Posts Tagged ‘plyometric exercises’

Upper And Lower Body Plyometric Exercises

Monday, September 6th, 2010

Plyometrics is one form of exercise that can definitely help you boost your jump. Remember that if you are not doing plyometric exercises correctly, no matter how long you do these, you would still not see any result. If plyometric exercises are done correctly, these can increase a person’s jump in just a few weeks.

Plyometric exercises could be done to both your lower and upper body. It has been proven that upper body plyometrics can raise an athlete’s performance in volleyball, baseball, basketball, softball, tennis, badminton, and others. On the other hand, plyometric exercises in the lower body are used by players in sports like hockey, basketball, baseball, football, sprinting, soccer, track and field, and others.

When it comes to intensity, you must be aware that plyometric exercises also have different intensities. Low intensity plyometrics are some jumps and throws while high intensity plyometrics are depth jumps that are 32 to 48 inches. Bounding exercises are of submaximal intensity while depth jumps of 8 to 20 inches are of moderate intensity.

Furthermore, you must remember to begin from low intensity exercises and gradually progress to high intensity exercises. Also, using weighted vests or ankle weights is not recommended with performing plyometric exercises since these will only lessen the speed and quality of movements because of the additional load. The ideal frequency of doing plyometric exercises is only 3 to 4 times each week and the repetitions must be kept between 75 to 100 only.

When doing plyometric exercises, it is also very important to warm up first. Toe jogging and straight leg jogging are the recommended warm up drills prior to doing plyometrics.

An upper body plyometric exercise is called the squat throw. Start by standing with your feet slightly wider apart and knees bent slightly. Squat to a parallel position while you hold the medicine ball towards your chest. Then, explode and jump as high and as quickly as you possibly can. Remember to shoulder press the ball as you start your jump. At the peak, your arms must be fully extended upwards. Then throw the ball into the air as high as you can. Also, it must be a quick squat, do not spend too much time in the squat position. At the end, catch the ball and repeat the entire exercise.

A lower body plyometric exercise is known as the split squat jump. Start by standing on your feet which are hip-width apart. With your left leg, step back around 2 feet and stand on the ball of your left foot. Your feet must be at a staggered position. Your head and back should be straight and erect in a neutral position. Lower your body by bending at the right hip and knee until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Then, quickly jump vertically. While in the air, switch your foot making your back foot land in front. Always remember that before jumping, ankles must be in full plantar flexion.

To ensure that you benefit the most from your plyometric exercises, rest in between sessions, do the exercises correctly, and ask for supervision.

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Sample Exercises For Plyometric Training

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Athletes train to continuously improve their performance. If you love playing a certain sport, you will definitely strive to always get better at it by doing training exercises. And one of these different training exercises is plyometric training.

It has been shown that plyometric training can improve the agility, speed, power, and strength of an athlete. Through plyometrics, athletes are able to train their muscles to produce a lot of force in the quickest time possible. Because of plyometric training, athletes in volleyball, track, and field, basketball, baseball, and others have improved their performance. When doing plyometric training, you must be aware of three important things: how to do them correctly, frequency, and intensity. you must be aware of the importance of these factors to ensure that your plyometric training will be effective.

There are different exercises that you must do in your plyometric training. And it is not important to just merely perform these exercises. Proper execution of each exercise is what of utmost importance. Improper execution of the various plyometric exercises leads to two things: injuries and lack of results.

Aside from properly executing the plyometric exercises, it is also important to know how often you must do these. You cannot do plyometric exercises every day in the hopes that this will hasten your improvement. You must remember to give time for your muscles to rest or you would just strain them too much. With plyometric exercises, these should be done three to four times a week. With regards to repetitions, these should not be more than between 75 to 100.

Another important thing that you must be aware of is the intensity of different plyometric exercises. Before doing plyometrics, it is important to warm-up first with an exercise like toe jogging. Plus, you must always start from low intensity exercises and progress slowly to moderate and high intensity ones. Remember that you must never begin with exercises that are of high or moderate intensity especially if you have no previous training. You will only be hurting yourself if you begin with high intensity exercises.

Now you know the importance of these three factors in plyometric training and you must remember these as you do exercises like the ones cited below.

One example of a plyometric exercise is Bounding with Rings which starts with a jog in order to get forward momentum. After a few feet of jogging, you must push off using he left foot and your right leg must be in front. While doing that, swing your left arm forward and with your right foot, land on the first ring to the left. You must repeat all these with the other arm and leg and the second ring to your right is the spot where you should land.

Another plyometric exercise is called the Overhead Throws. Start with knees slightly bent and one foot in front. Pull the medicine ball behind your head and forcefully throw it towards the wall. As the ball bounces off the wall, catch it. Repeat everything based on prescribed repetitions.

If you want to enhance your athletic performance, look into doing plyometric training since this has been proven effective in different kinds of sports.

