Jet Lag

When I covered my favorite stuff for ultimate, I was remiss in not mentioning Melatonin.

I would go into detail about why it it so awesome, but Mark's Daily Apple (A Pretty Phenomenal Health Blog, if you ask me) just had a post that covered it in more depth than I could possibly manage on my own. Essentially, if you're traveling through time zones for ultimate (or work-- JP, I'm look at you) this will help keep you somewhat attuned to the world around you and help avoid the jet-lag nightmare.

It ain't perfect, and like anything, you don't want to become dependent, but it does work. The only downside I've had is that sometimes I sleep waaay too well. Like a log. And then I'm groggy for an hour or so after I wake. The regular sleep pattern is definitely worth a little grogginess, for me.

For a workout today, I did a three-parter. The first was a little circuit of pain including some plyos and general strength work:

Circuit:
10 ankle hops
5 pullups
20 sec rest
10 mahlers
20 sec rest
5 4-star jumps (each leg)
5 pushups
15 sec rest
10 burpees
15 sec rest
30 yard *backwards* slalom jump
5 divebombers
10 sec rest
5 frog jumps
5 clap pushups (try clapping behind your back if this is too easy)
10 seconds rest

Repeat 3 times

The second was simulating Field-Like Cutting (aka, me on the parking lot behind my apartment):

Set up 3 cones in an equilateral triangle, about 8-10 yards per side. Assign the cones names like this:

A C
B

Get your stopwatch set to everyone's favorite interval: 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off.

Start at cone A. Backpedal to cone B, Sprint to cone C, backpedal to cone B, Sprint to cone A. Do 8 reps of 20 seconds on 10 seconds off. Dial in on your balance. Keep your weight low and over your toes. Focus on your footwork. Are you taking more steps than necessary to stop? Are you balanced to go in the other direction as soon as you hit the cone? Can you accelerate faster?

Take a 3min break to throw (in my case against a fence with a bunch of discs) and then repeat the exercise, but sideshuffle facing the inside of the triangle instead of backpedaling. Take a 2min throwing break and repeat with sideshuffles while facing outside of the triangle.

The third was an absolutely *killer* set of general-strength Tabata intervals. (Can you tell I love this protocol?):

8x20sec on/10sec off: Burpees
8x20sec on/10sec off: Bodyweight Squats
8x20sec on/10sec off: Pushups

12 minutes, no rest. When you finish this, you know you've done something. In fact, the pushups almost made it impossible for me to take a shower afterwards because I couldn't lift my arms. I started off with 24 pushups, then 22, then 12, 10, 10, 8, 5, 5. After I could no longer do regular pushups in the 12-5 range, I swallowed my pride and did pushups on my knees instead of my toes. These were what did me in, I'm sure of it.

Off to the track tomorrow before the NFL Kickoff!
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Workout Total:
15 min circuit
20 min agility/throwing
12 min interval
20 min stretching