Why We Program Plyometrics for Our Athletes and You Should Too

Nov 22

Plyometrics. What are they and why should you program them?

First, plyometrics are defined as: **exercise involving repeated rapid stretching and contracting of muscles (as by jumping and rebounding) to increase muscle power.**
*Merriam-Webster

Plyometrics should be introduced early and often for youth athletes, but this should be done in a controlled and periodized manner. Plyometric-based exercises can be as simple as hopping or skipping and as advanced multi-jump bounding or single-leg hopping. Incorporating plyometrics 2-3 times per week with at least 120 ground contacts in the form of games or play is a great place to start with young athletes. Even in 1-2 sessions per week research shows that plyometric training can increase performance in a variety of areas including sport specific skills. Improvements in 10 yd. and 20 yd. sprints, vertical and broad jumps, change of direction tests, balance, throwing velocity, and lower limb strength, soccer dribbling speed and kicking velocity have all been seen in both boys and girls. For best results, these types of specialized training should be conducted for 8 weeks consecutively and no more than 16 weeks without at least 7 days of off-cycling from accumulated plyometric stress.

Maturation in young athletes can cause a window of less effective plyometric training while their bodies are adjusting to the biggest growth spurt of adolescence. Introducing plyometrics starting as early as 4-5 years old and up until this window (which has a bigger effect on females than males) can help to retain the benefits of training as athletes mature.

Athletes can progress from the 120 to around 800 contacts per week at the upper levels of plyometric training. Care should be taken to incorporate proper rest and recovery between sessions and care should be given to training surface. Start athletes out on a softer surface (grass/turf) and advance beyond that if required for sport (basketball/volleyball court).

At ACES Nation we believe plyometrics are an incredibly important part of training for youth athletes and it’s clear to see how when reviewing the ample research that backs up why. Listen to the latest episode of the News for the Nation Podcast here to dive deeper into this topic and what the research tells us.

Sources:

Zhou, J.-Y., Wang, X., Hao, L., Ran, X.-W., & Wei, W. (2024). Meta-analysis of the effect of plyometric training on the athletic performance of youth basketball players. In Frontiers in Physiology, Frontiers in Physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2024.1427291
Plyometric-Jump Training Effects on Physical Fitness and Sport-Specific Performance According to Maturity: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. (2023). Sports Medicine - Open, 9, 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-023-00568-6
Moran, J., Clark, C. C. T., Ramirez-Campillo, R., Davies, M. J., Drury, B., School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom, & Department of Physical Activity Sciences, University of Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile. (2019). A Meta-Analysis of Plyometric Training in Female Youth: Its efficacy and shortcomings in the Literature. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 33–7, 1996–2008.
Deng, N., Soh, K. G., Abdullah, B., Huang, D., Xiao, W., & Liu, H. (2023). Effects of plyometric training on technical skill performance among athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. In University of Montenegro (Ed.), PLOS ONE (Vol. 18, Issue 7, p. e0288340). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288340
Chen, L., Zhang, Z., Huang, Z., Yang, Q., Gao, C., Ji, H., Sun, J., & Li, D. (2023). Meta-Analysis of the effects of plyometric training on lower limb explosive strength in adolescent athletes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(3), 1849. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031849