10 Plyometrics Tips

Instead of being my normal negative self here are some great tips I learned from a few jumps coaches years ago. Not doing plyometrics in HS, my personal experience needed some mentoring. The question why are we learning plyometrics from strength coaches that are not good at strength and conditioning? I will say that more athletes are likely to get hurt doing plyos than lifting in the weightroom,

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Great post.

And not being a negative nancy….what did you drink?

Great Post Carl.

Re: Stiffness jumps as great for those who are strong but slow…

What specific exercises, surfaces, and rep schemes to you recommend?

Why is that exercise (specifically) good for strong/slow? And/or what makes it better than bounding, hops, skips, etc?

Thanks!

Very good post Carl. I’d like to see more of these type blogs. And can anyone point me towards some very specific examples of stiffness jumps, and how to implement them?

Stiffness jumps…

Depending on your event. For a short distance sprinter I would suggest a rebound jump (drop back off a box and jump back onto it). The box should be at least twice the height that the centre of gravity would traverse during a sprint which would be 5 cm for slower sprinter and less for faster sprinters. That means the box should be at least 10 cm in height for the slower sprinters. The goal is to rebound with as short a ground contact time as possible to develop the skill of efficient recruitment patterns during pre-activation and activation as well as providing stimulus for the tendons and connective tissue surrounding the muscle to adapt. In addition the rebound jump serves the purpose of enhancing the skill/processing of feedback from the muscle spindles and golgi tendons.

Stiffness jumps…

Depending on your event. For a short distance sprinter I would suggest a rebound jump (drop back off a box and jump back onto it). The box should be at least twice the height that the centre of gravity would traverse during a sprint which would be 5 cm for slower sprinter and less for faster sprinters. That means the box should be at least 10 cm in height for the slower sprinters. The goal is to rebound with as short a ground contact time as possible to develop the skill of efficient recruitment patterns during pre-activation and activation as well as providing stimulus for the tendons and connective tissue surrounding the muscle to adapt. In addition the rebound jump serves the purpose of enhancing the skill/processing of feedback from the muscle spindles and golgi tendons.

In theory… This would lengthen the stride, right? Also – how many sessions would it take to gain the neurological benefit of doing this? What kind of rep/set protocol.

In regards to the deadlift, won’t it be effective if the bar was dropped at just below the knee area to maximize both concentric and eccentric strength?

Stiffness jumps…

Depending on your event. For a short distance sprinter I would suggest a rebound jump (drop back off a box and jump back onto it). The box should be at least twice the height that the centre of gravity would traverse during a sprint which would be 5 cm for slower sprinter and less for faster sprinters. That means the box should be at least 10 cm in height for the slower sprinters. The goal is to rebound with as short a ground contact time as possible to develop the skill of efficient recruitment patterns during pre-activation and activation as well as providing stimulus for the tendons and connective tissue surrounding the muscle to adapt. In addition the rebound jump serves the purpose of enhancing the skill/processing of feedback from the muscle spindles and golgi tendons.

Are you saying slower sprinters have less vertical displacement than faster sprinters?

[quote author="Jeremy Richmond" date="1274508486"]Stiffness jumps…

Depending on your event. For a short distance sprinter I would suggest a rebound jump (drop back off a box and jump back onto it). The box should be at least twice the height that the centre of gravity would traverse during a sprint which would be 5 cm for slower sprinter and less for faster sprinters. That means the box should be at least 10 cm in height for the slower sprinters. The goal is to rebound with as short a ground contact time as possible to develop the skill of efficient recruitment patterns during pre-activation and activation as well as providing stimulus for the tendons and connective tissue surrounding the muscle to adapt. In addition the rebound jump serves the purpose of enhancing the skill/processing of feedback from the muscle spindles and golgi tendons.

In theory… This would lengthen the stride, right? Also – how many sessions would it take to gain the neurological benefit of doing this? What kind of rep/set protocol.[/quote]
Actually what seems to transpire is that the higher the stiffness (and speed)the lower is the vertical displacement which would seem to work against producing longer stride lengths. However one would probably observe a slightly longer stride length (incidentally) as a result of the conservation of energy (reduced ATP degradation) from the smaller vertical displacement and absorption upon landing, from which the surplus of energy could be directed in enhancing horizontal velocity.

Mann & Herman (1985) were one of many that share the same observation of smaller vertical displacement for faster sprinters.

In terms of rep/set protocol this is an area which many of us in this forum need to determine. It would seem that one needs to do enough reps for the brain/CNS to learn and adapt but too many would cause fatigue. I used to do 5 or 6 then have a 2 minute rest and then a short sprint but that is more like a complex exercise. A much simpler protocol is probably required first.

RE: neurological benefit and how long would it take to see an adaptation, the neural system is quite plastic. I’ll have to dig up my notes- it has been a few years since I looked at this.

