Powercise or Powder keg?Over the past few years, more and more fitness centers have incorporated bounding exercises or "plyometrics," into their aerobics classes. Often advertised as power moves, they're used to make the workout more demanding and varied. But some fitness experts worry that these moves may cause injuries. Bounding drills were developed by Soviet track coaches to improve the psringing ability of their triple jumpers and high jumpers. The drills range from ankle hops, during which the athlete jumps upward on one foot while extending the ankle joint, to high-intensity depth jumps, during which the athlete jumps off a box, then immediately springs upward upon hitting the floor. Sara Kooperman of Sara's City Workout in Chicago and cocreator of the Energy Explosion instructor training video has her students do what she calls controlled power jumps. " It's an adapted form of plyometrics to tone the muscles. We don't go off boxes and the jumps we do aren't as high. They're like basketball jumps, but slower and more controlled," she says. According to plyometrics expert Richard Field, however, these exercises have no place in an aerobics class. A doctoral candidate in physiology at the University of New Mexico, Field has trained Olympic class athletes in bounding drills. |
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