April 24th, 2010 
admin I’d like to talk to you about plyometrics and exactly what this practice can do for you. 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.
The basics of plyometrics:
Originally popularized in the Soviet Union and adopted worldwide to its spectacular training effects plyometric training has the purpose of linking speed of movement with strength resulting in greater power. Theory is: If you use the same strength, faster, power will improve. If you use more energy, faster, power will be geometrically higher.Just, to give you a practical example of plyometric training, to think about basketball. In this sport plyometrics are used to increase the current vertical jump athlete.
The foundation of plyometric training is simple:
– 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.
Plyomentrics can also Influence Speed and Agility
The first thing that plyometric training does is strengthen your muscles and tendons. The second thing is that it improves your nervous control over your body. These side effects can quickly and nimbly to quickly improve – especially if you already have a well-developed muscles.
Short-term benefits in speed and agility, as a result of the inclusion of plyometric exercises come from the formation of your nervous system. That is why you must pay close attention to these instructions(plus it will also proove to YOU that this gets results and thus you more likely to stick with it and also get the long term gains):
never train unless properly rested
you must train with intensity and presence
* keep the rep number low (no more than 20 regardless of the exercise used)do not perform more than 3 sets per training session (no matter the difficulty of the particular exercise)
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. Plyometric training will change the structure of your muscles and tendons.Plyometrics change your body in the sense that they make your muscles and tendons take on elastic properties.
Nuts and Bolts of a Plyometric Movement:
* 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 and agility training and protein
The question is: how do I adapt the principles of plyometric training to my speed and agility training? The answer is, and you aren’t going to like it, by tailoring your plyometric training to the specific speed and agility requirements of the sport that you are practicing. This is a long discussion and goes way beyond the scope of this article. Click here to learn more about: Speed and Agility Training
In this article you have learned:
* 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.
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