Fitness with Friends: PD Integrated

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.

[Upbeat guitar instrumentals]

FITNESS INSTRUCTOR: We’re gonna begin our class with a small warm up today, and that will start with the shoulder circles. So what we’re gonna do is basically roll your shoulders back, pulling your shoulder blades back toward the spine, and we’re going to do ten of each. Ready? 1, 2, you can put your hands next to the sides. 3, 4, 5, try to be as big as you can. 7, 8, 9, and 10. We’re going to repeat these same shoulder circles, this time going forward. And let’s begin, ten. 1, 2, 3, 4, nice and big. 5, 6, 7, 8, keep your posture nice and tall. And the last one, 10.

So this one is just the shoulder shrugs. Make sure you’re nice and big again. Bring your shoulders all the way up to your ears, hold it a little, and then slowly release. Try to control the movement down. Let’s go ten. 1, 2, 3, lift those shoulders up. 4, 5, 6, up, up, up, up, up. Slow release. 7, lift, lift, lift. Good, maintain that tall posture. One more. Lift, hold, hold, then slowly release. 

So the next exercise you’re gonna open your chest as wide as you can, pulling your shoulder blades back to the spine, keep your fingers extended, elbows straight. And then you’re gonna give yourself a big hug, round your back. And again come back to the big, tall posture. We’ll do ten of them. Ready, let’s go. 1, 2, open nice and big. 3, 4, lift your chin up. 5, really focus on your fingers, fully extend those fingers. 7, 8, lift your chest up to the sky. 9, we’re gonna hold the last one, nice and big stretch, and 10.

Our next exercise, you’re gonna lean to the side, try to touch the floor. Again, you don’t have to do that but try to go for the floor as low as you can, and then come back to perfect, tall posture. We’re gonna go ten on the left side. Ready? 1, and then up. 2, up, 3, up, 4, try to go deeper and deeper with each repetition. Look at your hand, 6, and up. Take your time, staying tall in the middle. 8, 9, nice and controlled on the way up, and 10. Take a deep breath, readjust in the chair, shoulders over the hips. We’ll go on your right side. Ready? 1, up, 2, deeper and deeper if comfortable, deeper and deeper with each repetition. 4, 5, tall in the middle, 6, 7, 8, 9, and our last one, try to really go nice and low, 10.

So we are moving to lower body exercises for our warm up. And we’ll do ten steps forward on each leg. If you can, scoot to the edge of the chair, sit nice and tall, hands on your hips. You will be stepping out with your left leg. Keep your knee as straight as possible and toes pull back to your nose, towards your nose. So we’ll be going forward and then coming back with your feet nice and wide. Ready? Stay tall, ten on your left. 1, keep that knee straight. 2, 3, 4, keep the muscles of your front thigh nice and tight, it’ll help you extend that leg even more. Keep pulling your toes, we’re going for number 8, 9, and 10. Good. We’ll switch legs. Again, readjust in your chair, feet are wide, nice and tall, shoulders over the hips, hands on your hips. On your right side, step heel forward, toes to nose. 2, 3, 4, focus on that knee, make sure it’s nice and straight, as straight as you can get it. 6, 7, pull your toes back, you’re gonna feel it in your calf a little. And then last one, 10. 

So we are moving down to your lower legs and feet. On this one, I want you to step out as much as you can, scoot to the edge of the chair. You’ll be lifting your heels up and then lowering them down, lifting the toes up. And we’ll do it as a repetitive motion ten times, nice and controlled. Sit up tall, shoulders over the hips, feet wide. Deep breath, and 1, toes up. 2, 3, 4, see how high you can get those heels and then toes. You should feel it in the front of your lower leg. We have three more. Good, up, and last one. Good. 

