What kind of surfaces do you think are best to perform plyos on?
Presumably contact times would be lower on a harder surface (ie a track) rather than soft sand. Personally I prefer doing plyos on grass.
Plyos on different surfaces.
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Participant
I have always preferred grass for most of my plyo work, especially when it comes to the bigger jumps, like skips for distance.
I’ve also had good experiences at the gym doing plyos in the aerobics/group exercise room (when no one else is in it). The wood-over-rubber floor always felt extra bouncy to me and didn’t feel like I was destroying my joints and shins.
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Participant
I have always preferred grass for most of my plyo work, especially when it comes to the bigger jumps, like skips for distance.
I’ve also had good experiences at the gym doing plyos in the aerobics/group exercise room (when no one else is in it). The wood-over-rubber floor always felt extra bouncy to me and didn’t feel like I was destroying my joints and shins.
It is even more fun doing them in the aerobics room when people ARE in it 🙂 You get some strange looks when you begin stacking aerobic steps against the wall to do box jumps!
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Participanti much prefer doing them on the track actually…in low volumes i think that’s ok.
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Participant
[quote author="SpeedyPete" date="1270168067"]I have always preferred grass for most of my plyo work, especially when it comes to the bigger jumps, like skips for distance.
I’ve also had good experiences at the gym doing plyos in the aerobics/group exercise room (when no one else is in it). The wood-over-rubber floor always felt extra bouncy to me and didn’t feel like I was destroying my joints and shins.
It is even more fun doing them in the aerobics room when people ARE in it 🙂 You get some strange looks when you begin stacking aerobic steps against the wall to do box jumps![/quote]
Sounds dangerous too me.
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Participant
I’ve tried out a variety of surfaces.
Being a beach sprinter(surf lifesaving) I went through a phase of doing plyos on sand as that was what I raced on.
Apart from aggrivating my achilles, I also found that it was hard to really attack the surface thus defeating the point of the exercise.I agree that grass gives a rebound with out too much impact. You relly want a good flat surface and no moisture though!!
if you’re not doing a high volume session though the track is still a good option with the grip and quick contact it gives
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Participant
I’ve tried out a variety of surfaces.
Being a beach sprinter(surf lifesaving) I went through a phase of doing plyos on sand as that was what I raced on.
Apart from aggrivating my achilles, I also found that it was hard to really attack the surface thus defeating the point of the exercise.I agree that grass gives a rebound with out too much impact. You relly want a good flat surface and no moisture though!!
if you’re not doing a high volume session though the track is still a good option with the grip and quick contact it gives
Which beach?
My preference is to do plyometrics on hard surfaces (volume must be light- plenty of recovery).and not so much height mainly speed.
For sand running I’m not entirely sure about the efficacy of plyometrics. I’ve got an article on it somewhere which I’ll dig up.
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Participant
a variety of sand surfaces. (in New Zealand & Japan)
hard sand on tidal beaches is pretty much hard and flat like grass etc.the soft sand plyos were good exercise but there was too much time spent on contact. You end up gripping and pulling through (which is beach sprinting technique so there is some benefit)
for track/grass plyos I mostly used an asics Japan shoe called the gel plyo. The shoe has medium thickness sole, extra grip and 4 valcro straps for lockdown.
has anyone else come across/used these shoes? they are fantastic for plyos (thus the name I guess)
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Participant
It would depend on the training objective. Unless the plyometric exercise results in loading that is greater than the typical sport movement or results in a significant increase in total training volume wouldn’t you want to work on or progress to performing your plyos on the surface you compete on? The body would adapt and it would be highly specific. At various times throughout the year we may want to alter the stress imposed on the body or the contact time by changing the surface but the generalized recommendation to avoid hard surfaces may be overstated, or rather it is an oversimplification of the programming process. Its probably more important to consider the combined effects of the volume and intensity of the plyometrics, the surface, and the chronological and training age of the athletes. Many people grew up playing thousands of hours of basketball on rock hard asphalt or concrete courts without injury issues. Careful programming will allow for appropriate adaptations.
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Participant
[quote author="SpeedyPete" date="1270168067"]I have always preferred grass for most of my plyo work, especially when it comes to the bigger jumps, like skips for distance.
I’ve also had good experiences at the gym doing plyos in the aerobics/group exercise room (when no one else is in it). The wood-over-rubber floor always felt extra bouncy to me and didn’t feel like I was destroying my joints and shins.
It is even more fun doing them in the aerobics room when people ARE in it 🙂 You get some strange looks when you begin stacking aerobic steps against the wall to do box jumps![/quote]
Yeah! I love doing plyos amongst a crowd!
I’d have to go for grass. But if there are beauties on the gym, then I’d go for the gym!
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Participant
a variety of sand surfaces. (in New Zealand & Japan)
hard sand on tidal beaches is pretty much hard and flat like grass etc.the soft sand plyos were good exercise but there was too much time spent on contact. You end up gripping and pulling through (which is beach sprinting technique so there is some benefit)
for track/grass plyos I mostly used an asics Japan shoe called the gel plyo. The shoe has medium thickness sole, extra grip and 4 valcro straps for lockdown.
has anyone else come across/used these shoes? they are fantastic for plyos (thus the name I guess)
That’s so cool, man. Training at the beach. You’re like Rocky from Rocky II.
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