Plyometrics!

Plyometric training has many benefits for the endurance athlete, especially when resistance training seems to almost plateau.  Plyometrics can add a bit of variety into your training regime while also increasing your power and strength.  Power is necessary in biking as running because speed ultimately depends on the amount of force you can produce.  If you can increase the amount of force you contact the ground with, you will go faster.  Plyometric training is very sports specific and due to the increased risk of injury, I should mention that if you wish to conduct such complex training, you should have a very good muscular base.

Plyometrics are based on the understanding that a muscle in the eccentric phase (lengthened) can produce a greater force due to stored elastic energy.  So as an athlete goes rapidly from the eccentric phase (lengthened) to the concentric phase (shortening), which is also known as the stretch shortening cycle, the stored elastic energy produces greater force.  Imagine a spring, if you stretch the spring and then let it go, its stored elastic energy causes the spring to shorten quicker depending on the length it is stretched to.  The longer the initial stretch, the faster the contraction.  This is one of the basic concepts of plyometric training.

Plyometric training also increases the efficiency of the neuromuscular junctions.  Just like resistance training, the neuromuscular junctions and the motor units become faster and more effective in telling the muscles to contract.  Overtime, the physiological adaptation occurs and the muscles increase in power output by increasing speed of contraction and force produced.  In addition, our Golgi Tendon Organs (receptors in our  tendons that inhibit hyperextension or hyperflexion about a joint) become habituated to the increased force output and allow the muscles to produce even more force.

Very few studies have shown an increase in upper body force production when plyometrics are incorporated into a workout regime, but lower body plyometrics have been proven to be very effective, especially in increasing ones vertical jump.  Since in a triathlon, 2 out of the 3 sports involve your lower body, plyometrics can be very effective in increasing your athletic potential.  In creating a plyometric workout, a few things need to be considered:

• Adequate rest and recovery is required afterwards
• Be sure to have a good muscular base
• Start slow to work on proper form and landing
• Be injury-free, especially in the major joints being used during plyometrics (knee, ankle, hip)
• Do not do more than 75-100 repetitions per exercise
• Do not do more than 3 plyometric sessions a week since this has been known to cause muscle degeneration

So what are some lower body plyometric exercises?  Well essentially they are hops, leaps and bounds.  Some very popular plyometric exercises involve hoping down from a box and immediately jumping onto a box of equal or greater height than the previous.  But there are countless plyometric exercises and you can let your imagination soar with all the possibilities.  Just be safe and if you doubt something to be hazardous, do not do it.  Its better to be safe than sorry since plyometrics has a greater risk of injury than basic resistance training.

Furthermore, an even more complex form of plyometric training involves doing an exercise such as squats initially, and then following it with a plyometric exercise which targets the same muscle groups, such as a box jump.  As this increases the intensity, be sure to build a solid base before attempting this as risk of injury is far greater since you have fatigued the muscles from the squats initially.

Incorporating plyometrics into your training program can be fun and a great change up.  It will help you produce faster muscle contractions and increase your power.  Enjoy!