Fitness with Friends: Lower Extremity

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 and Shirley Ryan Abilities Lab will not be responsible or liable for any injury or harm you sustain as a result of this video.

FITNESS INSTRUCTOR: Hi everyone! So today we’re gonna do a little bit of work with the legs. For most of the exercises today, we’re just gonna use body weight and we’re gonna be standing. But if you have some weights, if you have something that you can add to load up your exercises, again please feel free to use that. If you need a little assistance, especially for balance, you can use a chair, you can use a table, countertop, whatever you have available to you. But we’re gonna start standing and then we’re gonna move to lying down on the floor, so if you have a mat or carpet that you can lie down that’s soft, use that. Otherwise you can stick with just the upper body ones. Enjoy.

Alright so for this first exercise, we’re gonna do some squats. So these, we’re gonna do ‘em– I’m gonna do ‘em just standing. So feet about shoulder width apart, alright, head up, chest up the whole time. So making sure as we lower, alright, we’re coming down, we’re coming back up, squeezing those glutes to help us get up. So as you go, making sure that we’re pushing the hips back, we’re not letting the knees fall forward. Alright, and then hands can be either at your side, can be in front of you, wherever’s most comfortable. I prefer them in front. If you need it, you can always go from a surface, like a chair, or you can just do body weight and then change how low you go as you’re comfortable. Okay so we’re gonna go for ten. Ready? Here we go. One. Two. Three. Four, good, keep the head up, the chest up the whole time, right? Find a pace that works for you. Nice and easy. Give me a few more here. Good, last one. Nice.

Alright so this next exercise is gonna be some reverse lunges. So we’re gonna start, feet about hip-width apart. What you’re gonna do is you’re gonna take a big step back with your left foot, you’re gonna drop down as if to kneel. Alright, so down, and then back up stepping back forward. If you’d prefer not to step back in, you can leave it there and then just go up and down from that position. So I’ll show you what that looks like from the side. So I’m gonna take my right foot, I’m gonna step back, I’m gonna drop down, and then come back up. Head and chest stay up the whole time, there’s no reason to lean forward. Alright, we’re gonna do ten each side, okay? Alright so now let’s step back with that right foot. So we go back, down, one. Back, down, two. Back, down, three. Good, keeping that head and that chest up the whole way, right? Good steps, so it doesn’t have to be a huge one remember. Nice and easy, making sure we’re breathing, alright. Good press on the way up, making sure we’re pressing through those heels. Good, give me a couple more. Last one.

Alright so the next exercise, we’re gonna do some lateral lunges. So we’re gonna be just stepping over to the side, dropping down, and then coming back. So as we step, making sure it’s a big step, to shift your weight over, keeping that other leg nice and straight, pushing the hips back just like we did in the squats, alright. So we’re gonna go ten times to either side. So let’s go to your left side first. Alright, here we go. One, and back. Two, and back. Good, making sure as you step, keeping those feet forward, right? Slightly out is okay, but you don’t want your foot turning out all the way, it uses completely different muscles. So let’s make sure we’re keeping those feet forward, got a nice smooth motion going, all the way down, all the way back up. Good, give me two more. And last one. Good. Now let’s switch sides. So nice big step, good. Two, nice. Making sure we’re pushing through that heel, we’re using this leg all the way through, head up, chest up. Good, nice straight leg on the other side. Few more here. Good. Two… and last one.

Next exercise we’re gonna do are some deadlifts. So this one, if you have some weight, you can add it in, just keep it in your hands in front of you. Otherwise you can do just body weight. We’ll focus more on making sure that we’re lengthening those hamstrings and we’re feeling a pull there. So feet about hip-width apart here, alright, back nice and flat. What you’re gonna do is at your hips, you’re gonna hinge forward, alright, until you feel a nice pull in those hamstrings and you’re gonna come back up. Alright, so once again from the side, so hinging at the hips, nice flat back, coming back up. If you wanna make this a little bit more difficult, you can do it with one leg at a time, add a little balance, and then of course you have to work some other muscles there. So we can always hinge forward, and then come up. So from the side, making sure that the body is moving all as one, right? So we wanna make sure that it’s fluid movement, that they’re both together, that we’re not doing one at a time. For me, I’m just gonna do the regular deadlifts, down and up. We’re gonna do it for ten, okay? So ready? Here we go. So down… one. Good, down… two. Try not to reach for the ground when you get down here, that’s gonna round your back. You just wanna lean forward. If you want to, you can always cross the arms, right? Making sure you’re not tempted to reach down. Alright, almost there, keep it going. Making sure we’re using those glutes, using those hamstrings to pull back up the whole way. Good, last one. Nice.

Next exercise we’re gonna do are some calf raises. So for this one, I’m gonna demonstrate them and perform them with both feet, but I’ll show you options if you wanna do single leg, make it a little bit harder. So when you’re pressing, right, simple up and back down. So if I go sideways, so you’ll see I’m getting my ankles up, back down. The rest of the body is nice and straight. Just simple: up, and back down. As you press, make sure that you’re pushing through your toes, that you’re not letting your feet fall out, alright. We wanna make sure that we’re using the right muscles here and we’re keeping our balance as best as possible. So we’re gonna go for ten. Alright, 3, 2, 1. So we have one. Two. Three. Four, good. So pressing through those toes, right. You should be feeling it in the calves now. And if you need it, you can always grab something if you need a little balance, right? Good, last one here. And ten.

