Plyometric Training Exercises

Not long ago, I made the decision to include plyometric training exercises as part of my workout regimen. Many years ago, I tried several kinds of exercises in an attempt to improve my vertical leaping abilities. Now that I’m using plyometrics, I see a difference in my ability in vertical leaps and my legs are benefiting from the training. With plyometrics, you can learn how to jump higher to dunk, this program is a great teacher!

As a high school student, I became fixated on increasing my vertical leaping capabilities. I’ve always been competitive and testing my skills and abilities have always been important to me. As I recall, I came in second place in the entire school during my junior year with a 34" effort. The first place jumper made 36 inches and became a player for the basketball team at UConn. It seemed like a good idea to use plyometrics to improve my skills at vertical jumps. My first effort was Air Alert II. Let’s just say it taught me everything I shouldn’t do.

The big promises of Air Alert II were all hype and no substance, I didn’t suddenly add ten inches to my jump! While these guarantees may have been appealing to a teenager, they were worth little more than the paper on which they were printed, and certainly not the $10 I actually paid for them. The regimen incorporated a series of five movements, including calf raises, step ups, leap ups, squat jumps and burnouts. But, it was the intense schedule of workouts that represented the problem with the program, not the exercises themselves.

The biggest flaw of Air Alert II (and many other jump higher programs) was that it involved 5 straight days of plyometrics training. In addition, the volume of training was ungodly with 3-4 sets of 50-100 reps per exercise. It’s great for building leg endurance but really just leads to over training. A hundred reps doesn’t do much for the vertical leaping, anyway.

A vertical leap is an explosion upward. High rep training isn’t the best way to increase leg strength. Think of performing bench press. If you want to get really strong, you’d perform multiple sets of 1-3 reps with really heavy weights. Following that analogy, a program like this one would suggest that you complete 100 repetitions with an unweighted barbell alone. Maybe your endurance would improve, but you won’t get meaningfully stronger. In addition, you would never try to bench press every single day for 5 days straight.

In my opinion, the most effective way to gain leg strength and improve your vertical leaping ability is to concentrate on low repetition plyometrics training workouts. Different types of plyometric exercise determine the needed reps. Explosive power comes from using the reps to match the exercise. Some require ten to fifteen while others only need five. Intense exercise is the most important part of any program. When you are capable of jumping several feet in the air, it makes little sense to train by jumping merely a single foot.

There are many definitions for plyometric training exercises, but the most accurate seems to be that they are intended to create more speed and power as you use them. For explosive speed and power, plyometrics are the best exercises around. Also, forty yard dash times improve when taking vertical jump programs. Contrary to common belief, calf muscles aren’t the driving factor in vertical leaps. Test this theory by jumping without bent knees and then as you usually would. You should notice that you get a lot higher when you bend your knees because you are utilizing the strength of your quads and hamstrings. Although calf muscles are important, the bigger leg muscles give the extra power for explosive strength.

The cardio benefits of plyometric exercises are impressive, even for those who aren’t interested in explosive power or vertical leaping. Just by working hard you will realize fat loss. Plyometrics is a lot more enjoyable to me than exercise bikes or the elliptical. Also appealing is the fact that plyometrics training gives me increased leg strength, but does not result in bulky or unsightly muscles. Therefore, no matter if you are keen on improving your leaping and dunking abilities, or just wish to gain a more impressive physique by doing something other than cardio, plyometric training exercises may be a great choice for you.