I haven't posted in a few weeks because I've been having some problems with the Air Alert program, and I wanted to get as many details as possible before posting about it. First, I measured at week 7 and had gained only 2 inches. 2 inches is nice and all, but considering all the time and effort it takes, I was hoping for something more. Still, if that had been the only problem I would still be doing Air Alert now (more later).
There are a few reasons why I may not have experienced the same results that Edelman did. I've also been doing intervals after the air alert, about 3 times a week, not always on the same day as AA (especially t,w,th weeks). I wish AA gave more info about how to schedule your other workouts. I did basically no lifting, but my legs always felt tired. Perhaps they weren't getting the recovery time necessary to build back up. My other explanation is maybe the huge number of reps means AA will work better for an individual with more slow twitch muscles (ie better natural endurance). I've always had horrible endurance. There are probably other reasons as well. Ultimately, I would suggest trying the program and make sure you measure your improvements. If it's working, continue, if not, it's probably not worth it, especially if you are noticing other drawbacks...
More worrisome than my lack of gains was that I as having extreme pain in my calves, and tingling and numbness in my feet when I tried to play. This would last for about the first 30 minutes of play. I would try to play through it at first, but eventually it'd be too painful, and I'd have to stop for a few minutes and hobble around/take more ibu. After it eventually went away, I could resume playing with no problems for the rest of the day. Still, it had me a bit worried. I developed "Chronic Compartment Syndrome". Basically, the calf muscle has a sheath that is inflexible, during activity, blood flows into the muscle making it bigger. If the muscles gets too big for the sheath, it cuts off the bloodflow, causing pain and numbness. Chronic Compartment Syndrome isn't too severe, but unpleasant enough for me to want to make it stop. I believe that because AA is so calf-intensive, it aggravated my CCS (which I have had before a couple of times, usually when I started playing again after extended time off). I stopped AA over a week ago, and was able to play this past weekend with no symptoms. Fox also had problems, he got shin splints. I think the step-ups are particularly tough on shin splints.
I have not given up my pursuit for an increased vertical, however. I'm currently developing my own program, that's not so calf intensive. It focuses less on reps, and more on intensity. There are some AA concepts that I really like and plan on implementing. AA does a good job of varying the workouts, even though the exercises are almost all the same. It does this by changing the number of sets and reps each week. This helps keep you from plateauing. I plan on switching between 1 and 2 sets (or 2 and 3 sets) each workout. AA also really ramps up the reps, so that your always pushing yourself. I'm going to use this as well, adding reps/weight to my exercises every other workout. I'll post the workout here after I get a few weeks under my belt.
4 comments:
Sorry to hear your troubles. A couple people I know have had limited results at the mid-point as well, so not everyone is a success story.
Why do you think step-ups aggrivate shin splints? If you do them right (and by "right", I mean, the way I do them, which may be wrong) they are not particularly high-impact. I'd expect that thrust-ups and burnouts would provide the cobination of impact and lower leg tension that can cause shin splints.
Not to be alarmist, but my understanding is that compartment syndrome can be quite serious. Bad cases can cut off blood flow to your feet for dangerously long periods of time. Perhaps that is only in extreme cases. Anyway, I hope you've had a doc tell you that your case in particular is not bad. Sorry to hear about the setback!
Jim - 'Acute' compartment syndrome is incredibly severe and usually requires prompt surgery. It is relatively rare however, and results from an injury to the muscle (like a contusion). Chronic CS is much less severe most cases only require rest. Thanks for the concern though :)
Tarr - I agree that the step ups are relatively low impact. However, the angle that your knee and ankle are in when coming down seem to me to put stress on the soleus where it attaches to the shin. This is for the leg that is on the step when coming down. Perhaps I was putting too much weight on the leg on the step all at once, instead of slowing down, but damn it's tiring. Also, tight calf muscles can help cause shin splints. I've never had a problem with shin splints personally, Fox had shin splints in the past, I'm sure that didn't help.
sissies. eat my new 10" enhanced vert.
kidding...sorry to hear about your troubles (yeah this is late, sue me). i did have good success with the program, and also, i have not done anything to maintain my new vert for over 2 months, and i'm still at the same place i was a week after finishing the program (27"). this is good news for all you air alert-ians mid air alert. keep jumping the good jump.
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