Jump the fence

As part of my attempt to build a better athletic base this year, I've discovered plyometrics.

I was looking for some exercises designed to improve explosive power (lots of sudden lunging and jumping forwards and backwards in fencing), and some of the sites I found mentioned this plyometric thing.  Being a typical librarian, I raided my library's collection and found a couple of good books on the subject.

Also some pretty average books and some downright boring books, but I can say I quite like these two:

High-powered plyometrics by James C. Radcliffe, Robert C. Farentinos. (ISBN: 0880117842)

and

Training for speed, agility, and quickness by Lee E. Brown, Vance A. Ferrigno, editors. (ISBN: 0736058737)

The core idea behind plyometrics involves a lot of jumping, skipping and bounding - making your muscles work like springs to propel your body in all sorts of ways.

It seemed like a good fit for a sport like fencing, so I've been starting with some of the less intense exercises to build a few work-outs.

I've only done it a handful of times, but I have to say my plyo workouts are amongst the best I've ever had.

I don't need a gym - just a park with a patch of land big enough to do some sprinting.  I don't need any equipment except a pair of shoes (although a boxing bag or a medicine ball add an extra dimension).  If it's raining, I just go to the PCYC and use the boxing area or the basketball court, depending on what's free.

My favourite plyo exercises so far involve a combo between jumping and sprinting.  You jump a few times (either a long jump or a lateral jump), then suddenly change direction and sprint for a few meters.  You feel absolutely hammered after a few reps of these - but it's a good feeling.

I give myself a 10 minute warm-up of light jogging, some skipping and some stretching, and then run through a few combinations of five or six plyometric drills for 20 minutes, then spend 5 or so minutes doing another round of jogging and stretching to cool down.

It's amazing how effective that can be.  I've been doing this as my "warm up" before fencing on a Friday night, and it has completely revolutionised my training...

Just not in the way I expected.

You see, quite often I get to fencing and waste half my warm up time getting dressed, then do a couple of drills with the group, then have a few exercises on my own before a short class with the coach*, then I get maybe two bouts in before it's time to take of my 300 layers of clothes and go home.

So often, I get to the end of a fencing night and thing "I could really do with some exercise or something".

Now that I'm doing this plyo work-out ahead of fencing, I'm actually coming into the fencing session feeling like I've already done a decent amount of exercise for the evening.  I seriously don't care if I spend the next two hours largely spectating - I've moved, I've grunted, I've sweated and I've done stuff that makes me feel kind of like an athlete.

Who cares if all I got was a training session where I felt like a dork and two bouts which I lost?  I had a good session.  I did serious sport.

The fencing is just the icing on the cake.




*which usually leaves me feeling like a moron - for some reason I can never work out what he wants me to do, and when I finally work it out I do it poorly.