Day 2 & 3: Double Header, or Why Plyometrics Is A Dirty Word

As astute readers (my grandmother) (Hi Gram!) have noticed and already pointed out, there was no blog update last night following Plyometrics. This is because jumping exercises, apparently, have an impact on the typing muscles and - more importantly - the brain muscle that thinks up the witticisms and  fun pictures.

This fun picture was NOT POSSIBLE last night.
Yes, it's from the Venture Brothers.

So, plyometrics.

(I keep wanting to type "pylometrics.")

Plyometrics is "a type of exercise designed to produce fast and powerful movements." Thank you, Wikipedia. That may have been the design, but we're not quite there yet. We started off pretty quick and powerful, but devolved pretty quickly into the modified exercises. Which is fine. They make a big deal about not letting your ego get in the way, because if you try to keep up, you will fail and hurt yourself. "It's day 2 of 90!" I said to myself. "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was your body!" Tony shouted while doing some insanely fit maneuver. I tried to high-five the computer mid-jumping jack, lost my balance, and kicked over my water bottle.

I AM A CREATURE OF GRACE AND BEAUTY.

Just to make things a little more interesting, it was revealed early on in the routine that one of the "kids" had only one leg. His name is Erik Stolhanske. Anyone who has done P90X past day 2 will recognize him as that dude with one leg who is destroying your ass at jumping and twisting and other activities that normally require two legs. 

He's on the left, killing it in warm ups.

Anyone who hasn't will recognize him from this:

They get all antsy in their pantsy.

Yep. Officer Rabbit, the Rook from Super Troopers, going to be making you feel just a liiiiitle bit inferior. Although it does come across as a good challenge. Stolhanske's put a lot of effort into his fitness, and if he can do it on one leg, what's my excuse?
I won't get into detail about the various plyometrics exercises this time, but there's one thing that did stand out - this was the routine that made me realize just how out of shape I am. "How the hell did this happen?" I wondered for a split second before remembering that, oh yes, spend ten years treating "exercise" like a dirty word and you're going to have some side effects.

Pictured: self-image following plyometrics.

So: from now on, no more exercise as a dirty word. We have a new word, and that word is "plyometrics."

Having finished plyometrics, I had my energy drink, a piece of tilapia and some veggies, took a shower, and fell asleep on the couch.

My alarm went off earlier than usual this morning. I'm going to go see Agalloch tonight, and figured that the last thing I would want to do after a metal show was work out my shoulders and arms.

Superior to lifting weights.

Not wanting to miss a day so early in the routine, I thought I would wake up early and do the routine before work. And for those who are reading and know me, that alone should demonstrate considerable commitment.

After an hour of curls, squats, and another 15 minute Ab Ripper, I managed to stagger into the shower. I've realized I need some better weights or resistance bands, or possibly learn to use the bands I have more effectively because, while I felt some burn and my arms feel a bit leaden here at work, I think I missed out a bit on that routine by not using proper weights or missing the mark with the bands. Time will tell. Ab Ripper destroyed me once again, but not a badly as before - knowing a bit about what was coming helped with effectiveness and I managed to do a few more reps of each with minimal discomfort until the very end.

Progress? Progress. Tomorrow is Yoga (which I am to understand is murderous), but I have a little break between now and then, which I should probably spend doing my editing.