Practice: Sit To Stand Up Stronger

Jenna Zaffino:

Hey everyone. I'm Jenna. Welcome to your sit to stand strength training workout. Now, we are going to take strength training with a dash of our own personalized needs. So I will be using some props in this class. However, if you'd like to move in tune to your own body weight and not use resistance that is 100% okay and encouraged if that is what you need today. I always want you to make the best choices for yourself no matter what class we're in and also note that if you need to do the entire class in a seated position, that is also okay. Everything is an opportunity, a suggestion, and I hope that you will make the choices that work best for you today. 

If you are using props, I've got a piece of light tubing with handles on them and then I've also got these are 2 pound weights and they just come in the shape of a ball. So they're just a little light weight and then finally, I have a small ball. If you don't have a small ball but you wanna work with the ball and you've got a pillow, you can use a pillow. It'll work just as well. Alright, let's take a moment to gather our things. We're gonna place them off to the side for now and we'll get them in a moment and then please find your comfort having a seat in your chair. Remember, we want to come a little bit forward towards the edge of your chair so you're perched up nice and tall. Holding on to the chair if you need to is an option. 

Also, we can take the hands onto the knees. Let's start by warming up your spine. Just rocking and rolling, rounding your back, letting your lower back open up. And then reaching forward, letting your chest expand. We'll do that a couple times just feeling the rock and roll of your hips. Reaching forward. And also, it's important to note that at any time in our classes, if you need to take it a little slower, you are more than welcome to do so. One of the great things about these videos is if you go down to the settings wheel, you can adjust the tempo to make it a little faster or slower. 

Let's take one more chest up at the top and then come back to center. We'll take your arms down by your sides. Let's just lift the shoulders up to your ears and drop them down and then we'll reach out to the side in a t shape and lower. Shoulders come up to the ears. Make a long neck as you lower your arms down and then a wide chest as you reach out to the side and then lower again. Let's do that twice more. Lift your shoulders up. Reach them down. 

Reach them out. All the way down, sitting up as tall as you can. Lift and lower. Last time, let's reach your arms out and stay. We're gonna turn the palms up and then turn the palms down. And, again, turn them up and down, just giving a little rotation through your arm joints, through your shoulders. One more time, rotate them up, hold them up here and then slowly watch your plants bring your pinky fingers together at your chest and then reach your hands backwards, opening your chest up. Again, reach forward with the pinkies. 

Reach backward with your thumbs. Reach forward with your pinkies. Reach backward with your thumbs. And this time, let's bring it forward. We're gonna take our palms together and pull back with your right elbow to create a twist and then reach forward. Pull back with your left elbow to create a twist and reach forward. Let's go a couple more times. Pulling back, reaching forward, pulling back, reaching forward. 

Now, no twist. Turn your palms down and let's just bend the elbows back. And reach front. And pull back. And, reach front. One more time, pull back. And, reach front and lower all the way down. Alright. 

Let's go ahead and gather your tubing. Again, if you don't have an elastic tube in your home, you can just do the exercise working your arms without the tubing. You'll use a little mental hack and pretend like you're pulling against some resistance. Both work beautifully. So I'm gonna take an underhand grip here with palms up and pull elbows into my side. So my collarbones are trying to get wide. My posture is really tall. From here, wrap your fingers and thumbs around the tubing, and we're gonna just just pull out and then slowly come back in. 

So let's go out, opening your chest a little bit more and all the way back in. Now, one thing we wanna be mindful of is that our shoulders aren't pushing forward to make this happen as the arms open out to the side. Instead, we're thinking wide across the chest. You might feel some engagement between your shoulder blades and the back of your body. Hopefully so. Good. This is for your shoulder muscles. It's also a nice way to remind ourselves that the muscles on the back of the body help often to open up the muscles on the front of the body. 

Good work. Let's do 2 more right here. We pull it back, reach, and all the way in. Really nice. Last one. Pull. Good. And all the way in. 

