Getting coffee in my MDA "Grok On" Shirt

*The picture is completely unrelated to the post but i needed a picture. This is me harvesting coffee in what I imagine is the true Columbian tradition for ages… at the grocery store

Last night I was finally able to work out again. This is after a 4 day hiatus from training. I am sure you are asking yourself  “Ok well what happened 4 days ago then?” Well whether you actually are asking yourself that or not, I am going to tell you.

I am sure you have all heard that it is important to “ease yourself into plyometrics and intense bodyweight exercise”. This saying sounds almost ludicrous… I mean… its a BODYWEIGHT exercise for crying out loud. Well I fell victim to this line of thinking which forced me into the 4 day exercise hiatus lol.

It all started with a lack of motivation to really work out hard. I was going to train some legs but I didn’t really feel up to throwing around some heavy weights. I started with some full on front squats. Wearing 60#’s of weight vest and a 60# bar, I did 4 sets of 12 full range squats. Then I did 4 sets of 24 walking lunges while still wearing the vest. So far good workout but nothing really hurting me or motivating me. Next… plyo jump sprints up the stairs and then about 50 meters. Ok these started getting my heart rate up and motivating me to finish my workout hard. I wanted to do some box jumps, but I had destroyed my folding chair (see testerday’s post) and I had not yet built my box jump box so I did….

…Exploders. That is what I call em anyways (I think they might officially be called “squat jumps” but I am not positive). I am pretty sure this is where I did the damage. Bodyweight only (or wearing a weight vest if you are real good), squat down all the way (almost like Mark Sisson’s indigenous peoples stretch) then as quick and as powerfully as you can, “explode” up into standing and into a jump as high as you can. I did 4 sets of 8 of these.

Next thing you know, my legs are in excruciating pain for 2-3 days where I can barely walk unassisted and another day worth of tightness to wear there is no way I am working out. I evan woke my wife up one night because my leg cramped up so bad in my sleep that I woke up screaming lol.

Moral of the story in 2 quick points:

#1. Exploders are awesome! Do them… try incorporating these in your workout. Tabata protocol would be great with these.

#2. Listen to your body. If you need that extra rest… take it. It is the only way for your body to properly rest and recover. It is also the best way to see results!

Have you ever wrecked yourself with plyos? Are you familiar with exploders?

Sidenote: A friend gave me an idea for an awesome primal snack that I am going to expirement with tonight. If it works out well, I will try to get it up tomorrow.

Relaxation is good

I generally do an intense strength workout every other day. I will do like a 1 hr walk or something similar almost everyday but when it comes to weights and circuits, I usually alternate days. For example day 1: workout, day 2: rest, day 3: workout, day 4: rest.

Every now and then, I will still be sore after a day of rest and will need an extra rest day.I have been ignoring my body lately and not taking the extra day of rest when I am still sore. For the past week or so, I have still been sore almost every time I have worked out. My brain has not been allowing me to take the extra time to recover as I don’t want to miss a workout (Duh, I should know better).

This came to a head yesterday when my body was practically screaming at me that it did not want to workout. The motivation was just not there. I was ravenously hungry and there was no doubt in my mind that I needed a break. My body needed to recover.

So I took the day as an extra rest day. As I mentioned, I was ravenously hungry (I think my body needed the fuel to repair) so I ate. I ate a lot more than I normally would, but my body was telling me it needed more. I still managed to eat clean and healthy so i do not feel bad about eating so much.

Flip forward to today… I am reaping the rewards for listening to my body.I feel absolutely great! My body feels healed and rested, I am full of energy and I just feel 100 times better. I am so ready to hit a great workout tonight. This is a good reminder for me of why I should listen to my body more often. Don’t be afraid to take that extra day of rest if you need it. Give your body what it tells you it needs and you will reap the rewards!

I just picked up a hot tub for the house. I am hoping it helps get my recovery time back in check. Do you have any additional tips that might help speed up my recovery? What are your recovery secrets?

Have you had a similar experience? Have you experienced an increase in hunger when your body needs some recovery?