Plyo-Fo-Sho

I want to address a specific workout today. Plyometrics, or jump training, is an essential part of athletic training and incorporates various agility, jumping, and leaping drills both laterally and vertically at an interval pace to improve your speed, quickness, fast-twitch muscle strength, endurance, and cardiovascular strength and conditioning. The specific workout named Plyometrics in P90X, is an absolute must-do for this program, and even Tony Horton calls it "the mother of all P90x workouts". It truly will help you achieve a level of athleticism that regular cardio such as spinning and running simply can't help you with.

Recently, two people have had different experiences/questions regarding this workout and I wanted to share these as they might help other people out. The first experience is a question from a new "buddy" on teambeachbody.com, and his concern was this:

"My plan is to follow the P90X system to a T, with the exception of Plyometrics. I am working out in my basement which has 7-foot ceilings. If I follow the jump routines, I will put my head into a rafter which will not work for me! Last week I substituted the plyo with Yoga and this week I plan to substitute the Plyo with Kenpo. Do you think this will hinder my progress much?"

The vertical space described here is definitely not adequate to perform this workout at a 100% level, but here are some options in this situation:

1. If you can, move at least this workout to a different room in your house. This is EXACTLY what I did, actually. I, too, workout primarily in my basement, which has closer to an 8-foot ceiling that would make it hard to extend my arms in jumps and I also have limited lateral space. Now, I have the luxury of having an upstairs with 10-foot ceilings and plenty of room once I move the coffee table and couches out of the way. This is how I am able to give 100% during this extreme workout, and I strongly suggest you do the same.

2. If you really have no other option but to use this confined space, it may be almost impossible to jump vertically, especially at an intensity level that you need to get results. So you would have to substitute the Kenpo X workout (or other extreme cardio interval activity). Your overall visual results will still be impressive, however, your athletic ability as far as jumping, leaping, agility, and speed won't improve as much without Plyometrics. It will definitely be a sacrifice, but you will still be in stellar shape.

3. The final option, and a great one, would be to learn the moves, take a list and a stopwatch with you and go outside and workout in your backyard or a park where there is an insane amount of room. Also, you will get the nature element involved, which can only help you when doing outdoor activities and sports.

A couple days ago, another friend had a concern with doing this workout because he lives above his father and didn't want to bother him and his girlfriend with the noise that jumping around would create. He mentioned he was planning to workout in his garage where he would have enough space and wouldn't bother anyone. His plan, however, was to take the guide with the moves with him and do them on his own. I advised him that it was very important to work at the intensity level and also be mindful of time and breaks. So I asked him if he had a portable dvd player he could use. He did, and he found that this worked out perfectly, and he was glad he could follow along with the dvd and appreciated the instruction and intensity he might have missed out on otherwise.

Hopefully these experiences will help you see that you have options and there are solutions to your obstacles. The most important thing is to not forsake your fitness if you don't have to, especially when following a specific program like P90X or one outlined by your personal trainer or coach. Please post your challenges and/or solutions as they may help someone else, or feel free to contact me by clicking the title of this blog to link to my coach site. Thanks for reading everyone!