>> today we'll be doing a variety of brain fitness exercises, as well as movements that will help strengthen our driving skills. so let's get started. keepdriving.com is dedicated to helping older adults maintain their driving independence using cognitive training, exercise, nutrition, and community. explore keepdriving.com today. "sit and be fit" is a creation of mary ann wilson, registered nurse, teacher and recognized leader in the field of fitness and healthy aging. mary ann consults with a team of medical and exercise specialists to bring you a fun and effective way to maintain functional fitness.

>> 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 doesn't 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. i'm mary ann wilson. i'm so glad you could be here today. i hope you've been enjoying all the brain and neurological exercises we've been doing. we'll be getting a little bit more of that, but first let's work on your posture. let your arms just hang down. get into good alignment. and you're 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 you're watching tv. push down and then squeeze the shoulder blades. and one more time. hold it down there. and squeeze. now, we're 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, let's go over. and over on this side. and now we're 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 we're going to do a windshield wiper, turning the wrist in, and turning out. and let's try it on the other side now. turn it in, and turn it out. that's wrist extension. now i want you to open up the fingers on each hand, and we're going to stroke, starting from the forearm. it should feel good. keep those fingers separated.

and now let's change. open them up wide. flatten them on your leg. just one more stroke. and now we're 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 we'll be doing if you have any hip issues. we'll be doing a piriformis stretch for a small deep muscle inside, and we're going to lean forward look bk, and then we'll be doing ankle circles. if that feels like an exercise that you should not do, just do the ankle circles. also, we're going to pretend we're driving. so, hold onto that steering wheel, and when we make a seat circle, you're going forward, side, back and side. that is really working your core. so, enjoy this. here we go. we're 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, we're going to lift up

those hips. and we're going to do another hip circle in this direction. and then, there we go, around the corner. good work. all right. let's do one more circle with that seat in one direction and then in the other. okay. good job. we're 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. you're 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. we're going to move on here now with some great brain work. lots of patting, lots of stomping. and it's 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 you're going to do a heel and toe. heel, toe. heel, toe. there we go. okay. change legs. all right. we're 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. we're going to pat. near the knee. and then near the hip. change legs. heel, toe. okay. now, just bounce the heels. you're 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 it's 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 it's not necessary to have a band. if you are using a band but have pain or can't 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, let's wrap the band along the hand, the palm of the hand and the back of the hand. avoid those small finger joints. okay. we're going to anchor the band right here,

and i'm going to take up a little more of the band for this first tricep fling. here we go. elbow stays right there. and you're going to slowly extend and bend. extend and bend. if you want less resistance, you let some of the band out. let's 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 you're 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, i'm going to turn in this

direction so you can see me a little bit better. okay. there's your starting position. and if that feels about right, leave that amount of band where it is, but if it feels like you don't have enough, you can take some of it up. one more. okay. now, let's 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 ever-important postural muscles so that you don't have to think about your posture all the time. you have about three more. one. two. and three. now, roll your shoulders back. let's do a few bicep curls. up. we're 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. it's extend and bend.

and here again, you can adjust how much band you need. if it's too easy, you need to take some up. let's 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. she'll be turning during the leg exercises for demonstration purposes only. you should stay facing forward in your chair for a solid base of support. >> let's 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 we're ready. just shift your weight. keep those knees soft. side to side. now, make sure you're behind your chair for this next movement. okay. are you ready? you're 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 we're going to add an arm

or two here. first, lift your heel. now your knee. add your arm. and bring it down. let's try it again. heel comes up first. now your knee. and lift the arm. okay. we're going to do that again. this time we're 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 we're going to add something else. you're 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. let's pretend you're 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 you're right here behind your chair. you can do your tightrope with heel to toe, or if it's more comfortable and your balance isn't as great, you could put it a little farther ahead and come up on the toes, squeeze your buttocks, and bring it down. let's do it again. up. tighten. feel there's a string from the ceiling lifting you up. and let's change. all right. are you ready? come up on your toes.

and down. and let's do one more. then we're going to add an arm. and down. let's 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. let's just bend the knees and relax a little bit before we change. okay. now, this foot forward, this foot back. weight's 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 you're driving. good posture.

and you're going to turn that wheel. feel the lateral flexion. and turn the wheel this way. and now we're going to rotate. rotate. look over your shoulder. and rotate. look over this shoulder. let's do it again. rotate. and back again. and now come forward. let's push those arms up and pull down. push up, and pull. fists face front, push, and pull down. now, bring your feet together. we're going to make a little knee bend here. relax. and now let's 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? >> i'm 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 you're going to reach across and push away. let's do it again. reach across, and away. now bend this knee. can you feel the stretch?

reach across, and push away. okay. i'm 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 let's 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? you're going to bring the knee up, plant it here. all right. there's 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.

there's something we can't do standing right now. one way and the other. can you feel the difference? >> i can. >> let's change. calf stretch. if you're standing, your feet have to be pretty wide apart. and now, if you're 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. i'm going to bring the feet together and we're going to do a hamstring stretch. but let's 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. let's 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. let's just take a deep breath in. round your spine. and then open up the curtains. let the sunshine in. open it up. let's 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? we'll 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 don't 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.

let's 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." let's see what's 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 star-rated washer and dryer. but what about your tv? chances are it's 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 flat-screen your heart desires. ow that makes sense.

>> from the editors of cook's illustrated magazine, it's america's 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 america's foremost food testers and tasters, today on america's test kitchen. today on america's 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. that's all right here on america's test kitchen. america's test kitchen is brought to you by dcs by fisher