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Can Plyometrics Help Athletic Performance?

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Every athlete wants to continuously improve his or her game. If you are an athelete, you may want to be able to jump higher, throw farther, hit harder, or run faster. And you definitely train to achieve that. In this article, you will learn about the basics of plyometrics and how it could definitely bring you to the top.

Do you know what plyometrics is all about? If you have done plyometrics before, you already know how it can improve your overall performance as an athlete. Considered a form of exercise, plyometrics trains athletes in producing powerful movements in the least amount of time. Therefore, if you are into any type of sport, you will definitely need to improve on your speed, strength, agility, and power all the time. And plyometrics can definitely improve all of these.

Plyometrics has three phases: eccentric muscle action or pre-stretch, amortization, and muscle contraction. In the eccentric muscle action phase, also called pre-stretch phase, production and storage of elastic energy happens.

Amortization phase is known as the time after the stretch but before the concentric muscle action. Simply put, this is the time between stretching and contracting the muscle. Remember that the shorter the amortization phase is, the more powerful the muscle contraction will be. And remember that a muscle could produce a greater amount of force if it stores elastic energy while lengthened and loaded before the contraction. Aside from that, elastic energy is known to dissipate fast which means that concentric muscle action must definitely follow eccentric muscle action quickly. Muscle contraction is the third phase of plyometric movements. These three stages of plyometric movements are collectively called the stretch-shortening cycle.

In the previously-mentioned phases, the plyometric movements are able to affect the muscle-tendon component. And there is another component influenced by plyometric movements known as the neurological component.

In the neurological component, there is increased excitatory response from the golgi tendon organs which lessens the possibility of limiting force production when the muscle has already increased its tension. This creates greater contraction force than any other form of exercise can do. Aside from that, plyometric movements can also enhance training ability.

The use of plyometric movements trains the neurons to contract with one powerful surge instead of several contractions. This way, quick and powerful movements are produced from a stronger and faster muscle contraction. Studies have established that repeated use of plyometric movements can definitely increase the efficiency of the neuromuscular connections between the muscles and the brain.

It is a fact that exceeding and unsupervised performance of plyometric movements could lead to injuries. According to studies, repetitions must only be limited to 75 to 100. Plus, it is advisable to undergo plyometrics training thrice or four times a week only. Studies have also proven the efficiency of plyometric movements in training athletes to become better as long as there is supervision and the movements are done properly.

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Increase Your Jump With Plyometric Workouts

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Have you been a basketball player for a long time now? Do you enjoy playing basketball a lot that you are always looking for ways to improve? If you said yes to these questions, you may already be performing various workouts to improve your skills and abilities. Do you happen to read or know something about plyometric workouts?

Whether this is your first time to encounter the term plyometrics or not, this article will help you learn more information about this. It may be a new word to you but plyometrics is not really a new term. In fact, plyometrics has been here since the 1960’s. Unfortunately, very few people were aware of plyometrics before. Most athletes do endurance workouts, weight training, and others. Only a few people ever did plyometric workouts before.

Plyometrics is very helpful most especially in increasing your jump. In plyometrics, your muscles will be trained to create a lot of force in a very short time. This is because plyometric exercises are geared towards improving your quickness and strength as these two factors will create the explosion which you need. In addition, every aspect that is important to increasing your jump can be improved by plyometric exercises. Plyometric workouts look at strength, agility, endurance, form, speed, and flexibility. Plyometric exercises do not ignore any of these factors.

If you are only starting out with plyometric training, you must remember about three important things: execution, intensity, and frequency. You must have enough discipline to observe proper execution, frequency, and intensity of the various exercises. Sometimes, people are too excited to see the results of their hard work that they do their workouts really fast. Sadly, with this wrong attitude, people make mistakes when they are working out.

For you to experience the benefits of the exercises, you must value proper execution. For instance, you must follow the instructions that are stated for every exercise. Do not rush into finishing the exercise while sacrificing its right execution. There have been reports from athletes saying that they did not get the results that they hoped for. And looking into the way that they did the workout, lack of proper execution was the usual reason.

Plyometric exercises also have different intensities just like any other kind of exercise does. Therefore, beginning with the low-intensity exercises is the best way to begin. Never think that you will be able to improve faster if you begin with the high-intensity exercises. On the contrary, doing that will only make you get injured faster.

When you exercise, it is advisable to rest your muscles for at least 24 hours at the end of every session. Doing this for at least 24 hours will give your muscles time to rest and repair. Not giving your muscles time to rest will only strain them causing them to be more vulnerable to injuries. Also, the ideal frequency of plyometric exercises is 3 to 4 times a week. Plus the repetitions must not be more than 100.

Now that you have read how plyometric workouts could help you increase your jump, start doing these today. If you want to get the best plyometric workout there is, get a copy of the Jump Manual.

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