Plyometrics

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
Gianacakos wrote:
Standard jumping does not, according to research, produce a higher vertical.

I would LOVE to see some research that supports this.[/quote]

Wow, I had to check if I really wrote that. I must have been tired or something. That statement is false and I know it. To think I am complaining about people putting out mis-information and that is exactly what I did. 

Several things I have written are wrong, I had to re-read Supertraining and Science and Practice of Strength Training (just their plyo sections) to check myself.

The things I was saying about jumping not being plyometric are false, jumping is in fact plyometric. The point I was trying to make is that simply jumping is not necessarily considered the best training for vertical improvement.

My point about drop jumps and one legged bounding still stands, those are effective vertical improvers. They are not plyometric though, they are reversible.

Zatsiorsky states the squatting version of reversible muscle training is most effective for improving vertical jumps (e.g. for basketball, volleyball), starting velocity in football, sprinting etc. (The Science and Practice of Strength Training 2nd edition by Vladamir Zatsiorsky pg.128).

He also states that eccentric(plyometric) exercise should be performed to develop strength in landing (i.e. parachuting, figure skating, and gymnastics pg.126). I was an idiot about the term plyometric, but my position still stands on the effectiveness of just jumping for vertical improvement. Sorry about the mis-information for anyone who believed my dumb ass.

Actually Zatsiorsky has proved that depth jumps done for 6 weeks can improve your vertical with 10 centimeters. Ive seen the study and the hard numbers. Zatsiorsky found that the optimal height to step down from was 80 cm.

This really is common training theory.

I would also say that you have to work up your squatting poundage also. Strength never hurt anyone.

I dont have a specific program, but there are certain principles that you must apply:

1 keep ground contact as short as possible

2 If you crumble like a deck of cards when you hit the ground : Get your squat up !

3 Never do plyometrics till you become tired or exhausted. remember youre not training your ability to jump many times but to jump BIG one time.( so you can jump bigger many times in volleyball). Leave the gym with something in the tank.

3 Never do more 5 reps pr set.

I know a few people said to drop the deads, but I have had great results with clients on a deadlift/KB swing/Box jump triplet. We go moderately heavy on the deads for 10-15 reps, then a weight that they can swing powerfully for about 15 reps and then 25 box jumps. I have done this a few times using different weights and rep schemes and find that all of my clients jumps are improving dramatically. One guy went from starting( with problems) on a 12" box to a 24" in a few weeks. Nothing builds the posterior chain like deads, the kettlebell swings really build hip power and train you to open the hip forcefully and by the time you get to box jumps you feel like your feet are stuck in the sand.

Our aim wasn’t to improve their jumps , since they really weren’t concerned with that, but I just noticed how much they were improving and I often put deadlifts with box jumps for that reason, I think they compliment each other, of course I vary the loads and box hight and rep scheme to keep it different. Then again I have heard from many coaches and trainers, “If you want to get better at jumping then jump”. When you think about it that makes a lot of sense.

I think it’s been advised that if you can’t squat 1.5 or twice your bodyweight then your body won’t be ready for depth jumps and true plyometric “shock stretch” training. Medicine ball throwing, box jumps, and sprints would be appropriate but depth jumps wouldn’t be the best choice.

If you only train 3 days a week you might consider

Mon - Squats, Deadlifts, Glute-Hams and Abs
Wed - Chest, Back, Shoulders, and Arms
Fri - Jumps, Sprints, Glute-Hams and Abs

If you don’t have a glute-ham bench then do either Romanian Deadlifts, Leg Curls, or Pull Throughs.

Don’t kill yourself on sprints. Just do 5 sprints and 5 or 10 jumps. You could do overhead med-ball tosses instead of jumps.

It doesn’t sound like you train your back with anything but deadlifts. You should be doing Pull-ups.

Making your hamstrings stronger and bringing up your squat will be just as important as the jumps and sprints.

I play vollebyall as well and truthfully it’s a little late to try to add to your vert. But as 5’10" who has no issue hitting the 3m line (*okay I’m off by a foot) I can give a few hints:

-jumping more will help IF you are already squatting heavy. I’ve worked up to a full squat of 295 and have recently switched to box squats with the intent to get to 405. I took some time off from hitting 295 but I’m already easily box squating 285 with a lot more left in the tank.

-broad jumps will help for getting the motion you need to get up down. Look at Hector Soto and Leonel Marshall. They have a long penultimate step with a HUGE arm swing that vaults them into the air. You can get that arm swing down via broad jumps

-To maximize the weight training have your last heavy squat day about 1.5-2 weeks prior. I’m guessing your team won’t be playing much the week prior. This allows your legs to be completely rested for when they hit that sport court.

As for next year, hit the weights hard getitng your box squat up as high as possible and incorporate plyos like jumping roppe, box jumps, jumping squats, and kneeling jumps like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrnI1SXlQsY

basically the leg portion of the ws4sb.

[quote]FightingScott wrote:
I think it’s been advised that if you can’t squat 1.5 or twice your bodyweight then your body won’t be ready for depth jumps and true plyometric “shock stretch” training. Medicine ball throwing, box jumps, and sprints would be appropriate but depth jumps wouldn’t be the best choice.

If you only train 3 days a week you might consider

Mon - Squats, Deadlifts, Glute-Hams and Abs
Wed - Chest, Back, Shoulders, and Arms
Fri - Jumps, Sprints, Glute-Hams and Abs

If you don’t have a glute-ham bench then do either Romanian Deadlifts, Leg Curls, or Pull Throughs.

