Traditional aerobic lessons and training programs are all good and fine for fitness building and weight management, but nothing like plyometrics makes you feel powerful and lean. Jumping or jumping movements such as jump squats are included in plyometric exercises. The fat-burning benefit in interval training lies in high-intensity exertion. It also builds muscle, power, and speed to assist you in other sports or exercise programs.
If you feel like your training is dull and repetitive, or you want to literally mix things up, plyometrics can be just what you need. This involves rapid, powerful movements and is one of the most effective forms of burning fat and calories.
Contrary to traditional strength training, which generally requires long and slow movements to increase strength and weight, plyometric exercises are rapid and explosive movements designed to improve power and speed. In three phases, a plyometric exercise is divided:
- Eccentric phase – fast lengthening of muscle movement
- Amortization phase – short resting duration
- Concentric phase – explosive muscle shortening movement
The ultimate objective of plyometric exercises is to reduce the time between eccentric and concentric movements so that you will get faster and stronger.
Plyometrics involves repetitive leaping, power jumping, and the production of quick force. When the muscles contract or shorten eccentrically, then straighten and lengthen immediately, they provide full ideal strength for athletic situations.
Plyometrics are ideal for athletes or individuals to improve muscle mass, speed, and strength. This also promotes weight loss and improves your muscle tone. However, there are benefits and drawbacks of plyometric training like any other exercise.
The Plyometrics Explained
It is important to understand that plyometric exercise is not just simply about jumping. The plyometric exercise aims to improve the power of subsequent motions through the use of both muscle and tendon natural elastic components and something called the stretch reflex. Most plans seek to include “plyos” in the weight loss programs. Not only this is dangerous, but it can also be extremely irresponsible. Fitness specialists and trainers must be qualified for plyometric exercises before allowing non- athlete clients to participate in these movements.
Plyometric exercise requires full effort to boost the Anaerobic Power. To optimize performance, complete and adequate recovery time is needed. Drilling should be viewed as explosive exercises rather than conditioning. Since plyos are high quality and low quantity exercises, it is not possible to have the highest possible calorie expense.
Such considerations eliminate the effectiveness of plyometric training benefits in weight loss.
Plyometrics Benefits
Plyometrics require a lot of energy and can therefore only be carried out in short explosions. Even so, plyometric exercises can be paired with brief rest periods in order to create an interval workout. In less time than continuous physical exercise, interval training burns more fat. It can also improve cardiovascular and pulmonary performance more efficiently.
Plyometrics benefits include torching calories, increasing the strength of the muscles, and increasing energy through rapid motions, such as jumping or ball hitting. Plyometric training takes a lot of time since it is extremely intense. They use the entire body and activate most groups of muscles, thus burning many calories in one session and helping to reduce weight.
Repetitive landing causes both of the legs to contract, which helps boost overall toning and shape. Plyometrics incorporates strength training with cardiovascular exercise.
- Increase power and speed
Plyometrics benefits initially the runners, football players, gymnasts, and power athletes. Muscles reach the greatest strength in eccentric contractions or muscle lengthening. If you follow a concentrated or muscle-shortening contraction instantly, the muscle generates greater force. That is called the cycle of stretch-shortening. One of the many benefits of plyometric exercises is to reduce the time between eccentric and concentric contractions and increase muscle speed and strength.
- It helps build strength
Gains in muscle strength come with power and speed. Plyometrics will make the upper and lower body feel stronger. Examples of plyometric lower body exercises include tuck jumps, squat jumps, box jumps, and depth jumps.These jumps aim to get higher, using your leg power to increase your jump height. Plyometrics of the upper body include the clapping of pushups, the tossing of the medicine ball chest and overhead throws. This helps make your upper body stronger.
Benefits of adding plyometrics to your workout routine
1. Improved muscle strength – plyometric activities can reinforce both your upper and lower body muscles and tendons, enhancing the muscle’s explosivity and enhanced strength.
- Improved endurance – these movements can be used to boost strength and stamina. Muscle resistance and strength are improved so that the legs work and perform for a longer period of time at a higher intensity.
- Burn more calories – You will not only burn more calories during a plyometric training but also increase the remaining metabolic rate. It ensures that the body will burn more calories during the day and even more calories during the training session.
- There is no equipment needed – Your weight, open space and any things lying around your house is all you need
- Contributes to improving reaction time and balance
Plyometric exercise is intended for runners and athletic people of all ages and levels of skill. Physical therapy may help ensure healthy injury prevention based on individual strength, endurance, conditioning, and landing methods.
Plyometric Drawbacks
The only possible downside to plyometric preparation is that it has a high risk of injury. Plyometric training is a process, similar to all workouts and activities, where beginners are beginning with light and low volumes and increasing with increased intensity slowly.
Repetitive jumping and binding can cause joint stress. Whether you have arthritis or joint problems, do not indulge in plyometrics unless the doctor has authorized it. If you’re untrained, there is a higher risk of strain, as the muscles around your joints are weaker and may not support you.
Plyometrics benefits weight loss
Jumping into a fitness environment is not an unhealthy or inefficient way of practicing. Jumping enables you to eliminate deceleration at the top of a movement, which activates a higher number of muscle fibers during a squat, lunge, push-up, etc. Higher fiber activation ensures that more calories are burned. But the movement is no longer explosive and not known to be “plyometric,” as the heels come in contact with the floor.
The development of power should not be your focus during conditioning. You should concentrate on a full range of movement, safe jumping heights, soft landing, and continuous activities with minimal breaks. This is very different from what we find to be “plyometric.”
Note: Plyometric exercises are not a healthy way to incorporate them into the weight loss plan due to the explosivity and incapacity of non-athletes to do it correctly. Knowing your goals is an important step in ensuring that you and others stay healthy in the workout.
Safety Precautions:
The length, volume, and progression of the program as well as the age, strength, medical history, and experience of the individual should be considered before beginning a plyometric training course. For lower body plyos the squat of an athlete should be at least 1.5 times its body weight before plyometrics are applied. In upper body plyos, athlete’s bench press must be at least 1-1.5 times the bodyweight of the athlete before plyometrics are enforced. Many individuals looking to change their overall body composition can not hit these thresholds safely, hence, when undertaking a plyometric training program placing them at an elevated risk of injury.
In addition to the physical characteristics of the individual, landing surfaces, training environment, equipment, footwear, and adequate supervision all need to be taken into account before undertaking plyometric exercise. For this mode of exercise, home alone in your living room isn’t a healthy or productive environment.