Using PWR!Up to pick up presents
Hi there, I 'm Cat from the PWR!GYM. I wanted to take a moment with the holidays approaching to show you how to pick up those presents off the ground when you are celebrating with your family. So, if there is one thing, I know it is that having great posture and great set up will make it so much easier to be able to pick up those presents off the ground, couch or even off the table or wherever you have them in your house. So, I am going to show you a couple of different strategies so one would be if you had something elevated and one would be if you were picking something off the floor. So, let us talk about posture step number one start with your powered up posture you want to be nice and tall with your shoulders over your hips over your feet. Make a sure you are not in this posture when you start to reach for something or you will feel like you are falling forward. So, step one power up, step two go ahead and give a staggered stance so you want one foot back one foot forward your still in your tall posture. We are going to pick up this present off the chair first so I want to be nice and close to the present. I am going to give a little bit of a lunge down I still stay tall I am going to grab my present bring it close to my body come up and step together so keeping that beautiful posture the entire time. And then I will do the same coming back down in reverse. So, we are doing that nice beautiful posture. Now if we are picking something up off the floor it is slightly different just to keep you balance it is a little bit harder for most people to get all the way down to the floor and that is because most of us have arthritis after the age of twenty so what we are going to do is take a nice wide step and we are going to drop our hips below our heels if we can. So, you can hold the chair or you can do this without, we are going to drop our hips, grab our present bring it close and PWR! up. Notice that my posture stays nice and tall as I do this and remember its always okay to grab the chair and do the same movement as we come up and as we come down. Remember, we do not want to be here or else we will fall forward so we are going to PWR! up and grab our presents. I hope you enjoy your holidays. Thank you everybody.
Our goal is to make sure you’re always empowered and informed.
We offer handouts, downloads, research updates, Wellness Series talks, retreats with knowledgeable speakers, in-person and virtual wellness consultations, and in-person physical therapy visits. We are here for our PWR! Members every step of the way.
We’re excited to have you join us!
Catherine D. Printz, DPT
Parkinson Disease Exercise Specialist
Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist
About the Author
Catherine (Cat) specializes in neurological physical therapy, has worked in both inpatient and outpatient settings at the University of California in San Diego and San Francisco, and served as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF’s School of Medicine. Cat is board-certified as a neurologic certified specialist by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties and holds several certifications specifically tailored to the treatment of patients with Parkinson disease; she is a PWR!Moves Certified Therapist and Instructor, as well as certified in LSVT BIG. She joined the PWR!Gym in 2018 as a staff physical therapist and now serves as the Director of Rehabilitative and Exercise Therapies.
Cat offers physical therapy to clients in Arizona and wellness consultations to those outside of Arizona.
In her free time, Cat enjoys running, biking, acting as a diabetes advocate, and spending time with her young son, who loves dinosaurs almost as much as he loves the family’s three Bengals, Thor, Loki, and Squeakers.
