Fitness with Friends: BORP Inclusive Strength Training with Rach Kahn

VOICE: For more information and a full transcript of this video, check out fun4thedisabled.com. When joining us for this video, you need to take some precautions, as your health and safety are the most important. To avoid any injury or harm, you need to check your health with your doctor before exercising. By performing any fitness exercises without supervision, like with this video, you are performing them at your own risk. See a fitness professional to give you advice on your exercise form. Strategy for Access Foundation NFP, Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP), and Rach Kahn will not be responsible or reliable for any injury or harm you sustain as a result of this video. 

RACH KAHN: Okay, awesome. Hi, welcome everybody. My name is Rach Kahn, and we are here filming an inclusive, functional strength training class today. It’s gonna be a 45-minute class. We’re gonna start with a warmup. We’re gonna jump into a pretty fast paced short circuit, and then we’ll move into a longer circuit after that. Just as a reminder, for these classes, I care more about your form and your alignment than I do about how much weight you’re lifting or how fast you’re moving. So always make sure you’re doing some kind of a check-in with yourself. You’re keeping somewhat good form. You’re not compensating in funky ways. But that being said, if you wanna make the class harder, you can always move faster or you can lift heavier weights. If you’re trying to make it easier, you can lose the weights, you can decrease the weights, or you can move slower. Okay, so you get to choose your own adventure here. 

All right, so we’ll start with a bit of a warmup. So I’ll have you come back to a seated or standing position of some sort. I’ll be giving you variations today from a seated and a standing position for athletes of all abilities. So hopefully there’s something here for you. All right, so just coming to a grounded spot, let’s just start with a few shoulder circle rolls. Settling into your body a little bit. Let’s do one more. I’m gonna have you close your eyes. And let’s bring both hands over the low belly. And just seeing if you can find a breath down into your low belly. Trying to avoid taking that chest breath and just breathing directly into your hands. And then can you settle yourself? So if you’re in a seated position, can you maybe rock back on your sit bones a little bit more, maybe even just lean back against your chair, just to settle the body. And if you’re standing, seeing if you can shift and rock back into your heels, getting more grounded through your feet. I’ll have you set your intention for class today. And then just finding a quick body scan and noticing the parts of your body that feel really good today, so the parts that feel maybe loose, warmed up, strong. And then noticing the parts of your body that maybe don’t feel as strong, as loose today. Just identifying where those areas are. All right, we’ll take one more inhale. One more exhale. And we’ll open the eyes. 

Okay, let’s take both arms. We’ll reach them big and tall overhead. Interlace the fingers if you’re able to. Take an inhale to shrug up. And then an exhale, find an articulating roll all the way down to the floor or as close to it as you can. Good, and just hold here for a moment and see if you can relax your neck. Just kind of maybe shake your head, release any tension you might be holding in that area. Take an inhale, and then exhale to roll up. Good, reach the arms up to the sky again. Look up at the hands. Let everything shrug up. And then exhale, roll down. Give the head one more shake here. Release any tension perhaps in the back of the neck. And then on your next exhale, we’ll roll back up. 

Good, looking up at your hands reaching up to the sky, and then looking straight forward, we’ll come into a side bend to the left. And you’re gonna hold that, and you’re gonna roll through the center. You don’t have to come all the way down, just maybe halfway down on this one, and then rolling up on the other side, sitting tall. Yep. Side bend off to the right, rolling through the center, coming onto to the left, and sitting tall. And if you’re standing, you’re doing the same movement. You’re just doing it from a standing position. Side bend rolling through the center, stacking tall. We’re gonna do one more like this. Side bend, roll through the center, and stacking tall. Good. 

We’re gonna take the arms, open them really big, pull the wrist back behind you like you’re about to give someone a big hug, and then I want you to lean forward and give your knees a big hug. Open your arms, get big. Spread the fingers, pull the wrists back, take an inhale, and then exhale, hug the knees. Inhale, get big, but can you get big in a different direction? Maybe reaching off into the left, and then give your knees a hug. Inhale, get big. Find a different angle to get big at. And exhale, get small. Good, can we pick up the pace now? Get big. Get small. Get big, finding a different angle each time. Get small. Get big. And small. Let’s do one more. Big. And then small. Okay, we’ll come back to the center. Give the arms a shake. Give the shoulders and the ribs a shake. Let your breath go. Good, and then let’s bring that into some really big arm circles going backwards. And really exaggerating the shoulder. I want you to think about your shoulder blades, how they’re moving as your arms move with you. Do one more there. Good, and then you’re gonna come back to the center. Hands are gonna be in front of you facing forward. 

