What is plyometric training?

Plyometric training is a type of exercise training that focuses on improving how quickly muscles produce force.  Success in most functional activities depends on how fast muscle force is generated.  Therefore, to improve function and performance, we must teach our body how to generate force quickly.  A progressive exercise program that incorporates plyometric training allows us to do this.  This type of training involves powerful muscular contractions in response to a rapid stretching or loading of the muscles being used.  As our muscles stretch, they store potential elastic energy, similar to when a rubber band is stretched.  Once they shorten, or unload, the stored potential energy is turned into kinetic energy, which creates movement.  The faster we become at stretching and shortening, or loading and unloading our muscles, the more quickly we can generate force, and the more powerful we will be.  Many plyometric exercises for the lower body involve jumping, whereas upper body plyometric exercises involve the use of medicine balls or explosive bodyweight movements.  There are different levels of plyometric exercises that can be used in an exercise program based on the desired goals and abilities of the exerciser.  Caution should be taken when incorporating plyometric training into an exercise program due to their intense nature.  It is easy to do too much too soon, which could potentially lead to injury.      

Plyometric training is method of training muscle elastic strength. Ploymetrics is a mixture of intensity, speed and strength to develop explosive power to enhance athletic performance.

Plyometric training is mainly short, explosive, actions that improve reaction increasing strength, power, speed, quickness, agility and weight-loss if performed quickly in circuits.

Think bouncing ball when jumping, ball hits ground (jumping down) it swells (contracted air-thigh muscles contract) due to impact weight and pressure forces ball to regain shape (stretches back-thigh muscles stretch) creating explosive force to bounce back (jumping up).  Same idea for push-ups with clap.

Beginners must progressively integrate this form of training to reduce injury and intermediate to advanced may enhance with bands, tubing or medicine-balls for added resistance.

Plyometric exercises are specialized and very intense training techniques, which are used to develop muscular power, referring to the relationship between strength and speed. Plyometrics include any exercise where the muscle is contracted eccentrically (stretched) then immediately moved concentrically (contracted). The ability to generate a force in a short time allows for athletic movements beyond what strength alone will allow. For a muscle to cause movement, it contracts concentrically. Various muscles have different maximum amounts of power with which they can contract. However, if the muscle is lengthened (eccentric contraction) just prior to the contraction, it will actually produce more power. In order to produce this effect, the time between the eccentric contraction and the concentric contraction must be very short.

An example of a plyometric exercise is push-ups with a clap in between each push-up. In this case, the pectoral muscles are elongated and loaded by the downward force of your body, stretching eccentrically, then immediately contracted to push the body back up, stretching concentrically. The clap push-up, as opposed to a normal push-up, ensures that there is only a short amount of time between the eccentric and concentric contractions of the muscle. Examples of lower body plyometrics include depth jumps, multiple jumps, marches and lateral jumps, often involving boxes or platforms, and weight vests. Mid-section plyometrics include the broomstick twist, and twists, side-throws and sit-ups using a medicine ball. Upper body plyometrics involve medicine ball exercises and different types of push-ups.

While plyometrics have been shown to increase power, experts' opinions vary regarding the safety of these exercises. Many well-respected fitness experts argue the benefits and effectiveness of plyometric exercise. However, there are others who strongly deny these benefits and argue that plyometric exercises are extremely unsafe and the risk of injury far outweighs any potential benefits. Most experts state that a thorough grounding in weight-training is essential before starting plyometrics.

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