11/4/07

Plyometrics

I have here a plan for a plyometric training program taken from a 2003 article by Spurrs, Murphy, and Watsford about the benefits of plyometric training to trained endurance runners. The take home point of the article is that plyometric training makes previously very well trained endurance runners more "economic" in their running (running faster at a lower energy cost). The article goes on to explain the increases by showing improvements in musculotendon stiffness, increased force of isometric contractions (stronger), and some other stuff...

In a 6 week program, you don't actually "build" muscle because of any type of training (cardio, weights, plyometrics, etc...). You learn to use the muscle you have - recruiting greater numbers of motor units per contraction (motor unit = muscle + nerves that attach to it).

In a past life (high school, as sad as that sounds) I was very strong, much stronger than I am now. While there is some deterioration of muscle over time if it isn't used, it's still a very resource intensive thing to build up, so your body is reluctant to get rid of all of it... I plan on starting this 6 week program to see if I can't quite literally shock my muscles into waking up in 6 weeks and see if I can't produce the same change in running, biking, hiking, and whatever else economy.

I should, I think, actually have a much greater improvement than exhibited by the trained distance runners in the study because of my much lower starting point due to a lack of any recent training... We'll see. I'll let you know when I start the program and when I end it, and any changes I make to it between now and then.











Week/Session Jump Squat Jump Scissor Kick Double Leg Bound Alternate Leg Bound Single Leg Forward Bound Depth Jump Double Leg Hurdle Jump Single Leg Hurdle Jump Total Contacts
1/1 2x10 2x10 2x10




60
1/2 2x10 2x10 2x10




60
2/1 2x10 2x10 2x10 2x10



100
2/2 2x10 2x10 2x10 2x10



100
3/1
2x12 2x12 2x12 2x10


136
3/2
2x12 2x12 2x12 2x10


136
4/1

3x10 3x10 2x12 2x6

150
4/2

3x10 3x10 2x12 2x6

150
4/3

3x10 2x15 3x10 2x8

156
5/1


2x15
2x8 2x10 2x10 136
5/2


3x15
2x10 2x10 2x10 170
5/3


3x15
2x10 2x10 2x10 170
6/1



3x10 3x10 3x10 3x10 180
6/2



2x15 3x10 3x10 3x10 180
6/3



2x15 3x10 3x10 3x10 180











RW Spurrs, AJ Murphy, ML Watsford





The Effect of Plyometric Training on Distance Running




2003







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