Day 2: Plyometrics, My New Favorite Workout!

Today I was a little sore from Day 1's workout. I was still mobile and not so bad that I felt like I couldn't move. Day 2 was Plyometrics (I will use Plyo for short). If you are wondering, here is the definition of Plyometrics: Any exercise in which muscles are repeatedly and rapidly stretched (or loaded) and then contracted. The aim of plyometrics is to improve muscle power. The workout was 60 minutes long, and it kicked my ASS!

One thing you have to think about the P90X is that it requires a lot from you. You have to be self-motivated, your desire has to come from within, not from without! You also have to know how to manipulate your body with your mind. I can not for the life of me remember ever being this self-disciplined. Even in sports, I depended on my coaches and teammates to motivate me to finish, or to push it to the limit. I kind of half-assed my workouts before the P90X. But today, I realized how mentally "strong" I am. I was in so much pain, I could barely bend my knees to complete a squat, but dammit I finished each exercise!

Now, let me tell you, there were just some things my body would not allow me to do. So in those times, I would either do a modified version of the exercise or run in place to keep my heart rate up. At the end of the 60 minute workout I measured my heart rate. The recommended maximum heart rate equation goes as follows: 200- your age. So my recommended maximum heart rate is 176bpm because I am 24 years old. I reached higher than this in today's workout. At the end of the 60 minutes my heart rate was 180bpm. The way I measured it (once again, because I'm poor and can not afford a heart rate monitor) was I placed my index finger to my carotid artery on my neck. It takes a few seconds to find, but that's the easiest pulse to find. Using the P90X timer, I counted how many beats I had in 10 seconds and multiplied that by 6 to get my BPM. This is just so I can see how hard my body was working, it is no indication of anything else. Well, I definitely was working hard! Anyhow, if I had the choice I would definitely do Plyometrics every day. But, since I have decided to follow the P90X to the T, then I will just wait until next time! My body is completely sore and my core muscles (abs, obliques, etc.) are killing me. This is good. This means the program is working! I love pain, it's a little odd, but I do. I love to feel the effects of something I worked so hard for. I plan on feeling this throughout my journey with the P90X. Looking forward to pressing play again tomorrow! :)