I was talking with a friend this morning about what workout
we want to do later today and she was saying how she was sore from her workout
yesterday. She and my wife did a workout
which included many different plyometric exercises. She filled me in on how much she does not
like doing jumping exercises but at the same time loves them for what they do
for her. I however, love plyometrics and
it is where my love for fitness started.
Being a super skinny kid and not really knowing a lot, I was intimidated
to go into a weight room. But I knew I could
always jump. The first book I ever
bought for myself was a book on plyometrics.
Plyometrics are defined as jump training. Exercises in which muscle exert maximum force
in short intervals to increase muscular power.
These types of exercises are usually linked with athletes
and not usually thought about as a go to exercise for the average gym goer. The average person probably doesn't care what
their vertical jump is nor do they care to increase it. However, I believe that they can be an
effective tool to help anyone achieve their fitness goals, whatever they are.
Plyometrics require a lot of energy and muscles to perform,
therefore they will burn a large number of calories during a workout. In November 2011 an American Council of
Exercise study revealed that people that participated in 43 minutes of
plyometrics burned between 492-770 calories depending on their weight. The average calories burned in one hour of
weight training according to the Harvard Medical School is between 180-266
depending on the participants weight.
Now with this type of exercise there is always a risk of
injury. Plyometrics place a great amount
of stress on joints as well as the ligaments and tendons. If you have joint issues or arthritis do not
attempt plyometrics without first getting cleared by your doctor. One major tip I would like to offer is
whenever doing plyometrics make sure that you land softly. By that I mean bend the knees upon landing
and allow yourself to sink into a squatting position. This will minimize the impact on the knee
joint allowing more of the impact to be absorbed by the muscles.
If you are a beginner start with no more than 60-80 foot
contacts and 1-2 workouts per week. This
will allow your muscles and joints to strengthen and minimize risk of injury.
Some good exercises include: box jumps, jump squats and
depth jumps for the lower body. Clapping
push ups and medicine ball throws are good examples for the upper body.