Yeah, we’re gonna do our book openers here. So you’re gonna take left hand. You’re gonna drag it down the right arm, across the chest, and then open that book rotating fully to your left. And then looking behind you, what’s the furthest thing behind you you can see? And then coming back to the center, closing the book down the chest, down the arm, and back to the center, yep. Other side, we’re gonna drag up the arm, across the chest, open the book, looking behind you, and then close the book down the chest and the arm, back to the center. Open the book, rotate, take an inhale, and then close the book on your exhale. Inhale to open the book. Exhale to close. Inhale to open. Exhale close. Let’s do one more. Open. And then close. Good, arms can come down. Give them a shake. Give the legs a shake if you’d like. 

Okay, and we’re gonna take the hands. We’re gonna press the hands together or interlace the fingers if you’re able to. We’re just gonna practice some of our movements today that we’ll see in the workout. So you’re gonna lift your hands up and overhead to the left, and then you’re gonna tap the right hips. Lift the hands up and overhead left, and then tap the right hips. Yeah, and just do that a few times, reaching and twisting, and then tapping that opposite hip. Reach and twist to tap. Twist to tap. We start to do it a little bit quicker. Inhale to reach. Exhale, tap. Inhale, reach. Exhale, tap. There we go, yep. Reach and tap. One more. And then can you go right into the other side, reach up and right, tap that left hip. Up and right, tap the hip. For folks that are standing, if you’d like to start to bring that into a squat, you can do that too. So you can tap the hip as you squat the hips back. Finding a good pace there. We’ll go for four, three, two, and one. Back to the center. Shake the arms out. Okay. 

One more here. Just coming into a nice exaggerated backstroke. Let your ribs rotate with you reaching behind you. Let the head and the neck rotate with you. And I want you to keep your head forward. And can we pick up the pace again? Starting to move a little quicker. If there’s anyone out there with any shoulders issues today, you never have to raise your arms quite as high as I am. You can do a lower range like this. You could do it with bent arms like this. I’ll be giving you a lot of variations today in the workout. So do what feels right for your body. All right, go for three, two, one, and back to the center. Give one more shake. Shake the hands out like you’ve got water on your hands. Okay, and relax. All right. 

So I’m gonna briefly explain some of these movements today that I’ve got on the whiteboard here. We’re gonna do two circuits. Like I was saying in the beginning of class, that first circuit is gonna be really quick. We’re doing six sets of 30 seconds of work. And I’ll give you the exercise in a moment. And then you’re gonna rest for 10 seconds. So those 30 seconds are meant to be a sprint. They’re meant to be really fast. And then we’re gonna move into a second circuit that’s gonna be 12 minutes. So that will be a little bit longer. Okay, but let’s start with this first circuit. 

So I’m gonna teach you the movements here, and then we’re gonna move right into these circuits. So we’re gonna be doing burpees for those six sets of 30 seconds. And don’t worry, I’ll be timing you for these. For seated athletes, you’re gonna lean forward, and you can practice this with me as I talk you through it. We’re gonna lean forward. Tap the floor or as close to the floor as you can. That can be your thighs also. You’re gonna sit up tall and clap the arms overhead. Lean forward, tap the floor, sit tall, clap the arms overhead. And the idea is just to move as quickly as you can. Tap and clap, tap and clap. Yeah, and you can keep practicing that with me. I’m just gonna show you the standing variations here. 

For standing athletes, if you’re unable to get down to the floor, you can bend over. Again, touch as close to the floor as you’re able to, and then stand up, clap the arms overhead, okay? Bend, tap the floor, and then clap overhead. If you are able to get down on the floor, you’re gonna place the hands in front of your feet. You’re gonna step or hop the feet back. You can add a push up here if you’re able to. You’ll step or hop the feet back in. And then if you wanna add a jump and a clap at the top, you can do that too, or you can just stay with the clap. Okay, so whatever feels right for you. Okay, so that’s gonna be the first thing we’re gonna do. You’re going all out for 30 seconds with those burpees. You got 10 seconds of rests in between. So it moves really quickly. 

Second circuit, there’s four exercises. You’re gonna be doing each exercise for one minute. So we’re gonna do three rounds of that for a 12-minute circuit. First exercise. And I forgot to mention this in the beginning of class. For this workout, it’ll be nice to have a heavier and a lighter pair of weights. If you only have one pair of weights, that’s totally fine. You can do some of these without the weights also, which I’ll be showing you. Okay, so that first exercise is gonna be a bicep curl to overhead press. So weights down by your side, palms facing in, you’re gonna bicep curl, and then press overhead. Trying to press those arms as straight overhead as you can. Standing athletes, you’re gonna be doing something kinda similar here. So weights are gonna stay your collarbones. You’re gonna squat to overhead press. Squat to overhead press. Okay. 

