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Plyometric
exercises are used to develop explosive power. In plyometric
exercise, overload is applied to skeletal muscle in a manner
that rapidly stretches the muscle (an eccentric or stretch
phase) immediately prior to the concentric or shortening phase
of action. It is this "prestretch" that activates
the muscles natural elastic recoil elements.
This action
then augments the following concentric muscle action in the
opposite direction (and produces more force than a non-prestretch
contraction). This is called the 'stretch-reflex'.
Also,
during the stretch reflex the muscles and tendons elongate
and the elastic tendencies of muscle develops stored energy.
Plyometric
exercise can be in the form of:
- Depth
jumps (from boxes of varying heights)
- Multiple
jumps (e.g. single/double leg bounding)
- Rebound
exercises (e.g. clap press ups)
- Medicine-ball
work (e.g. catches and throws)
Research
has indicated that with plyometric training, greater power
will be produced if the depth and rate of the movement is
short and rapid rather than large and slow. This means that
bounding/jumping should be done quickly and depth jump
heights
should not be too large.
With plyometric
exercise similar rules to weight training apply. Generally,
up to ten reps can be done per exercise with 2-4 sets of each.
Rests should allow quality to be maintained and technique
is very important. A sound base of strength is required to
perform more difficult exercises safely.
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