cross training

[xjumpnj]

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Jan-09-00 AT 11:38PM (EST)</font></center>

Congratulations Cathe and Jon!! Glad to hear everyone is doing well. I have a question for you or anyone that can help, since you are a little busy.
You have said before that a person needs to "shock" their muscles, and that cross training is a good way to do so so your body doesn't get used to the one workout. I got to the point where I could do your tapes without stopping, with the exception of Interval Max. Well, I wrote that I was having trouble with the ole thigh area, and you suggested running, so I embarked on the challenge and got to running 3 miles on a treadmill at different interval levels. Now comes the questin part, I went back to try and do the Step Works tape and boy did it kick my hiney. Now does that mean I've lost what I worked for there or is that what you were talking about the cross training being a good thing. I couldn't finish the tape and was so frustrated. I do your PS series three times a week also, and love them. Hope you can make sense out of this. Thanks!!!!!!!
Hope you are getting a little bit a sleep!
Sorry I got so long winded!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

The beauty of crosstraining

You are experiencing the beauty of crosstraining. Using your muscles in different ways so as to not "wear a path" in your joints, ligaments, and muscles. When you do the same activity over and over again for a long period of time, you subject yourself to injuries since your muscles are not challenged in different ways. Adding fuel to this potential for injury is that as your body becomes more adapted to this activity, you'll need to do this activity with even MORE intensity, frequency, and/or duration in order to continuously stay challenged.

So rather than do this, it is much better to find another activity that challenges the same muscle group but in a slightly different way(which is what you have stated that you have done). You'll find that this change in activity, which still uses the same muscle group(in your case the legs), will target them from different angles. This therefore, recruits some different muscle fibers, which will result in feeling as if you have just started an exercise program for the first time ever(ok, maybe a little bit of an exaggeration here

).

Don't worry, this is a good thing. You did not lose all that you have worked for. You have actually found a better way to KEEP all that you have worked for.

A side note: You will find that you will quickly adapt Step works again too. Remember when this happens to continue to crosstrain.

Hope this helps. Have fun!

 

[jesca]

Great to hear

I'm going through the same thing, a kind of "withdrawal" from step. In September, I injured my knee playing racquetball. At the time, I had been training on the bike almost exclusively (with an occasional game of racquetball thrown in, unfortunately) for an upcoming event. After nearly two weeks' hiatus from EVERYTHING (during which time I winced almost every time I took a step with my right foot), I slowly worked strength training and spin back in, since those didn't really seem to bother my knee. I've since worked in kickboxing (a slow process with plenty of modifications early on--I actually aggravated my injury once in my eagerness to return to kickbox class), but step was a harder one. All the lateral movements and non-stop high-impact were the REAL challenge, and I'm still modifying.

My knee has gotten much better with the help of a trainer, but I tried doing BodyMax for the first time since the injury, and it really kicked my butt. Six months ago, I would've had no problem finishing the tape. But I could hardly complete, unmodified, ONE Power Circle Seven on my injured leg. By the end of the Power Circuit Segment, I was not doing ANY jumping, and it wasn't pain or discomfort--I was just TIRED! I thought it might be smarter to modify before I got to the careless-tired-all-out stage and hurt myself again.

I'm glad for the assurance that this, like recovery, will grow easier with time and work.

Jessica