Plyometric Training For Soccer
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Plyometric training is the little known secret that competitive athletes do not want you to know about, since it gives them an enormous advantage over their competitors. If you desire to increase your speed and explosiveness in movement, plyometric exercises are one of the few that are very effective. Even those who are not competitive athletes can benefit from plyometrics and greatly enhance their physical conditioning.
Plyometric training entails jumping in order to develop not only muscle strength, but speed and explosiveness. Weight training will strengthen your legs, but does little to develop the quick twitch muscles needed for explosiveness and quickness. Plyometric exercises also develops other muscles besides the legs needed to jump higher.
Plyometric exercises focuses typically on the development of quick twitch muscles which are important for quickness and explosive movements. Competitive athletes are gaining enormous advantages by applying plyometric training exercises in their workouts.
There is a variety of exercises you can perform, jumping on and off an sturdy object is one example. This exercise can be repeated over and over again, but the purpose is to develop explosive power, and not endurance. Therefore, each rep or jump should attempt to jump as high as you can. As soon as your jump max is starting to decline because of fatigue, it is time to stop that exercise.
Depending on your goal or your physical abilities, you can adjust you plyometric exercise workout. For the novice athlete, perhaps the number of reps are less and with less intensity. But to fully benefit from plyometric training, each rep should be done with intensity and at the maximum effort.
Pay attention to your body when you exercise. If you begin to experience achy knees or sore muscles, take a break. By allowing your body to recuperate, your plyometric training will more likely be safe and effective.
Plyometrics is one of the keys in learning how to jump higher. Practice these tips, and you will increase your vertical jump drastically.