we're gonna turn and center and we'll go one, two, and center and we'll go one, two and center and we'll go one, two, perfect. Okay, now let's move into hip circles.

So another ball and socket joint. I'm just kind of coming, inching to the edge of my seat so I have a little bit of range of motion. So we'll take that leg and up and over, and we'll take that leg up and over, and we'll take that leg up and over. Yeah. So this is external rotation in those hips.

Just move it around. Again if you are somebody who says, you know, I don't have a lot of mobility in my lower body or I can't put a lot of body weight into it. Sitting in a chair, you're still getting that mobility. Now let's go the other direction. By holding on and pushing up, you get a little bit more core.

Excellent tip, pro tip, right there. Okay, so you can hold onto your chair. Come around, this is your internal rotation, right there. So just circling. Think of your hip like a bowl of batter.

I'm kind of hungry. Ooh boy. And your leg is the spatula. Scoop it around you. It feels a little awkward, I know.

And done. Okay. Now let's move on to what I'm calling butterfly arms. So we're gonna open up and just open all the way up. Whew, man, does that feel good in your upper back?

Oh yeah, just, you know, cause we tend to come here with gravity and I guess as time moves on, we age like fine wine maybe. Oh, I like aging like fine wine. Pop the cork. Now here we go. I love it.

Right here. Bring those elbows together and add a little roundness to your upper back. Now let's move through it. Inhale, and exhale. And inhale, and exhale.

So again, we're working through those vertebrae in your back, trying to to get a little space between the vertebrae and a little movement and fluid. We're trying to open through our chest and heart. We're moving through our shoulders a little bit. Good stretch. Last one right here.

And release. Beautiful. Bring those hands down. Let's take a couple big inhales. Inhale.

Exhale, prayer center. Right here, inhale. Scoop it up. Feeling longer through the arms. All the way up, inhale and exhale.

Give me two more. Big, I love it. And one more. And beautiful. Bring those arms all the way up.

We're gonna go for a side stretch. So let's take our hands. Let's see... Our right hand is gonna reach our left wrist and you will do the opposite at home. Come up and out of your waistband.

So you kind of stretch tall, like Gumby and then all the way over. Oh man. How does that feel? Oh that feels excellent. Oh, so what I wanna make sure you're doing hold your stretch, Sheila, what I wanna make sure you're doing is you're not falling forward.

You're literally like against a sheet of glass and you're coming over to the side. Then come back to the center, reach up, switch hands and other side. Good. Feel free to exhale through your mouth. That's fine.

All the way back up to the center. Inhale, other side, side stretch. Go a little further this time. Oh man, I'm not that flexible on some days. Well that's when you pull on that wrist a little bit.

Oh, it feels so good. And then come up. And the other side. Here we go. Lift, and all the way outta that waistband.

Oh my goodness. I love it. Big side stretch, and release. Float those arms down. Let's come into what we call a seated forward fold.

So we're gonna reach those legs out. Hello hamstrings. These are the back of your legs. You're just gonna come forward and you're gonna stretch that low back. Make sure you're- And you're gonna reach down- ...on your chair.

Yep. Yes. Don't slide off your chair. This could end very quickly. We're a little slippery, so you have to, we've got a little bit of a slippery floor.

Always make sure that you are secure in your chair. That's a very good point. Yeah, or you put it against the wall would help out. That's a good idea. Sheila, you're full of ideas today.

Now... You are relaxing through your head, neck, and shoulders. So stay there. I want you to feel this stretch all the way up your back. all the way through your sacrum.

And she's just releasing everything. So resist the urge to hold any tension in your shoulders and your neck in a forward fold. Just come all the way down. Take some really big deep breaths. Inhale...

and exhale. I want you to do two more deep breaths right here. You can do it. I just feel, sometimes I just feel when those hamstrings actually kind of let go. I just like how you can maybe touch the floor, touch your shins.

Yep. Maybe hold onto your seat of your chair. I love it. Roll all the way up, one vertebrae at a time. Now we're gonna stack nice and tall.

So I want you to think about creating space between those vertebrae all the way up. Tall, tall, tall, tall, tall. And release. Okay. Moving into some of our yoga type flows.

Because yoga is all about mobility. Yes. And stretching. So we're gonna come over into what we call a seated warrior two. Now again, if you would like to stand up into your warrior two, please do.

Now let's make space for each other here. Okay, there we go. Because we both have these long legs you know, we're both, you can't tell- We're both very short. Okay. So here we go.

This hip flexor is opening. No pressure into that kneecap, but you've got that knee bent. We're gonna take those arms up and over. Warrior two, right there. Ah, stretch.

Oh yeah. This feels amazing seated. Flip your palms up, see how that feels- Love it. Oh man. So if you have a, I love this.

