Diablo Fit: Power Plate Workouts #2

Diablo's Editor-in-Chief goes through her first full workout at Renaissance Club Sport.

I’m off for my first full 30-minute Power Plate workout at Renaissance ClubSport, and I feel like I’m headed into the ring with Muhammed Ali. My trainer, Mary Ann DeCosta, designed a 10-minute routine of lunges and abs and squats that nearly killed me last week.

Now she wants me to do it three times in a row, as fast as I can, for a super intense workout.

The hard part is that some of the exercises are on a vibrating Power Plate, which makes a simple move harder to control. I’m worried that I’ll go down for the count.

I start with 500 meters of rowing on the rowing machine. Last week, it took me 4 minutes. Mary Ann is sure I can row faster. I’m not so sure. But this week, on my first round, I actually blow last week’s time away with 500 meters in 2:57.

Next is one minute of push-ups with my hands on the vibrating Power Plate. Last week, I did 19 in one minute, but the last 10 were totally lame. Today I do 20 pushups, and not quite so lame. Maybe I am getting a little stronger.

Then its 20 squats while tossing and catching a 6-pound medicine ball to work the triceps. This exercise I can do! 

Back to the Power Plate for oblique crunches. These are ab crunches with a twist—so your right elbow goes to your left knee and vice versa. I am strong enough to do these on a mat, but controlling the move on the vibrating plate is so spastic that I would have laughed if I wasn’t so out of breath from rowing, push-ups, and squats. Still, last week I did 35 oblique crunches in one minute. This week on round one, I do 38.

Next is the hardest exercise in the set: sidestep lunges on the Power Plate. Last week this was quite impossible. I was almost lifting my legs with my hands trying to finish the set. I did 30 lunges in one minute on each side and felt like a dork. Today on round one, it’s 30 lunges on the right, and 31 on the left. And I don’t have to use my hands. But Mary Ann is coaching me and telling me to keep going, and I’m pretty sure if she wasn’t there, I would have hopped off that crazy vibrating machine.

Finally ab sit-ups on the very steady, non-vibrating floor (Yeah!) but holding the six-pound med ball, so not really so easy after all!

I finish round one in 10:45. It’s hard to catch my breath, but here comes round 2. Mary Ann is waiting with the clipboard to chart my times and reps. I say a little prayer.

This is a miracle, but I’m even better on rowing the second time: 2:46. I do 30 push-ups, though 15 are on my knees, rather than my toes. I do 42 ab crunches, way better than my earlier 35. And I beat the side lunges too—up to 35 and 38 each leg. But it takes longer to catch my breath between exercises, so I’m slower. Round two takes 11:33.

Now for round 3: Not bad on rowing: 2:59; then 17 full push-ups and 18 on knees. Not bad. Squats are fine and I rock on oblique crunches—now at 54. I am getting the hang of this. But I can’t breathe. My heart rate is up to 163 and I wonder if Mary Ann ever has really killed one of her clients—but I’m too winded to ask. I finish the third set in 12:30 seconds. That’s slower time, but I finish the three rounds in 34 minutes, and increase most of the number of reps. It’s over and I survived!

My heart rate monitor says I burned 350 calories in 34 minutes. That’s what I usually burn in a 60-minute spin class. My heart rate max is 163, and the session average is 127.

Next week is my final 30-minute round. I am determined to beat my times. I like the challenge of working with a trainer. At $35 for a half-hour session, it’s a little pricey, but a heck of way to get in shape.

At the end of the workout, Mary Ann shows me how to rest my legs on the plate for an instant massage. And that sure beats running on a treadmill.

 

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