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Functional Plyometric Training To Enhance Performance
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- AND1 moves - Defence - Dribbling - Jumping - Offence - Plyometrics - Shooting - Strength - Stretching - Tips - Quickness |
One of the most important aspects of training JKD is an emphasis on developing not only the technical elements of martial arts, but also the raw athletic attributes that support techniques and allow them to be effectively executed when you are under pressure. The process of investigating ways to develop these attributes continues to be important as further advances in the sciences of human movement are made and new training methods are developed. While earning my personal trainer certification, I was introduced to a relatively new solution to one of the more difficult problems in athletics: developing sport specific power and speed. Practically everyone appreciates the need for building up the separate portions of their overall athletic "game"; for example, most people realize that it is important to maintain both strength with weight training as well as endurance levels through regular cardio training. However, many training plans fall short in a crucial area: translating those hard-won levels of raw strength and endurance into the specific arena of power for performance. The method that has been proven particularly effective in bridging this training gap is called plyometrics. After training with Sifu Dion recently, I've had the opportunity to experience exactly how much difference incorporating "plyos" into a program can make in enhancing speed and power. I'd Like to outline a few of these basis plyo drills, which I think everyone will find useful in maintaining, if not substantially improving, some important athletic attributes. Plyometrics, originally simply called "jump training", can be traced back to the athletic programs of East European countries during the early 1970s. When athletes from these countries began to dominate in sports such as track and field, gymnastics, and weightlifting, Western coaches started to investigate their training methods. According to Dr. Donald Chu in his book Jumping Into Plyometrics, the term was first used in 1975 to describe exercises and drills designed to link strength with speed of movement to produce power. The word itself is a combination of the Latin roots "plyo" and "metric", which translates into "measurable increases." Coaches and trainers from virtually every sport quickly began to use the principles of plyometric training to invent drills and exercises to improve different types of speed and power, turning generalized "jump training" into a specific and functional tool. The basic idea behind the method lies in manipulating the different ways in which muscle groups contract to maximize the efficiency in which muscles "load up" before an explosive movement. A spring can be used to illustrate this process: the farther and more quickly the spring can be compressed, the more force it will produce upon uncoiling. It's important to note that this process places a great deal of stress upon joints and connective tissues. Therefore, plyometric training requires that the athlete possess an adequate strength base to absorb these forces and prevent injury. The contractions involved are often full-force muscular efforts, so if you haven't incorporated regular strength training into your program yet, I recommend staying away from high-intensity plyo drills until you do. Examples of high intensity drills include repetitive hops or jumps where the athlete uses only one leg, or uses both legs but with additional external resistance provided by a medicine ball or barbell. The following drills were selected to improve my boxing footwork by increasing my power, speed, and ability to change direction. I gave these elements special attention after Sifu Dion noticed that I was having problems penetrating far enough with my jab, because my penetrating footwork tends to lag a bit. Correcting this deficiency began with a basic, functional plyo exercise. Dion asked me to step forward normally, throw a jab, then retreat. He then used markers on the ground to record the distance traveled by my lead foot as I advanced, showing me exactly how far I was penetrating and where my opponent would have to be for me to effectively reach him. With this baseline reference in front of me, Dion then broke down all of the elements involved in both the advancing and retreating motions. Instead of simply stepping forward and popping out a light flicker-type jab, he directed me to exaggerate bending my knees to "load" the muscles of the rear leg. He then encouraged me to "explode" off of it, springing as far forward as I possibly could by visualizing pushing off with my rear big toe. Sifu explained that it was this relatively low structure that Bruce Lee was describing when he wrote about the importance of using a "bent knee, phasic stance." After getting a feel for the mechanics of the muscular contractions involved, the markers were moved farther apart to adjust for the new distance I had achieved, and I performed 10 sets of repetitions travelling forward and backward. I added at least 6 inches to the extension of my job simply by becoming conscious of these details, and Dion assured me that I would make further gains by adding this linear movement drill to my program. Finding plyometric drills to help generate power from this flexed knee position poses a unique challenge, since most sports tend to use a straighter, more extended leg position when jumping. However, I've found another exercise, called "Stadium Hops", to be useful for developing power for rapid forward movement. It begins with the athlete standing with the feet shoulder-width apart at the bottom of a set of stairs or bleachers. Holding your hands on your hips or behind your neck, drop into a quarter squat and jump up onto the first step. Continue up the stairs for a set of 10 or more hops, trying to keep your landings as short as possible and moving up the steps without pausing in between jumps. When you become comfortable with single steps, progress to jumping up two steps at a time. Since the goal here is to increase your speed and power instead of your endurance, make sure that you give yourself sufficient recovery time between sets to insure a maximum amount of effort for each set. After addressing your sheer power in your footwork, you can also use plyos to insure that you can rapidly change direction in response to an opponent's movements. An excellent drill for sharpening the agility required for this is a "Four Square" drill. Begin by creating a square on the ground out of jump ropes or tape, forming squares approximately 24 inches on each side. The squares are then numbered in a clockwise direction: 2 | 3 1 | 4 Figure 1: Four-Square Pattern Remain facing forward and then jump into the squares in whatever order desired: between 1 and 2 or 2 and 4 to work on linear agility, from 2 to 3 or 1 to 4 to build lateral quickness, or between 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 for diagonal movement. All four squares can be used to form combination sequences, such as 1-2-3-4. When performed with both feet, this drill can serve as an excellent low intensity warm-up; if done in a single-leg fashion, it is a plyometric exercise of moderate intensity. Either way, attempt to keep the time your feet are in contact with the ground as short as possible, and enforce precision by not counting the repetitions where your feet touch the tape or miss a square. Remember that plyometric training is a relatively high-stress method that needs to be incorporated into the whole of your program in a progressive fashion. Most trainers recommend at least 48 hours of recovery time between plyometric workouts to allow for adaptation, with beginning programs using no more than 250 total jumps per session. The actual combination of drills and volume of repetitions will depend on your level of conditioning and the specific types of power you want to work on. If you'd like some advice designing a plyometric program, or if you're in doubt about how to perform a particular drill, I recommend that you contact Sifu Dion or another certified trainer. Train hard. |
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