If you have a hurt foot, this is also a great way because obviously you're not gonna be putting body weight onto your foot, so this is awesome. If you have a disability, this is good for you. So we are here for you. No matter who you are or where you are. Here we go, reverse warrior, which just lets that hand fall back.

Now you can put it on your thigh like Sheila you can put it behind your thigh. You're gonna stretch up and over- If you can get that stretch we can hold onto the wrist I love that, Sheila will add that. Oh man, I just feel this all the way up my side body. Oh yeah. Love it.

And then come to what we call extended angle. So the elbow comes to the knee, the hand reaches up high. Now we're gonna flow through those three stretches, or poses, whatever you'd like to call them. A little faster this time. So up, warrior two, we're still opening through those hip flexors.

Reverse, reach, and extended angle. Ah, beautiful. Let's do it one more time. Warrior two. Breathe.

Reach, reverse... ...and extended angle. I feel my hip opening. It's lovely. And release.

Come to the front of your chair. Heels in, toes out in a plié position. Straddle splits with bent knees. And we're gonna swan dive forward all the way down. Are you okay there with your- Oh yeah.

...headset, we're having headset issues. To squeeze it- Oh no... now it's... Yeah, get it around your glasses. There you go.

There we go. So now I'm coming down. Now, your legs are in it at an angle, your heels in, toes out. You've got your knees tracking over the top of your shoes. You are gonna feel this through your adductors.

Those are your inner thighs. So just bring your hands down. Maybe you can't bring your hands down to the floor. Maybe your hands stay on your knees, maybe- Push your elbows out. You can come into like Malasana, a prayer squat and just get that inner thigh.

A little yogi squat in the chair, that's a fantastic idea. I'll join you right there. That feels amazing. Three, two, you're breathing, and one, sit all the way up. That is lovely.

Before we go to the other side, let's go ahead and sit up nice and tall and then we're gonna come into what I'm calling a seated Chaturanga. So when you do a Chaturanga in yoga you do a lot of tricep. Yeah. It's basically a tricep pushup. We're gonna come off our chair into a tricep dip.

Now you are putting a little weight into those feet. So depending on if you have anything going on with your leg or your foot, you have to decide whether this is for you. But we're inching to the edge. We've got our fingertips facing our heels and we're gonna come off our chair right there. Now you're using the strength of your upper body right here.

Abs are tight. We're gonna let those elbows point back, and up. Are you feeling okay on that chair? Don't let it slip on you girl. Right there.

Because I was putting my hands on the center cause it could give you more secure in the center of your chair. Yeah, there you go. Right there. And we're gonna do five, yes we can, come on. Yes we can.

Four. Hello triceps. You think we can take a leg out? I don't know. Three.

Right? I love that. Two, we're gonna do one more set of these. So I love that Sheila, we will add your extra things onto it. Sit on down.

Next time we're gonna add on some leg movements. All right. Warrior two on the other side. So get yourself into position. You're gonna open up through that hip again if you wanna stand up here, if that feels good, please do.

Open those arms up. You can spread 'em this way. Whatever feels good. Warrior two. Breathe.

I love this. Inhale and exhale. You can do this in the morning, in the night. If your hip is wonky on one, you can even bend. So a lot of times you, you might feel a little pull- Bit of a twinge.

In the lower back. Yeah. And that's so normal. I- so many people complain of sore hips. Go ahead.

Come to your reverse. You can get sore hips from exercise, but guess what else you can get sore hips from? Sitting too much. Cause when you are sitting your hip flexor is shortened. It's short instead of opened like this.

And it can get really sore. Sore and stiff. So "motion is lotion" my friends. Extended angle, right here. Elbow to knee.

Reach up high, breathe. Inhale and exhale. Reach that arm up to the sky. I love it. And warrior two again.

Okay. We're going through it two more times. Here we go. And reverse And extended angle. Elbow to knee.

Breathe. Yeah. If at any point your hip starts to- you feel any kind of a twinge, just pull that leg back in. One more time. Warrior two, reach those arms apart.

Reverse. Extended angle. Right here. Reach. Reach, and release.

Set number two of our straddle splits with bent legs. So knees track over the two- toes. Swan dive forward. See if you can come a little farther this time, all the way down. This time we're gonna add a twist here.

So see how far you can come down. Let's take that right arm to the sky. Open and twist through your back. Love this. Press away from the floor.

Yeah, I love it. Right there. Or a book, or a block can bring it up a little higher. Yeah, a yoga block would be a good idea. And then hand comes down.

Other side. Twist. Right here. Reach up. Seriously, a little bit of therapy goes a long way.

Yes. You know, people complain about pain. Now let's go ahead and roll up and we're gonna do our second set of Chatarangas, or tricep dips if that's what we wanna call them. But people complain about pain and sometimes it's just the smallest things. It's the little bit of movement.

