Since this is a new sub-forum and everyone always seems to have questions and/or disagreements on plyometrics, my topic/question is “Why all the confusion?” For the people whom seem to disagree with it, what parts do you not get, and or dislike about it. Programming, heights, frequency, intensity, etc.
does this relate to another thread? or is it from scratch?
The slot was blank and new, so let’s just start from scratch. If we bring in old baggage, we will get no where.
Plyos for sprinters: a means for CNS activation, or for increased strength/power? separate session? before or after a track session?
and my opinion on this -as i have to go, sorry!
i prefer to do them before a corresponding session and keep foot contacts at low numbers and therefore, more as a CNS means, rather than strength development, which should come from the gym/weights, i believe; as i understand it, Charlie of somewhat the same opinion -as always, correct me if wrong- and applies fine to me, as big numbers of plyos were never my favourite… foot contacts and a risk/benefit analysis are always issues here…
this should start things up…
comments?
I have personally found plyos to be useless in my training. After a short speed session, my vertical jump is always less than it would be if I were fresh, yet my lifts are always right up where they should be. Why practice something if you can’t do it at full capacity?
The only times I have used plyos were when lower hamstring problems made sprinting impossible.
From a jumpers standpoint I think that alternating reps of plyos with speed work is by far the best way to go abt using plyos. I mean the whole reasoning behind them is to teach your body to absorb and then react to forces at a higher rate then that of lifting. They are all abt power development. Now if you do plyos before you sprint then you could possibly burn out your CNS for the speed work. And if done after you risk CNS fatigue as well, which means less or slower force production…completely negating the point of plyos. SO the obvious solution is to cycle them into your speed workouts. On accel day you might sprint 30m, rest for 2 mins, do a set of box jump, again rest 2 mins, do a set of bounds, rest. That whole rotation would then repeate until there is a dropoff in performance. As each exercise reaches a point of dropoff you simply cut it out of the rotation and continue with the others until they dropoff. By doing this, your CNS is prime for all of the exercises. For a jumper, I think this is perfect considering they need speed as well as the reactivity of plyos equally. For a straight sprinter, I think it would def benefit them to organize their workouts like this as well. One day would be pure speed work, the other a plyo/speed rotation. BTW this is the premise of Autoregulation. For those of you not familiar with it, this is the one indisputable method of DBHammer. Adhering to dropoffs means consistent gains. My $.02
:eek: Sorry. Nothing is indisputable.
On accel day you might sprint 30m, rest for 2 mins, do a set of box jump, again rest 2 mins, do a set of bounds, rest. That whole rotation would then repeate until there is a dropoff in performance. As each exercise reaches a point of dropoff you simply cut it out of the rotation and continue with the others until they dropoff. By doing this, your CNS is prime for all of the exercises. For a jumper, I think this is perfect considering they need speed as well as the reactivity of plyos equally.
The problem with that (from someone who’s tried it), is you reduce the volume of any single movement and create fatigue so you lower the intensity of any singular movement. I prefer to organize a session such that a movement provides a potentiation stimulus for the next movement and the auxillary movements are done well short of any noticeable drop off in performance.
Is it ok to do plyos (depth jumps or maybe depth landings) about 3 hours before sprints(track practice)?
Well Kelly that is my point. Im speaking from the perspective of a jumper who needs both speed and power. I think both do need to be developed seperately for peak outputs and to make up for glaring deficiencies. However rotating them in one session equally distributes your efforts so that you dont run the risk of undertraining or overtraining the two elements. This is strictly my opinion and would be for someone who is equally seeking both qualities and doesnt have any glaring deficiencies in either.
Are plyos not more demanding than sprints for the hams? I have also problems with the lower part of my hams, what kind of plyos did you do back then?