Plyometric as in P90X Plymetrics – The Mother of All Workouts
P90X Plyometrics is a jump training Beachbody workout. Plyo X is an hour of plyometric training, exercise and drills. More plyometric workouts are available from Beachbody though in the One on One series, Turbofire, Insanity and Asylum.
Plyometric workouts are designed to improve athletic performance through a series of airborne exercises that increase speed and power. For an athlete, this means running faster, jumping higher, and navigating in multiple directions with ease. The word plyometrics refers to small measurable improvements and is also commonly known as jump training.
“If your game involves a court, field, track, mat, pool, ring, rink, or mountain, Plyometrics can help.” P90X Fitness Guide
The P90X Plymetrics workout is about an hour of over 30 plyometric drills. I have to warn you that next to P90X Yoga X, this is one of the toughest workouts in P90X and may not be for everyone. You may actually develop a love/hate relationship with this routing during your first round of P90X. Hang in there. It does get easier with time.
Because plyometric exercise involves jumping, I recommend investing in a good pair of cross training court shoes and a shock absorbant mat. You don’t want to wear running or walking shoes because they are made for forward movement. You need a pair of shoes you would wear on a basketball or volleyball court. They offer support forward and back but also in the lateral direction.
You can get a shock absorbant mat from the Teambeachbody Store or buy the puzzle locking matts from a local department store. Just make sure you have enough to cover a nice space as you will be moving around a lot as you do each plyometrics exercise.
P90X Plyometrics is not your only choice for jump training in Beachbody workouts these days. Indeed, plyometric training is now in some of the P90X One on One individual workouts, Insanity, Turbofire, and The Asylum. It started with P90X plyo; then, this proven training technique creaped into later programs.
P90X Plyometrics is not as hard for me as it was in the beginning. I have to say if you really want to focus on plyometric training and sports conditioning, look at Insanity The Asylum. The whole 30 day program is based on plyometric workouts. This is a tough workout and should only be chosen by those who have completed a program like P90X, Insanity, or Turbofire.
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Asylum and How to Run Faster
Sprint training is about how to run faster, but have you tried the Beachbody workout Asylum? The speed and agility drills can help you get stronger and faster.
I just finished my first week with Insanity The Asylum with trainer Shaun T. It is a sports performance training program that you do at home with dvds. With every workout, I think back to my high school track days because I wish I would have had this program in my competitive days when I wanted to know how to run faster.
Of course my coach had us doing all kinds of speed and agility drills like mountain climbers and wind sprints. This was just the brutal reality of track training. We wanted to know how to increase running speed. Our coach taught us we had to get stronger to get faster and we had to practice agility drills.
There is a special kind of breathing that only comes from exerting your full effort in track and field training. It is that totally out of breath but totally pumped powerful breathing you experience after a good practice run or race. The moment when you bend over and rest your hands on your knees and breath in deeply to get your heart rate back to normal. I thought about this unique feeling as sweat was dripping off my shoulders and back during The Asylum. I looked in my mirror and realized I had not felt like this since my track days.
When I do bear crawls in the Asylum, the sides of my calves get a good burn. I am not talking about the back of my legs…the sides of my calves are getting a good workout. My quadriceps get plenty of burn with both rope jumping and ladder agility drills.
This program is about improving strength, skill, and performance. You will not do wind sprints, but you will do plenty of mountain climbers. If you have not realized yet how important your core muscles are in increasing your running speed, you will after doing the drills in Asylum.
Running involves your whole body. All your body parts (legs, core, arms, feet) need to be strong, coordinated, and working together. Agility drills help you focus on form and getting your whole body working with purpose toward your ultimate goal. So, back to the question of how to run faster – how to increase running speed. I think you have to work on your strength, focus, and coordination to get faster.
Shaun T ran track and was a hurdler. He knows what it takes to get stronger, more focused, coordinated, and faster. He shows you how to improve your performance in the Asylum. I’m going through this program to improve and challenge my current fitness level. It’s funny how I keep thinking about high school track training and how to run faster.
More on the Asylum.
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Asylum Sports Performance First Look
Beachbody workouts are developed for all fitness levels. The Asylum is an advanced home fitness program centered on sports performance and competitive spirit. And, today is the day I like to call the “first look” at a new program. I am taking my first look at Insanity The Asylum, a sports performance Beachbody workout that I classify as an extreme fitness program.
This is the day I review the whole program before starting it. I like to read all the guides from front cover to back, take a look at equipment and accessories, and understand the basics of the program. I like to review all the workout videos to get a feel for what’s ahead. And, I like to take a good look at my nutrition plan since that is half the battle for most people.
The basics of the Asylum program include sports conditioning and drills, agility, core, strength, and speed improvement. It looks like a competitive training environment where you push yourself to get better each time. You are competing against your personal best. In fact, the whole program begins and ends with a fit test to measure your own sports performance improvement over a 30 day period. I am already in the mindset that I only have 30 days to make noticeable improvements. Now, that’s a great motivator for any sports minded person.
The program comes with an agility ladder, speed jump rope, and two toning bands. The jump rope makes me smile because I know I will have to work on form to get a good swing going. I may even have to modify without the use of a rope in the beginning.
The agility ladder looks like it will add an element of fun as well as challenging both strength and agility. I have already seen someone taping an outline of a ladder on the floor rather than using the actual agility ladder. I think that takes a bit of the challenge away. The whole point is to use the ladder without touching or moving it.
This program does not come with equipment for strength training workouts other than two toning bands. You will need resistence bands or dumbbells and a chin up bar. If you do not have a chin up bar, you can do back exercises with a band. I have resistence bands, selectec dumbbells, and a chin up bar. I will probably do a mix of all three.