Second exercise is gonna be alternating Is and Ys. I prefer to do this one without weight, ’cause I’ve got a kind of funky shoulder, and my form usually doesn’t do very great if I use weight. Okay? So seated athletes, you’re gonna hinge forward from your hips. One arm moves in front of you. One arm moves, pulls behind you. And you’re just alternating your arms kind of like an exaggerated march. You’re staying, keeping as neutral of a spine as you can, and really reaching those arms in opposite directions, trying to open up your chest. Here we go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, might kind of feel like you’re doing freestyle or something like that. And again, you can add weights there if you wanna make it harder. For standing athletes, you’re gonna be doing a hip hinge. So feet are about hip distance apart. You’re gonna be doing a hip hinge. If you wanna make it harder, I’ll give you my side profile. If you wanna make it harder, you can extend the arms overhead, and then stand. Extend overhead while you’re in the hip hinge position and stand. If you wanna make it really hard, you can keep the arms overhead the entire time, okay? So up to you there. 

Second, sorry. Third exercise is gonna be wood chops. So this is what we were doing in warm up. So you’re gonna take your heavier weight, or I’m just gonna stack both of my weights on top of each other here. And we’re gonna do that same movement, but we’re gonna add some speed to the movement. So you’re gonna lift those weights up and overhead to the left, and then do a quick chop down into the right like your chopping wood. Up into the left, quick chop down into the right. I’m sorry, we’re gonna be alternating on this one. So you’re gonna go right into the other side. Chop high to low on the right, chop high to low on the left. Slow to raise, quick to chop. Slow to raise, quick to chop. Yeah, yeah, that looks good, everyone. You’re gonna be doing the same thing, standing athletes. You’re just gonna be dropping down into a squat each time you chop the wood. Okay, you can decide how low of a squat you wanna take that into, but that’s your option there. 

Okay, fourth and final exercise here is gonna be a side bend with a side punch. So for seated athletes, one weight in each hand, you’ll do a side bend on the left. You’re gonna curl that weight in and do a quick punch to the left. Bring the weight back down. Side bend to the right, pull the weight in, quick punch to the right, lower the weight down. Okay, so side, slow side bend, quick punch, slow side bend, quick punch. And I want you to look towards where you’re punching when you do the punch. Side bend, you can look forward, but when you’re punching, I want you to look towards the hand that’s punching. Okay, and last but not least. So standing athletes, for that one, you’re gonna be doing something kind of similar here. So you’re gonna come into a side lunge. So lunging to the side on that left leg, coming back to the center, and then doing just a side leg raise on the left. Give myself more room here. Side lunge on the right, back to the center, side leg raise on the right. Lunge, leg raise, lunge, and leg raise. Okay. So I’m gonna be talking you through all of these. So we’re all gonna stay at the same pace here. So if you get confused, just look at me. 

We’re gonna start with those burpees, six sets of 30 seconds, and then we’re gonna move basically right into that 12-minute circuit without much of a break there. Again, if you need a break, if you need to grab some water, you absolutely can. Okay, make sure I’ve got my watch ready. So you don’t need weights for the burpees unless you’re trying to make this really hard. In which case, go for it. In a good spot. Okay, so we’ve got six sets of 30 seconds. These are all out, okay? On your marks, get set, and go. We’re gonna do no music for this part of class. And then we’ll add music in for that last circuit. Yeah, nice work, everyone. Three, two, one, and relax. You got 10 seconds just to quickly catch your breath here. We go again in three, two, one, and go. One set down, five to go. I’ll show you a few variations seated, and then a few variations standing. And three, two, one, and relax. Good, take a breath. Three, two, one, and go. 

If you are competitive, you have the option here to count how many burpees you do in each set. Maybe you get through five burpees. Maybe you get through eight. And try to beat that each set. Just an added challenge. And three, two, one, relax. Okay, you’re halfway, everyone. I’m gonna show you some standing variations. Three, two, one, and go. Try to keep your pace. Three, two, one, and stop. You’ve got two more sets. Take a breath or two. Three, two, one, and go. Yeah, keep it up, everyone. And three, two, one, and stop. You’ve got one more round. One more round. Take a breath. Three, two, one, and go. Can you squeeze one more burpee in this round? And three, two, one, and relax. Woo-we! 

