Here is where you'll find everything you need to know about plyometric and explosive training.
Should Sprinting and Jumping Athletes Do Plyometrics? Keats Snideman Probably one of the most commonly used (and abused) methods of performance-enhancement for sprinters and indeed all running and jumping athletes is "plyometrics." Plyometrics can be defined as movements that involve fast eccentric muscle actions followed by dynamic and explosive concentric actions (aka, the stretch-shortening cycle). The best example of a plyometric drill that comes to mind is the classic "depth jump" exercise where an athlete drops off a box or step of some pre-determined height. Upon hitting the floor the athlete concentrates on explosively jumping into the air as high as possible. The purpose of this method is to "shock" the body and nervous system to produce higher levels of muscle tension and force than would normally be possible without the preceding drop. In fact, the "father" and creator of modern day plyometrics, Yuri Verkoshansky of Russia, originally named the plyometric method the "shock" method. To understand how such a system of exercises could be beneficial or detrimental to sprinting, jumping, and indeed all athletes, let's take a closer look at basic muscle function during movement. . . . keep reading
Video of the Week - Box Jump Technique Video of the week comes from my blog. There are actually 2. The first shows an incorrect box jump, the second shows correct technique. Click on the blog link below to read The Idiot Box. cf_mgflv ID= . . . keep reading
Jump Training: More Than Just the Vertical Andy Twellman In the few years that we've been training athletes at Train 4 The Game, we've often found ourselves focused on how to help our athletes jump higher. At the end of every phase we'd test them to see how much they had improved their vertical jump, and invariably we'd get them jumping higher and everyone was happy. It wasn't until we started watching videos of basketball injuries one day that we started to realize that we might be missing a piece of the puzzle. What we were doing was getting results, but we started to realize that in spite of our success at helping athletes jump higher, we might still be able to do it better, both in terms of performance and injury prevention. . . . keep reading
Plyometric Training Michael Boyle Numerous articles have been written about plyometric training for athletes. Very few have detailed progressive programs that take into account the need for a system of training that can be applied to a broad range of athletes. Although the works of Chu, Radcliffe and Gambetta were outstanding at the time of their writing, very little has been written in the last ten years that connects our current knowledge of functional training with how to design and implement a system of plyometric exercises. In order to fully understand plyometrics, we must look at basics like terminology, volume and frequency. . . . keep reading
6 Ways To Improve Your Foot Speed! Les Archer Discover the secrets world class sprinters have known for years - they key to foot speed is 'dorsi and planter flexion'. These 6 drills will definitely improve your foot speed! . . . keep reading
The Truth About Plyometrics - Part I Juan Carlos Santana In part I of this ongoing series, Juan Carlos Santana answers all of your questions about the benefits of plyometrics and how it can help you on the field! . . . keep reading
