Doug and I are back again this week to show and tell a little about plyometric exercise, specifically for those 65+ years young.
I hear all the time from the later adult population I work with that they can no longer jump, skip, hop, run, etc. (all of these are examples of plyometric activities). Some just don't feel comfortable with it anymore while others have actually been told they can no longer do those activities (which may very well hold true for some, but this advice is given far more often than it should be). Doug and I are here to show you that it's not unsafe or impossible as long as you slowly reintroduce these activities and monitor how the exerciser is responding to the demands.
Doug is demonstrating what we call a pogo hop.
Simply put, we're just jumping up and down very lightly. Sometimes on both feet, sometimes on 1 foot while staying primarily on the toes and not letting the heels strike the ground aggressively. We did not start here.
We made sure Doug's legs were appropriately conditioned
Transitioned to supported pogo hops with a band
Now we can do some light jumps on soft grass without any issues. Today we did 3 sets of 45 secs and will probably pass a ball back and forth next week while doing them...just for fun!
If any of you out there feel like you can't do something like this anymore, Doug and I are here to tell you to not give up!
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