Plyometric training, programming and testing Everything you need to...

How do you define "true plyometrics"?

Is it all about contact time being <0.250s?

Not at all.

Verkhoshansky describes the CYCLE of TRUE PLYOMETRICS as follows:

Phase 1: “Arrival”
Verkhoshansky terms this the "initial momentum phase". Here the body & limbs are arriving readying for ground contact. While the body is in a relatively relaxed state, it's not a passive action. There is muscular preactivation to ready the body, particularly the lower limbs for forceful ground contact.

Phase 2: "Initial Impact"
Here as the limbs contact the ground, the ground blocks further displacement of the limb & further changes in muscle length. Here, the tendon begins to elongate but muscular contraction hasn't occurred yet.

Phase 3: "Amortisation"
Here, the stretch reflexes kick in, we have eccentric muscle contraction taking place and an fast, very high force isometric contraction is required to transition to the followig concentric contraction.

The coupling time between the eccentric and the subsequent concentric contraction is very short. True plyometrics must have these very short coupling times to harness the full potential of the stretch shortening cycle.

Phase 4: "Rebound"
Here we have the release of the elastic energy & we have contributions from reflexive muscle actions. We also have contribution from concentric muscular contraction… The body is moving back up into the air and it's about to leave the ground.

Phase 5: "Flight"
The athlete has left the ground, they're in the air & they're readying themselves for the next action.
If we are doing “continuous” repeated plyometric activities, then the flight phase naturally transitions into the next arrival phase (or if we're doing single efforts the flight phase naturally evolves into the landing phase to finish the exercise)

This is the underlying cycle of TRUE PLYOMETRICS and we see the maximum benefit of fast stretch shortening cycle utilization when the rates of eccentric loading are high, the coupling time is short and the joint displacements are small.

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Plyometrics are an immensely powerful training tool

But their purpose can vary widely from rehab, to tissue tolerance to maximising power output. This can create ambiguity & confusion around implementation

Here's 4 quick principles that can help guide plyometric programming 👇

Defining Plyometric Intensity

You can't program safely & effectively unless you understand the intensity of training exercises

Plyometric intensity = stress exercise puts on muscle, connective tissue & joints

Thread & videos below on determining factors of plyo intensity 👇

Defining Plyometric Intensity

There's no gold standard study comparing the vast array of plyometric exercises to each other on an intensity basis.

But... there are some general heuristics which can help infer relative intensity of one plyo exercise to another.

But first... how do we define plyometric intensity?

Verkhoshanksy states that the momentum of the body, just before impact is most appropriate measure of plyometric intensity.

In a practical sense, plyometric intensity can be considered the amount of stress the plyometric exercise places on the muscle, connective tissue and joints involved.

.......

The first, two key factors to consider in plyometric intensity classification are intent and surface.

All other things being equal, an exercise performed with a higher intent of effort by the athlete will be of higher intensity. Similarly, the same exercise performed on stiffer, harder surfaces will likely be of a higher intensity.

From there, these heuristics that can help us better understand plyometric intensity:

💥 The height that athletes jump up to, or down from, in the “arrival” phase is the most potent predictor of plyometric intensity. A athlete who performs pogo jumps to 50cm will experience greater ground reaction forces on rebounding, than an athlete jumping 30cm.

💥 Using boxes to create dropping heights beyond the jumping ability of the athlete further increases impact intensity. Jumping up to boxes or steps reduces intensity as impact momentum is greatly reduced.

💥 Fast SSC exercises will typically result in greater intensities than slow SSC exercises due to shorter time period of force application resulting in greater loading rates.

💥 Any single leg exercise is more intense than the same exercise performed bilaterally. A single leg drop hop from 30cm drop height will result in greater joint reaction forces than a bilateral jump from the same height.

💥 Exercises with exaggerated, forceful extension of the legs, prior to landing , such as repeat tuck jumps or repeat hurdle jumps are likely to have higher knee joint reaction forces than exercises without such forceful leg excursions.

💥 Exercises with a significant horizontal component (bounds, power skips, hopping for distance), likely have higher knee joint reaction forces than when performed with a more vertical bias.

When creating plyometric training menus, these heuristics can be used to arrange training options into a hierarchy of intensity.

A 4-phase approach to plyometric training.

While the broad differentiation between extensive & intensive methods can be useful, a more granular approach is often needed

Here's the 4-phase approach for plyometric training I use 🧵

Periodisation of plyometric training

Join world leading authority @EamonnFlanagan and discover why the four phases of plyometric training don't necessarily progress in a linear fashion.

sportsmith.co/courses/

Plyometric Training Volume Cheat Sheet

There's four primary factors when establishing plyo training volume:

🔹 exercise intensity (or training phase)
🔹 surface type
🔹 exercise variety
🔹 the athlete level

Here's how they influence plyometric training volumes 👇

A key schematic from Verkhoshansky to understand the context and placement of your plyometric training

This helps understand the categories of plyometrics or "jump" training.

(figure is slightly adapted from original)

Depth Jumps Vs Drop Jumps

Often confused.

Different jumps for different circumstances, with different origins

Plyometrics: What can we learn from masters of the craft?

Here's what I've learned from the themes & commonalities between the world's experts on high plyometric training.

Plyometric experts all have strong clarity and give deep thought to the following:

🔹 Their plyometric philosophy
🔹Quantifying plyometric intensity
🔹The specificity/intensity tradeoff
🔹The balance w/ sport specific training

The Plyometric Purpose
Each expert has a clear definition of plyometric training:
↪️What it is.
↪️And what it isn't.
↪️When to use it.
↪️And when to avoid.

They all have a clear "why". They don't all agree... but they each have a specific & clear purpose for using plyometrics.

Quality > Quantity

All clearly consider plyos to be a high powered, quality-dependent training stimulus.

All are thoughtful & methodical in quantifying intensity of exercises used.

Intensity factors are established in a number of ways across the expert group but most are a combination of one or more of the following:

🔸Published research
🔸Contraction types & contact times 📷 🔸Experiential knowledge

Quantification ↔️ Classification

Once intensity is quantified exercises can be classified.

The experts all have clear categories of exercises from which they build clear training menus and progression plans. Example:

All consider the individual athlete

The training process is strongly guided by:
🔸Training purpose
🔸Time of year
🔸The athlete "type"
🔸The athlete training history

Intensity ↔️ Specificity

There is a tradeoff between plyometric specificity & intensity.

When we ⬆️ specificity we can infringe on sport technique & inadvertently ⬇️ the magnitude of physical quality overload.

"General" plyometrics overload physical qualities. Established sport specific drills are likely best way to balance both.

All of this info has come from
@SportsmithHQ
podcasts from:

@sprintcoachSWE
(ep. 272)
@SheppardCoach
(28 & 103)
@MMJPerformance (38)
@BooSchex (212)
@dkhammy (42)

And other resources from:
@wildy_jj
@benthebounce
@DerekMHansen

Drop jumping: Optimal or Overload?

x.com/EamonnFlanagan…