PLYOMETRICS

Describes an eccentric load followed by a concentric release of energy in an explosive way.

In most of today’s athletic training systems, we force athletes to build muscle and get bulky to increase power. We are against this concept based on the following. Science has proven that when you bulk a muscle it loses it’s elastic qualities and it actually shortens towards the center of the muscle causing it to ball up and pull away from the connective tissue which connects/holds muscles to the joints. This is called muscle hypertrophy and science has shown that it can have an adverse effect on athletic movement. This puts more stress on the ligaments and tendons and causes muscular imbalances. Compare the way a human body is made to a trampoline. A trampoline has a webbing or net in the middle which we jump on.

All of the focus and attention is usually on the net. Much like most of the attention is usually put on the size of the athlete’s muscles. But what is actually firing or creating most of the power? Is it the webbing or the springs? Think about it, the springs that are connected to the skeleton of the trampoline are actually absorbing most of the shock applied to the trampoline and reverses that energy and catapults a person high into the air. So we have a net, that is connected to a spring, that is connected to the skeleton of the trampoline. The human body is made the same way. We have muscles that are attached to ligaments and tendons that are connected to skeletal bone. Our philosophy of power comes down to this- plyometrics have proven to be the best way to improve the elasticity of the muscle and the strengthening of connective tissue. There is also a timing that comes along with plyometric training. Science shows that for a movement to be considered plyometric, it has to take place in .15 tenths of a second. In a nutshell, athletes have to move at, or faster, than the speed of sport!! This is important! How can an athlete become more explosive and faster if they are constantly training slower than the speed of the sport that they are playing? The modern systems of weight training actually work against explosive athletic movements. These strength training philosophies have been built around Olympic-style powerlifting systems. The problem with these motions are that they are too slow and are not duplications of the athletic motion patterns used in today’s sports.

Take a squat for instance. The movement is too slow on the eccentric side (load). Next, most people squat from their heels, A movement that is virtually never repeated in sport. Lastly, weight is stabilized on the shoulders of the athlete, causing the athlete to stabilize the spine and put himself/herself in a constant state of tension. This is unrealistic. Once an athlete loads and fires, that athlete is no longer under a state of tension, they are in a relaxed state. So why would you train in a totally contrary way? These are things that we as coaches, trainers, and players have to really take an in-depth look at. Are these the best ways to train an athlete or are they just the only way we know of?