Mary ann the exercise program you are about to do is effective for any age, but it was specially designed for anyone needing slow, gentle movement. All you need is a chair that touches your back while your feet are flat on the floor. If your back doesnt touch, put a pillow behind for that necessary back support. If you have your exercise band and towel, put them on the back of your chair. Now, get ready to sit and be fit. Hi. Im mary ann wilson. Im so glad you could be here today. I hope youve been enjoying all the brain and neurological exercises weve been doing. Well be getting a little bit more of that, but first lets work on your posture. Let your arms just hang down. Get into good alignment. And youre going to start by looking from one side to the other. Now press the palms down. Now squeeze the shoulder blades. Press. And squeeze. This is a wonderful exercise you can do wile youre watching tv. Push down and then squeeze the shoulder blades. And one more time. Hold it down there. And squeeze. Now, were going to conduct an orchestra. First come to center with your hands. Take a small loop in that direction, and then in this direction. And now, lets go over. And over on this side. And now were going to do a figure eight. Turn the palms. I want you to hold one wrist and swing that arm forward and pull back. Pull it forward gently and back. And now, extend that arm. Push back a little bit on those fingers. Now the other wrist. Pull it forward. Pull it back. Forward and back. Now, straighten out your arm. Press back on your fingers. Now were going to do a windshield wiper, turning the wrist in, and turning out. And lets try it on the other side now. Turn it in, and turn it out. Thats wrist extension. Now i want you to open up the fingers on each hand, and were going to stroke, starting from the forearm. It should feel good. Keep those fingers separated. And now lets change. Open them up wide. Flatten them on your leg. Just one more stroke. And now were going to curl the fingers. Take one at a time and curl it around your thumb. Starts right here. And now this hand. Be gentle. Last one. Wiggle them out. That was great. You did a super job. All right. This next routine coming up, i want you to be a little bit cautious one of the stretches that well be doing if you have any hip issues. Well be doing a piriformis stretch for a small deep muscle inside, and were going to lean forward look bk, and then well be doing ankle circles. If that feels like an exercise that you should not do, just do the ankle circles. Also, were going to pretend were driving. So, hold onto that Steering Wheel, and when we make a seat circle, youre going forward, side, back and side. That is really working your core. So, enjoy this. Here we go. Were going to start with our hands on the Steering Wheel and make a seat circle. Okay. Come on up. All the way to the knee. Now, lean forward gently, and look over your shoulder. And back up. Now, circle that ankle. Take it in the other direction. Point, and flex. Now, slide that leg down. Walk this one up. Okay. Easy, easy. Sit right on top of those sits bones. Lean forward and look over the shoulder. And now look straight ahead and circle that ankle. Reverse the circle, and then point and flex. Slide that leg down. Look over the shoulder. And look over the other shoulder. Okay. Here are your hands on that Steering Wheel. And then reverse it. And now, were going to lift up those hips. And were going to do another hip circle in this direction. And then, there we go, around the corner. Good work. All right. Lets do one more circle with that seat in one direction and then in the other. Okay. Good job. Were going to do a calf stretch here. Extend. And do it again. And make that windshield wiper ankle, and with this leg, extend and bend. Extend and a windshield wiper. Good job. Now, bring your arm across. Youre going to gently pull, slide the hand down, and i want you to gently pull the hand down here. And turn. And now slide your hand down and pull. Okay. Clasp your hands around your back, and then take it up overhead, and open, look down, and open. Super. That was great okay. Were going to move on here now with some great brain work. Lots of patting, lots of stomping. And its great for your circulation. So this is your circulation song. Going to start with a few marches. Okay. Stomp four out and four in. Now, pat the belly at the same time. Now, pat the chest. Okay. Are you ready to do it on the other side . Start with the belly. Four out and four in. And now go to the chest. Legwork stays the same. Now youre going to do a heel and toe. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. There we go. Okay. Change legs. All right. Were going to lift the hip. And lift this hip. Stomp. Go back to marching your feet. Hands are tapping your chest and your belly. All right. Here we go with the arms now. Stomp one foot and tap your arm. Okay. Other arm. And the other foot. Okay. Back to the heel and toe. Heel, toe, heel, toe. Okay. Were going to pat. Near the knee. And then near the hip. Change legs. Heel, toe. Okay. Now, just bounce the heels. Youre going to pat from your knees back to the hips. Back to the knees. And the hips. Now, pat up to the shoulders. Pat the head gently with your fingertips. Good work now its time to get your band. Exercise bands provide a form of resistance training to strengthen muscles and bones. Correct form is important. Keep your wrists straight and breathe throughout the exercise. Remember, you