Day 72 - Plyo-Breathing

It seems that, after today, I only have Plyo two more times. :( Time flies by. The funny thing is that I've done Plyometrics 10 (TEN) times before and I still find it funny that while I've been able to get through the workout with alittle bit more energy each time, it never gets easy!

One one hand, THAT'S AWESOME! Gives me something to keep me on my toes and something concrete to base my endurance and stamina against! On the other, it kinda makes you feel that you haven't progressed, in terms of endurance and stamina, being that you've done it 10 TIMES Hopefully, all of that just made sense.

Last Plyo-Post, I mentioned that I found out something new about the breathing and how it is one of the most important things to focus on during working out (in addition to form.

ACE, who is a die-hard triathlete and I had a conversation. He was telling me about key points on breathing and "HOW TO" breathe properly when exercising. Instead of paraphrasing, I thought I'd quote him:

Aside from just focusing on breath with control you may want to also think about "how" you breathe normally. Most adults breathe into there chest area, so when they inhale you can see their chest rise and fall. This doesn't fill the lungs completely. And less oxygen = more fatigue. Watch your son breathe sometime. Especially as he sleeps. I'm willing to bet that his chest stays still and his stomach moves up and down. This is called belly breathing and it is much deeper than the shallow breathing most of us adopt as we age. Basically your son is literally filling his body with oxygen which in turn can mean more stamina and faster recovery. Ever wonder why he can just go and go and go? Belly breathing plain and simple.

All that aside it isn't hard to move back into that type of breathing pattern. Just lay on your back with one palm on your chest and the other on your stomach. As you breathe try to keep the palm on your chest still while you try to push the palm on your stomach up. You want to think of filling your belly with air. Once you get the sensation you can practice it whenever you think about it. Soon it becomes normal and you should see a big difference in a lower heart rate and overall stamina.

Taking his advice, I continued through the rest of last week's (week 10) workouts and paid close attention to my breathing during Yoga and Kenpo X (which I substituted with Billy Blank's Fat Blasting Cardio). At first, it was hard to breathe the "proper way" as described by Ace. However, about 3/4 the way through Plyo, I had it down. While my breathing awkward through the entire workout, and trying to focus on breathing and jumping at the same time, the workout was actually "harder", but I actually had "energy" during the workout. Weird isn't it. Usually, I'm huffing and puffing and starving my body of needed energy by re-directing it to support my breathing. Not this time! My "focused breathing" allowed my energy to be expelled on my Plyo.

Which leads me to TODAY'S Plyo workout. With my new breathing technique in had, I blasted through Plyo with more energy that I've had during any other time I've done plyo. While, it wasn't "easier" it terms of difficulty and intensity. I did have more energy so that I wasn't bonking at the end of workout and being able to pushing to till the time hit 0:00 on every exercise, and when Tony called for 2x the intensity, I could go that extra "bonus" he wants.

HINT:
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Wacky Jacks, Single/Double Heisman's, Mary Katherines, and River Jump were a few exercisers where it's a great chance/time to focus on proper breathing.
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I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.