Take a Leap in Performance with Plyometric Exercises!

What are plyometrics?

Plyometrics is jump training that consists of high-power exercises in short amounts of time. Plyometrics taxes our muscles via the stretch-shortening cycle by lengthening our muscles (when we land) and following it immediately by contracting our muscles (when we jump).¹

Examples of plyometric exercises are jump squats, running lunges, box jumps, drop jumps, and single leg hops.

What are the benefits of plyometrics?

Plyometrics help increase an athlete’s functional performance. Most sports require complex movements, body control and balance, changes in direction, speed, and power that simple resistive training at the gym does not provide.

Results have shown the benefits of plyometric training on performance in multiple sports. Research on youth soccer players demonstrated that plyometric training just once a week can improve sprint speed and jump height.² Other benefits found were agility, kicking speed, and kicking distance. ^{3, 4}

A study on basketball players showed that plyometric training increased “muscle power, linear sprint speed, change-of-direction speed, balance, and muscle strength in basketball players independent of sex, age”, and other training program variables.⁵

Plyometrics is also a weight-bearing exercise which promotes bone mineral density and helps prevent bone diseases such as osteoporosis.⁶

Key Takeaways:

• Plyometrics can improve an athlete’s technical and physical ability  
• Add plyometrics into an athlete’s training program to supplement their sports specific practices 
• Benefits are seen in as little as one training session a week  
• Focus on consistency and program length more than frequency within a week 
• Plyometrics promotes bone health by increasing or maintaining bone density in youth athletes 

Figure is from The effects of plyometric jump training on physical fitness attributes in basketball players: A meta-analysis.⁶

References

1. Davies, George et al. “CURRENT CONCEPTS OF PLYOMETRIC EXERCISE.” International journal of sports physical therapy vol. 10,6 (2015): 760-86. 
2. Bianchi, Mattia et al. “Comparative effects of single vs. double weekly plyometric training sessions on jump, sprint and change of directions abilities of elite youth football players.” The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness vol. 59,6 (2019): 910-915. doi:10.23736/S0022-4707.18.08804-7 
3. Sáez de Villarreal, Eduardo et al. “Effects of Plyometric and Sprint Training on Physical and Technical Skill Performance in Adolescent Soccer Players.” Journal of strength and conditioning research vol. 29,7 (2015): 1894-903. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000838 
4. Bedoya, Abigail A et al. “Plyometric Training Effects on Athletic Performance in Youth Soccer Athletes: A Systematic Review.” Journal of strength and conditioning research vol. 29,8 (2015): 2351-60. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000877 
5. Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo et al. “The effects of plyometric jump training on physical fitness attributes in basketball players: A meta-analysis.” Journal of sport and health science vol. 11,6 (2022): 656-670. doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2020.12.005 
6. Hind, K, and M Burrows. “Weight-bearing exercise and bone mineral accrual in children and adolescents: a review of controlled trials.” Bone vol. 40,1 (2007): 14-27. doi:10.1016/j.bone.2006.07.006