Really good. Alright. Let's rest that band right across your lap for a moment. Walk your feet out a little bit wider. We're gonna take the left hand over to the right knee. Reach your right arm up as high as you can, and stretch. Good. Come all the way up through center and let's switch sides. 

Right arm over to the side. Reach up and stretch. Good. All right. Now we can go ahead and do that again just with your arms, or you can take your band. I'm gonna take the right hand underhand, the left hand overhand. Take the left hand to your knee, press the right hand up. A little more activation in that stretch and then come on down. 

Switch your grip. One hand over, one one hand under. To the knee. Pull up and come back to center. Just getting some movement in our spine. Let's try that again. Switch our grip. That's an exercise in and of itself. 

Hand to the knee. Other hand stretches up or you're working your body weight. Good. Come all the way back to center and last time, switch your grip. Nothing wrong with working those hands and fingers, right? Good work. Alright. Come on back to center. We're gonna switch our grip one more time. 

Take the band in front of your chest and from here, just pull evenly across. We want the shoulders to be down, the chest to be wide, and arms wide as well. And then we're gonna come back in just to where we get just before we lose the tension on the band, so before it smiles. Alright? So we're moving back. Even if you don't have a band, you can think of pressing through the space and then recovering back to the center. Here we go. Pressing back with your arms. Reaching forward. 

Good. Pressing it back. Just checking in on our breathing to make sure that it's tempered to what we need, keeping our focus nice and steady on gaining some small amounts of strength. One workout is a great thing, but it's it's about the long game. Right? So no need to over exert yourself in this one exercise. We We wanna think about how we can appropriately work with the challenge at hand. Good. We've got one more of these. 

Jenna Zaffino:

You're doing great. Let's press back. Open it up. Good. Bring it forward. Take your hands down to rest on your knees. Give a couple shoulder rolls just to release any tension that may have crept in. Really nice. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Now, from here, we're gonna do the same action, but we'll take the arms a little higher. If arms up high are too challenging right now, then go ahead and go again from the chest level. If you can find a high diagonal, we're gonna go to the high diagonal and then pull those arms down to the side so they reach to the chest, and then all the way back up. And again, down to the side and lift. In this exercise, we're thinking about the muscles underneath your shoulder blades on both sides of your back. Keep going. So the ones that are right along the sides here, we want to find those nice and strong so we feel like there's a sense of connection to our back as we reach up and down. Let's do 3 more here. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Reaching and lifting. And 2, and up. Good. Last one. Best one. Really nice. Alright, release those arms, relax those arms. Let's go ahead and take your ball or your pillow. 

Jenna Zaffino:

We're done with our band for now. We're gonna put the ball right between the knees. Take your hands on your knees and for now, we're just gonna squeeze into the ball or the pillow. We're gonna squeeze in and then relax, but don't drop your object. Okay? So let's squeeze in for 3, 2, 1, release. 3, 2, 1, release. 3, 2, 1, release. 3, 2, 1, nice work. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Keep going. 3, 2. Get those inner thighs fired up. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, release. 3, 2, 1. Good. Alright. We're gonna take a little more challenge. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Go single counts in and out. Squeeze in, out. In, out. Now, remember, don't let go of that ball or that pillow. Wanna keep it nice and strong. Good job. Doesn't take much to feel those inner thighs getting nice and warm. Let's go for 4, 3, 2, and 1, and relax. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Alright, take your ball out of your legs. Let's give your legs a rest for a moment. We're gonna take the arm out to the side, reach it all the way up. See if you can pass it to your other hand. Bring it all the way down to the other side. And again, reach it up. Pass it over and reach it down. Good. 

Jenna Zaffino:

And lift it up. And all the way down. Good. Reach it up, and all the way down. One more time. Up and all the way down and then bring the ball back to center. Alright. So as we reach our ball forward or your pillow, we're gonna take your right foot out to tap your heel. 