Interesting information about vertical displacement and stiffness in the article below…

Maximal Velocity Sprint Mechanics
Michael Young
United States Military Academy & Human Performance Consulting
https://www.scarboroughtrack.com/sprintingmechanics.pdf

Interesting information about vertical displacement and stiffness in the article below…

Maximal Velocity Sprint Mechanics
Michael Young
United States Military Academy & Human Performance Consulting
https://www.scarboroughtrack.com/sprintingmechanics.pdf

That guy is a cook. Try this one instead: https://elitetrack.com/articles-read-2341/

If you’re logged in you can download the article in PDF.

I’ve made some revisions to my sprint model understanding but it is 90% the same as when I wrote the article.

RE: COM displacement during sprinting. The issue is complicated…for faster sprinters they have less downward vertical displacement of the COM following touchdown but greater (up to a point) vertical displacement of the COM during flight. Note that there is an optimum value and more is not necessarily better. In fact very poor runners / sprinters have tons of vertical displacement in both directions. The important aspect, and the portion relevant to this discussion is minimizing amortization at the knee and hip following touchdown. This is a measure of leg stiffness.

Your explanation of toe-off occurring closer to dead center now clarifies a question I have had about GCT. There IS a slight difference in the actual mechanics in that the increased ability to apply vertical forces allows, or requires, the foot to leave the ground earlier in the stride. Is this right?

[quote author="Jeremy Richmond" date="1274524606"][quote author="Matt Norquist (WashedupDec)" date="1274509500"][quote author="Jeremy Richmond" date="1274508486"]Stiffness jumps…

Depending on your event. For a short distance sprinter I would suggest a rebound jump (drop back off a box and jump back onto it). The box should be at least twice the height that the centre of gravity would traverse during a sprint which would be 5 cm for slower sprinter and less for faster sprinters. That means the box should be at least 10 cm in height for the slower sprinters. The goal is to rebound with as short a ground contact time as possible to develop the skill of efficient recruitment patterns during pre-activation and activation as well as providing stimulus for the tendons and connective tissue surrounding the muscle to adapt. In addition the rebound jump serves the purpose of enhancing the skill/processing of feedback from the muscle spindles and golgi tendons.

In theory… This would lengthen the stride, right? Also – how many sessions would it take to gain the neurological benefit of doing this? What kind of rep/set protocol.[/quote]
Actually what seems to transpire is that the higher the stiffness (and speed)the lower is the vertical displacement which would seem to work against producing longer stride lengths. However one would probably observe a slightly longer stride length (incidentally) as a result of the conservation of energy (reduced ATP degradation) from the smaller vertical displacement and absorption upon landing, from which the surplus of energy could be directed in enhancing horizontal velocity.

Mann & Herman (1985) were one of many that share the same observation of smaller vertical displacement for faster sprinters.

In terms of rep/set protocol this is an area which many of us in this forum need to determine. It would seem that one needs to do enough reps for the brain/CNS to learn and adapt but too many would cause fatigue. I used to do 5 or 6 then have a 2 minute rest and then a short sprint but that is more like a complex exercise. A much simpler protocol is probably required first.

RE: neurological benefit and how long would it take to see an adaptation, the neural system is quite plastic. I’ll have to dig up my notes- it has been a few years since I looked at this.[/quote]

What is the specific reference for smaller displacement for faster sprinters? Can you upload the study?

The truth is poor sprinters displace themselves more than average sprinters but the elites displace more vertical because they don’t drop their COM as much.[/quote]

Mann R and Herman J. Kinematic analysis of Olympic sprint performance: Men’s 200 meters. Int J Sport Biomech, 1985; 1: 151-62

Mero & Komi 1985 report a vertical displacement of 1cm; it would be interesting to see what video (u-tube) footage reveals.

[quote author="Jeremy Richmond" date="1274508486"]Stiffness jumps…

Depending on your event. For a short distance sprinter I would suggest a rebound jump (drop back off a box and jump back onto it). The box should be at least twice the height that the centre of gravity would traverse during a sprint which would be 5 cm for slower sprinter and less for faster sprinters. That means the box should be at least 10 cm in height for the slower sprinters. The goal is to rebound with as short a ground contact time as possible to develop the skill of efficient recruitment patterns during pre-activation and activation as well as providing stimulus for the tendons and connective tissue surrounding the muscle to adapt. In addition the rebound jump serves the purpose of enhancing the skill/processing of feedback from the muscle spindles and golgi tendons.

Are you saying slower sprinters have less vertical displacement than faster sprinters?[/quote]
No…slower sprinters have greater vertical displacement. I was suggesting that slower sprinters train specifically i.e rebound from greater heights. Perhaps slower sprinters should rebound from the same height as faster sprinters (6cm which is 2x3cm taken from the vertical displacement).

Your explanation of toe-off occurring closer to dead center now clarifies a question I have had about GCT. There IS a slight difference in the actual mechanics in that the increased ability to apply vertical forces allows, or requires, the foot to leave the ground earlier in the stride. Is this right?

Yep. That’s right. I think it’s partially an issue of the more elastic rebound (with elasticity being determined by the interaction / stiffness of the surface and the leg) and the fact that at that point the body is moving very fast over and in front of the support foot.