Plyometric Trainig is what is what can be reffered to as the secret sauce ingredient that can blast your speed and agility training into the stratosphere. I’m going to talk about: plyometrics — exactly what it is and what it is supposed to do, the general benefits you can get from it and finally, ways in which this sort of training can be used for the purposes of speed and agility.
Let’s explore what plyometrics actaully are
Considered to have first been discovered in Russia, and pretty soon adopted across the world for its spectacular training effects plyometric training has a simple goal: to better link strength and speed with the result of great improvements in power output.The theory goes like this: if you use the same strength, faster, the power will improve. If you use more strength, faster, the power will be geometrically higher.An example of application of plyometrics in a sport that requires a lot of speed and agility is doing a vertical jump for height in basketball.
Plyometric training aims to improve two things:
– harnessing your bodies ability to absorb and store force;- releasing that force quickly (resulting in spetacular power output);
Traditional sports endeavors who have benefited a lot from these types of exercises are those that involve throwing, kicking, jumping and lifting.
Speed and Agility are Improved by Plyometric Training
First of all, you should realize that plyometric drills train both muscles and tendons to absorb force, they also train your mind to stabilize and control that force. This crosses over into improvements in speed and agility — gains are improved in individuals who already have good muscular development.
The short term gains in speed and agility that result from incorporating plyometric exercises come from the education of your nervous system. Due to this it is very important that you pay close attention to following instructions (this will proove to YOU that this type of training produces resulsts and you are more likely to follow it and experience the long term gains as well):
* only perform when rested
you must train with intensity and presence
remember to keep your rep number under 20 — this is regardless of the drill you are usingwhatever the difficulty of the exercise do not perform more than 3 sets for a particular exercise
Drill this into your head: Train HARDER, not looonger.
Long term gains with plyometric training will result more from changes in body composition — a focus on good nutrition and avoidance of injury is very important to the results you see with plyometrics. The structure of your muscles and tendons will be modified.You should be aware that practiced over a longer period of time, the results of plyometric training will make your muscles and tendons and make them have more spring.
Here is an explanation of how a plyometric movement works:
* first the body absorbs and stabilizes the force from a negative (eccentric) contraction
* as it does this, it loads up your muscles and tendons with force (think of it like a compressing a spring)
* the spring unloads and the body (for legs) or an object (for arms) is propelled with astounding speed
Here’s an example,when you cock back your arm to throw a rock the natural thing you do is to first cock your arm backwards. The effect of this is that the muscles of your arm and shoulder muscles lock, forcing your tendons to stretch thus storing a lot of force in those tendons and essentially turning them into loaded springs. When you throw, the stored force is released, allowing the rock to be accelerated at a rate which is higher than your normal rate of force development.
What really popularized plyometrics back in the seventies was the fact that it produced results and soviet athletes started to dominate many athletic fields. The beauty of plyometric training is that it allows you to make your muscles and tendons behave more like elastic bands or springs — storing force and then releasing it. And the fact of the matter is that before this, there was no known way to train for these aspects — leading many people to believe that such acts as a running for height jump were completely genetically driven abilities.
As I said before, the more you use this type of training the more you will also develop an inherent springiness in your muscles and tendons. Coupled with an increased nervous system learning on how to corectly perform the movement at higher speeds, you can expect to see massive improvements in your speed and agility.To further support this process you should also learn about:speed,agility and strength
How do I adapt the principles of plyometric training to my sport specific speed and agility needs? You have to take the basic movement you want to improve and inflic a pattern of force absorbtion and controlled force release upon it. I know that this isn’t a totally enlightening answer, but the truth is that the answer depends on the sport in question. I have provided a link though. Click here to learn more about: Speed and Agility Training
To summarize this article:
* what plyometrics are
* how plyometrics work
* the role of plyometrics as part of your speed and agility training
* the benefits you can expect when introducing plyometric drills into yours speed and agility training
I also recommend you check out this article and learn this very usefull exercise for speed and agility training and preventing injuries.
