YOUR GUIDE TO PLYOMETRICS
For the majority of athletes, plyometric exercises are the missing link between the strength work they do in the gym and the technical/tactical work they do on the pitch. What good is having a high relative strength, if it's not transferable to performances in your chosen sport? Being able to get from A to B faster than your opposition, jumping higher than your opposition, changing direction faster than the opposition and being athletically superior in every department than your opposition puts you well on your way to being successful.
Disclaimer, as a coach I know how much of an influence luck, technical skill and all those other things have on sporting success. Having a physical advantage does not guarantee you success in any sport.
Due to their influence on the brain and motor control, plyometric exercises are great for general gym goers to! It's not just athletes that can benefit from them.
The goal of this article, is to shed some light on the theory behind them, what they are, what they can do for you and why. I'll also try and produce some practical and actionable insights for you to integrate into your own training to get that edge.
Disclaimer, as a coach I know how much of an influence luck, technical skill and all those other things have on sporting success. Having a physical advantage does not guarantee you success in any sport.
Due to their influence on the brain and motor control, plyometric exercises are great for general gym goers to! It's not just athletes that can benefit from them.
The goal of this article, is to shed some light on the theory behind them, what they are, what they can do for you and why. I'll also try and produce some practical and actionable insights for you to integrate into your own training to get that edge.
WHAT ARE PLYOMETRICS?
Plyometric exercises make use of jumps, hops and bounds to illicit an improvement in the stretch-shorten cycle (SSC) of the muscle. This is a reflex action which is governed by the central nervous system and the brain as opposed to voluntary movements. The brain makes use of an eccentric pre-stretch of a muscle-tendon unit to produce an equal and opposite concentric movement which produces an explosive movement. While there are many ways in which we can improve our ability to run and jump higher, the SSC is one that is poorly understood and quite often very underdeveloped. To read a bit more detail on the brain and motor units which we'll be speaking about next , make sure you read up on it here.
As a quick refresher for you, the SSC involves three distinct phases. The initial eccentric lengthening of the target muscle. This is in response to a pre-stretch (like landing). As a response to this the muscle has to overcome the eccentric lengthening to prepare for a concentric contraction. The time delay between the two phases is known as the amortisation phase. This the key phase that we work on when performing most of our plyometric work. Reducing the amount of time it takes our limbs to overcome a lengthening action to producing a powerful concentric contraction which results in more power.
The goal of training the SSC is to produce the most amount of force in the least amount of time, in the right direction. Sprinting is the most pure example of the SSC at work. Ground contact times are in the region of 100ms and ground reaction forces during this short period of time are upwards of 3X bodyweight. Spend too long on the ground trying to generate massive amounts of force and you get left behind. Spend too short on the ground and don't develop enough force, you get left behind. So, if not getting left behind is in your best interests, plyometric training is for you.
The goal of training the SSC is to produce the most amount of force in the least amount of time, in the right direction. Sprinting is the most pure example of the SSC at work. Ground contact times are in the region of 100ms and ground reaction forces during this short period of time are upwards of 3X bodyweight. Spend too long on the ground trying to generate massive amounts of force and you get left behind. Spend too short on the ground and don't develop enough force, you get left behind. So, if not getting left behind is in your best interests, plyometric training is for you.
In short, here's non-exhaustive list of all the benefits of plyometric training:
Over the course of a plyometric programme we want to develop a more efficient CNS that can produce greater levels of force, stronger lower limbs and an overall faster athlete. This is where only focusing on traditional strength training methods fall down.
- AVERAGE POWER & VELOCITY
- PEAK FORCE & VELOCITY OF ACCELERATION
- RATE OF FORCE DEVELOPMENT
- ABILITY TO STORE/REDIRECT ENERGY
- LEVELS OF ACTIVATION IN THE CNS
- STRONGER MUSCULO-TENDINOUS UNIT
- INCREASE LOWER LIMB STIFFNESS
- MORE SPORT SPECIFIC SPEED & POWER
Over the course of a plyometric programme we want to develop a more efficient CNS that can produce greater levels of force, stronger lower limbs and an overall faster athlete. This is where only focusing on traditional strength training methods fall down.
In the next section I'm going to take you through how I programme them - this is based off my current plyometric programme that's available here.
The programme is split up into three phases performed over 8 weeks.
Phase 1:
Introduction to plyometrics. When starting a new programme this is an ideal place to start. If already doing plyos, you would use this as your deload phase between two programmes. In here the focus is on efficient landing mechanics, keeping volume very low and producing a lot of force. There's no emphasis being placed on short ground contact times because more often than not there is just a dead stop landing instead of repeated exercises. Typically this will last 2-3 weeks (25-30% of the programme) dependent on a person's starting position or the goal of the programme or the time of year.
Phase 2:
In phase 2 you begin to ramp up the intensity. This is the longest part of the programme, typically 3-4 weeks in length (50-60% of the programme). A larger amount of time has to be spent here as you build up the necessary volume of sub-maximal jumps. While phase 1 is focused on building technical proficiency in single jumps with maximal intent, phase two is about stringing together multiple sub-maximal jumps in a cyclical manner making it look a little more representative of what you do in sports. The most crucial point is that they are not done to fatigue - lots of reps induce fatigue and this then results in an inability to perform the exercises to their best. This phase is about getting the timing right and improving your co-ordination and producing the right amount of force in the right direction at the right time to get the correct outcome. The more time spent at this stage, the greater the potential for phase 3 is (obviously this comes with it's limitations too). Throughout the entire phase there's a gentle increase in intensity towards 85-90% but not quite hitting 100% just yet.
