4 perfect plyometric excercises for every athlete

While weight sessions are essential for building strength and stability, many athletes underutilise plyometric exercises. Plyometrics are any exercises that force your muscles to exert maximum force in short intervals of time, activating a rapid stretch-shortening cycle. Basically any explosive exercise that involves a lack of ground contact time. In this article I will outline a few plyometric exercises that I recommend any athlete incorporate into their training.

Death drops into vertical jump

The first exercise is the Death Drops into Vertical Jump. This exercise involves standing on an elevated surface (most commonly a box) and stepping off. It’s important that you let yourself step off and fall, rather than jumping off. When you land on the floor you want to land with both feet and explode up into the highest vertical jump that you can achieve, reducing the amount of time you spend on the floor.

You can use this exercise on its own but it is a great exercise to contrast with heavy squat or deadlift lifts. I recommend doing anywhere between 3-6 reps for 5 sets.

Bounds

The second exercise I recommend is bounds. This exercise is also commonly referred to as a broad jump, and it involves jumping as far forward as possible. You want to start with a slightly wider than shoulder width stance, and make sure that you jump off both feet at the same time. A common mistake is when someone jumps off one foot instead of two. It’s also important to land with both feet, trying not to fall forward after finishing the jump.

I would suggest doing this exercise in combinations with another explosive exercise rather than a weighted exercise, but it can be utilised with either. Check out the next exercise to see what I would pair it with. The recommended reps for this exercise are anywhere between 3-5 reps for 5 sets.

Rotating jump lunges

Up next is maybe the hardest exercise I’ve mentioned so far. This exercise involves starting in a lunge position and exploding up to land in an alternate lunge. Many people find that hard enough on its own, but this exercise requires you to rotate to the side of your front leg on each jump. This is more for advanced athletes but jump lunges are great for everyone. This exercise requires more stability and balance, while also asking you to explode off the ground even higher. It’s also just really fun.

For these jump lunges I recommend 6 reps (that’s 3 on either side), and up to 5 sets. They can be paired with weighted exercise or bounds.

Clap push ups

The last exercise is for our upper body so it doesn’t require jumping, something many people attribute with the word “plyometric”, however it’s just as effective. This exercise is the clap push up and it involves exploding up further than your normal push up. Usually on a push up you stop once your arms have locked at the top of the movement, but in this variation you will get your arms completely off the ground and make a clap before landing back on the floor. It goes without saying how difficult this may be for some people, so make sure to build up to it. It is however one of the most effective and rewarding plyometrics. Just make sure you have a mat underneath you if you’re going to failure.

For this exercise I recommend doing around 8 reps per set but when you get good at these you can push even higher. I would also recommend around 4 sets. Doing these alongside bench press can be good, but I’ve found that oftentimes they are more effective beside a different muscle group. Doing them alongside some shoulder press or tricep work can help you feel at your best.

Those are my recommended plyometric exercises for every athlete. They are all exercises I commonly use for my clients and myself, and they all work to great effect in improving explosive power and speed. Every athlete should be training plyometrics and these are only a few to incorporate into your training. Make sure to use them at the start of your session or in contrast with compound lifts, as you want to perform these when you are fresh. If you aren’t fresh then you won’t get the most out of them.

If you incorporate any or all of these exercises into your training let me know much you have improved as an athlete, and if you play a sport that calls for high levels of explosivity get in touch today to talk about your fitness goals and a cutting edge workout plan.