In the previous partswe have briefly listed the various families of so-calledpliometric exercises that form an important part of the arsenal available to trainers to achieve greater and faster development of
Strength and power
However, if all these exercises have in common the development of POWER, we can, because of their diversity, bring some precisions as for the use of some.
For example, the deep jumps(depth jump) obviously improve vertical relaxation but also explosiveness, reactivity, start-up speed and changes in direction. The multiple jumps with box (plinths) are used to improve acceleration, explosiveness, changes of direction and horizontal or vertical relaxation.
Jumps on the spot are used to improve reactivity, vertical relaxation and starting speed.
The jumps without momentum allow to work on the vertical relaxation and the starting speed. Multiple jumps focus on acceleration, starting speed, agility, changes of direction and vertical or horizontal relaxation. Bouncing steps are generally devoted to working on explosiveness, acceleration, reactivity and improving horizontal release.
In terms of upper extremity exercises, it is ultimately the load used that will define an orientation. As power is the combination of strength and speed, lighter loads will be used for speed and heavier loads will emphasise strength. With this clarified, the rules of the plyometric mode of contraction, i. e. the stretch-shortening cycle as we have
VOLUME & INTENSITY
Volume: is the amount of work done during the session. Volume is therefore represented by the number of repetitions and the number of sets. For the repetitions, depending on the type of exercise, you can count the number of jumps, the number of times the feet hit the ground or the distance covered during a set. In general, the number of repetitions and sets should be related to the difficulty of the exercise.
Intensity: Plyometric exercises require maximum effort, so the intensity should be as close to 100% as possible. If in weight training the load represents the intensity in plyometrics it is determined by the difficulty of the exercise. For example, a 30 cm high jump will have a lower intensity than a 60 cm high jump. Similarly, a small plyometric exercise will be of lower intensity than an intensive plyometric exercise.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PLIOMETRY INTENSIVE
Intensity: maximum (100%)
Mode of execution: explosive with the shortest possible transition phase between eccentric and concentric.
Number of repetitions: between 6 and 15
Number of sets: between 4 and 1
Recovery time between sets: 1 to 4 minutes
