Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Know Your Limits

This morning I woke up and the last thing I wanted to do was train. I wanted to stay under the comfort and warmth of my blankets. My bed was just too comfortable to leave. After hitting snooze half a dozen times, I rolled out of bed and was incredibly sore. So instead of doing a double workout today I decided to forego the rope workout and focus my energy on day three of P90X.
           
Yesterday I did a gruelling workout that consisted of battle ropes, shoulders and biceps. Then I headed home and went through the plyometric workout for P90X. 

According to wikipedia, Plyometrics (also known as "plyos") is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal.

Plyometrics is used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions, providing explosiveness for a variety of sport-specific activities. Plyometrics are useful for several sports - notably football, volleyball, rugby, basketball, track and field athletics, racket sports, parkour, martial arts, skateboarding, wushu, Breakdancing amongst others.

It was a challenging workout but I found it to be incredibly fun. Who doesn’t like jumping around like a little child? When I was working with the Kidnetic Program I would introduce plyometrics to the kids twice per season. They really enjoyed it. The workout really pushed me and just like day one, the sweat was pouring off of me.

I guess I should have looked ahead at the P90X program because today was shoulders and arms. I was ready for it but I really don’t like training the same body part two days in a row. So I made sure to listen to my body and even though I knew on some exercises I could crank out a few more reps, I didn’t just to make sure I wouldn’t injure myself.

Today also involved the Ab Ripper X once again. Holy Moses what a good ab workout and it’s only fifteen minutes. Once again I worked within my means. For most exercises I stayed within the 12-15 rep range even though they were doing 25.

On a sad note, Jack Lalanne passed away a couple days ago. He was a true innovator in the fitness industry and his philosophies still ring true to this day. I strongly urge you to check out some of his teachings on youtube. Below are a few examples.

Contraction
Body and Mind Connection

The Effects of Bad Habits

As always I extend the invitation for you to come by the gym and I’ll give you a guest pass.

 Big Mike

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