Phase 3:
This is the most intense phase and quite typically only lasts about 2 weeks. That's due to the fact that during phase 3, you accumulate a lot of fatigue and place yourself at increased risk of injury. These are used sparingly as if they are used in the wrong place in a training programme, you won't realise the full benefits of these. During phase 3 there's now an introduction of using the 'shock method'. This means increasing the load that's placed on the eccentric phase of the jumps to elicit the greatest possible adaptations. Exercises like depth drops or depth jumps will be very evident in this phase as you are trying to put all the pieces together. That is moving with maximal intent, in a cyclical pattern while trying to keep ground contact times as low as possible. There will be very little exercises in this phase, rest times will be high and focus and intent must be high to match that.
The programme is split up into three phases performed over 8 weeks.
Phase 1:
Introduction to plyometrics. When starting a new programme this is an ideal place to start. If already doing plyos, you would use this as your deload phase between two programmes. In here the focus is on efficient landing mechanics, keeping volume very low and producing a lot of force. There's no emphasis being placed on short ground contact times because more often than not there is just a dead stop landing instead of repeated exercises. Typically this will last 2-3 weeks (25-30% of the programme) dependent on a person's starting position or the goal of the programme or the time of year.
Phase 2:
In phase 2 you begin to ramp up the intensity. This is the longest part of the programme, typically 3-4 weeks in length (50-60% of the programme). A larger amount of time has to be spent here as you build up the necessary volume of sub-maximal jumps. While phase 1 is focused on building technical proficiency in single jumps with maximal intent, phase two is about stringing together multiple sub-maximal jumps in a cyclical manner making it look a little more representative of what you do in sports. The most crucial point is that they are not done to fatigue - lots of reps induce fatigue and this then results in an inability to perform the exercises to their best. This phase is about getting the timing right and improving your co-ordination and producing the right amount of force in the right direction at the right time to get the correct outcome. The more time spent at this stage, the greater the potential for phase 3 is (obviously this comes with it's limitations too). Throughout the entire phase there's a gentle increase in intensity towards 85-90% but not quite hitting 100% just yet.
Phase 3:
This is the most intense phase and quite typically only lasts about 2 weeks. That's due to the fact that during phase 3, you accumulate a lot of fatigue and place yourself at increased risk of injury. These are used sparingly as if they are used in the wrong place in a training programme, you won't realise the full benefits of these. During phase 3 there's now an introduction of using the 'shock method'. This means increasing the load that's placed on the eccentric phase of the jumps to elicit the greatest possible adaptations. Exercises like depth drops or depth jumps will be very evident in this phase as you are trying to put all the pieces together. That is moving with maximal intent, in a cyclical pattern while trying to keep ground contact times as low as possible. There will be very little exercises in this phase, rest times will be high and focus and intent must be high to match that.
BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN EXERCISE YOU WILL LIKELY FIND IN EACH STAGE
PHASE 1: LANDING MECHANICS
PHASE 2: POGO JUMPS
There are several other important factors that come into play when we are considering implementing a plyometric focused training programme. Training experience is one of them. How much training have you got under your belt? Are you a newbie in the gym or have you several months/years of training experience. This will determine your overall long term plan and also how you progress your sessions.
Those with a higher relative strength will also be considered different. Higher levels of strength mean theoretically you can handle more volume/load/advanced exercises. People who have in the region of a 2X bodyweight squat are considered more at the advanced stage and that's a consideration.
Previous injuries. If you have had a lower limb injury then you might not able to partake in a full plyometric programme and it might have to be adapted to suit you properly.
Your sport will also dictate what type of exercises are included. Exercises can be categorised by their direction - linear, lateral or rotational and each when of these will bring their own benefits. Knowing what the demads of your sports are and your primary goal of the programme will help to decide what exercises are included and which ones aren't.
Those with a higher relative strength will also be considered different. Higher levels of strength mean theoretically you can handle more volume/load/advanced exercises. People who have in the region of a 2X bodyweight squat are considered more at the advanced stage and that's a consideration.
Previous injuries. If you have had a lower limb injury then you might not able to partake in a full plyometric programme and it might have to be adapted to suit you properly.
Your sport will also dictate what type of exercises are included. Exercises can be categorised by their direction - linear, lateral or rotational and each when of these will bring their own benefits. Knowing what the demads of your sports are and your primary goal of the programme will help to decide what exercises are included and which ones aren't.
In conclusion plyometrics are a very underutilsied and very potent training stimulus which requires little to no equipment. If you are looking for a change of programme or are looking to truly realise your sporting performance then plyometrics are for you.
Make sure you check out the plyometric programme available here. An 8 week introductory programme designed to help you sprint faster, jump higher and be an all round better athlete.
Make sure you check out the plyometric programme available here. An 8 week introductory programme designed to help you sprint faster, jump higher and be an all round better athlete.
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