plyometrics

[Lin Stacey]

ive heard that the plyometrics can help make a definite increase in a sprinters speed. Does anyone know any exercises that include plyometrics that they would suggest for one to increase there speed?

[Justice]

well i dont really know about it for running, but i play basketball and its helped me jump higher. um.......i suppose you could run , with wieghts on you,that might work, but hey wait till someone more experienced replys

[MostMuscle]

Check this thread.

Remember with thousands of post here.....searching is a powerful tool.

[phildavies]

Plyometrics can definitely increase you sprinting speed simply because it helps to increase speed of contraction and so your explosive power (assuming you maintain the same level of strength).

It's not the ONLY way to convert strength into sport-specific power but is one of the most effective - provided you perform the training correctly. It's much more than just jumping up and down!

Here are some plyometric articles and a sprinting program (that incorporates plyometrics) that you may find useful...

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometric.html
Several articles with an overview of plyometric training guidelines and sample exercises.

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com...g-program.html
This is a sprint training program that incorporates plyometrics into the routine

Phil.

[Monkey]

check this website out...it has a lot of useful info about plyometrics

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/plymo.htm

[TommyD]

I used plyometrics prior to the track season my senior year of high school and they helped a ton. I ran 100's and 200's and made it to State Track. I owe a lot of my success to the time I spent in the weightroom lifting (strength training and olympic lifting) and doing plyometrics rather than the time I spent out on the track.

A great book to look at would be Explosive Running: Using the Science of Kinesiology to Improve Your Performance by Dr. Michael Yessis

Some great plyometrics to do (some of which will be redundant to what Most Muscle already said) are:

*Skipping (Although it looked dumb, it was a great way to start out plyometric training)
*Depth Jumps
*Box Jumps (great one)
*Double Jumps/Triple Jumps
*Medicine Ball Throws (Forward)
*Medicine Ball Throws (Backward)
*Trunk Twists w/ Medicine Ball
*Dot Drills (Focus on footwork and speed)
*Speed Ladders

Prior to track season I did the plyometrics involving jumping on Tuesday and the plyometrics involving twists, throws, and footwork on Friday to spread things out a little bit. Basically the only thing I did during track season was dot drills and speed ladders because everything else really made me tired for meets.

By the way, are you going to be sprinting in competition and coming out of starting blocks?

[Monkey]

since plyometrics work mostly fast twitch muscle fibers, do you think that doing plyometrics increases muscle size at all, just like lifting weights would?