Plyometric training was developed by trainers in Eastern Europe in the 1920s and was originally known as ‘jump training’. A man named Yuri Verkhoshansky is a sports scientist who is largely credited for the development of the training. He was the first to come up with the idea that repetitive jumping would develop the strength power and speed of athletes (Dynamic Fitness, 2015).
Plyometric exercises are specialised, high intensity training techniques used to develop athletic power ( speed and strength) .Plyometric training involves quick powerful movements such as bounding, jumping and leaping that involve an eccentric contraction immediately followed by a concentric contraction (Clark et al, 2010). In turn, this increases the speed or force of muscle contraction which therefore allows somebody to jump higher, run faster, throw harder or to improve any area of their particular sport (Glendinning, 2015).
Plyometric training session video
Reference List
Clark, M. and Lucett, S. (Eds.) (2011) NASM’s Essentials of Sports Performance Training. (1st ed.) USA: NASM.
Glendinning, B. (2015) What is Plyometrics . [Online] Available from: http://www.fitness.com/articles/365/what_is_plyometrics.php [accessed 14 March 2016].
Dynamic Fitness (2015) The History of Plyometric Training . [Online] Available from: https://mydynamicfitness.com/history-plyometric-training/ [accessed 14 March 2016].
Morrison, B. (Ed.) (2015) 365 WODS. (1st ed.) Beverley, MA.: Fair winds press .