Jump Training and Plyometrics:

A Brief How To Guide

Written by Jack Woodrup for VerticalJumping.com
To maximize your vertical jump, the principle of training specificity suggests that you should be getting out
and doing some jumping, i.e. plyometrics. Unfortunately, to get maximum results isn't as simple as just
going to the nearest park and jumping up and down. The act of jumping is very taxing on your joints,
muscles and central nervous system and as such, you need to carefully plan and monitor this type of
training accordingly.
Unfortunately many trainers and coaches haven't fully understood the impact plyometrics can have on an
athlete and as a result this type of training has gathered a bad reputation. To help you avoid the negative
results of incorrectly applying plyometrics to your training, and to get the positive results out of your time
and effort, we have prepared a number of detailed articles that go over the key points that you need to
know.
What Are Plyometrics?
There are a number of definitions for plyometrics floating around but my favorite is provided by Mel Siff in
Supertraining:
"it consists of stimulating the muscles by means of a sudden stretch preceeding any voluntary effort"
Siff also likes to refer to Plyometrics as the 'Shock Method'. One of the key characteristics of plyometric
exercises is that the time of the coupling phase of the jump must be very quick (<0.15 seconds)
Plyometrics is a reflexive form of training. It involves powerful muscular contractions in response to a rapid
stretching of the muscles. The power of these contractions is generated by a combination of the strength of
the muscles, and the efficiency of the central nervous system (CNS).

What Do Plyometrics Do?

Plyometrics provides the training stimulus for a number of vertical jump related benefits including:
The training of the CNS to send the required signals to the muscles to ensure they contract more
explosively
The development of the muscles directly involved with vertical jumping
Development of the type II fast twitch muscle fibers associated with vertical jumping
The improved ability to transfer eccentric, or downward force, back into an upward or concentric movement
Any exercise that involves some sort of prior loading can technically be called a plyometric activity. Things
like sprinting where each stride is taken one step after another have a plyometric element to it. Movements
such as jumping up and down on the spot, or skipping, also have plyometric elements to them.
The depth jump which involves stepping off a riased box or platform and then as quickly as possible,
jumping back up, highlights one of the most important elements to optimizing your plyometrics training.
Whenever you do a plyometric type jump, it is most important that you explode off the ground as quickly as
you can. If you can reduce the time it takes you to land, stabilize, and then reverse back into the jump, i.e -
get off the ground quicker, you will start to jump higher.
Another thing you can do to improve the effectiveness of plyometric jumping is to minimize knee bend when
you land. By concentrating on doing this you are training your body to more efficiently absorb and transfer
force and helping develop an athletic quality known as stiffness. The better you are at doing this the more
reactive and explosive you become, and ultimately, the higher you will jump.
There are many different plyometric type exercises that you can perform to help improve your vertical jump.
For some good ideas as well as tips on how to perform them correctly check out the jumping exercise
section of our video library.

The Bad Reputation of Plyometrics

Plyometrics has on occasion been perceived negatively by many sports coaches. The reasons for this are
a combination of a lack of understanding by coaches about the impacts it has on an athlete, and the
prescription of too much training volume.
When doing plyometrics, and in particular high impact plyometrics such as depth jumps it is important to not
do anything stupid like 100's of reps, or adding heavy resistance through a vest, weight belt, or medicine
ball. Doing so seriously increases the chances of injury.
As an extreme example, if you jump of a 15 story building, your legs will crumple underneath you and you
will probably die. If you jump of a 2 foot box, you should be able to spring back up without too much trouble.
Alternatively, if you perform a set of jump squats wearing an X-Vest with 15 pounds you should be okay. If
you do the same set of jump squats but with a 330 pound barbell over your shoulders you could be in a bit
of trouble. Obviously these are out there illustrations but you see the point.
Another danger to look out for is that plyometrics are extremely taxing on the central nervous system
(CNS). The CNS controls how your body performs. If it is overly taxed it starts preventing your muscles
from contracting forcefully as is required to jump high. You end up doing a lot of low power jumps and
training for endurance, notmaximum height. The CNS actually takes much longer to recover than your
muscles and ligaments. So although you might think you are fully recovered because your muscles feel
okay, it is highly possible that if you have done a big plyometric session your CNS may need more time to
return to 100% functionality.
As advised regularly on this site, it is a good idea to monitor your training and see if you are still making
progress. If you are not, you may need to actually cut back your work load. With plyometrics, because of
the very high impact nature and the taxing of the CNS, not only is much better to err on the side of doing
less, it is also a wise idea to occasionally take a complete break from plyometric work every now and then.
Always remember with vertical jump training, it is quality, not quantity.