can benefit from just doing the movements. So its not necessary to have a band. If you are using a band but have pain or cant maintain good form, try the exercise without the band. And if you have high blood pressure, check with your doctor before using resistance. I want you to adjust the band according to how much resistance you need. To begin with, lets wrap the band along the hand, the palm of the hand and the back of the hand. Avoid those small finger joints. Okay. Were going to anchor the band right here, and im going to take up a little more of the band for this first tricep fling. Here we go. Elbow stays right there. And youre going to slowly extend and bend. Extend and bend. If you want less resistance, you let some of the band out. Lets do four more. Just keep adjusting to what you need. Try to keep your shoulder relaxed. Keep that elbow up. And now, on this knee, and youre going to punch forward. Punch. And punch. I need a little more resistance. Punch. And punch. Can you feel that in your shoulder . Okay. Just a couple more. And get ready to change. Now, im going to turn in this direction so you can see me a little bit better. Okay. Theres your starting position. And if that feels about right, leave that amount of band where it is, but if it feels like you dont have enough, you can take some of it up. One more. Okay. Now, lets punch forward. And punch. Keep adjusting. Remember, this is your exercise program. Okay. Good job now, open up your band as wide as you can and put it under your feet. Okay. Thumbs are pointing down towards your shoes. Pull back and squeeze. This is for your everimportant postural muscles so that you dont have to think about your posture all the time. You have about three more. One. Two. And three. Now, roll your shoulders back. Lets do a few bicep curls. Up. Were only going to do about four of these. And now, take your feet out of your band. Very gently bring it behind. Hold with one hand. Anchor it behind. Okay. Sit up tall and get ready to work that tricep muscle. Its extend and bend. And here again, you can adjust how much band you need. If its too easy, you need to take some up. Lets change. Anchor it. And extend. How are you feeling . Keep breathing. I think i need a little more resistance. One more. Bring that band down behind your hips and pull out to the side. And pull to the side. Great. For leg strengthening and stretching exercises, stand directly behind your chair, placing your hand on the center of the chair for balance. If you prefer to stay seated, follow gretchen. Shell be turning during the leg exercises for demonstration purposes only. You should stay facing forward in your chair for a solid base of support. Lets get into good alignment. Tuck your tailbone under and lift up those ribs. Get the shoulders back and then pat them down. Touch your chin, pull it back, and i think were ready. Just shift your weight. Keep those knees soft. Side to side. Now, make sure youre behind your chair for this next movement. Okay. Are you ready . Youre going to lift this foot, just lift the heel, and then lift the knee. Bring it down and out. The other, heel and knee. And bring it down. Okay. Now were going to add an arm or two here. First, lift your heel. Now your knee. Add your arm. And bring it down. Lets try it again. Heel comes up first. Now your knee. And lift the arm. Okay. Were going to do that again. This time were going to circle the wrist. Lift the heel. Knee. Arm. And circle. Reverse your circle. And change. Lift the heel. Put your weight on this leg. Now the knee. And circle. Reverse it. Okay. All right. Now were going to add something else. Youre going to circle your ankle and your wrist. Here we go. Weight is here. Lift the heel, knee, circle. And we have to do it on the other leg. Shift your weight here. Lift up the heel, lift the knee, circle the ankle and circle the wrist. This is for your brain as well. Okay. Here we go. Lets pretend youre on a tightrope after we get a nice shifting of the weight. I want you to feel the weight over both feet. Okay. Are you ready . Make sure youre right here behind your chair. You can do your tightrope with heel to toe, or if its more comfortable and your balance isnt as great, you could put it a little farther ahead and come up on the toes, squeeze your buttocks, and bring it down. Lets do it again. Up. Tighten. Feel theres a string from the ceiling lifting you up. And lets change. All right. Are you ready . Come up on your toes. And down. And lets do one more. Then were going to add an arm. And down. Lets change again. Make sure your weight is not back here and not forward. It should be right in between. Now, come up on your toes. Tighten. Bring one arm forward and back. Forward and back. Come on back down. Lets just bend the knees and relax a little bit before we change. Okay. Now, this foot forward, this foot back. Weights not back here, not in front. Right in the center. Up on the toes. And now arm is forward and back. Forward and back. And come back down. Good job. All right. Pretend youre driving. Good posture. And youre going to turn that wheel. Feel the lateral flexion. And turn the wheel this way. And now were going to rotate. Rotate. Look over your shoulder. And rotate. Look over this shoulder. Lets do it again. Rotate. And back again. And now come forward. Lets push those arms up and pull down. Push up, and pull. Fists face front, push, and pull down. Now, bring your feet together. Were going to make a little knee bend here. Relax. And