I was talking to a friend of mine recently, who also runs track, and we came into a little discussion about plyometrics. I told him that i was going to incorporate them into my training soon, but he advised me not to because he claims that the later on you use plyometrics, the better the results are. I heard that most people use plyometrics when their lifts are becoming stagnant, but i don’t seem to have that problem with my lifts. What i want to know is, should i incorporate them now(gradually of course) or should them later??? i’ve only been training seriously for about five months.
hi there,usually plyro’s are performed throughout the entire season so doing them sooner rather than later would be more sense.considering you are training 5months i would gradually introduce plyro’s which may take some time to adjust to
not to because he claims that the later on you use plyometrics, the better the results are
if this was the case then why aren’t we running faster.create a plan and stick to it.running faster is a combination of training(proper) rest,nutrition and injury free
I agree, though the arguement might have been the point in a career when added rather than in a season (many recommend squats at a certain level before plyos start, though the decision should be highly individual.)
In the old USSR books they always wrote you should only use plyos when you are capable of half squat 2.5 - 3 x your bodyweight. On the one hand for stability reasons to avoid injury and to be able to execute them in a proper way…
What safety considerations should be taken into account regarding the introduction of plyo’s -
I’m never gonna be squatting 2.5 x body weight due to back problems
and early in career late in age and have only ever done small levels of plyo’s
also what would be the safest way/type of plyo’s to reintroduce after hamstring injury ? I’m thinking less explosive types like power skips would be safer
That’s a bit rigid. What if you’re tall? In fact, the rigidity and early selection of the old SU system meant that almost all the SU sprinters were average to short stature, making their predicted values self-fulfilling.
Just an example - I think nobody follows that rule any more…but the old books are full with “strict” rules like these…
Power Speed drills are always the safest starting point. First without load, then with a light load, up to 10% BW or so in the form of a vest or holding a med bal or weight plate at the chest, etc.
I agree, I think the decision should be individual, however, I would have thought that it would be best, with respect to safety and fitness, that plyos be done later in the season, once a certain level baseline of fitness has been achieved, for sake of remaining injury free. No?
Agree you need to be very fit, but surely you must be very fit long before late in the season!
If you start doing low intensity plyo from early on you are much better off than leaving high intensity plyo or any plyo till late in the season.
1/ It takes 2- 3months to shut down inhibition to benefit from plyo
2/ Muscle soreness from plyo have to be dealt with during a time when you are trying to run fast.
3/ If you are prone to injury then you can do plyo on gym mats or on grass. You will get a slightly slower response but is still plyo.
4/ Injury from plyo is more likely to happen if you leave it till late in the season.
5/ Proper well thought out binding of parts likely to be injured could be used, as well as foot wear.
Couple of points/questions
- Can you please elaborate further?
- If thats true, isn’t it fair to say that injury can also happen if done early in the season? Granted you did say low intensity plyos, so I guess I can agree.
Good post
Re: Point 1: this applies to the more intense plyos
Re Point 3: I’d be careful here because the softer mat may allow the ankle to roll and may change the characteristics of the work
Other than that, agree
I thought the samething regarding point 3, however, with reference to point 1, why would there be an inhibition of benefit from high intensity plyos during the first 2-3 months?
He means inhibition of the Golgi tendon organs (a protective mechanism which shuts down muscle to prevent injury in the case of overload) before high plyometric forces can be tolerated. The threshold before activation kicks in must be progressively shifted over time.
And in doing so, this must be done by simply performing plyo’s on a constant chronic basis? If so, I assume, begin with low --> moderate --> higher intensity plyo’s, yes?
Yes. Constant exposure over time as you describe.
To recap…what would be an example of low, mod and high? I ask because what I find may feel “high intensity” may be just a feeling (if that makes any sense). So could someone(s) post some examples? This will also help me in prescribing plyo’s for some of my yonger and inexperienced athletes.
Thanks
i’ve started doing uphill plyos on grass, i.e., single hops; i progressed to double hops with fewer reps per set (i.e., from 6 to 4); in order to have a better stimulus and to progress to the flat plyos, would a move to triple hops (with the lat on flat grass) be a better progression rather than moving to more reps of double hops, which i feel will be too much volume for me?
and these triple hops will start with even lower reps per set, i.e., 3, for more quality (and time management…)
would this progression give a better stimulus as a plyo exe?
thanks!