- What's going on, everybody?
This your girl, Roz the Diva.
I have some special, amazing presents,
specifically for my plus-sized fam out there.
Now, everybody can take advantage of these,
but I know they work for my body
and I hope they work for yours too.
So we're gonna start with a warmup
so you can have a seat.
I love this bench here.
If it's a bench, a chair,
anything that can hold your body weight,
works for you, works for me.
I'm gonna let that head roll down and around.
You know, I remember when I was so intimidated by fitness
just because of my size, I didn't wanna go to the gym,
but man, when you just find the right movements
for your body,
it's a whole different ballgame.
[breathes deeply] Awesome.
Deep breaths all the way in through the nose [inhales].
[exhales] Fantastic, shake that out.
Let's go for some shoulder rolls.
I can't wait
to see what you all are able to accomplish.
I want your confidence sky high.
Don't let your size dictate your worth to athleticism.
Whether you are a professional athlete
or just a weekend warrior
or you're pressing Play for the first time,
you are valid and you are worthy.
Awesome, let's take these hands.
Man, these simple movements.
This is like the anti-texting wrist rolls.
That's the official terminology.
Anti-texting wrist rolls [laughs].
Maybe shake those fingers, excellent.
And now to continue,
we're gonna do some seated wood choppers.
So if you need, this is where a bench is amazing
because it provides some support
if your knees aren't what's up.
If you just need something to feel like
your body weight is supported,
that's what this bench is for.
So, we have a nice, wide stance.
I'm gonna start, tight guts [grunts]
tight butts [grunts], nice and long neck.
My ax is over one hand.
I'm going to rotate the trunk of my body,
pivot, shaboom!
That's one down, three to go.
[Roz breathes deeply]
Oh yeah!
One more!
Awesome, let's come and do the same thing on the other side.
Now if you like to do these standing, that's so awesome,
but what I think plus-sized peeps really need
are options.
You don't have to look the same way
as everybody else in your gym.
You're not going to move the same way,
and guess what, that's totally fine
because you are your own athlete.
Next thing on our list,
we are actually gonna stand up
and I'm gonna come to the edge of my bench here.
I'm going to slowly come on down
and as I do that,
my feet are a lovely hip-width apart.
If you are uncomfortable with a wide stance,
we're still friends.
So, I'm going to bend my knees slightly,
tight guts, you know I love tight guts,
nice and long neck, hinge at the waist,
and then I'm gonna squeeze my booty cheeks
to come back up.
So this is similar to a Romanian deadlift
but instead of coming all the way down
towards the floor,
we have this bench as kind of like a marker.
So just in case, if I need something to lean on,
we've got this here.
That's how I can keep my body safe
while still getting a great workout.
Come on down, squeeze those cheeks up,
how about one more, one more.
Let's come on down.
And squeeze those cheeks all the way up.
Shake it out, shake it out.
It's amazing, the world of opportunities
and what you can do when you have something simple.
If you don't have a full bench,
perhaps you have a chair, you have a stool,
you have a countertop.
Anything that can support your body here,
that's what we're using.
Let's do some more of these Romanians.
And bring my seat back to the same position,
bend those knees slightly, tight guts [grunts].
Shoulders down, bam!
And let's come on down, come on down.
Boom!
Excellent, squeeze those booty cheeks.
Come on back up, that is terrific.
One more 'gain, let's come on down, come on down!
Boom, and squeeze those booty cheeks.
Come on back up.
How those cheeks feeling, divas?
I know they're feeling good.
Mine are always feeling great!
Excellent, excellent.
This is the pace that my body likes to move at.
If you wanna go a little bit faster or a little bit slower,
we are still friends because quality of movement,
that's what we're after.
One more bonus one, yeah, why not?
One more bonus one.
Boom, and squeeze those cheeks.
Come on up, shake it out.
All right, how about one more set of these?
I mean, the bench is still here.
My butt is almost fully exercised,
but you know, it just needs a little bit more.
So, same thing,
I'm gonna get lined up
and notice after every set, we reset the form.
Shoulders down, guts tight, bend those knees slightly,
hinge at the waist, bada boom, come on up,
squeeze those cheeks all the way up, excellent.
That's one down, three to go.
Coming on down, boom!
Squeeze those cheeks!
How we doing, everybody?
I know you're doing good
'cause I'm feeling great.
That's a little bit of a lie.
My butt is tired [laughs].
And guess what, you might have to become comfortable
being a little bit uncomfortable
and that's not to say that you have to
be miserable when you workout, that's terrible,
but there's a difference in being miserable
and really uncomfortable and like me,
if you're like me like, I guess I can do two more sets.
[laughs] We got this.
