Plyometric Exercises
Why not check out our plyometric exercises to help you with your explosive strength. Plyometrics training is perfect for sprinters and jumpers as well as a good exercise for core strength.
Plyometrics is an excellent way for conditioned athletes to increase and develop their jumping, sprinting and explosive power
The following key points should be remembered :
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Always warm up and stretch especially the legs
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Explosive movements are required for optimum results
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Correct foot placement is essential - aim to land with your ankle fixed
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Adequate recovery between reps can not be stressed enough
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Use only your body weight when performing plyometric exercises
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Keep your body balanced by maintaining a high knees up thumbs position
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Avoid damped landings; use sprung floors, dry grass or an athletic track
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Aim to stay on the ball of your foot, whenever possible, however a flat-footed landing is acceptable. Avoid landing on your heels or side of your feet
When planning a plyometric circuit, it is wise to start with entry level methods and gradually build up the reps before moving on to harder exercise's.
The aim of plyometric’s is explosive power, so for this reason, to be effective 100 % effort needs to be put into all movements. Due to the effort required you would find that you would need adequate rest time between exercises to recover. Aim for a 1:5 ratio, for example 30 sec's flat out, followed by 2:30 minutes rest. During the rest period, keep moving, stretching, skipping, or do either an upper body or abdominal exercise, however give your legs time to recover, or gains will be minimal.
The following Circuits should not be performed more than twice per week, with a minimum of 48 hours rest between sessions. Beginners should aim for only one session per week, plus work work on improving leg and upper body strength.
Why not read more about plyometrics training programs and also catch up on stretching muscles and warm up advice before you look at strength training and other training programs including fitness testing and aerobic tips.
On the following pages we provide lower and upper body workouts for regular gym users and and non-regular users :