Next exercise we’re gonna do are some curtsey lunges. So for this one, we’re gonna stand on our right leg the whole time, left leg you’re gonna swing it behind, around so that your toes are down on the ground, and then you’re gonna squat down. Alright, bringing it back. So similar to the other exercises, if you feel more comfortable, you can leave it there, just go up and down or you can do what I do and step in and out every time. We’re gonna go for ten on each side, alright? So we’re gonna go with the right leg first. So let’s go step, one, back up. Making sure our head and our chest stay up nice and tall every time. Alright, and we don’t wanna turn our body too much, right, we don’t wanna lean over too much. Just enough to keep the balance. Good, about halfway there. Nice, keep breathing for me. Good. You can play with the distance of your step as well if you need to. Give me one more. Good, now let’s switch sides. So same thing with the right, here we go. One, back up. Good. Two, and back up. Three, and back up. Nice, keeping that posture the whole time, right? Head up, chest up, not leaning forward, we’re not gonna lean over too far, right? Good, over halfway there. Few more here. Good, two more. And last one. Good.

So this next exercise, we’re gonna do a little bit of hip abduction. So we’re kinda gonna swing the leg out to the side. So hands on the hips, or if you need to stabilize, you can always hold onto something. We’re gonna stand on our right leg, and then we’re gonna take our left leg and swing it out. So if you can, try not to go straight out with it, try to maybe angle back just a little bit, okay? So from the side, we’re gonna angle back, we’re gonna go back just a little bit. You should feel that right here in that glute, it’ll get tired out pretty quickly so you’ll know you’re working the right muscles. We’re gonna go for ten on each side, okay? So right side, here we go. One. Two, good. Three, count with me. Four. Five, making sure we’re breathing. Good, about halfway there. Already feeling it. Good, one more. Nice. Alright, same thing on the other side. Here we go. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, good! Making sure we’re breathing, making sure we’re keeping our balance the whole way. One more. Very nice.

For these next few exercises, we’re gonna be on the ground so I’m gonna use this mat here. You can use whatever you have available to you. So we’re gonna lay back on your back, we’re gonna bend the knees, we’re gonna keep the feet about six inches apart, keep them about a foot away from your backside, and we’re gonna do some bridges. So from here, what I want you to do is I want you to push through your heels to raise the hips up off the mat, squeezing the glutes as you get up. Alright, so we’re gonna go for ten. If you feel like you wanna make this a little bit more difficult, you can raise one leg and keep it up, or you can always play with how close or how far away your feet are. Alright, so for ten. Here we go. One, and down. Two, back down. Making sure we’re breathing, right? So count out loud for me as you go. Good, about halfway there. Making sure we’re squeezing the glutes. Now I like having my hands at your side– at my sides, but you can always bring them up on top if that’s more comfortable. Good, couple more. Nice.

Alright, for the next one, we’re gonna do some leg raises. So what I’m gonna have you do is roll over onto your side. So however is comfortable, if you wanna prop up, or if you wanna lay down, either one would work just fine. I’m gonna be propped up a little bit. So what I want you to do is, straight legs, I want you to try to raise the leg, nice and easy for me. Think Farrah Fawcett, right. So I want ten good raises here. Alright, try not to let your foot turn out, I want a nice straight line up and down. Alright, so here we go. One. Two, good. Keeping your body nice and straight, not letting it fall, not letting it roll. Don’t worry about how high you’re getting it, go as far as you’re comfortable, and then back down. One more. Good. Alright, now we’re gonna switch sides. And we’re gonna do the same thing. Okay, so lying down, here we go. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, good. Making sure we’re breathing, nice straight leg, not letting that foot turn. Good, one more. Very nice.

Alright next exercise we’re gonna do are some leg circles. So same position, we’re gonna lie down on the side, and then you’re gonna raise your leg, you’re gonna give me some circles forward, circles backwards. So like you’re drawing it with your heel, not with your toes, I want those toes pulled up the whole time. So leg up, and count with me. So we’ll go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And without putting it down, let’s go backwards, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Good, now we’re gonna switch sides and we’re gonna do the other leg. Alright, so forwards for five. Here we go, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Backwards, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Good.

Alright, next exercise we’re gonna do, we’re gonna go into a bridge but then we’re gonna do some walkouts. Alright, so we’re gonna lie back down on our back. We’re gonna bring the legs in. Alright so for this one, you’re gonna give me a bridge, then you’re gonna walk your feet out, and then come back. So you’re gonna do so without letting your hips drop, okay? So we’re gonna do ten total. We’re gonna keep it simple, we’re gonna take one big step out, one big step in. If you wanna make it a little more difficult, you can take more steps out and back in, okay? So ready? So we’re gonna lift, and we go out, out, back, back, that’s one. Out, out, back, back, two. Making sure we’re breathing throughout, right? No holding your breath, making sure you’re keeping those glutes nice and tight the whole time, making sure we’re keeping those abs nice and tight, right? Core nice and tight the whole way. Back and forth. If you need to take a break at any time, do so. Or if you need to rest, you can. Otherwise keep it going, we got a couple more here. Good, last one. And down.