Wednesday, February 20, 2013

An unexpected surprise

Ok, so this post will mean virtually nothing to many of you, but for those of you who it will resonate with, I just had to share.  WARNING: This post contains unsolicited bragging!!!!

Some of you out there are familiar with P90X and I've talked about it several times on here that I do the DVD's - not in the programmed way that they recommend you do it, but I rotate the DVD's into my regular workout routine.

One of the DVD's is called "Plyometrics".  For those of you who don't know, Plyometrics involves jumping and other high impact activities.  If you look at Wikipedia they say: "...exercises based around having muscles exert maximum force in as short a time as possible, with the goal of increasing both speed and power. This training focuses on learning to move from a muscle extension to a contraction in a rapid or "explosive" way, for example with specialized repeated jumping. "

Tony Horton calls this DVD "the mother of all workouts" and indicates how hard it is.  I did this DVD many times in the past and it just about killed me every time, even doing some modified moves.  There are lots of squats which KILLED my quads and the cardio level is so high that my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest.  I think I have only done this DVD once since having surgery.  I think I did it mid-summer.

Today, I was considering doing an easier DVD at lunch, like Zumba, but I decided to challenge myself and do Plyo.

I was SHOCKED at how easy the DVD was to me!  Now don't get me wrong - I still sweated BUCKETS and it was INTENSE - my heart rate was through the roof!  BUT - NOTHING HURT!!  I didn't do any modifications and could squat and jump and totally go 110%.  I am so excited!!

I think this is a function of 2 things - first, I am more fit then last summer.  Secondly, because of my IT Band issue, I've been working hard on building up my butt and hamstring muscles.  Wow - did it ever work!

I'm telling you guys - there is such a HIGH in getting fit!  It has taken me over 3 years to get here, but it feels awesome!  I hope everyone is working out and pushing themselves.  The rewards are incredible!


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