Posts Tagged ‘plyometrics’

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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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Jumping Into Plyometrics: How To Choose The Right Plyometrics Product

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Due to the popular demand for plyometrics today, so many online sites and downloadable online manuals on this subject are available. One of the different online sites about plyometrics is Jumping Into Plyometrics. Besides the online resources, you can also visit different bookstores and see lots of published manuals. And the multitude of choices makes decision-making a little confusing.

Among these different choices of online resources about plyometrics, which one is the best? The best thing to do is to compare all the resources. If you can get referrals from friends and family, that will already shorten your list fast. But never let laziness get in the way of the research. Remember that you need the research so that you will not be wasting your money in buying the wrong material.

First, read and understand the information regarding these sites and manuals. Find out what they really offer and the benefits of their programs. Remember that you may surely see these manuals and sites considering themselves as the best ones. Therefore, the next best thing that you could do is to look for user reviews. Do not just depend on the user reviews that you will find on the manual or websites themselves. Try looking for other reviews that you can find online.

Remember that users would willingly write their reviews about a product most especially of they loved or hated it. With these user reviews, you will learn about other people’s experiences when they used the product. If you encounter lots of negative feedback on a specific material, remove that from your list. But if you find a program that has so many positive feedback, you definitely need to take a closer look at that product.

Now that your list is shorter, look at the background information of the materials which are still on the list. Be sure to compare the information like freebies, add-ons, features, and benefits. And of course, you definitely need to look at the price. Never believe that the most expensive one is always the best. Now, taking all these information, think about which of these products is the best buy for you. Then, you can make your decision.

A few months back, I was searching for a jump manual to purchase. And my list came down to two: Jump Manual and Jumping Into Plyometrics.

The Jump Manual could be downloaded straight to your PC while Jumping Into Plyometrics is a website exclusively for its members. Again, I looked at the respective user reviews, prices, add-ons, benefits, features, and freebies. I weighed the pros and cons for a couple of days.

Both had their specific advantages and disadvantages. With Jump Manual, I could download the training videos right into my iPod and I really found this very convenient. With Jumping Into Plyometrics, since it is a website, I cannot view the videos all the time since I cannot bring my laptop everywhere I go. After considering all the information that I got for the products, I decided to buy the Jump Manual instead of Jumping Into Plyometrics. And I am very happy because I chose the right product.

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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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How To Slam Dunk: Improve Your Jump Now

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

People are in awe when they see the likes of Kobe Bryant in midair poised to make a spectacular slam dunk. And the ability to make slam dunks like Kobe Bryant does is something that basketball players from all over the world would love to have. Can someone still have such ability if he or she would learn how to slam dunk? With this article, you will find important tips on how to make a slam dunk.

What makes a slam dunk extraordinary? Aside from the two points from a slam dunk, it can definitely boost the morale of the team. Of course, having the ability to jump so high and reach the hoop is not easy. It is really exceptional because not everyone has the ability to jump so high in order to make slam dunk.

A player’s jumping ability is one of the key elements that makes a successful slam dunk. One of the first things that a baskeball player must learn in making a slam dunk is how to have the jumping ability that will make him touch the rim of the hoop. Therefore, if you want to make slam dunks, you must strive to get your jump into that level.

For you to learn how to jump so high, you have to keep in mind two important things: form and flexibility. Form and flexibility are very essential in order for your muscles to generate enough force that will help you jump so high. And so, it is important to ensure that all your exercises target the improvement of your form and flexibility.

Flexibility is essential most especially that of your hamstrings and hip flexors. If you have tight hamstrings, you cannot have full knee extension. And if your hip flexors are tight, these can lessen your hip extension.

Furthermore, good muscle flexibility will give you good muscle contraction, body control, strength, and maximal output. If your muscles can contract with less resistance since these are flexible, these can create maximal force which will help you propel high up into the air. Also, flexibility can surely lessen the risk of getting injuries. If each muscle in your body is flexible, not one will need to overcompensate for a tight muscle.

A lot of people neglect form but this is also one important aspect. It is wrong to believe that form is merely for aesthetics. Always remember that form is not just looking great while you soar in the air. Form is focused on the proper movement of your entire body to make that high jump and that is what looking great means. Remember that it would not merely be your legs which will work to create such a jump. Your entire body must have synchronized movements since this could definitely help in creating that jump.

Therefore, you can improve your form and flexibility through certain types of exercises. Doing plyometric exercises is one of the effective ways to improve your jump. When you go through plyometrics, your flexibility, form, agility, and strength are improved. Plyometrics enables you to train your muscles in producing maximal force in the shortest possible time. Many athletes who did plyometric exercises were able to learn how to slam dunk.

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