Friday, April 16, 2010

High Five on "The Hill"

Between the playground obstacle course on Monday and The Hill on Wednesday, the gang is due a public high five this week!

WOOT!

This week's URBAN Boot Camp highlights include progressive plyometric work as well as "The Hill". Both are great for building strength and power, as well as the anaerobic component of the cardiovascular system. Squats, deadlifts, leg presses, and the like are great for making us stronger, but doing hill work can directly translate to your running and walking ability by quickening your stride, increasing your leg strength, and lengthening your stride, and increasing your aerobic capacity. Your muscles have no choice but to work synergistically as your entire body is supported while you perform. Participants may have joked that I "had it in for them" but they were greatly astonished at their performance so much so that by the end they were all still smiling...even Leesha!

Why? Accomplishment! The gang discovered that the so-called "impossible" was not impossible and everyone was able to go longer, farther, and perform stronger than they thought they could. The progressive nature of our program means that everything goes together and has a purpose (see guys... there IS a method to the madness. Muahahaha!)

Give your body controlled amounts of stressors and it will adapt.

Here's a great article on hill running: Everything You Need To Know About Hill Training

Now, your turn.

Here's a plyo workout:

Squat reaches
Pushups

Split squat
Plank reaches

Squat jumps
Side hover

Split jumps
Plank walks

Ice skaters
Reverse plank w/hip dips

Exercise 45 seconds on/15 seconds off, down the list 2-3 times. Remember quality over quantity. Stay focused and land properly EVERYtime. Of course, sandwich this between a proper warm up and cool down.

As for The Hill ...Portland has tons of hills. Find one and do shuttle runs (or fast walk): go up one block, then back down to the beginning, up two blocks, then down to the beginning. Shoot for 4-5 shuttle trips, then cool down.

Have fun!

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