PLYOMETRICS- What and Why?
If you’re stuck in the Mon-Fri/one body part per day/3 sets, 8-12 reps/ RUT (and it IS a RUT let me tell you) then this is going to be an eye opening blog for you. Anyone who knows me, or who has seen me train, knows that my methods are bit left of the conventional center. For me, figure is about looking like an athlete, a FUNCTIONAL athlete. Think about the top physiques out there in figure- they look like they can run, jump, and MOVE with athletic grace. That’s the goal for me- to have a physique that flows, is streamlined, has good lines, and aesthetic, athletic appeal. In other words, if you want to LOOK athletic, you need to train like an athlete. One way, in which I’ve altered my training over the last two years is to include plyometric movements and drills into my own protocol. While plyos are traditionally thought of as “sports specific” movements only, I’m walking proof that they have a very valid home in the regime of a physique/figure/bikini athlete as well.
Before I get into the why- I need to define the “what”, especially for those of you who are not plyo saavy. Plyometrics (also known as plyos for short) is the term used to refer to the type of exercise designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system. Now as I mentioned, IN GENERAL, in the past, these movements were solely used for the purpose of improving performance in sports. HOWEVER they have a VERY valid home in anyone’s protocol because the benefits of plyos stem far beyond just being able to jump higher or throw further. Plyos ramp up fat burning due to their unique combination of working both aerobic (cardiovascular) systems and aerobic (muscular) systems in unison. Plyos are explosive exercises, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence. The muscle generates an extremely strong contraction in a VERY short period of time. A plyometric contraction involves first a rapid muscle lengthening movement (eccentric), followed by a short resting phase (amortization), then an explosive muscle shortening movement (concentric ), which enables muscles to work together in doing the particular motion.
Plyometrics fall into the power category. By this I mean that muscular strength is NOT the same as muscular power. Muscular strength refers to how much force can be applied. In other words, strength is the ability to lift a heavier weight as opposed to a lighter one. Strength alone is not indicative of speed or athletic performance. Although muscle strength is correlated to sprint performance, research has shown that combining both resistance training and plyometric training will have better effects on overall performance. While plyometrics assists in rapid force development (power), weight training assists in maximal force output (strength). Power refers to the combined factors of speed and strength, and therein lies it’s benefit- it taxes both the muscular and cardiovascular systems simultaneously. For those of us looking to create lean, athletic physiques, this is where it’s at.
For me, I stumbled into plyometrics because I was attempting to streamline and downsize my physique, which, up until that point had been the product of standard “bodybuilding” style training. For most figure athletes out there, this is what we’ve done, or currently do, at least 95% of the time. The trouble with bodybuilding style training is that it goes against our natural reflexive ability. What in the hell do I mean when I say this- well reflexive ability is when your muscle/tendon complex REFLEXES or REACTS to force and is stretched prior to contracting. This is called PLYOMETRIC strength, elastic strength, reflexive strength, and a host of other terms. Jumping, sprinting, and just about anything requiring high movement speeds are inherently reactive or plyometric dominant activities.
Bodybuilding style training methods are the exact opposite. They go AGAINST reflexive ability. This is why most bodybuilders lumber, or move stiffly. They hardly look like they could jog a lap let alone run, sprint, turn on a dime, or jump. We are born with natural reflexive tendencies, but we intentionally inhibit these natural tendencies by an over-reliance on slow speed training and slow eccentric training (making the muscle lengthen and work as slow and hard as possible). This is the standard “heavy weight, low rep, rest between sets” style of training. In doing this we can inhibit our natural reflexive capacities and hinder our speed and movement precision. These methods cause more muscle fiber damage and are excellent for building muscle size, but, if over-relied on, they will damage your reactive function and this can be evidenced by watching a typical bodybuilder walk, jog, or move. He/she does so in a muscle bound manner.
Back to what led me to begin using plyometrics- well, if those standard bodybuilding style movements are great for BUILDING MUSCLE SIZE, then I wanted to know what movements were good for strengthening, toning, creating reactive strength, and DOWNSIZING. Obviously, I did not NEED size in my lower half, so why in the world was I relying on “mass movement” or training protocols deisgned to build size for an area of my body that didn’t need more muscle? I had to get away from the leg press, squat, deadlift and standard bodybuilding style movements that were adding size. Bodybuilding style methods involve slow speed eccentric training which causes a decrease in the amount of the high velocity contractual fast twitch muscle fiber (IIx) and causes a conversion towards a slower contracting subtype (IIA). Fortunately, the reverse phenomenon occurs with training that speeds up the velocity of the eccentric like plyometric training or performing weight training with an emphasis on "explosion" - Using these methods the high velocity fast twitch content of a muscle will actually increase. So, I figured if what I had been doing (bodybuilding movements) wasn’t working, then perhaps I needed to take a walk to the OTHER end of the training spectrum and look into reflexive movements instead.
Thankfully, for me, plyometrics had gained SOME momentum (although small) within the general weight loss community and the mainstream public. Thanks to the popularization of home training programs like P90x and Insanity, people were becoming familiar with the terms “lunge jumps” and “jump squats” and understanding the impact incorporating those movements would have on their weight loss, fat loss, and body recomp goals. So I began researching lower body ploymetric movements and started incorporating them, slowly, into my routine. What I realized was that I had been SORELY missing out on an entire methodology of training that had benefits far extending beyond the standard “run further jump higher” mantra.
Even now, if you google plyometrics you will find an INFLUX of articles on plyos for athletes, on plyos for sport performance, but little to NOTHING on plyometrics for weight loss or body fat recomp! I hope that this changes, because plyometrics are a huge part of why I was effective in re-shaping and re-structuring the lower half of my body for the stage. Plyometrics are king at disturbing your metabolism and metabolic disturbance is key in fat burning. To quote Joel Marion, owner of Joel Marion Fitness Solutions: “Fat loss is ALL about creating a metabolic disturbance which forces the body to use energy to recover” Plyometrics help create the ever important “afterburn” effect in your metabolism that will serve as a calorie incinerating furnace for hours following the session. The toning effects of plyometrics are incredible as well. The key to shaping the muscle and creating an athletic streamlined look is to get away from heavy, cumbersome compound strength movements and rely on reflexive, impact involved, bodyweight training which creates muscle tone and definition through explosive momentum and instant impact.
So, not only do plyometrics ramp up your calorie burn and fat loss potential by calling upon two systems simaltaneously (both anerobic and aerobic) but the movements themselves are such that you can effectively tone, shape and target muscle groups in manner that is natural and reflexive. No heavy weight involved or needed. No mass gain here!
So, stay tuned for future installments in which I’ll discuss both upper and lower body plyometrics, how and when to incorporate plyometrics into your routine, and where plyometrics can fit within the realm of cardio strength training and circuit training as well!
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