Don’t kill yourself on sprints. Just do 5 sprints and 5 or 10 jumps. You could do overhead med-ball tosses instead of jumps.

It doesn’t sound like you train your back with anything but deadlifts. You should be doing Pull-ups.

Making your hamstrings stronger and bringing up your squat will be just as important as the jumps and sprints.
[/quote]

Good post. Improving your vertical is not complicated, especially at your level.

In my workout today I did a 57’5" box jump. I’ve done true “shock method” plyometrics for exactly total weeks in the three years and have improved my standing vertical from 29.5" to 36" over that time. Get stronger, practice jumping (I like to use different jumping exercises every few weeks) and every once in a while (maybe a couple times per year) use a short block of special exercises or shock training.

The key is consistency, speed-strength fluctuates much more than other aspects of strength and can be very quick to decline.

I would add them in, with limited volume and frequency. Maybe once a week do ~4 or less sets of whatever. Just make sure you’re jumping as high/far as you can. Chances are when you’re playing volley ball you’re jumping hard for the ball, but not physically thinking about jumping as hard/high as you can. Just take a couple sets at the beginning of your training week to work on channeling your power into your vert.

i have a big meat

[quote]diamonddelts59 wrote:
i have a big meat[/quote]

you talking about your meet or your meat? lol

[quote]hockechamp14 wrote:
diamonddelts59 wrote:
i have a big meat

you talking about your meet or your meat? lol[/quote]

my meat as in the meat in my pants, my genatalia

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
I play volleyball in college. Here is a general template we might use:

Monday
A. Jumps
B. Posterior chain
C. Horizontal press
D. Row

Wednesday
A. Speed & quickness
B. Unilateral lower
C. Vertical press
D. Chins

Friday
A. Core lift (squat or deadlift)
B. Posterior chain
C. Biceps/triceps
D. Upper back/shoulders

[/quote]

what type of sets/reps do you do on your jumping program?

[quote]whitedime wrote:
jtrinsey wrote:
I play volleyball in college. Here is a general template we might use:

Monday
A. Jumps
B. Posterior chain
C. Horizontal press
D. Row

Wednesday
A. Speed & quickness
B. Unilateral lower
C. Vertical press
D. Chins

Friday
A. Core lift (squat or deadlift)
B. Posterior chain
C. Biceps/triceps
D. Upper back/shoulders

what type of sets/reps do you do on your jumping program?

[/quote]

1-3 reps depending on the intensity of the exercises. Usually 2 or 3 reps but sometimes I “max out” on a box jump or whatever. 8-12 sets again depending on what jumping exercise it is. More reps for box jumps than shock method plyos for instance.

Yeah, what they said.

For me, I found that spending some time doing things like lunges, (front, back, lateral, rotations) were very helpful: They made my knees feel better and stronger and I think lower the risk of injury overall. Problem with plyo or any other explosive training is you can get so optimized to jump in the gym (in nice, straight lines).

In a live-fire situation the angles won’t be perfect and you can launch yourself with more power than you can land from, possibly torquing knees and ankles.

Also consider pistols for your strength training too (start holding some weights like 10 lbs., since they help with your balance.

Just what I’d do, but I don’t play v-ball. Take it for what it’s worth.

– jj

[quote]jj-dude wrote:
Yeah, what they said.

For me, I found that spending some time doing things like lunges, (front, back, lateral, rotations) were very helpful: They made my knees feel better and stronger and I think lower the risk of injury overall. Problem with plyo or any other explosive training is you can get so optimized to jump in the gym (in nice, straight lines). In a live-fire situation the angles won’t be perfect and you can launch yourself with more power than you can land from, possibly torquing knees and ankles.

Also consider pistols for your strength training too (start holding some weights like 10 lbs., since they help with your balance.

Just what I’d do, but I don’t play v-ball. Take it for what it’s worth.

– jj[/quote]

Interesting point, but I think that he practices enough to get used to that. It’s not like he’s going to put feet on his vert in weeks leading up to nationals anyways, so I don’t see it as an issue as I think he’s practicing at least like 3 days a week.

gentlemen for what its worth ive been squatting ( one minute as many reps as i can sets ) on wednesdays and every other day of the week using isometric band resistance exercises and ive already gained an inch on my vert in 2 weeks… by the way what are pistols?

Pistols are single-leg unsupported squats.

See what I mean about the squat? Now try it using challenging weight and see what happens.

I think Charles Poliquin said that if you want to increase vertical jump then include some variation of the snatch lift?

[quote]Briski wrote:
I think charles poliquin said that if you want to increase vertical jump then include some variation of the snatch lift?[/quote]

makes sense especially ina vball specific sense since u need the arms over your head at most times when jumping (i.e when attacking the ball and blocking) also for the added arm thrust upward

[quote]diamonddelts59 wrote:
sup guys im goin to georgia in a few weeks for nationals, for volleyball and im lookin for a good plyometric workout to get my hops up. i train chest mon , tues off maybe abs, wed deadlift maybe abs, thurs off, and friday squat but for now i wanna make it my plyometric day… any great routines/ workouts?[/quote]

off topic, sorry, but whos the guy in your picture?

hes from an article on the site, i have no idea i just think hes aestetically perfect (no homo)