So our next exercise is one of our big movements, I really want you to stay as loud and big as possible so count with me. You’re gonna scoot to the edge of the chair, keep your feet wide. First part will be reaching forward, hinging at the hips, you wanna keep your back nice and straight. And then come back up to a tall posture and you’re gonna do ten flicks on each repetition. We’re gonna do five reps total. So big and tall, shoulders over the hips. Let’s reach, and go. Reach, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Reach, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Reach, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Reach, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Last one. Reach, big fingers, big voice, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 

So this exercise requires a little bit of coordination. You’re gonna get your left fist ready and right leg ready. We’re gonna do a punch, stepping with the opposite leg. So ten repetitions on each side. Again, left hand ready, right foot ready to step. Let’s go. 1, and then back. 2, and back. 3, make sure you punch it like you mean it, so big, powerful movement, bring that elbow back, punch. Good, keep it up. Big step, keep your knee straight as you punch. One more time… great job. We’re gonna do the same thing on the other side, make sure you readjust in your chair. Shoulders over the hips, and get your right hand ready and left foot ready to step. Go for it! 1, keep that elbow straight, keep that punch nice and powerful, leg is straight. Keep it up. 4, 5, 6, try to be more and more powerful with each punch. 8, good, 9, and 10. Great job.

So this exercise will try to elevate your heart rate a little bit. You’re gonna sit up nice and tall again, ideally at the edge of the chair. And we’ll try to go as fast as possible, one hand over the other. So the tendency for the movement is to become smaller and smaller the more we do it. You wanna make sure that you stay nice and big throughout those repetitions. We’ll do ten reps, and we’ll do five sets of each. Ready, stay tall. And go! 1, 2, 3, 4, stay big, 7, 8, 9, 10. Power up. So that was one, we’re gonna do four more of these. Ready? Go! 1, 2, 3, 4, stay big! 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Power up, big fingers, chest up to the sky. Take a deep breath, only three more. Ready? Go! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, use your voice! Keep it up, keep it up, keep it up, keep it up! One more. Power up. You only have two more reps. Adjust your posture, deep breath in, arms up, go for it! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, bigger! Bigger, faster, faster, power up. And last one. Ready? Go! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, even higher now, go, go, go, and open up. Great job.

Our next one, let me explain it to you. We’re gonna grab an imaginary object from the floor, and then throw it as hard as you can on the opposite side. And you wanna be as powerful as you can, think about throwing a baseball. We’ll do it on the left side first. So reach, toss. Reach, and toss. Reach, toss. Reach lower and lower with each repetition. And try to stay powerful with reach rep. We’re halfway there. And toss. Toss. And stay big, toss. Reach, reach, reach, reach, and toss. Last one! Make it the best one you can do. And toss! Great job. Let’s do it on the right side. Adjust your posture again, shoulders over the hips. Deep breath in, chest up. You’ll be leaning to your right, tossing to your left. Big throw, 1. Use your fingers too, make sure you relax your fingers. At the end, keep them extended, keep that elbow straight. Good, we’re halfway there. Keep it up, every single movement with a purpose. So think about throwing something away from you. Down, and then toss. Good, and then toss. Last one, big toss. 

This movement requires you to sit, again, tall as always with your feet wide apart. You’ll be stepping out with your left leg and reaching towards the floor with the same side. I’m also gonna show you the progression of this movement. So this is a modification. If you wanna challenge yourself, you can lift your hips off the chair and then come back to the starting position. So the movement mimics getting out of the chair, getting out of the car, getting out of bed. We’re gonna do ten on the left side. Begin tall, and let’s go. 1, back. Pick up your knee as high as you can, imagine an obstacle next to your chair and then try to get your leg over that obstacle. We’re halfway there. Let’s try to challenge. You don’t have to do that, but if you can, lift your hips off the chair. Good, and the last one. Great job. Let’s do the same thing on the other side. So again, first five I’ll be doing the modified version and then we’ll try to do a little progression. Stand tall, with your right leg to the side, go for it. 1, back. 2, make sure you pick up that knee. 3, good. 4, lean to the floor and then progression, 6, and then back with control. 7, and then back. 8, 9, last one, make it big and come back. That’s it!

