Plyometrics: 9 Minutes
Plyometrics is my go-to for building agility and cardio fitness. Each move is 30 seconds active with 15 seconds rest, plus warmup and cooldown. Modifications and intensifiers included, so choose your level. You can practice the full drill with me on Youtube.
I love that I hit heart rate zones 1, 2, and the right amount of zone 3 in 9 minutes. Also, like most body weight movements, there’s always ways to level up or down.
On Footwear
I do it with shoes although there’s a school of thought that encourages wearing socks or going barefoot.
On Landing
Land on the balls of your feet. This shouldn’t hurt.
The Sequence
Warm-up: sun salutation: Let’s start with one sun salutation for our warm up. From standing, Inhale arms overhead, exhale fold down, inhale to plank. Exhale do one pushup,, then place the knees on the ground to upward dog, and downward facing dog. Take the left heel on the mat and then the right. Stretch out the hamstrings. Now walk the feet to the hands to standing.
Jogging in place: Lift one foot then the other, getting the body ready. Land on the balls of your feet. Move the hands in a way that feels natural to you to loosen up the upper body. When ready, start lifting the knees a bit higher.
Jumping jacks: Choose a pace that challenges you but not to the point of exhaustion. If the jumping is too much, you can step one foot to the side then the other as a modification. It helps to remind myself to relax my face when doing jumping jacks try it.
Skaters: Start with your left foot on the ground, right foot lifted, knee bent. We’re going to be moving sideways. Left hand forward, right hand back. You’re ready to skate. Use the standing leg to push the right leg a few feet to the right, then back to starting position. Use the arms to find rhythm and balance. To intensify, as soon as the foot lands, hop twice on the landing foot.
Squat leg raise: Standing with feet parallel a bit wider than shoulder width. Bend the knees and squat. Lift the heels as you take the arms overhead. We’ll intensity by jumping instead of lifting the heels on our way up. Eyes forward, chest flat. Try touching the fingertips to the ground while maintaining good alignment. If they don’t touch, that’s fine.
Mountain climbers: Start in plank, right knee to the left elbow, left knee to right elbow. Keep repeating as fast as you can, slow down when you need to.
Lunge to one legged knee raise: Start in a lunge position, right foot forward and left foot back. Lift the back knee to the chest, jumping on the standing leg. Back again to lunge. To modify, skip the jumping. Get the back knee as close to the ground as you can, and use your exhale to get the height on the jump. I love how this move builds endurance, strength, balance, and coordination.
Lunge to one legged knee raise Left side: This time, left leg is forward, right leg back. Arms in ready position. Right arm forward left arm back. Modify by not jumping if you need to. Work on getting the back knee closer to the ground. .
Squat, reach, and jump: For this squat, have the legs wider and toes pointing out. We’re jumping for the full 30 seconds. To modify, raise the heels instead. Choose your level. After 10 seconds passed, try to reach lower, and touch the palm to floor. With 10 seconds left, reach the hands overhead as you jump.
Skaters +++: We start with 2 hops with the option to intensify to 3 hops after 10 seconds. You’ve done these before. Start position, standing on the left leg, and right knee bent. Push on the standing leg to get the momentum. With 10 seconds left. Intensify to 3 hops if that feels right for you.
Mountain climbers + Burpees: Start in plank, mountain climbers, that’s opposite knee to elbow, for the burpees, jump both feet to the hands and jump with hands over head then back to plank. I’ll call this out.
Cool down: Walk it out and when you’re ready, legs shoulder width apart and forward fold. Sway from side to side. Sit on the floor, and let’s do a one legged fold. Go as far forward as you can. Switch sides.
I like to think of my heart thanking me after I do these types of moves. So thank yourself for taking care of your body today.