All right, so from here,
we're actually gonna start this next movement standing up
and I would like to have you on a nice, wide stance,
knees and toes in the same direction,
shoulders down, guts are tight.
We're gonna rotate right from the crop top line.
Boom, punch one side.
Boom, punch the other side.
And then we're gonna squat down
'til you're sitting on the bench.
And then one more time, rotate over here,
rotate over there, excellent.
One of the reasons why I really like this movement
is because it takes advantage
of quadzilla one and quadzilla two [laughs].
We know that on plus-sized bodies,
our legs are some of the strongest places,
so let's utilize that, excellent.
Notice that when I do these movements,
whether I'm standing or sitting,
I make sure that my pelvis stays forward
even as my shoulders and the upper half of my body
rotate, excellent.
Let's sit on down, and boom, boom.
[exhales] Let's pause for a second.
Let's call that five or six.
You know counting is not where I excel.
All right, second set, here we go.
Let's stand up, rotate from the crop top line.
Wham, bam, boom.
And sit it down, same thing.
Rotate from that crop top line, excellent.
And let's stand up, squeeze those cheeks,
all the way up [exhales] excellent.
And sit down.
You know, if you would have told middle school Roz
that not only she would be working out by choice
but she would love it
and it would be her career?
I would ask who you were talking about
'cause it's not this Roz [laughs].
But this is my job.
I love being a part of the fitness industry.
Certainly hasn't been easy, but I'm here
and I'm so glad that you're here too [laughs].
One more?
One more.
All right, and rotate, wham, bam, boom.
And have a seat.
And [exhales] relax.
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out.
In between sets, you are always welcome to take
as much time as you need
to let those muscles [exhales] catch your breath,
especially if you are newer to these movements.
Take all the time, when you're ready
is the right time to keep going.
Speaking of ready,
I think it's time for the third set.
Are you ready?
All right, cool, 'cause I'm ready.
Let's do this.
So, let's reset that form as need be.
Make sure toes and knees are in the same position.
Shoulders down, guts tight 'cause that's how we like it
and now let's stand up, push through those heels,
squeeze those cheeks,
rotate at the midline, boom, boom, punch down.
Let's have a seat.
Bam, wham, excellent.
Let's sit it on up.
Excellent, boom, boom,
and have a seat.
And punch and punch.
Excellent, let's stand it up.
Rotate at the midline, beautiful.
And one more time, fam.
Wait, we gotta punch, what am I doing?
One more time, let's do this.
Let's stand up nice and tall.
Rotate, rotate and have a seat.
Wham, bam [exhales].
Thank you, Ma'am [laughs].
Shout out to everybody
who has ever felt different,
like they're the only ones who look like them
in the whole room, in the whole gym.
This one is for us!
I got you, you stick with me and I stick with you.
Is that a good compromise?
That's what I'm talkin' about.
All right, everybody.
Guess what it's time for?
Burpees!
Who doesn't love burpees?
No one loves burpees.
You're not supposed to.
But listen, I've got a way
that we can get through this is one piece.
So, I'm going to bring my arms up nice and tall,
come on down, place my hands on the edge of the bench,
step out, step out, hold this position
and then step back in, step back in,
excellent and then rise above.
And listen, this is the pace that I'm gonna go at
so if you would like to go a little bit faster,
that is awesome sauce.
If you would like to go a little bit slower,
that's equally awesome sauce.
This is what works for my body
and I hope it works for yours too.
One of the reasons why this works well for my body
is because I'm elevated.
Now, my knees and my thighs and my boobs
aren't fighting for the same place.
So I guess I have no excuse.
I've gotta keep doing burpees.
[groans] Love it.
So we're gonna go ahead, shake that out.
Now of course, if you wanna go ahead
and rock this faster [claps]
go ahead, boo boo, I don't, but you can.
So second set, here we go, same thing.
Reaching up nice and tall, come on down.
Hands at the edge of the bench.
Take a step back, step back, strong arms, neutral spine.
Step on in.
Boom!
This is everything.
This is all the body doing the things here.
Excellent, come on down.
Excellent, hold it.
Step back in.
That's two down, two to go.
Reaching up nice and tall.
Bring it down.
Hands at the edge of the bench.
Step back, hold it here.
Yeah!
One more, fam, one more, come on.
And reaching up nice and tall.
Come on down.
Walk those feet back.
Excellent, hang out here.
Come on back in.
And [exhales].
Give me a little arm twerk here.
That's the official term of what we're doing.
It's the arm twerk.
Just shake that all out.
You know,
this is sometimes
where I'm like, you know,
I did two sets, do I really need a third?
And listen, you decide.
