To Jump Or Not To Jump Part 2
To Jump Or Not To Jump Part 2:
Last issue we talked about the benefits of adding plyometrics into your workout program to help you become more powerful. In this article I will focus on implementing some basic exercises into your current training program.
Briefly, let’s recall what was discussed earlier about plyometrics. Remember, there are two contractions we talked about, concentric and eccentric. Concentric was pushing the weight up and eccentric was lowering the weight under contraction. The transition phase between the two was called the amortization phase.
The purpose of plyometric training is to shorten the amortization phase so as to cause the muscle to contract with more force. The shorter the amortization phase, the more powerful the contraction. For specificity, plyo’s are done to decrease the amortization phase in a group of muscles that are directly related to the lift you are trying to improve.
I tried to convey the idea that a muscle is a lot like a spring in that if it’s stretched first, it can contract stronger rather than having it contract from an un-stretched position.
So how’s it done? Keep this first rule in mind: never do plyometric training at the end of a workout or when you are tired. You will reduce its training benefits. You may also expose yourself to greater risk of injury.
Plyometrics should be done on off training days or before your workout ON training days. Actually for most lifters, this is a great way to raise your GPP (general physical preparedness) and to help add to your warm-up for a heavy workout.
Beginners should stick to basic movements and progress to more difficult movements as they deem necessary. Heavier competitors may find some of the more advanced exercises stressful on knee joints and the lower back, so be cautious at first and go slow.
Rep ranges can vary from individual to individual based on training needs and the level of conditioning you wish to attain. Generally speaking, powerlifters will benefit from a range of 5-8 reps for 2-3 sets or perform exercises for time. Short to intermediate times are best for powerlifters.
Let's start with exercises that you could use for the bench press. I have listed a beginning exercise, an intermediate exercise and an advanced exercise. For beginners, a good exercise to start with is pushups to plates. Start with toes on a box and hands and upper body in pushup position. While in this position, the toes should be slightly higher than your shoulders when your hands are on the floor. Have one 100-pound plate just outside each hand or some other device that measures about 4 inches off the floor. Explode off the floor with both hands and land on top of the plates with each hand at the same time. Come off each plate one hand at a time. Then repeat. To make the exercise harder, push off the ground with both hands and land on the plates, then come off both plates at the same time and land back on the ground with your hands. Repeat for 10 reps.
An intermediate exercise (but the greatest danger for safety) is the smith machine bench press throw. Lying on the bench, with no weight on the bar, press the bar up into the air as far as you can press it and release. The bar will fly up out of your hands, as it comes down, catch and throw it back up explosively as quick as you can and repeat. As you can see, this exercise can be extremely dangerous. ONLY ATTEMPT THIS WITH TWO SPOTTERS. BEGIN WITH NO WEIGHT. THE BAR SHOULD BE IN LINE WITH MID CHEST AND NOT YOUR CHIN OR NECKLINE. NO BEGINNING LIFTER SHOULD ATTEMPT THIS EXERCISE!
The most advanced plyometric exercise for the bench press would be the medicine ball drops. Lying on the floor, have a partner standing above you near your head. Your partner drops a ball from a certain height down towards your outstretched arms. As the ball comes to you, catch and press up into the air explosively. Repeat. Change the ball height or ball weight and increase it in order to increase the intensity of the exercise. I have heard some lifters complain about this exercise and say that their elbows are hitting the floor. The solution to that is to start with your hands outstretched waiting for the med ball to come to you and catch and press as fast as possible. You should be able to catch and press before your arms come all the way down to touch the floor. If you are banging your triceps on concrete, then the med ball is too heavy or it’s being dropped from too high of a height.
For the deadlift and the squat we can also implement three different ranges of exercises. For beginners some good exercises are different forms of multiple jumps. One good exercise is called a hexagon drill. Tape a hexagon (or chalk it ) on to the floor. Make each side of the hexagon (6 sides for you knuckleheads) 2 feet in length. Start inside the center. Jump out from center to the outside of any side of the hexagon and just as you land on two feet, jump back into the center point. Upon landing, jump back outside the hexagon to the right of the side you just jumped to. Repeat in clockwise form. Do this exercise for time. Increasing the time increases the intensity. For beginners, 30 seconds is plenty.