now lets step over the log. Ready . Tighten, and step over the log, and back, and over the log, and back. Good job wow are you ready for stretching . Im ready. Okay. Me, too. Always start with good alignment. Tighten here gently. Lift up the rib cage. Bring your shoulders back. Bring your hands behind. Bring the elbows pointed to the back and then relax them. Point them to the back and relax. Now start shifting your weight. Get your feet wide apart. Okay. Are you ready for your inner thigh stretch. Toes are forward. Arms out to the side. And youre going to reach across and push away. Lets do it again. Reach across, and away. Now bend this knee. Can you feel the stretch . Reach across, and push away. Okay. Im going to show you a different way to do the inner thy stretch. Your feet are wide apart, but your toe is pulled up, and sort of turn it until you can feel that inner thigh stretching. And then lets change. Heel is resting, feet pretty wide apart, and now just move your leg in whichever direction where you can feel this stretch. Okay. Ready for your calf stretch . Youre going to bring the knee up, plant it here. All right. Theres your calf stretch. Now, gretchen, you can get a little different feel of this stretch if you tilt your ankle one way and the other. Theres something we cant do standing right now. One way and the other. Can you feel the difference . I can. Lets change. Calf stretch. If youre standing, your feet have to be pretty wide apart. And now, if youre seated, follow gretchen turning the ankle one way and then the other, and then turn it again and hold it. Can you feel the difference really . I feel that. Turn it this way and hold it a little bit longer. Okay. And now straight up. Im going to bring the feet together and were going to do a hamstring stretch. But lets circle the ankle as it comes up. Now, flex your ankle and push, and place that heel on the floor. Reach back. You want to reach back with your tailbone. And now, bring your feet together. Lets do it all on the other side. Okay. Push through your heel. Rest the heel. Reach, reach with that tailbone. Get your back as straight as you can. And then come back up. Lets just take a deep breath in. Round your spine. And then open up the curtains. Let the sunshine in. Open it up. Lets take a breath in, and breathe out. Breathe in, and breathe out. Push down and back. Squeeze your shoulder blades and press. Oh, that was great. Gretchen, would you like to do just a little massage . Well relax as we leave you. Sure. Just gently squeeze and release all the way down to the hand, and then flip your palm up to the ceiling, and keep squeezing and releasing, all the way up. And then change arms. You dont want to leave this guy out. Squeeze and release, squeezing those fingertips, squeezing up to the palm, up the arm, and then working our way to the shoulders where we carry so much tension, and really work your fingers into those muscles back there. And pull forward, working your way up to your neck, and march your fingers, little fingers, like that on your neck. Really press them into your neck area. It should feel good. Good. And you should feel a ltle bit more relaxed. Thank you. And thank you for being here. Lets keep reaching out for a better day. For information on dvds, videos and audio tapes, including specialty videos for chronic conditions such as arthritis, or for a complimentary copy of the sit and be fit newsletter, please write, call, or visit us on our website. Keepdriving. Com is dedicated to helping older adults maintain their driving independence using cognitive training, exercise, nutrition and community. Welcome to skyweek. Lets see whats happening in the sky from monday, july 15, to sunday, july 21. Three spectacularly close approaches take place in the heavens this week. On monday evening, people in the u. S. See the moon extremely close to spica, the brightest star of the constellation virgo. On wednesday, people in asia see the moon equally close to zubenelgenubi, in the constellation libra. And people worldwide can look low in the west shortly after sunset to see venus near the bright star regulus on sunday and the following monday, july 21 and 22. This is Tony Flanders from sky telescope magazine, wishing you clear skies and great views. Download our free skyweek app for more information. Maybe you have some Energy Saving appliances, like an Energy Starrated washer and dryer. But what about your tv . Chances are its on more than your washer, dryer, and Kitchen Appliances combined. Did you know that if half of us in the u. S. Replaced our regular tvs with an energy star model, the change would be like shutting down a power plant . You can find the energy star on everything from standard to high def to the largest flatscreen your heart desires. Ow that makes sense. From the editors of cooks illustrated magazine, its americas test kitchen with your host christopher kimball, featuring test kitchen chefs julia collin davison, bridget lancaster, becky hays, with adam ried in the equipment corner and jack bishop in the tasting lab. Discover the secrets of americas foremost food testers and tasters, today on americas test kitchen. Today on americas test kitchen, julia uncovers the secrets to the best Peanut Butter sandwich cookies. Next, adam tests springform pans in the equipment corner. Finally, bridget shows chris how to make the ultimate carrot layer cake. Thats all right here on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by dcs by fisher