Plyometrics

After yesterdays interview with Nigel Lewis, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look at some of his youtube videos today.

In particular, I like the two plyometric training videos below. They display great creativity and innovation in setting up a plyometric sequence.

In the first clip below there are a mixture of high and low intensity exercises. It begins with a depth jump, which is a very high intensity exercise (depending on the height of the box the athlete is dropping from). Following this there are some lower intensity exercises before finishing with a shock jump. Shock jumps are also a very high intensity exercise if performed from a high box. In addition, shock jumps represent an excellent progression towards performing depth jumps (since they require eccentric strength to be developed in order to 'stick the landing').



The second video also has a great sequence of exercises which is, arguably, of a higher overall intensity than the first sequence. This series of plyometric exercises begins with a box jump. The box jump is a very useful exercise for introducing athletes to plyometric training, since it eliminates most of the impact in landing associated with the majority of plyometric training drills.



The key benefit of plyometric training is that it develops force production through the use of the stretch shortening cycle. The stretch shortening cycle is simply the occurence of a rapid stretching of a muscle immediately before a forceful shortening of the muscle. This occurs in all jumping type activities.

You can check out Nigels Long Jump site here.

TimEgerton.com
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING CONSULTANCY