Who wouldn’t want to improve their performance and become better at their sport? Power is the ability to produce large amounts of force quickly. This is something that all athletes would want to improve as it would make them better at their sport.
If you want to be powerful, you need to do plyometric exercises. These exercises help you use your movement’s speed and force to improve your performance in everyday activities.
What is plyometrics?
Plyometric training is a quick, powerful movement involving a system of reactive exercises and an eccentric contraction, followed immediately by an explosive concentric contraction. You accomplish this through any movement utilizing the Stretch-Shortening Cycle.
Plyometric training is often interchangeable with power training. However, as some traditionally use plyometric training to define a specific movement pattern in which three distinct phases of movement occur rapidly, not all power training is plyometric training (though all plyometric training is considered power training).
Power is the ability to produce large amounts of force quickly. Are there any athletes that would not want to improve their ability to generate power or increase their explosive strength?
What about those seeking to improve general fitness? Power is essential for all three groups. By incorporating plyometric exercises into training programs, you can harness the speed and force of movement for improved performance and daily activities.
The 3 Components of Plyometric Patterns: The Stretch-Shortening Cycle
Plyometric exercises have three distinct components: an eccentric, an amortization, and a concentric phase that releases the explosive force. These three components make up a stretch-shortening cycle.
Eccentric Component
During the eccentric component, the muscle is pre-stretched, storing potential energy in its elastic elements. The eccentric phase can be called deceleration, absorption, loading, yielding, or the cocking phase.
Both examples of the eccentric component are when basketball players bend their knees and lower their arms before a rebound shot or when a baseball player pulls his arm back before a throw to first base.
Amortization Component
The amortization component is a time of dynamic stabilization during which the muscle transitions from overcoming the acceleration of gravity and loading the energy to releasing it. The potential elastic energy can be lost if this segment lasts too long.
(Note: the value of the Non Countermovement or “Pause Jump” is seen here as the emphasis of the movement pattern can be placed upon pure RFD components and minimize the collective impact as well as elastic elements). The shorter the amortization segment, the more influential the results.
Concentric Component
Unloading the elastic energy occurs next in the concentric phase, which adds to the tension generated in a concentric muscle contraction. This is where the athlete releases the stored and redirected energy, jumping for the basket or slinging the ball to the first base.
Plyometric Programs 101
Plyometric programs are generally developed and progressed consistent with movement complexity, skill level or mastery, the plane of movement, exercise progression choice, and, most importantly, volume and intensity.
The number of foot contacts determines volume (e.g., each time you land or catch = 1 reference) or upper-extremity contacts completed (e.g., each time you see a ball = 1 contact).
The plyometric activity’s intensity is primarily related to variables such as the amount of acceleration due to gravity placed on the body, the amount of impact, whether the pattern is bilateral or unilateral, and what complexity is built into the design.
An integrated strength and conditioning program should encompass; enough time to perform high volumes of plyometric and power work if everything is to be addressed in a 60 – 90 minute session with 2-4 sessions per week. Further, it can be argued that to maximize neural and elastic components of power/plyometric training. Volumes should be kept lower to optimize rest and intensity for loaded power and strength.
Regardless, training good form with inexperienced individuals or allowing adequate dynamic warmups with more experienced individuals to reinforce good mechanics are critical to success and avoiding injury.
When designing plyometric programs, as long as the volumes and intensities align with the OPT recommendations, planning can allow for jump and power training 2-4 days per week to maximize learning progress and address all plane vectors necessary for integrated performance enhancement.
Use lower-intensity drills (e.g., jumps-in-place, single linear jumps like one plyo box jump) and moderate intensity-drills (multi-directional jumps or multiple linear jumps like a continuous set of plyo box jumps for 10 seconds) as part of your warmup or as exercises more frequently throughout the week.
The Benefits of Plyometrics
Of the many benefits of plyometric training, some of the more recognized are:
- Increased vertical jump height
- Increased long-jump distance
- Increased strength
- Improved running speed, agility, and quickness
- Injury reduction
- Improved throwing, hitting, and striking velocity
Several reasons have been found as to the realized benefits of utilizing plyometrics:
- The rapid eccentric movement followed by immediate concentric contraction enhances power output by 10-15%
- Increased explosive strength due to improved rate of force development RFD
- Increased reactive strength due to more excellent storage and re-utilization of elastic energy
- Improved ability to transfer force through the joints and minimize energy leaks
- Increased active state/force preload (pre-tension developed in anticipation of power output)
- Enhanced Stretch Reflex (Muscle Spindle/more significant contraction
- Decreased co-contraction of the antagonist
- Storage and re-utilization of elastic energy (series flexible component: tendon and aponeurosis)
- Desensitization of the GTO
- Enhanced neuromuscular efficiency
Plyometrics is interchangeably termed reactive training. From this perspective, it is essentially about how the body interacts with ground surfaces. Quickly responding to an unexpected change in the shell when stepping off a curb or rapidly changing direction when walking a dog on a leash are possible examples clients may encounter.
Begin with activities focusing on plyometric stabilization exercises, even using regressions such as step-up/step-down or step-up/step-down to the front on a low box or bench.
You can later progress to jumping jacks, lunge jumps, or tuck jumps.
