The 12 Minute Athlete September Plyometrics Challenge

We’re super stoked to introduce you yet another community challenge — the September Plyometrics Challenge!

This month, we’re going to work on increasing our explosive power. That means doing a lot of plyometrics exercises.

Not sure what plyometrics are? If you’re doing 12 Minute Athlete workouts regularly, you’re actually doing plyometrics (or simply, plyos) quite frequently. Plyometric exercises are quick, powerful exercises that are performed in a short amount of time to help you to build speed and power. They’re an essential part of every athlete’s training – and you’re no different!

Box jumps, burpees, medicine ball slams, tuck jumps – these are all examples of plyometric exercises and in this coming month, we’re going to do a lot of them!

Why You Should Do Plyometrics Regularly

We love to incorporating plyos into our workouts for many reasons:

They Get Your Heart Rate Up Quickly

Getting your heart rate up fast is one of the main features of HIIT training. By doing plyos regularly, you’re working to build a stronger, healthier heart.

Getting your heart rate up quickly also means you’ll be burning more fat than you would if you were doing steady state cardio exercises such as jogging or biking at a moderate pace.

You’ll Burn More Fat

Like we just mentioned, plyos are great for burning extra fat during your workout. But not only will you be burning more fat while working out, the afterburn effect of plyometric training means that your body will be a fat burning machine 24 to 48 hours even after you’ve finished your workout. That’s a really awesome bonus about plyometrics (and HIIT training in general).

Boost Your Athletic Performance

Plyos can help you improve athletic performance in so many different sports, whether it’s any ball-related game, boxing, or even running! Even long distance runners can benefit from plyometrics training because they often need to sprint during the last several minutes. This is where having power can help.

Get Stronger

Working your plyos regularly will help you to seriously build up your explosive strength. You’ll not only get faster, but also stronger, and you don’t even need to add in weights — your own body weight is all you need!

Save Time While Getting Awesome Results

If your goals are to build strength, get faster, be more powerful, and get leaner, there’s no question that you should be doing plyos on a regular basis.

The best part is that you can get all of this done in a relatively short amount of time. Since plyometric training demands a lot of energy from the body, it’s usually relatively short.

Yes, it’s tough—but it’ll be over with before you know it!

September Plyometrics Challenge Details

• The September Plyometrics Challenge will run for four weeks, from September 3rd to September 30th.
• The first week kicks off on Monday, September 3rd.
• We’ll post the weekly focus and instructions for the upcoming week on the blog each Monday.
• You can take part in the challenge by posting to our Facebook group or by tagging #12MAplyometrics and @12minuteathlete on social media.
• One hard worker will win a Valeo medicine ball of your choice!

What You Need to Participate

You’ll need some basic equipment to do this challenge, although you can always get creative and use whatever’s around you.

• WEEK 1: No equipment needed
• WEEK 2: Box, bench or another sturdy object to jump on
• WEEK 3:  A medicine ball
• WEEK 4: Box, bench or another sturdy object

Note: We recommend that you’re extra careful if you have frequent issues with your ankles, knees or hips and in some cases, shoulders. Some of the workouts we’re going to do put a lot of pressure on these joints. Know your body and know when to take it easy!

Sign up for the September Plyometrics Challenge and get the 30-day challenge calendar below:

The post The 12 Minute Athlete September Plyometrics Challenge appeared first on 12 Minute Athlete.

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