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Want to run faster and jump higher? Virtually all athletes can benefit from improvements in — and development of — explosive muscular force.
Plyometric training has a positive effect on neuromuscular performance, increasing explosive performance and, subsequently, athletic performance.
A new study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggests that two factors are especially impactful and should be considered when designing or participating in a plyometric training program:
- Training volume
- Training surface
Plyometric training volume is usually measured in touches (for example, when you jump up on a box and then back down, that counts as two touches). In this study, it was determined that “a high plyometric training volume (i.e., 120 jumps per session or 240 jumps per week) would be necessary to induce an increase in acceleration sprint.” (Ramirez-Campillo, et.al.)
Plyometric training surface (hard or soft landing surface) was also relevant in the study, with a harder surface — such as a wood gymnasium floor — doubling the efficiency of adaptations in reactive strength. As a result, “a high volume of training would not be necessary to induce reactive strength adaptations when a hard landing surface is used.”
Study data indicate that “when moderate volume is used during plyometric training, a hard training surface would be needed if fast SSC (stretch-shortening cycle) muscle actions, or reactive strength, are an important objective of training.”
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