Powerful Plyometric Bodyweight Exercises for Strength and Speed
How to use this list
Before starting, remember that plyometric training is not intended for workout newbies or those recovering from injuries. You’ll need to focus on good form and all-out effort. That’s why it’s best to do these at the start of a workout before your muscles fatigue and your performance slows.
If you’re new to plyo, focus on three or four moves at the start of your workout (after a solid warmup, of course). Do 2–3 sets and 3–5 reps per set. Perform the moves 2–4 times per week, with 48–72 hours of rest between sessions.
Beginner
1. Plyo push-up
Perform a standard push-up, but as you push up, use enough force that both hands leave the floor, and you can quickly clap them together before landing.
2. Squat thruster
From a high plank position, jump feet forward into a wide squat and bring your hands off the floor, either into a prayer position or in front of your chest.
Keep back straight, shoulders down, and chest out while in the low squat. Pause for a second, then place hands on the floor and jump feet back into the high plank position. Repeat as quickly as possible.
3. Plyo lateral lunge
Stand with your feet close together and your arms at your sides. Brace your core, send your hips back, and step to the right with your right foot, bending your right knee and keeping your left leg straight as you reach a low lunge.
You may find it helpful to hold your arms straight in front of you or in a prayer position while in the low lunge to help maintain balance.
In one fluid movement, push off the right foot and hop the right foot to the place of the left foot as you simultaneously send the left foot out. Come into a low lunge on the left side. Think of it as a side step with a hop. Continue to alternate sides.
4. Reverse lunge with knee-up
Stand with feet hip-width apart and step right foot back, coming into a low reverse lunge. Shift all your weight to the left foot, engage your glutes, and brace the core.
Bring the right foot forward and simultaneously jump off the left foot, bringing the right knee to the chest. Land softly on the left foot and immediately step back into a low lunge to repeat.
Intermediate
5. Burpee with tuck jump
Do a burpee. As you stand up at the end of your burpee, instead of doing an average hop, jump and bring both knees up as high as possible, tucking knees to chest. Land softly on the balls of your feet and go right into your next burpee.
6. Lateral triple jump
This move teaches you to change directions quickly and powerfully. Stand on your right foot, bend your knee slightly, brace the core, and hop to the right as far as possible, landing on your right foot. Immediately leap forward to land on your left foot.
Focus on stretching both legs as long as possible in the air (think of a ballet dancer leaping). Finish by extending the right leg, jumping forward with the right foot, and then quickly bringing feet together mid-jump to land lightly on both feet.
Repeat on the other side by hopping to the left with the left foot, leaping forward with the right foot, and then jumping with the left foot and landing on both feet.
7. Alternating lunge jump
Start into a low lunge by stepping forward with the right foot and allowing both knees to bend. Keep core braced and right knee over the right ankle.
Shift your weight onto your right foot and jump up, changing your lunge stance in midair so that you land with your left foot forward and right foot back.
Immediately drop into a low lunge on the left, shift your weight to your left foot, and jump up, switching stance in midair to return to the starting position. Aim for height, not speed. This one is about generating vertical power and landing as lightly as possible.
8. Tuck jump
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and hips back, as if you were beginning a squat.
Now spring up into the highest jump possible, bringing knees to chest. Land softly on your toes in the starting position. Immediately jump back up, resting as little as possible between jumps.
Advanced
9. Kneeling jump squat
Ready to kick things up a notch? Begin this move by kneeling on the floor with knees slightly wider than hips. Draw arms back, then forcefully swing them forward to generate enough momentum to jump into a squat position, landing on both feet.
Think about using your core and glutes to help generate power for this move. To return to the starting position, step right foot back, coming down onto the right knee. Then bring your left foot back and come down onto the left knee.
Make it easier: You may want to practice this move with stacked yoga mats or towels for padding.
10. Full-body plyometric push-up
Start in a high plank position. Lower to the bottom of a push-up, with elbows wide and at a 90-degree angle. Explosively push through your hands and keep an extremely tight core so that your entire body momentarily floats off the floor.
Keep your core tight upon landing so that your hips don’t drop toward the floor and you land in a high plank. Move right into the next rep.
11. Single-leg deadlift into jump
Stand on the left leg with the knee slightly bent. Bend forward at hips, allowing your right leg to come up behind you, like a drinking bird naturally. Continue until the right leg and chest are parallel to the floor.
In one quick movement, swing your arms forward, raise your chest, and use your left foot to push off the floor, bringing your right knee up toward your chest.
Softly land on the left foot and slowly lower back into the bent-over position, attempting to keep the proper foot off the floor throughout.
12. Plyometric push-ups to squat
Using that burst of energy, “clap” your hands off the ground, propelling your body upward. Finish by fully extending your arms until they’re straight, then land in a low squat. Start in a push-up position, then push through your hands to generate momentum. “Clap” your hands off the ground and extend your arms, then land in a squat.
No matter how high you jump, always land in a deep squat and immediately jump back into the push-up position.
The Workout
Do 2–3 sets of 3–5 reps of each move below. Add this workout to your routine, or do it on its own 2–4 times per week.
Burpee with tuck jump
Squat thruster
Reverse lunge with knee-up
Judo roll into a jump (or kneeling squat jump for advanced folks)