Jenna Zaffino:

As we pull the ball back, just simply step back in. So let's try this to the left, reaching it out, pull it back in. And if this really feels super simple for you, you could consider reaching it off as you pull the ball out and in. The whole time trying to keep nice and tall through your spine. So this is really a great exercise for posture and hip strength. Good. Press it out and press it in. If you've been on the floor and you want to start to lift your leg. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Let's try it. Out and pull it in and kick it out. Stay tall and pull it in. Good work. Kick it out, pull it back in. Kick it out, pull it back in. And out and back in. And one more and all the way in. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Good. Let's go ahead and take the ball back in between your legs. We're going to take our hands either behind your head or on your shoulders. Hips is also another option if you need it. We're going to squeeze into that ball and we're going to hinge forward. If you've taken another chair class, you've probably worked a hinge. It's a long flat back position and we just wanna feel that connection between your inner thighs and the ball and the lean. You're not getting up yet but it's as if you could and then come all the way up. 

Jenna Zaffino:

So, we're gonna squeeze, hinge, and come all the way back up. Yes. Here we go. Squeeze, hinge, and come up, and release. Squeeze, hinge, and all the way up. Good. Press and come back. Really nice. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Press and come back. Now, last one has a little spice to it. We're going to press forward, squeeze into that ball, lift your heels up and down, up and down. Keep squeezing and down. Keep tall. That's it. 43, 2, and 1, and good. Come all the way back to center. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Really nice. Alright. Let's release the ball. We'll see that ball again, so we're gonna keep it nearby. And then if you do have some small weights, I'll invite you to take them now. We've got one more seated exercise and then we're going to work some of these things in standing if that's where you are today or you're going to do a repeat in a seated exercise. So palms facing forward, nice and tall. Let's go into just bicep curls up for 2, down for 2. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Now, same thing here with our chest and shoulders. Just make sure that your shoulders aren't pressing forward when you lift those weights. Even if you're just using your hand, you want to think about bringing the weight to your shoulder instead of bringing your shoulder to the weight. Hopefully, that makes sense. Good. Let's go for 4 more. Up and all the way down. How's your seated posture? Are you still nice and tall? 2. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Excellent, and 1. Really good. Alright. We're gonna bicep curl one more time. Turn your palms over so you can press one arm up, lower down, and then the other up, and lower down. And again, reach and lower, and reach reach, and lower. Great work. Reach, and lower, and reach. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Thinking of your neck staying long each time you press that arm overhead. One more here. We're gonna try to do it a little faster. If you need to stay slow, please stay slow. We go up and up. That's it. Stretch from your back. Get taller through your spine and reach and reach. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Can you give me 4 and 3 and 2 and 1? Very good. Lower those arms all the way down. Alright, let's get ready to stand up. We're gonna do so functionally in a little squat. Again, if you are working in a seated position throughout this class today, please you can take your ball and just do the same hinges and squeezes that you did earlier to get your legs strong and to keep your balance steady. If you're gonna stand with me, we're gonna take our weights together or your hands together. Bring your feet into a position where it feels like you could get up off that chair. You can always use your hands on the chair, and then we're just gonna stand up. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Alright. So we're gonna hinge forward, standing all the way up to the top, strong at the top. Bend your knees, hinge back. You can find your chair or you can find it with your seat. So, all the options are available as we come all the way up and out of our seat and then we hinge and trust that it's still there. Yes? Sometimes you have to check. Reach forward. Press it up to the top, reaching down through your heels and then hinge from your hips. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Find that chair. Sit up nice and tall. Good. If at any time you decide that your dumbbells are too much, then you just carefully place them off to the side, come back to the exercise. Sitting to stand is one of those exercises that's really helpful for longevity, but it certainly a bit more energy, you know, in terms of your heart and lungs. So, if it feels overwhelming, then slow it down, take a pause. If you're good right along with me, then stay with me. I'm happy to have you experience this class however you need to. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Let's go 2 more. If you're pacing with me, maybe a few more if you're going slower. Last one. Good. Alright. Really nice. Let's take the small weights down to the side and we're gonna use the ball as just a simple weight for our shoulder. A pillow will also suffice. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Let's take the chair off to the side. I'd like you to stand thinking about that right leg, if you're mirroring me, being really strong. And as we take the leg out to the side, we're gonna take the ball out to the side as well, lower down, and then we're gonna reach that ball overhead as we lift the knee up and lower down. So we've got one side kick out to the side, little balance, pull it in, and then one march. Lift and lower. Really good. When I go out to the side, I'm leading more. Whoopsie. 

