Interval Max survey

M

Marnie

Cathlete
Hi everyone!

I'm doing Imax once a week to boost my endurance for some upcoming 5Ks I'm running. My question to you guys:

Can anyone do that last interval??? I've had this tape for over a year, and STILL can't do those jumps where you bring your knees up. I don't know why. It's a coordination thing. I just do jumping jacks during those.

Plyo-scissors... are those evil or what?! So glad there's only one interval of those!! :)

marnie
 
Hi Marnie! I have had IMAX for about a year and yeah, I can finish that last interval, but I make the jumps a little smaller. Even then, it is a killer though! I think Annette called it "the Doom interval" once and that is so true! I can get through all of the plyo-scissors too, but as you can probably guess it took a LONG time. This is one of those workouts where you just plug away for months and then one day, wham! you can do it. I was so thrilled the first time I did all the intervals without stopping, I just started jumping up and down (but not very high, I was tired!!) and yelling "yes!! I did it!!!" My 3 and a half year old daughter just about died laughing. What a day! Anyway, sorry for rambling like that, that was probably more than you needed. Good luck!!
 
Hi Marnie

Nope, no way. I've tried on several occasions to do them... too high. My feet don't LIKE that kind of action at all and I can't seem to tuck my knees like that while in mid-air. ;-) Sometimes I'll do the modification that she shows (jacks) or I'll just do plyo jacks since those really keep my heartrate up.

Plyo scissors are the interval from Hell. I dread that one every time.
 
Hi Marnie
I do Imax once per week.Yes I can do it all but I am concerned about my knees when I tuck so I purchased a really good gym mat that I do all the jumps on.It is a fun video.I love those airborne jacks.
 
I've gotten through that last interval maybe twice, but it is a killer. Usually I'll do half or 2/3 of it the way Cathe does and the other part with the easier modification.
 
A gym mat... that's a great idea! I'm concerned about my knees & ankles as I'm a runner and take a lot of impact already. I can do all the intervals except the last one with those knee-tuck moves. I can do the airborn jacks but the knee-tuck moves I can't get down. Practice I guess! I also never thought of using a gym mat to absorb some of the impact. Thanks for the idea!

marnie
 
Hi Marnie

Yes, I can do the last interval but I suspect I jump no where near as high as Cathe. If I had a DVD player and it was possible, I would program it to play backwards and so doing that last one as the first one would be way easier if one was fresh.

Keep at it, you'll get it.

Kim
 
Hi, Marnie! Yes I can do the Doom Interval, although instead of slapping my thighs on those high tuck jumps I make a fast biceps curl - could be that I'm helping my legs along doing that.

Weirdly enough, that was the first interval I was able to master with no modifications when I was first doing it - and now I'm able to do the airborne-jack-tuck-jump thing while Cathe's demonstrating the modifications as well as the actual interval. I think it's because I've totally warmed / heated up by then! The hardest interval for me is still interval #2, all of those many thousand vertical jumps in place, probably because my legs have been warmed up but not fired up until then.

Annette
 
I do it every time, and really DO try to do the tuck jumps. It's my big challenge, and I feel really good to be doing it at my age (52)!!!!!! I do Imax on an 8" step because the 6" height was too easy. I will stop bragging now. ;-)
 
Whoa Honeybunch!!! YOU ROCK!! I'm afraid to do Imax on anything higher than my little 4" step! You are an inspiration!

marnie
 
Hi Annette, biceps curls is a great idea. Think I'll try that next time. You make a good point... I'm better at the later intervals because I'm so heated up. I love the feeling of getting through those plyo-scissors. Makes me feel like I can conquer the world!

marnie
 
Nope! I've tried and tried (and tried!!!) for a couple of years to do the last interval like Cathe, but just can't (Boo-hoo-hoo!) My leaping scissors are more like twitches and I don't have the power of take-off (or energy) at that point of the tape to do the tucks very well. (But I do still have enough power left over to mouth off at the TV "You gotta be kidding -- saving this t'il the end!!") Anyways, I'll just have to keep on trying, and if my body never gets it, I'll still have had a killer workout, especially after the plyo scissors!

Patricia
 
Marnie,

I love Interval Max and also use it to train for the races. I did it Monday and during the first airborne plyo-jack in that last interval, I felt something go pop in my back and thought ut oh, I'm in trouble! It felt really weird. Turned out to be just slightly strained but it made me think! I must have let the abs go or something. I have always gotten through the intevals but that last one and the power scissors are not nice!!! I will be very conscious of my form during the really anaerobic intervals!

Chicks Rule! http://www.plauder-smilies.de/chicken.gif
 
I've had IMax for over two years now, although I don't do that tape on a regular basis. Yes, that last interval is a killer. I don't know if I can actually do those tuck jumps as I've never really, really tried. The combination of jumping while moving my leg and arm, then doing jumping jacks usually gives me a cramp, so I have to seriously modify. And I've NEVER done the entire plyo-scissors interval...that is the WORST. I like the others, but those scissors are murder -- and I have some muscular legs... :( I also usually use an 8" step with IMax. If I'm feeling a bit tired to begin with, I'll use a 6" step. I've enjoyed reading all these IMax "testimonies"!!! Lots of fun! :)

Hollie
 
I'm with you Hollie, I can not for the life of me get all the way through those plyo scissors. Once the pace picks up with them, that's it for me in that interval. I don't feel that I'm missing out on too much though, I still get an exceptional workout from this video.
 
FWIW I think the tuck jumps are also a core strength thing.

I love/dread IMAX and managed to avoid doing it for 6 months, then tried it again last November. And to my surprise, I could do the tuck jumps - and they LOOKED like tucked jumps. Believe me, I wasn't practicing these in the interim. But, I had been doing a lot of core work - lower abs, hip flexors, stuff like that. So I tend to think that was the factor - you can keep your upper body stable and gain some "hang time" while your abs are strong enough to pull the legs up to the chest.

Anyway, just a suggestion - take it or leave it, right?

Sophie
 
Honeybunch, you are a goddess!
Thanks for the warning Bobbi, good point to remind us all that just doing them isn't enough, we have to do them with good form at all times. Actually makes it easier in the long run, I think. Glad you weren't seriously hurt!
I can do them, but if I were on camera I'd probably roll on the floor laughing at myself. I know I'm nowhere near what Cathe or the crew does. I have a love/hate relationship with that particular workout...I hate it, but I love what it does.
Ruth;-)
 
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