[John Evans is a Exercise Science major at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and is an Athletic Development Intern at Athletic Lab]

Plyometrics are a unique tool that many coaches use throughout training to increase muscle elasticity, proprioception, and eccentric loading.

To understand what is happening during plyometrics, think about the muscle as a giant rubber band that stores energy. The muscle is stretched, or contracted eccentrically, and then shortens concentrically, similar to pulling a rubber band back and releasing it from your finger.

This could have huge implications on training: Dynamic starts in weightlifting, bouncing out of the bottom of a heavy clean or squat, the step through in a baseball throw, jumping during volleyball, and even sprinting.

Some examples of plyometrics include: sprinting, jumping, hopping, medicine ball throws, clapping pushups, clapping pullups, and bounding.

Some more specific examples include:
Medicine ball throws: Over Head Backwards, Chest Pass Forward, Rotational Throws, Opposing Side Backwards
Jumps: Rocket Jumps, Star Jumps, Squat Jumps, Knee Tuck Jumps, Butt Tuck Jumps, Depth Jumps, Depth Catches, Standing Long Jump, Box Jumps
Hops: Single Leg hops, Stair Hops, Galloping
Skips: Fast Skip, High Skips
Bounding: Alternate Leg Bounds
Pulls and Pushes: Clap Pushups, Clap Pullups,

So you might be wondering, “When and How do I utilize this awesome tool in training”

Well, to start, it is naive to think that this one tool has the same effect on every individual. Some people will respond well, while others may see little to no improvement. Nevertheless, when referring to your performance, every ounce, centimeter, and second counts, so it may be worthwhile to add some plyometrics into your training.

Contrary to common belief, there is no specific strength prerequisite to begin using plyometrics, but some suggest that squatting body weight is a good benchmark to assess whether an athlete can handle lower body high-level plyometrics. More so then one’s ability to squat their body weight, it may be more realistic to look at the athlete performing simple or basic plyometrics and assessing whether or not the athlete should continue to progress. It is more about coordinating the movement then anything else.

Some good indicators as to if one should progress plyometrics include:

Is the athlete able to control the eccentric loading (Catch, or landing)?
Does the athlete need to take a small hop between jumps?
Does the athlete appear to be bouncing, or do they appear stuck to the ground?
Does it look controlled and coordinated, or do the athletes look confused and unable to perform the task?
How high or far are they displacing?

There are various types of plyometrics, but there are some key things to remember if you want to gain the full benefit of them:

Effort: One intense plyometric action is better than one hundred. If the quality is not there, you may not be overloading the body enough to receive the full benefit of the exercise. As a rule of thumb, perform at max effort unless other wise noted.

Volume: This goes hand in hand with effort; the more intense, the lower the volume. As a rule of thumb, I wouldn’t suggest going above 12 repetitions per set in a given exercise. If the exercise is relatively difficult, it may be wise to keep the reps at around 1-3 to enhance quality. Total volume could range anywhere from 5 to 40 reps.

Technique: Doing the exercise correctly can ultimately change the stress placed on the body. For example, if an individual is doing a depth jump and is landing on their heels and not fully extending, the exercise is of little or no benefit. It is not achieving the goal of the exercise.

Loading: No plyometric is created equally. Every plyometric is a specific tool that loads the body very differently. For example, landing on two feet from a 12″ box is less intense than landing with one foot off of a 12″ box. Try to choose exercises that match the athlete’s ability.

Specificity: This is tricky, as some bilateral (two footed) exercises yield great benefits for accelerating the body during sprinting. One way to achieve this goal with a track athlete might be starting with double leg bounds and progressing to a single leg variation after proficiency is met.

Injury: As with any other method of training, there is always a risk of injury. Due to the nature of plyometrics, the Central Nervous System is prone to fatiguing. Over time, overuse injuries could occur if not done in the appropriate doses and with correct technique.

When should I use plyometrics?

This isn’t an easily answered question, but here are some training scenarios in which plyometrics can be utilized.

In complexes with Olympic Lifts or Squats: This phenomenon is called Post Synaptic Potentiation. In essence you’re teaching the body to fire more motor units faster during a specific movement.

In a Warm-up: Some athletes benefit from doing low-level plyometrics during a warm-up to increase connective tissue elasticity and prime the nervous system for the activities at hand

Within a general session: This may seem like a blanket statement, but place the plyometric within the session based on where you want the quality to be. If your focus is Olympic lifting, you may want to focus on Olympic lifting early and plyometrics later in the session.

Take Home Points

Plyometrics are comprised of throwing and jumping
Quality over quantity
Progress slowly to higher level plyometrics
Don’t overdo it

Reference:
Radcliffe, J.C., & Robert C.F. (1999). High-powered Plyometrics. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.