The Asylum has nine workouts, including the fit test. The fit test is just under 25 minutes. I think it should be included as a workout! Anyway, this is the lineup:
1. Athletic Performance Assessment/Fit Test (about 25 minutes)
2. Speek & Agility (about 45 minutes)
3. Veritcal Plyo (about 40 minutes)
4. Relief (about 25 minutes)
5. Strength (about 50 minutes)
6. Strength (about 50 minutes)
7. Game Day (about 60 minutes)
8. Overtive (about 15 minutes)
9. Back to Core (about 45 minutes)
In addition to these workouts, Shaun T (also the trainer of Insanity) has training video clips on using the agility ladder, speed rope and chin up bar. I have to warn you though, Shaun T makes chin ups look easy. I sure would like to see Shaun T and Tony Horton go against each other in a chin up contest. These guys are tough!
Asylum comes with a 30 day calendar. It also has an Asylum Insanity Hybrid schedule and an Asylum P90X Hybrid schedule. I plan on going through the first 30 days of pure Asylum and then, possibly jumping over to the P90X Asylum hybrid.
The nutrition program is simple to follow. It is a 14 day plan that can be repeated or changed up as you learn the basics of how to eat like an athlete….eat frequently, go light at night, portion control, eat lean, carbs early in the day, avoid dairy, hydrate, limit alcohol, eat healthy fats, and supplement. Beachbody’s Results and Recovery Formula is recommended for Insanity The Asylum customers due to the intense nature of the workouts. After reviewing some of the workouts, I think I will definitely be using the recovery drink.
Well, I have some more reviewing to do before tomorrow. I want to have a game plan ready for my nutrition. By the way, the whole title of this program is Insanity The Asylum Volume 1: Sports Performance. It makes you wonder if Shaun T and Beachbody have more to come. I’m just sayin’!
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Beachbody Body Gospel Core Revelation
Good christian health means treating your body as a temple. It’s so easy to gain a few pounds (or maybe many more) in a world full of fast food and electronic conveniences. Donna Richardson understood these struggles when she created an in home fitness dvd program called Body Gospel.
Body Gospel combines faith and fitness through prayer, scripture, journaling, and exercise. The program is only 30 days long. It is long enough to create a new healthy habit – a new healthy lifestyle of eating right, exercising, and reaching deep within your faith to honor christian health and the calling of respecting your body as a temple.
I am sitting here now feeling quite relaxed and glad that I worked out. My body feels good and so does my spirt. I just did the Body Gospel workout called Core Revelation. It is a 20 minute core and lower body workout for the abs, back, thighs, and buns. It uses bands that were designed specifically for the Body Gospel program.
The bands are unique in two ways. The handles are more like ski pole handles than the traditional stirrup design of most bands. The other unique feature is there is a stirrup at the other end that goes over your foot. This allows you to use two bands at one time and gives you a more fluid motion than you get when using one traditional band.
Core revelation strengthens and stretches the core muscles as well as your legs and buns. If you have love handles or back fat, Body Gospel can help you get your body back. When Donna has you to reach to the heavens, you can feel more than the stretch. You can feel the communion of your higher power.
Donna uses encouraging words throughout the workout. She tells you to lift up praises to heaven when you stretch overhead and to pull down your blessings when you bring your arms back down. I have never used another workout program that combines christian music, exercise, and the continuity of faith and fitness throughout. It really does support christian health and the philosophy that your body is a temple.
I followed the Core Revelation workout with a short 10 minute workout called Stretch in the Spirit. It was on the schedule with the core workout and seemed like a natural extension of the core workout. The moves in the stretch workout were all basic. Both of these workouts would make excellent morning workouts to start your day with stretching, praise, and rejuvenation.
More Beachbody workouts.
Your Body is a Temple: Body Gospel Live
Your body is a temple.
Body Gospel is christian exercise and music for christian fitness.
I’ve completed all the Body Gospel workouts, and I must say that this program is unique from other Beachbody workouts. Yes, it’s unique in the fact that the trainer uses gospel music and creates “christian exercise” to support fitness for christians. It’s unique in the fact that the prayer and scripture are part of your daily journaling. Aside from the things that bring together faith and fitness, Body Gospel is slightly different in another way.
Most of the Body Gospel workouts can be done by beginners. They can be done by people who are overweight and out of breath. The basic movements are marching and grapevine moves. Yes, Donna Richardson has you doing other things, but I think the key to the program is she keeps you moving.
Donna keeps you moving and reminds you that your body is a temple. She quotes scripture to motivate and lift you up. My favorite workout in the series is Body Gospel Live. This is a bonus workout that comes with the program. The christian music in this workout is performed by a choir standing behind the workout area. It makes you feel like you’re there.
Body Gospel Live is just over thirty minutes. It is non-stop. I sweated up a storm, but I never felt tired. You can increase or lower your intensity whenever you need it. You can just march in place until you catch your breath. The music will keep you going. Lifting your arms above your head in a gesture of praise gives you renewed energy.
We usually see the low side of christian health. The side where our family gathers to pray in desparation for the healing of a loved one’s health. Your body is a temple, one that your are responsible for maintaining. This means your are responsible for exercising, managing your weight, and eating nourishing foods. The ways of the world may teach bad habits, but programs like Body Gospel can help us learn new habits.
Donna even burned a walking CD to give you some variety. You can use it on a treadmill or take your exercising and praise session outside. Body Gospel is a 30 day program. You can do anything for 30 days. Once you complete the program, you can do it again or combine it with other programs. I have a feeling you’ll keep going back to the Body Gospel Live workout though. It’s uplifting.
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