Okay, if you need to grab a quick water break, go ahead and grab some water. Otherwise we are gonna move right into this second circuit. We are starting with, let me reset my clock here. We’re starting with a bicep curl to overhead press. Okay, you’ve got 12 minutes on the clock. Pace yourself, but push yourself. On your marks, get set, and go. Bicep curl to overhead press. Yeah, that music is great. Thank you. Remember, you’re doing all of these movements for one minute. The key for this kind of circuit is endurance. So find a good pace that feels good for you, where you can do the full minute. If that means you need to go slower or lift less weight, that is totally fine. Three, two, one, and relax. 

Moving right into our alternating Is and Ys. I’m gonna drop the weights for this one, but you can hold onto them if you want. Alternating Is and Ys, or your hip hinge with your overhead reach for standing athletes. There we go. Okay, three, two, one, and stop. Moving right into wood chops, right into your wood chops. Alternating from side to side. Finding that fast movement to chop the wood down. Three, two, one, and stop. Moving into your side bend with your side punch, or your side lunge with your side kick. Quick punch, slow to side bend. Three, two, one, and stop. Going back to bicep curl to overhead press, or squat to overhead press. You’re a third of the way in. Here we go. You’re doing great. Okay, three, two, one, and stop. Alternating Is and Ys, or a hip hinge with an overhead reach. Find a good pace for this one. See if you can get into a flow with your arms. Remember to keep your neck long for this one. Five, four, three, two, one, and stop. 

Moving into wood chops. Wood chops, and you can add the squat if you’re able to. Check in with your breath here. Make sure that you’re exhaling as you chop the wood. Inhale to lift, exhale to chop. Five, four, three, two, one, and stop. Side bend with side punch, or side lunge with side kick. You’ve got about five minutes left. Find a good pace. Five, four, three, two, one, and stop. This is your last round. Last four minutes, everyone. Where are we back to? Bicep curl to overhead press, or squat to overhead press. Keep it up. This is your last round. Your last few minutes. Five, four, three, two, one, and stop. Alternating Is and Ys, or your hip hinge with your overhead reach. If you’re doing the hip hinges, try to keep your weight shifted forward on your feet to get a little bit more into your back line. It’ll make it a little bit more challenging. Five, four, three, two, one, and relax. We got two more minutes coming to your wood chops. Remember, find the exhale as you chop the wood. Use your breath to facilitate the movement here. This is your last minute and a half. Three, two, one, and stop. Side bend with side punch, or side lunge with side kick. This is your last minute. 20 seconds left. Last five, four, three, two, one, and relax. 

All right. Nice work, everyone. Go ahead and grab some water. Grab some water, take a quick breather, and then we’ll move into a cool down here. How’s everyone doing? Some thumbs up? Hopefully a thumbs up. Okay, good. All right. Okay, we’ll come back. Let me tilt this down. We’ll come back to a seated or standing grounded position of some sort. Okay, and then let’s just take the arms, let ’em dangle down by your sides, and we’ll just find our swinging rotation. If you’re able to tap your low back with your opposite hand, give your low back a tap. Yeah, otherwise just try to catch your breath here. Let that arm swing pull and rotate your trunk. Okay. And we’ll come back to the center. 

We’ll place both hands on the knees or tops of the thighs. And if you’re standing doing the same thing, just in your crouch down coaching position. And if that’s too challenging, you can always put your elbows on your knees also. Okay, so hands or elbows on the knees. Let’s take left hand, we’ll reach it up to the sky. Looking up to where we’re reaching. And then we’ll take that hand, we’re gonna thread it underneath the other arm, reaching with our palm facing up. Rotate, reach that hand up to the sky, and then thread the needle, palm is up. Rotate, reach up, and then thread the needle through. One more on this side. Rotate, reach up. Thread the needle through. Good, we’ll come back to the center. We’ll switch sides. Right arm reaches up, and thread, and reach through. Inhale to rotate up, and exhale to thread. Inhale up, and exhale thread. One more here. Up, and then thread. Okay, good. We’ll come back to the center. Give the arms, the shoulders, the legs if you can, one last final shake. 

Let’s find a few shoulder circle rolls just to help settle the body. Okay, good. We’ll find the still point here. We’ll close the eyes. We’ll bring both hands over the low belly again. And finding that same low and slow belly breath, seeing if you can breathe directly into your two hands. Let yourself be heavy either down through your chair, down through your sit bones, or down through your feet. And then just bring your attention back to the parts of the body that felt really good in the beginning of class. Just checking in with those same areas again. And then checking in with the same areas that maybe didn’t feel so good in the beginning of class. Noticing if there’s any change there. And then go and think of one thing you’re grateful for today. We’ll take one more inhale into the low belly, one more exhale, and we’ll open the eyes. Awesome, thank you so much for joining me to class today. Again, my name is Rach Kahn, and it was nice to have you with us. Have a great rest of your week, great rest of your day. We’ll see you next.