Jenna Zaffino:

I'm losing my balance. Leading more with my heel than my toe. I'm lifting more from my knee and my hand. So, heel reaches out to the side, pulls in. And then, knee reaches up and lowers down. And, heel and in. And, the knee and down. And, heel, and in, knee, and down. 

Jenna Zaffino:

One more time, reach it out. Pull it in. Up and down. Really nice work. Let's get ready for the other side. All right. Let's take it over to the other side or you can just walk around your chair to the other side. Standing on that left leg, we're reaching out to the side. 

Jenna Zaffino:

We're coming in, we're lifting up, we're lowering down. Reach it out, in, up, and down. Standing really strong into that supporting leg. And all of the muscles you were using to sit tall in your chair, if you're standing, definitely are great to work here. Excellent. Reach. If you are still seated, you can be just doing the the arms, which is wonderful. Or you can find a little choreography of your own to do the legs. 

Jenna Zaffino:

That's it. 2 more. 2 more. Reach and in. Lift and down. Last one. Reach. Pull it in. 

Jenna Zaffino:

And lift and down. Nice work. Alright. Let's put the ball away. And the last piece we're going to do, I'm actually gonna put my chair away too unless you need it. We're gonna take the weights again and put 3 movements together that we've worked quite a bit today. So whether it is a full squat or just a little knee bend is completely up to you. We're just gonna bend down, bicep curl, overhead press, and lower. 

Jenna Zaffino:

This is our big finisher. So let's see what we can find here. Legs nice and wide, enough for you to sit. So we go down and we're curling it up, strong in your center as you press, and then lower. Reach it down. And again, if you need a slower tempo or a faster tempo, be my guest. Down, in, lift and lower. We're seated, we're standing, We're reaching and coming back home. 

Jenna Zaffino:

A couple more. Down, pull, Stretch. Really great work, everyone. Hang in there. We're almost to the end. Big push. Last one. Here we go. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Down, and in, And big push and lower. Really good work. Alright. Let's take these weights off to the side. To finish, we'll just take our legs nice and wide. Feel grounded. You can also be seated here. One hand goes to the hip. 

Jenna Zaffino:

The other one goes to the side. Take a nice long side stretch. Come up through the center. Let's do the other side. Reach. Good. Pull all the way up to the center. Take your heels and angle them inward, so your knees are pointed outward. 

Jenna Zaffino:

We're going to bend the knees and take our hands onto the knees and just let one shoulder press forward, pressing your inner thigh back for a little more stretch after all that ball work, and then the other side. Good work. Let's try that again over to the right shoulder and then over to the left, and then come back to center and just roll up through the spine, rolling your shoulders back, standing hip width distance apart. We'll just take a big reach of gratitude for what our body has done for us today. Whether it met your expectations or not, I want you to remember that you're doing a great job and know that if this class fell on the lighter side of the spectrum, there's more to come. We're still getting to know all of you in the PCN network, and as you come in, we'll be asking you questions about what you want and what you need so we can provide you with the good stuff. In the meantime, consider trying this or one of the other strength based classes another time within the next 7 days. That's your weaving well-being tip for this class.

 Jenna Zaffino:

The more you integrate some body movement that asks you to move with resistance or against resistance, the more your body is going to adapt to that resistance. So, if this felt good, maybe try it another time this week. And if not, check out one of our other classes, our yoga, our Pilates, our stretching, something that gets you into the mode of consistency with moving your body. Alright, my friends. Thank you for watching and moving with me. Remember, you are strong and resilient, and the small moments matter. I will see you next time.