Another good beginner exercise is the lateral cone drill. Start with three cones, each spread two feet apart. Beginning at one end (i.e. if the cones are running east-west, you should be facing either north or south to start), jump laterally over cone 1 and land between cone 1 and 2 on two feet. Upon landing, explode into the air and jump laterally and land between cone 2 and 3. Upon landing, explode into the air and jump laterally outside the last cone. This time land on one foot. As you land on one foot, reverse direction, jump back to where you just came from (between cone 2 and 3) and land on two feet. Explode, jump laterally in between cone 1 and 2 and land on two. Jump to beginning position, land on one foot and repeat. Do this exercise for time-30 seconds and progress up to 90.
For stronger lifters, you can try stadium hops or one box, box jumps. Stadium hopping has been advocated for years and also helps develop glute and quad strength. Perform these exercises with hands on hips or behind neck, quarter squat position and jump from step to step on a flight of stadium stairs progressing upwards for no more than 10 jumps per set. Try to get two stairs at a time. Never perform stadium hops on concrete steps as this surface is too hard on joints. Besides, if you slip, it does wonders for your front teeth.
Single box jumps are done standing to one side of a box and jumping laterally off two feet onto the box and continuing laterally over the other side of the box. Land on two feet. Explode. Reverse direction and jump back onto the box and over. Repeat. Go for time-30 seconds up to max of 90.
Finally, the king of exercises for the squat and the deadlift-Depth Jumps! It may sound frightening but it’s quite simple. The lifter starts out standing on a box of approximately 18 inches. Start by stepping off the box to start your descent towards the floor. You should land on both feet and explode into the air as high as possible and as quickly as possible upon landing. Remember, the quicker you get off the ground, the shorter the amortization phase. The shorter the phase, the more forceful the muscles will contract.
It’s important to note that you shouldn’t jump off the box, but merely step off of it. As you descend towards the floor, you don’t want your knees locked. You should feel somewhat relaxed on your descent. The descent should have your arms by your side and relaxed. Once you try this exercise, you will notice that you will get a little bit of arm action on the jump off the floor, but it will seem like you don’t have time to gather and swing them upwards very high.
After your first jump, step back onto the box and repeat for 5-8 reps. To increase the intensity of this highly advanced training exercise, simply increase the box height. As a lifter, you will not believe the amount of force your lower body has to generate to propel you into the air with such power. Make sure to start out with the correct box height to avoid injury.
A more advanced method is to have a series of boxes at the same height lined up in order, so as you step and jump off box number 1, box number 2 is directly in front of you and you can use your jump off box number 1 to land on box number 2. Then you could have a third box in front of box number two and repeat. Go up to a max of 3 boxes. Be careful as you try this for the first time-as you may not reach the height of the box in front of you off of your jump and end up catching your shins or your chin on the box in front of you. CHOOSE BOX HEIGHTS THAT ARE EASY AT FIRST AND WORK PROGRESSIVELY UP TO HIGHER BOXES. The one drawback of this plyo training, is the cost of making the boxes goes up and so does the need for storage space. Most lifters will make a series of boxes ranging from 18 inches up to 48 inches and only jump off of one box at a time and use that one box for the entire training session. You could also warm up on lower boxes and progress to higher boxes, one rep at a time, with one box at a time.
The one question that should be eating at you is the answer to how high the boxes should be. Dr. Donald Chu suggests in his video to test yourself like this: perform a vertical jump off two feet next to a wall and mark the height of the top of your jump with your outstretched hand. Next, put an 18 inch box next to the wall and perform a depth jump as described above and mark the height of the top of your jump on the wall with your outstretched hand again. If the lifter can match the vertical height that was done without a box, then try a 24 inch box and continue in 6 inch increments until you can no longer match your vertical jump height. The box that you were on when you last matched your height is the correct box height for you to use. If you can’t match your vertical off the 18” box, try a 12 inch box. If you can match it there, then start with the 12 incher. If you can’t match it from a 12 inch box, better lose some weight or gain some leg strength!!!
The exercises are easy to implement in your training program and can be done quickly. Do your depth jumps just before your squat workout and your med ball drops just before your bench workout. If this isn’t feasible, try working these exercises in on your off-training days in brief 10 minute workouts.
I think you’ll find that if you start slow and easy, you will continue to increase your training volume that you need to gain strength and you will “teach” your muscles to contract with more force.
I would strongly suggest the book, “Jumping Into Plyometrics” by Donald Chu as a resource guide for your training library or contact the NSCA for more plyometric information.
