Exercises for Chronic Pain // Stretch, Strengthen & Feel Relief

Transcript

[Music] foreign thank you for joining me for this workout video specifically choreographed for those suffering with chronic pain especially arthritis maybe fibromyalgia I have a lot of people that comment on my yoga and pilates videos that it's very helpful all you need for this workout is a chair so the first half will be standing second half will be sitting we'll start with a warm-up that has large dynamic movements use our chair and standing exercises for balance and finish seated chair if you if you're comfortable in a chair then just do the seated portion as well as sure that you are in a nice warm environment it's really important for your joints and also to stay hydrated so make sure you're warm you're hydrated and then preferably without any shoes I'm just wearing some little sticky Socks today or Barefoot is great as well so let's get those joints moving and warmed up starting in our standing position feet are directly underneath those hips roll those shoulders down and back setting that posture small Bend in the knees give me a big inhale arms come up just as high as comfortable for you and we Circle the wrist down nice and slow [Music] all moves are low impact again working on that joint we're going to ease stiffness and you're going to feel great afterwards inhale maybe reverse the circle on those wrists [Music] one more time inhale up Circle the wrist down hands on the hips Little Bend we're just going to take a side step sidestep [Music] it's getting that blood flowing at first making sure that we're nice and warm [Music] let's drop the arms and add a shoulder roll going all the way to the back shoulders up press them down [Music] now let's reverse it roll the shoulders forward [Music] give me four three two and one let's put those feet a little closer together hands on the hips I want you to tuck that pelvis Tummy in okay big hip circles all the way around knees have a little Bend in them tuck that pelvis stick as far as you can out to the side all the way back side and front again now let's reverse that direction [Music] god let's get that blood flowing stretch should feel really nice and finish Center stand up straight Big Arm circles reach forward all the way down press those shoulders down and back as big as you can make them it's okay if you can't reach them up as high big reach now let's reverse it forward some down inhale put two more like this excellent job taking your right leg we're in a step forward and then I want you to step back so finding your balance it doesn't have to be big steps again we're just getting that blood flowing keeping those joints nice and soft a little step forward and step back you can hold on to your chair if you need to for balance one more on the right leg come back to Center same thing other side we step forward and back just giving those knees a soft Bend [Music] one more on the left and come back together arms out to the side crisscross in front and then open up to the side crisscross squeeze the chest open up the arms the back squeeze those back muscles together no higher than shoulder height open up that chest now let's add a tiny little Bend and reach Bend and straight when you bend the knees are coming straight forward try not to let them come together as you bend think about the weight being in your heels I know I've tricked you into doing a little mini squat here you go as low as you are comfortable with two more and relax it down time to get our chair to serve as our base of support I'm going to turn to the side so you can see if it's comfortable for you you can stand in back of your chair so starting with calf raises really important for strong calf muscles supporting the knee joints check your posture shoulders down and back light fingertips on the back of your chair toes are facing forward make sure that your pelvis isn't sticking back give it a little tuck here so think about engaging that core lift up onto the tippy toes and then slowly lower down we left and lower it's also a great exercise for balance nice and slow and controlled when you lift up making sure that we're perfect spot on the ball of the foot in between the big toe and the second toe not allowing your feet to roll out onto your pinkies straight up and straight down maybe even gaze down to make sure that your feet are completely parallel sometimes we tend to turn in or turn out especially just on one foot I want to make sure we stay balanced one more we lift and lower nice job staying here on your leg we're going to take it back straight back to the side I want you to straighten that knee and then a small little standing relaxing in that standing supporting leg ever so slightly hinged over core engaged so we are in a straight line all the way down we lift that leg and tap it down I want you to focus on not how high you get that leg I don't want it very high at all but we're using the glutes nice strong glutes I'm going to support the lower back the largest muscle group in our body they need to be strong a little lift a little lower think about making your leg longer rather than higher you don't have to point your toe you can keep it relaxed lift and lower last two last one come back shake that out nice job little break on that before we go to the other side take the arms out to the side keeping your hips parallel and square we're going to turn to the side back to Center so torso twist pulling the navel into the spine shoulders are relaxed down and back [Music] to feel really nice on that spine and twist