Plyometric Problem.

[OpenToAdvice]

Hi everyone, I've just joined up to the forum and have never really reached to anyone other than from the dojo I train at for advice.
I was just wondering, do you think I should try to intergrate quite a lot of plyometrics work into my home training: and if so, what exercises do you recommend. I am open to any advice or information that may help me. Osu.

[Dent]

Osu!

Your question is very broad, and you haven't given us any idea of why you think plyo's are the best option for you.

What are you trying to achieve?

Osu!

[Aunty Ichigeki]

Also, where are you at with your training?

Before you contemplate plyos you need to have a good foundation of strength & fitness or you are unlikely to achieve the results you want or you may get injured.

[Dent]

Osu!

Originally Posted by Aunty Ichigeki

Also, where are you at with your training?

Before you contemplate plyos you need to have a good foundation of strength & fitness or you are unlikely to achieve the results you want or you may get injured.

Yes, thank you, Aunty Ichigeki! Plyo's are not for everyone. An unbalanced physique is at greater risk of injury from whole body exercises.

All of us can benefit from a few sessions with a certified trainer.

Osu!

[OpenToAdvice]

Now I look back at my post, I can see that it is indeed very broad. Sorry about that. I have a pretty good level of general fitness as I have been doing Kyokushin Karate for about 8 years. I train at my dojo twice a week, this involves lots of basics and kihon, and also a lot of kata. We also have time allocated for sparring and pad work. As for what I am trying to achieve; at the moment I incorparate weights training as part of my regime. This is good for my oure strength, but what I am lacking is power. And I read somewhere that plyometrics could help improve this. Thank you for taking a note of my post everyone. Osu.

[Aunty Ichigeki]

Hmmm... plyos are a way of training for speed & I guess if you add speed to strength you have power! Never really thought of plyos as power training though, more pure speed. The power problem is usually answered by bringing explosivity into your weight training regime, eg. snatch, clean & jerks, kettlebells, explosive med ball training.

Plyos rock for speed though & you don't do lots, you do small doses & allow lots of recovery time. Without someone to show you how to do them properly I'd start with very simple ones without risk of injury. You could try doing clap pushups as if you were on hot coals. Do them to failure where failure means slowing down at all. Most fit people I see do 5-10... actually most people don't do them fast enough. Think blurry hands! Rest & do a couple more sets.

The other good one is ladder work using a rope ladder spread on the ground. You can practice a variety of in & out patterns, again, like you were training on hot coals. Blurry feet this time! Maybe there's some video on youtube.

Once you've adapted to these two you could look at bounding because it's pretty hard to get right so if you've at least 'felt' a stretch reflex you kind of know what you're aiming for. I actually find the easiest bounds to engage my stretch reflex are leaps over 3 or 4 boxes in a row, so quite big (two legged) bounds. I find little bounds much harder to get right and those sprinters ones (one legged) are the hardest. Fun fun.

[jimmylad]

Plyometrics are fantastic for developing power, I used to train with plyo twice weekly and intensify this before competitions.
From a programming perspective, however, there are many different ways to perform plyometric exercises. This depends on what you wish to gain. For example, if you wish to be quick off the mark, this is what is referred to as 'starting power'; if you wish to have the ability to maintain the same degree of power at the end of a round as you did in the beginning, this is referred to as 'power endurance'. for each aspect of power (and there are several) there is a different way to train it.

There is a also a hierachy of advancing through plyometrics. the beginner (to this type of training) would start with 'in place jumps' then progress to 'travelling jumps' and then to 'depth jumps' etc.
Under some systems, it is advised to build your strength to the point where you can squat 1.5- 2x your body weight before starting to do plyo with your legs. I would also encourage strengthening your torso. If your torso is weak you will not have a good transfer of power/ energy from your upper body to your legs and vis versa. Good exercises for this are: Overhead squat, Turkish Get Up, kettlebell windmills.

My suggestion is to start basic, you can integrate plyo into your weights session - warm up, do plyo, take a 10-30 min break and then do weights:

3 x 10 jump squats
3 x 10 chest passes 2 or 3kg med ball
3 x 10 tuck jumps (knee to chest)
3 x 5-10 clap push ups

Really explode into these movements, ideally time yourself or have someone time you and aim to gain speed by minimising your contact time with the floor or med ball. I suggest a rest period of 90sec - 2 min between sets. this gives adequate time to restore ATP (energy levels) and gives the neural system a break. Ideally find a certified trainer who has experience in programming and demonstrating plyometrics.

[Aunty Ichigeki]

Awesome info. Welcome to the forum Jimmylad! You're going to be handy to have online!

[jimmylad]

Osu! Cheers Aunty! I forgot to mention deadlifts for torso strength as well. For those I may have confused with the term torso strength/ stability - read here core stability. It is a personal choice that I make to avoid the term of core stability, because I find that 'core stability ' has been commercialised and almost turned into a concept that has little carry over to real life...

[Dent]

Osu!

Originally Posted by jimmylad

'depth jumps' etc.
Under some systems, it is advised to build your strength to the point where you can squat 1.5- 2x your body weight before starting to do plyo with your legs.

Lots of good info there. 2 things: 1) Be careful with depth jumps if you've had prior ankle, knee, hip or spine damage. 2) If you have a heavier build, the 2x squat recommendation could be a bit much.

Safety first, and try to get a professional trainer if at all possible.

Osu!

[OpenToAdvice]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I have just started with clap pushups and jump squats. I am seeing a great improvement in my hand speed and power already!
Osu.

[blazindave]

Here are some plyometric ideas that i like to use:

Grab a 20 pound medicine ball and throw it using both hands. Throw it as far as you can. Now the moment the ball leaves your hands, sprint after it and try to catch it before it hits the ground.

Sled pulling is also great. Tie a rope around a belt or your waist and have it hold on to some weight or a sled that is quite heavy. Run up hill.

Grab a 20 pound sledge hammer and beat the heck out of a tire. Really go at it.