History and Appeal of Plyometric Training For Weight Loss
Former US Olympic long-distance runner Fred Wilt could not understand how the Soviet Olympic track-and-field team was so successful.
In the 1970s, the Russians were absolutely dominant.
What was their secret? Was it their diet? Exercise program? Special training conditions? Finally, he noticed an unusual routine they performed during warm-ups.
While the Americans were doing multiple static stretches, the Russians were executing all manners of unique jumps.
Based on a hunch, Fred Wilt began to investigate the Russian training method.
His research led to the discovery and popularity of plyometric training.
The original term plyometrics referred to a "shock method" training style pioneered by Yuri Verkhoshansky of the former Soviet Union.
For this training, athletes would drop from a height to experience a "shock" upon impact with the ground, which was followed immediately by a jump.
The forced, involuntary eccentric contraction of the landing and the following concentric contraction of the jump helped to prime the muscle fibers.
This drop jump, first established in the early 1970s, is still used today by a small number of athletes to improve their sprinting capability.
After observing the Russian Olympic team, Fred Wilt collaborated with Michael Yessis, a Russian trainer who worked with Yuri Verkhoshansky, to disseminate information on plyometrics to American athletes and trainers.
Since the introduction in the early 1980s, plyometrics training has gradually spread and evolved into an entirely new training method.
The explosive jumps that most modern athletes execute today are called plyometrics even though they vary considerably from the drop jump first explored by Verkhoshansky.
The wide use of the word plyometrics has diluted the original meaning of the term.
Despite inventing the concept for plyometric exercise, the Russian trainer Verkhoshansky is relatively unknown in the United States with the exception of some translated articles published in international fitness magazines.
Modern plyometrics are a series of explosive movements that utilize the same shorten-stretch concept underlying the shock method.
Dr.
Yessis published additional exercises beyond the simple drop jump.
These more complex exercises incorporate variations of the simple jump, such as adding forward movement, hopping on one leg, alternating landing leg, jumping multiple times, and combining running and jumping.
The key to making a jump plyometric is minimizing the contact time of the feet with the ground.
By focusing on reducing landing time, the interval between stretch and contraction is shortened, creating a bigger muscle stimulation.
This explosive adaptation has also been applied to upper body movements.
One upper body plyometric exercise is the push-up with a hand clap.
The stretch takes place as the hands arrive on the ground and the chest sinks, which is immediately followed by the upwards push.
The hand clap ensures a full explosive push off the ground, but elevating the hands above the ground will suffice if one cannot complete a full clap.
This exercise is a vigorous way to train the arms and chest, especially when contact time of the hands with the ground is kept to a minimum.
Another exercise involves a partner dropping a medicine ball down towards the chest of an athlete who is lying on his back.
The athlete will catch the ball and immediately throw it back up, thus completing the plyometric movement.
In the 1970s, the Russians were absolutely dominant.
What was their secret? Was it their diet? Exercise program? Special training conditions? Finally, he noticed an unusual routine they performed during warm-ups.
While the Americans were doing multiple static stretches, the Russians were executing all manners of unique jumps.
Based on a hunch, Fred Wilt began to investigate the Russian training method.
His research led to the discovery and popularity of plyometric training.
The original term plyometrics referred to a "shock method" training style pioneered by Yuri Verkhoshansky of the former Soviet Union.
For this training, athletes would drop from a height to experience a "shock" upon impact with the ground, which was followed immediately by a jump.
The forced, involuntary eccentric contraction of the landing and the following concentric contraction of the jump helped to prime the muscle fibers.
This drop jump, first established in the early 1970s, is still used today by a small number of athletes to improve their sprinting capability.
After observing the Russian Olympic team, Fred Wilt collaborated with Michael Yessis, a Russian trainer who worked with Yuri Verkhoshansky, to disseminate information on plyometrics to American athletes and trainers.
Since the introduction in the early 1980s, plyometrics training has gradually spread and evolved into an entirely new training method.
The explosive jumps that most modern athletes execute today are called plyometrics even though they vary considerably from the drop jump first explored by Verkhoshansky.
The wide use of the word plyometrics has diluted the original meaning of the term.
Despite inventing the concept for plyometric exercise, the Russian trainer Verkhoshansky is relatively unknown in the United States with the exception of some translated articles published in international fitness magazines.
Modern plyometrics are a series of explosive movements that utilize the same shorten-stretch concept underlying the shock method.
Dr.
Yessis published additional exercises beyond the simple drop jump.
These more complex exercises incorporate variations of the simple jump, such as adding forward movement, hopping on one leg, alternating landing leg, jumping multiple times, and combining running and jumping.
The key to making a jump plyometric is minimizing the contact time of the feet with the ground.
By focusing on reducing landing time, the interval between stretch and contraction is shortened, creating a bigger muscle stimulation.
This explosive adaptation has also been applied to upper body movements.
One upper body plyometric exercise is the push-up with a hand clap.
The stretch takes place as the hands arrive on the ground and the chest sinks, which is immediately followed by the upwards push.
The hand clap ensures a full explosive push off the ground, but elevating the hands above the ground will suffice if one cannot complete a full clap.
This exercise is a vigorous way to train the arms and chest, especially when contact time of the hands with the ground is kept to a minimum.
Another exercise involves a partner dropping a medicine ball down towards the chest of an athlete who is lying on his back.
The athlete will catch the ball and immediately throw it back up, thus completing the plyometric movement.