and Center one more each side [Music] a nice job holding on to with one arm to your chair this time we're going to do side leg lifts so same leg we just worked coming out to the side again small Bend in that standing leg little lift a little lower so this time you're going to feel it in the hip burn that gluteus medius and Minimus muscle so not the largest muscle in the glutes you actually have free again really important muscle for balance and to help with back pain straighten the knee let's go for nice and slow and controlled last two last one nice job shake that out if you can't do all of those you just do what you can keep working out with me will get you stronger before we do those exercises on the other side same leg hip exercises we lift our knee we Circle it out to the side and down and left out to the side and down again hips are square so don't lift that hip keep it down out and around [Music] great for our hip mobility and we're still working that glute muscle same leg let's reverse it we take it back side and front [Music] everything else stays still and you're breathing right [Music] let dab shake it out let's do those exercises on the other side just starting with the back leg left bending that supporting leg slight hinge over so we're in a nice line from the crown of our head to our toe a little lift a little lower the knee is perfectly straight and your focus just on lifting the leg from that glute try to keep your core engaged don't let the ribs flare out [Music] good for your posture you got it just a few more left and lower lift and lower and a little shake up then we go to the side tap that foot out small Bend supporting leg and lift and lower feeling it in that standing leg as well [Music] stay with me keep it small just three two [Music] and one Shake It Out then we go for those hip circles the leg big circle around and back and left stand up as tall as you can we grow an inch all around and down lift lift let's reverse it to the back side front [Music] keep breathing and shake it out anytime you need to and then we hop back in right around and down beautiful job guys shake that out kind of redistribute that weight remove that lactic acid that has built up okay we're gonna stretch that out now so taking a big step back little lunge forward with that front leg straightening the back knee pressing the heel towards the floor it's okay if it doesn't make it all the way there straightening that back leg and then if we lift up Tuck the pelvis you should feel the stretch in the front of that hip flexor to make that a little deeper we can lift the same arm reach up inhale exhale lean over your shoulder [Music] release it down that's a good one switching other side big step back a little lunge forward front knee is bent back knee is straight pressing the heel towards the floor you can lunge a little deeper to emphasize that stretch and then up and Tuck the pelvis arm comes up inhale exhale over to the side [Music] back up top release that arm both legs are going to walk back holding onto the back of your base of support walk those legs all the way back shift your hips back we're going to a standing downward dog straighten the knees dropping the chest as low as you can maybe your arms are straight maybe they have a little Bend in those elbows but boy are you feeling that stretch all the way up your back in the back of your legs you hold it here a big inhale and exhale down neck is in line with the spine can we go one more inch hold give me another deep breath bend your knees this time tuck your tailbone slowly roll it up one vertebrae at a time you can release your arms finishing with your shoulders that sort of felt amazing one more stretch before we set back of the chair is here if you need it doing a roll down so we're going to tuck our chin and ever so slowly starting from that neck roll down this time we're keeping our back rounded soft Bend in the knees we go down down down just as long as you comfortably can reaching for those Toes Let the head hang inhale exhale one more time inhale Bend those knees starting with the tailbone tuck that pelvis roll it up one more vertebrae at a time finishing with the shoulders beautiful work grab your chair we get to sit in it for the second half of the workout seated in our chair legs are straight in front of us and you can go ahead and scooch your bottom all the way back but don't rest your back to the back of the chair so we're sitting nice and Tall roll the shoulders down and making sure again that the knees are in line with the hips ankles are in line with the knees so it should be bent at a perfect 90 degree angle if you need to put a pillow under your hips or maybe a yoga block or books underneath to make sure you're lined up up please do so okay starting with strengthening our quads a big muscle on top of our legs we're going to lift one leg straightening the knee give that muscle some tension a little squeeze and we lower down same thing with the right leg lift and lower you can relax your shoulders but keep that posture sitting tall same thing left leg we lift and squeeze slowly lower down with control [Music] strong quad muscles for the knee so really important again for knee pain lift and lower coming back to the right leg we lift that I want you to point the foot flex the foot and lower now the left we left Point flex and lower back to the right we left point Flex and lower lift point Flex and lower few more points Flex lower down left and lower one more each side [Music] and left point Flex lower down give me a big inhale arms come up bending