Cathe: Drill Max #5 Question & Recovery Week Question

[ksg68]

Hi, Cathe!

One of my favorite workouts is Drill Max. In Drill #5, I think I may be landing incorrectly on the jumps. When I land, I land on the balls of my feet. But when I really stop to watch you, you seem to be landing on your heels? Am I putting too much pressure by landing on the balls of my feet? Should I be landing heels first? Does it make a difference?

My second question is regarding a recovery week. Is that necessary when your emphasis is on cardio? Here's an example of my weekly workout:

Sunday: a.m.: High Step Challenge; p.m. walking 63 minutes on treadmill at 4.0 mph

Monday: running 5.5mph for 45 min

Tuesday: KickMax low impact premix

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: a.m. Body Max 2, Bootcamp premix; p.m. running 45 minutes 6.0 mph

Friday: Drill Max Cardio Blast premix

Saturday: Off

I don't do a lot of heavy lifting and was wondering if recovery weeks are needed more for when you're lifting than when you're doing cardio.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[kathryn]

When I land, I land on the balls of my feet. But when I really stop to watch you, you seem to be landing on your heels? Am I putting too much pressure by landing on the balls of my feet? Should I be landing heels first? Does it make a difference?

Not Cathe here, but I'd hate to have you hurt yourself!
When you land, you should land towards the ball of the foot, then roll down through the heel. DO NOT LAND HEAL FIRST OR FLAT FOOTED. It puts too much stress on the knees.

 

[ksg68]

Thank you for answering. When I landed heels first, my knees hurt and I couldn't jump as far.

 

[crazystepr]

Wow, you're weekly workout rotation looks exhausting! (and time consuming!) I would honestly cut back on all that cardio and add in some lifting. Even if it means still working out twice a day, such as cardio in the a.m. and lifting in the p.m. (or vice-versa).

 

[ksg68]

Wow, you're weekly workout rotation looks exhausting! (and time consuming!) I would honestly cut back on all that cardio and add in some lifting. Even if it means still working out twice a day, such as cardio in the a.m. and lifting in the p.m. (or vice-versa).

Yes, I've done a lot of lifting in the past but I've never been able to lose the weight or look like I wanted to look. It wasn't until I lightened up the lifting and added more cardio that I was able to drop the weight. Since I began, I've lost 10 lbs, my body fat has dropped 3%, 60% of which was fat and lost 7 1/2 total inches. Once I get to my ideal weight, I'll probably add the traditional weights back in but until then, I'll be doing more muscle endurance-type workouts.

 

[FiddleFit]

I'm going to totally contradict Kathryn here and say that, yes, landing heel-toe is the better option. Sorry Kathryn .

Actually, this is probably a personal preference kind of thing. With those forward jumps I find I propel forward better when I'm pushing off through my heels (using my glutes) and using my arms to help swing my body forward and land on my heels again. Then I'm ready to push off my heels, through the glutes, again. I much prefer to land heel-toe, as it allows my larger glute muscles to control the landing and take the impact, versus the front of my knees, quads, and shins. My emphasis with this movement is in the back of the body, not the front. I go as deep as I can into the landing squat (weight being in the heels), never lock my knees, and make sure my core is contracted at all times, to support the lower back. The core is also essential to keeping the landing controlled and as gentle as possible. I find I always start off with shallow, short jumps, but by the third round I'm bounding quite far and deep. I like this move alot because it gives me a great stretch in the glutes, back, and hamstrings.

Just my 2 cents. I'm curious what Cathe recommends.
Sandra

 

[kathryn]

Are we talking about forward jumps? Then it would make more sense to land farther back towards the heel (I was thinking of moves like tuck jumps and burpies and other 'jumps in place').

 

[FiddleFit]

Yes, the 5th drill in Drill Max where you do 4 forward jumps, turn, then 4 back, 4 times through (= 32 jumps). Then the same pattern with forward skip/leaps. Repeat all of this 3 times. Fun stuff!

I agree with you 100% about landing toe-heel for the stationary jumps (jump tucks, etc.). Always keeping the core contracted, to minimize the thud at the bottom

Sandra