So we made it to our stretch portion. We’ll begin with your legs first. So I want you to step out with your left leg. Keep your heel on the floor and pull your toes to your nose, hinging at the hips, keeping your spine straight, go forward until you feel a slight stretch behind your knee. To feel more stretch in your calf, you’re gonna pull your toes to your nose even more. And just hold that position for up to 20 seconds. Hold, try not to force the stretch, it shouldn’t be more than just a mild discomfort. If you’re comfortable, you can lean forward, hinging at the hips. Good. Be aware of your lower back, keep it nice and straight, keep your chest tall, look straight ahead. We’re almost there. Good, and then repeat on the other side. Take a deep breath, step out with your right leg, pull your toes to your nose, hinging at the hips, lean forward and breathe. Try to keep your breath nice and relaxed, always send your breath to the area of tightness. That should be behind your knee. And as you pull your toes to your nose, you should also feel it in your calves. You can go a little bit more deeper into the stretch by hinging at the hips even more. Take a deep breath, and… relax. 

So we are moving forward to our hips. We’ll be stretching the left side of your hips, so your hip flexors. Ideally move, if you can, move to the edge of your chair, bring your left leg behind you, sending that foot as far back as you can. Reach up with your left arm, look up at the ceiling, hold it up, feeling the stretch at the front of your hip. Keep breathing. And then gently tilt to your right side, keeping your chin nice and tall, neck relaxed. Breathing into the area of tightness. And relax. We’ll repeat the same thing on the other side. So moving to the right side of the chair, your right leg is gonna go back, bring that foot as far behind you as you can. Right arm up, hold this position until you feel a good stretch in the front of your hip, so your hip flexors. They’re often tight from sitting. And this too, posture, hold it here. And then halfway through, gently lean to your left side. And relax and feel the stretch. And keep your neck relaxed, chin up, shoulders relaxed. And return to the starting position. 

So next one is our shoulder stretch. You’re gonna grab your left arm and bring it across. Put your right hand right above your elbow, try to keep your arm extended, and hold that position, keeping your shoulders relaxed. Stay tall, inhale and exhale. You can pull gently as we stay longer in that stretch. And make sure you don’t tense your neck, keep it loose. Shake it off and relax. Same thing on your right side. Focus on your fingers, they have a tendency to stay in a flexed position. You wanna fully extend your fingers and elbow, and gently pull. Keep your shoulders squared, keep your hips squared, stay tall and breathe into the stretch. And relax.

So our next one is a tricep stretch, so this area of your body. What you’re gonna do is put your left hand behind your back, pointing your left elbow up to the ceiling. Hold it here. Point that elbow even higher and higher up as you go into the stretch. For those people who are more flexible, you can grab your elbow and gently pull on it. That might be challenging. So this is also good enough, just point that elbow up. Look at the ceiling, keep your shoulders relaxed. And shake it off. Gonna do the same thing on the other side, so put your right hand on your right shoulder blade, think about scratching your back, point that elbow up, and hold it. Deep breathing, stay tall, make sure you don’t stay in a stooped position, lift your chest up to the sky. And again if you wanna progress into this stretch, grab your elbow, gently pull on it. You could even tilt to the side. Slowly release, shake it off and relax.

So we are going to finish with our dexterity exercises and some stretches for your hands and wrists. So what you will try to do is connect your thumb to each finger, and then follow with interlocking your hands, rounding your shoulders, and stretching through your hands and wrists. Hold this for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And far up, sending your fingers back. Make sure that from here, you’re trying to fully extend those fingers back, pull your shoulder blades back to the spine. Let’s go back to your fingers again. 1, 2, 3, 4, interlock, push, round your back. You can hide your head between your arms. Hold it, 3, 2, 1. Now come back tall, again point your fingers back. From here, we’re going all the way behind you. Back to fingers, 1, 2, 3, 4, interlock, stretch. Hold for 5 seconds. Breathe, open up, fingers pointing back, big arms, big shoulders, big fingers, shoulder blades back to the spine. Back to fingers, 1, 2, 3, 4, interlock your hands, push, round your back, breathe. Open up, don’t forget your fingers, stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch. One more time! Ready? 1, 2, 3, and 4, interlock, push, stretch even harder. Sit up tall, open up, pointing the fingers back.