that elbows into a cactus position squeezing the elbows down and back behind us inhale again up exhale shoulders down and back squeeze opening up the chest [Music] great exercise for our posture inhale exhale down now come about just a few inches back up and then we rotate from that torso back to Center rotate back to Center let's put those together inhale up exhale down twist Center twist and Center one more time up squeeze down rotate still sitting top rotate and release it down hands on top of the thighs I call this one stirring the pot so we're going to stir our pot just using our torso in a circle here so we Lean Forward all the way to the side come back kind of scooping out with that pelvis and back forward again for me this feels like a beautiful release on my lower back [Music] usually you feel those stretches wherever you need them most come back to center now let's reverse it reversing Direction really try to kind of scoop out when you're coming back rounding that back find your way back to Center and lift back sitting up shoulders down and back again sitting up as tall as you comfortably can gently look over your right shoulder feeling a beautiful stretch on the side of your neck we come back to Center gently look over the left shoulder keep your shoulders pressed down and back back to Center one more time a gentle gaze Center other side and Center this time take your ear towards your shoulder and then just dropping the chin so it's still to the side but feel that stretch move to the different side of your neck lift the chin and back to Center same thing other side ear towards the shoulder drop the chin feel that stretch go deeper into the back of your neck lift the chin again and straighten out that head all right time to work on our hands and wrists opening up nice and wide I want you to take your pointer finger to your to your thumb give it a little pinch and we open up now your middle finger to your thumb and open up ring finger and open and finally Pinky and open give everything a big tight close and then let's do that in the reverse so pinky to the thumb press the pads of your fingertips together and open ring to thumb and open middle to thumb and open the workout for our brain too pointer to thumb and open and then just give a couple little we'll call these sparklers rolling those fingers making that feel good nice job releasing the hands coming to the edge of your chair extend one your right leg out with a nice proud torso let's lean forward to feel the stretch in the hamstrings and back of our leg straight proud chest so try not to round the back lift the toe heel on the floor lift the chest and draw that foot back in same thing other side extend out hinge forward proud chest give me a big inhale here and exhale lift the Torso pull that foot back in sitting back in your chair again lifting the right leg this time give me some big ankle circles nice and slow going to the outside and reverse feel those cricks and cracks out and lower down other side lift still keeping that contraction in our quad here and reverse as big as you can [Music] release it down okay my favorite figure four stretch taking the ankle and Crossing it over the other ankle turning out from the hip or if you're able to taking the ankle on top of your other thigh you should feel a lovely release in the side of your hip flexing that foot protects the knee joint straight spine we hinge forward for a deeper stretch this is my favorite I feel release all the way up the side of my leg into the glutes and lower back so play around with that maybe a little twist maybe a little lean to where it feels like you're getting a really nice stretch if you suffer from sciatica or lower back pain this is a great stretch for you come out of that release it down this is also another great stretch to repeat again Crossing at the ankle if you're able to on top of that thigh you can do this stretch lying down on your back as well or in a standing position Flex the foot a little lean forward again without rounding the back give me a big deep breath here exhale relax into it lift the chest and lower the leg one more exercise for our spine we're gonna do a seated cat Cow so we're going to lift that chin roll the shoulders down and back proud chest and then stick your hips kind of back arching that back then drop the chin round the back like you're trying to gaze at your belly button reach those arms forward on top of your knees let's do that again chin up shoulders down and back open up the chest drop the chin around the back gazing for your navel one more time lift up exhale as you roll back if you're able to I want you to keep this round spine and just roll down releasing any tension left in that lower back just let yourself hang inhale as you exhale starting from that tailbone we roll it up one vertebrae at a time big inhale right arm comes up hold down to the side of their chair Big Lean overhead [Music] and release it down lift up first then we lean over to the side let's do that one more time each side lift up inhale and then over release inhale exhale up and over and down and like always I love to end my workouts with a big inhale exhale Down release any other tension I hope you feel amazing I hope this eases your tension relaxes your muscles and Joints tonight I hope you feel amazing let me know how you like it in the comments and let me know what other workouts you guys are looking for something like this was based on your recommendations I love hearing from my viewers thanks for working out with me and we'll see you next time foreign