First you need to understand a few things about muscles before you start plyometrics. Muscles can store energy for a split second and you are able to use that energy to jump higher.
Think of your legs as springs, when you compress a spring is has a lot of stored energy ready to release as soon as you let go of it. The exact same thing happens in our legs as we drop our center of gravity right before take-off.
What you are doing is essentially loading the spring. Your muscles feel a stretch and that results in what is called the golgi tendon reflex that makes that muscles want to spring.
This is where plyometrics come in. Plyos and proper training will make that counter reaction fire with much more power. It's not the size of the muscle that determines power, or your would see bodybuilders hitting their heads on the rim from jumping so high.
To jump high you need all the muscles to fire at the exact same time and you can train them to do this. It is important to have strong legs before starting a plyometric training program.
1. First you need to start with strenthening the legs. If you can squat 125% of your weight 8 times in 8 seconds then your legs are ready to start a jump training program. If not then you will need to spend a few weeks strengthening your legs.
2. Once your legs are strong enough you need to realize that plyometrics are to be done when the legs are fresh. Don't do them after a leg workout and don't do them when you are still sore. Your legs need to be fresh. I can't stress this enough.
Think of your legs as springs, when you compress a spring is has a lot of stored energy ready to release as soon as you let go of it. The exact same thing happens in our legs as we drop our center of gravity right before take-off.
What you are doing is essentially loading the spring. Your muscles feel a stretch and that results in what is called the golgi tendon reflex that makes that muscles want to spring.
This is where plyometrics come in. Plyos and proper training will make that counter reaction fire with much more power. It's not the size of the muscle that determines power, or your would see bodybuilders hitting their heads on the rim from jumping so high.
To jump high you need all the muscles to fire at the exact same time and you can train them to do this. It is important to have strong legs before starting a plyometric training program.
1. First you need to start with strenthening the legs. If you can squat 125% of your weight 8 times in 8 seconds then your legs are ready to start a jump training program. If not then you will need to spend a few weeks strengthening your legs.
2. Once your legs are strong enough you need to realize that plyometrics are to be done when the legs are fresh. Don't do them after a leg workout and don't do them when you are still sore. Your legs need to be fresh. I can't stress this enough.
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