Secret sauce ingredient in speed and agility training? Plyometrics To summarize, you will learn the: what (can plyometrics do for you), the why (you should use this sort of training) and the how (it can benefit you). The relation to speed and agility will also be discussed.
Let’s define plyometrics
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 objective is to be able to use more of your strength — faster — thus producing more power.Let me give an example: in basketball plyometric training is used to increase the running vertical jump.
The foundation of plyometric training is simple:
– increase your bodies ability to absorb and store force;- teach you how to release that force — creating a movement which has a lot of power behind it.
The sports that can derive the most benefit from plyometrics are those that involve either throwing, kicking, jumping and lifting. Ex: football, basketball, soccer, power lifting, dick throwing etc.
Benefits of Plyometric Training for Speed and Agility
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. Speed and agility can be developed very quickly with such practices – the best gains come if you have already strengthened your muscles and tendons.
The short term improvements are almost completely atributable to the specific training of the nervous system that plyometrics produce. Because of this pay special attention to these guidelines:
perform only when rested
focus on each and every rep
train harder not longer (no more than 20 reps REGARDLESS of exercise used)always remember to keep the set number under 3 (no more than 3 reps of a given exercise per training session)
Drill this into your head: Train HARDER, not looonger.
Good nutrition is very important for the long terms gains that come with the practice of plyometric training. This is because these long term gains are based on modifications in your body structure. Changes in muscles and tendons will occur.Plyometrics change your body in the sense that they make your muscles and tendons take on elastic properties.
How does a plyometric movement work?
* 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.
The reason plyometric training was so big when it came out in the 70 ’s is that it allowed athletes to specifically train their muscles and tendons to be more spring-like. You naturally use plyometric movements but before plyometric training came out there was no clear cut way to train for this. That is why it was thought for so long that jumping for height for example was an innate ability.
To summarize, plyometrics kill two birds with one stone: they teach your nervous system how to correctly perform movements at higher speeds and they condition your tendons, ligaments and muscles to aquire more spring-like characteristics allowing for greater acceleration. These benefits directly translate into gains in general speed and agility.To further support this process you should also learn about:role of strength in speed and agility training
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
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
Make sure to try this great exercise for speed and agility training and decreasing chance of injury