I'm gonna go ahead and rock this third set
'cause my outfit is cute and we need to celebrate that,
but if you wanna celebrate it
by cheering the rest of us on, I love it.
Can we do this, fam?
I know we can, here we go.
And line those feet up, nice, long neck,
tight guts, reach up to the sky, come on down,
excellent.
You know, when I take things also
at this slow pace,
that really lets me stop and pause
and feel every single muscle
that's moving in this body.
Oh yes.
As, and you know it's like,
burpees are kind of like a younger sibling.
Like, you love to hate them,
you hate to love them,
but they're in the family, so here we are.
I mean, you know, you mostly like 'em but depends.
I mean, I like my sisters so that's good.
Last one, right here, reach up.
Come on down
and gently step back.
Excellent, step forward.
Finishing out.
I'ma just, I'ma just have a seat.
Four seconds, four seconds.
Shake everything out.
Plus-sized fam, we're doing this thing.
We're not done yet, but man, am I so proud of us
for what we've accomplished
so let's finish this strong.
You with me on that one?
All right, let's do it.
We're going to do some ab magic.
So I'm going to come to the edge of my bench.
If you wanna sit in the center, you certainly can.
I'm gonna start with my knees
in a nice 90-degree angle.
Shoulders down, guts tight,
'cause that's how we like it.
Your hands can be anywhere they want.
I kind of have them in a prayer position
and I'm going to very gingerly
come on down, just before it feels crazy,
and then I'm gonna sit it back up.
So this movement, you're gonna feel the magic
across the top half of your gut muscles.
Your rectus abdominis.
That's a fancy word for top of the gut muscles [laughs].
And you know it's so wild
as a plus-sized person,
it's often assumed, I don't have any ab muscles.
No, I just have extra body fat.
No, no, no, no, no.
Everybody has got abs.
Everybody, what do you think is holding you up?
It's not just magic.
I mean, mine's a lot of magic
but it's also muscular skill,
so don't worry if you can't see your abs.
If you feel little rumblies going on,
you're right there.
Let's pause, 'cause that was a bunch.
I don't know.
So you know, what happens with movements like this
sometimes, when you start to feel things here,
this is not where your abs are.
So I have to mentally draw my attention
right across here
to where the magic is actually happening.
All right, let's bust out that next set
shoulders down, here we go!
Excellent.
And of course, you can decide
how far back you'd like to go.
The purpose is not to get as far back as possible.
The purpose is for you to be able
to come back until you can control it
just before you lose control.
That's when you're gonna pull it back up
and that's gonna look different on all of us.
Especially if you're in a plus-sized
or another non-traditional body,
your movements are not going to look like everyone else's.
That doesn't mean that you're wrong.
It doesn't mean that you've failed
or that you're any less of an athlete.
Was that four?
I don't, you know numbers.
That's not what I do well.
Let's do one more bonus, why not?
Come on down.
Mental focus right here, pull it on up.
And we relax.
Whew!
Let me just take a little quick.
Oh my goodness gracious!
Do you all ever get in a position
where like, you didn't know this was where
you were supposed to be?
But it's exactly where you're supposed to be.
Whew!
Last set.
Are you still with me?
Maybe a, this way?
Listen, that's exactly how I feel,
but because I'm not doing this alone,
I've got you, my squad, out there,
we're gonna do this, all right.
Let's reset the form.
Nice 90-degree angle at the knee,
drop the shoulders, tight guts,
here we go.
Coming down, keep the mental focus on top of the guts,
and pull it back up, awesome.
That's one down, three to go.
Come on down!
And hold it in nice and tight.
[exhales] Two down, two to go.
We got this, fam, let's finish strong.
Excellent, and come on up.
I can't believe it.
Last one.
Let's do this!
If you clap, it makes it easier.
Whew!
[Roz breathes deeply]
[Roz laughs]
It's cool down time.
One of my favorite parts of the whole workout.
We just get to reflect for a minute.
Look what you've been able to accomplish
in a world that doubts you
and doubts your abilities solely based on how you look,
look what we just did.
We did this whole workout.
Doesn't matter if you were sitting or standing,
if you did it fast or slow,
it was your workout.
You did the hard work.
You faced some of your fears.
And I cannot be more proud of that.
That's my favorite thing as a coach
with working with plus-sized bodies
and really everybody,
but plus-sized bodies in particular,
it's I love that accomplishment,
that feeling that man,
I knocked this mission out of the park
and it's hard to feel that way
in environments that tell you
that your body is inherently wrong
and that you should change it.
That's not always true.
You, just as you are,
you count.
You are valid.
You are an athlete.
All right.
I'm gonna leave you with those words.
Let it meditate for a little bit
and I'll see you guys later.
Peace.
[downtempo music]