Yes. And stretching through your joints and your muscles. That makes the difference. Okay. Inch off.

Make sure you're nice and secure. You're gonna use that body weight. Elbows are back. Let's go for 10 this time. Why not.

What should we do with our feet? Let's alternate feet. Are you ready? Here we go. Here we go.

1... 2... 3. Come on. Four...

strong arms. 5... 6... 7... 8...

9. I love it. And 10. And sit back down. Woo.

That, that created a little heat. Roll those shoulders back. I love it. Nice job everybody, take a couple of big deep breaths right here, inhale up. Exhale down.

Again. Inhale up. Exhale down. One more. Inhale up and exhale down.

Good. Figure four stretch. Seated figure four. Again, if you feel strong and you wanna stand up to do this, please do. Are you okay there girl?

Yeah. Okay. Right here. Technical difficulties happening here. Technical difficulties, it's all good.

Okay, now press that knee away. Now this is my bad knee. So you know how everyone always says I got one bad hip or one bad knee. I have less mobility in this knee, probably more scar tissue from just overuse injuries through my youth. So I have trouble pushing this knee away.

I also really feel it in my hip here. How about you? Yep. Well you could roll a towel up and it will put your leg up a tiny bit more- It'll put my leg up higher. And it'll take it out of your- the knee.

That would be a great option too. But what I'm saying is be gentle on yourself. Right? So if this is not good, a good stretch for you. Maybe you don't do this one.

Maybe you just do a seated forward fold. Cause we're gonna keep a nice long spine. We're gonna just come forward. Inhale. And on the exhale, press forward.

Inhale, and on the exhale- Chris has a good point. Regardless of what, I'm saying, you can put something with it if it doesn't feel right- Just don't do it. I always talk about the difference between muscle fatigue and muscle pain. So muscle fatigue is like, ugh, that feels like it's hard. Muscle pain is uh-oh.

Yeah. That doesn't feel good. And if it doesn't feel good, don't do it. Everybody's body is different, you know, like I said I have one bad knee. My other knee is gonna stretch better than this one but I just work with it.

Progress, not perfection. Okay. And come all the way back up. And sometimes stretching doesn't look like a lot, right? Like you're just sitting there and you're like, well, am I doing anything?

Yes you are. All right, seated twist. You're just gonna be in this nice cross-legged seated position, but now we're gonna lengthen through that spine. Pull that foot over as far as you can. Take your arm, opposite arm up, opposite arm up.

There we go. And bring it across the knee. Now take the other hand behind you and reach and just get that twist. Yeah. Aw, I'm using that chair to help, that is awesome.

Perfect. So I can really feel this through my spine. Think of your spine like a washcloth. You're just ringing it out. You also feel it through your hip.

Nice, long spine. Inhale, exhale. Breathe, and release. Awesome. So let's come to that figure four on the other side.

This side's gonna be a lot more comfortable for me. So this knee for me is just nice and comfy and loose. Okay. Everybody's different. All right.

So sit into it, breathe. Inhale, exhale, pull forward. And again, if this doesn't feel good to you in your knee or in your hip, then you bring that foot down and you work on just the stretching through the sacrum. So just keep going. Sheila's going a little lower than me.

She's quite a bit more flexible than I am. Inhale, exhale. Beautiful. I love it. Breathe.

So it's awesome that one is not better than the other, it's just what works for you. Right? That's all. I love it. And pull back up.

Very nice. Okay, seated twist. So we're gonna come into our cross-legged position. We're gonna take our opposite arm up and over and place it on the ins- outside of the thigh. Open up through that stretch.

Just breathe. It feels good. I like your idea of using some- the chair for resistance. So if you go around and hug your chair It just gives you that nice little pull. Yeah, depending on what chair you're sitting in.

Yeah. Yeah. And also if it's against the wall that might be challenging. Ahhh... breathe...

And release. Good. All right. Let's do some knee pulls to chest. So we're just gonna take our right leg, pull it up, stretch out your other leg.

So you're opening this hip flexor, stretching this glute and hamstring. And then twi- switch. That was the word I was looking for. Switch. Right there.

Great. So it doesn't have to be this super long routine. It's just some mobility, some stretching. Remember your ball and socket joints, shoulders and hips, they're complicated. You wanna lubricate those joints.

So move them in circular motions. Your other joints that are hinges, you gotta move 'em, bend 'em, and extend them. Your muscles. You wanna lengthen them. And that's gonna help you move more freely through your everyday life.

It's gonna help you with your exercise. It's gonna help you feel better. One more. Right there. And release.

Awesome. All right. Well let's just take a nice big, deep breath. Let's take all the positive energy that we can find today and let's press it down into our hearts so we can share it with others. You just did a really good thing for yourself.

Thank you for joining us on this chair mobility and stretch. We'll see you next time. Thanks, Sheila! Thank you.