Jump Training

Week 5, day 2- for me, Katie. The two of us already are off each other's schedule, so try to keep up as we write separately about the workouts that are not happening simultaneously. Hopefully next week, we'll be back in our dual P90x rumble and tumble.

Today was jump training or as you know it from the blog, "Plyometrics." I don't have anything witty to say about it; I don't have any metaphors about floating in the sea of bermuda tricep triangles or drinking Shirley Temple bicep curls or whatever other clever little ditties have had their 3 seconds of fame on SSL. What I do have for you is this lame statement: Plyos were hard. Remember, early on, when I challenged my boyfriend, Tony, and I said really? That's all you got, tough guy? Wanna make out? I take it all back. I rocked those Flyos, but it was hard and this particular video hasn't changed. Yesterday's workout is completely new, some of these other days are the same as the last three weeks, but overall combined differently. And though we are logging our reps and weight, how we feel and how hard things may or may not be, I don't really have a quantitative measure of my progress, more like mental notes (my goals are mostly to maintain and tighten, not make big changes); however, what I can tell you is that I know it's working, I feel it each day, I can see slight changes in muscle tone, strength and cardiovascular (when I run up the stairs to the train platform, I kind of glide like a figure skater); the program IS getting harder and I attribute that to: knowing what to expect now, which helps me understand my limits, which motivates/encourages me to work as hard as possible, which in turn ignites those muscles with a burning fury. On top of all that, as Ton(e)Ton(e) has so cleverly patented, there is definite "muscle confusion" happening, and that just has your body repeatedly zoning out with a, "wha?"

As I slip in a a little advertising about "muscle confusion," it leads me to thinking about what Tony said today, which had not registered before. He called today's workout both "Plyometrics" and "jump training." The latter reminds me of my highschool days, when I would drive 30 minutes, 4 days a week, to lift and "jump train" with other athletes. At the time, I think this type of weighted circuit training and muscle confusion concept seemed relatively new (at least to me and many of my athlete cronies), as our trainer was studying its effects on us, checking our wt and body fat and having us keep diaries, teaching us about diet and supplements, etc. etc. There was a  scientific process about the whole thing, as are most serious workouts I suppose, but this one worked- I was touching 10' and hang-cleaning 145lb maxouts heading into college. Sadly, my vertical only plummeted after that, but I digress. My opinions about that will be spared for another time. Granted, P90x jump training is not weighted, but the movements are exactly the same. It's obviously near and dear to my heart, not just from my highschool memory but also as a volleyball player, using these movements on the court or in the weightroom throughout my whole athletic career. So at the end of the workout, I was sweating, tired, starving and feeling kinda warm and fuzzy  after having taken a little trip into my memory vault and remembering why I feel like Tony and I have known each other forever.

Love,
The Nostalgic Secretary