Further Theories About Plyometrics

There is a commonly espoused notion that athletes not engage in plyometrics unless they can squat at
least 1.5 times their own body weight. This is a good rule of thumb assessment of an athlete's strength.
There is a strong correlation between an athletes base strength levels and the amount of success they
have with plyometric training. More strength generally results in more successful reslts from plyometrics
(i.e. weaker athletes don't see the same level of gains as stronger ones).
That said, if you don't have access to a gym you will never know if you can squat that much, nor will you be
able to train with weights until you can. But, you will still be able to perform plyometric activities and make
improvements to your jumping ability. Just remember to start off with low volume, high quality work, and
build from there.
One final thought you will also see mentioned on this site a lot is that plyometrics is only one part of the
jump training puzzle. Used by itself it will produce improvements in your vertical jump. However, when used
in conjunction with an appropriate weight training regime, it can produce even better gains.

Conclusion
Plyometrics has been proven time and time again to work at improving an athlete's vertical leap. Correct
application of plyometric training principles will make you more efficient at energy transfer, more explosive
in your muscle contractions via high rate coding, it will develop fast twitch muscle fibers, and when that is
all said and done, you will have a much higher vertical jump.
For a more detailed discussion on the specifics of applying plyometrics to your jump training please read
part 2 at the link below:

Plyometrics Part 2: Application of Plyometrics Principles To Jump Training

Plyometrics Part 2: Practical Application

Share this page:

Written by Jack Woodrup for VerticalJumping.com

Plyometrics plays an important part in the development of your vertical jump. As mentioned in Part 1, it
rapidly facilitates the types of positive adaptations in your body required to get you jumping high. However,
as was also mentioned in Part 1, this type of training can, if incorrectly applied, quickly lead to injuries.
In this article, we will discuss the training parameters surrounding who should use this type of training, how
much volume they should use (sessions per week, reps and sets, rest etc), the different types of plyometric
exercises, and how they should be incorporated into a training program.

Variables Impacting Work Capacity

Before we describe some of the training parameters that apply to plyometrics it is very important to
understand that all training advice should always be tailored to an individuals athletic needs. Plyometrics is
no different.
The reason that an individualized approach to training programs is required is because each athlete has
different strengths and weaknesses that can and should be improved, and that may or may not make
plyometrics the best way for them to train.
With that in mind, the number of sessions per week, the number of sets and reps trained, the amount of
rest between sets, and the types of exercises performed, will all be influenced by a wide variety of factors.
Some of the more important ones are listed here:
Age
Training Experience
Base Levels of General Fitnessand Relative Strength
Overall Training Workload
Phase of the Program
Time Frame of the Total Training Program
Impact Level of Exercises Selected
To try and give you exact numbers of sets and reps etc without considering the above variables would not
only be incomplete and bad advice, but also possibly dangerous.
It is for this reason that when you see a web page, magazine article or jump program that suggests you
simply do x number of sets for x number of reps without considering your individual strengths and
weaknesses, you would be best to ignore it.
However, in order to give you some general guidelines about plyometrics so that you have an idea of the
complexities involved, we will examine each of these variables individually and discuss how they can
impact your workouts.

Age
The age of an athlete plays a significant role in determining how much plyometrics they should do. All that
jumping around is pretty stressful on the joints, tendons, central nervous system, and muscles. If you are a
younger athlete and still growing you should try and limit the total plyometric workload you are undertaking.
Excessive plyometrics on young athletes can impede the proper development of their joints causing long
term effects.
Conversely, once you reach a certain age, usually around 35+, you should also start to examine closely
how much jumping you are doing. There is a great saying that goes "you are only as old as you feel". This
is excellent to keep in mind if you are an older athlete. Generally speaking, if you have trained your whole
life and have fairly high levels of base fitness and relative strength, you will probably be bale to handle
more work than someone who has decided to take up vertical jump training after an extended layoff.
This is scenario is clearly evident when you see professional athletes playing into their late 30's and 40's
without time off. In most cases these athletes have done all the right things over the years conditioning wise
to keep themselves healthy, and have probably been a little lucky to have not had a serious injury.
This highly developed athletic state means they can still compete with guys 10-15 years younger. Yet when
you see a guy who is an office worker go on a get fit campaign they are sore all the time and their
performance will be far below that of their younger colleagues. They are also very likely candidates for
injury.
So if you are still growing, or are getting on a bit, it is important to monitor your plyometric workload for
signs of over training. In between those brackets you should be peak health so you should be able to,
provided all the other variables are in place, train at a higher level. Of course, if you are in between those
age groups and haven't exercises for a while, you should be looking to gradually increase your workload,
not starting out with a full on hardcore program of jumping and weights.

Training Experience and Base Strength

The level of training experience and base strength often ties into age. If you are a seasoned athlete with
plenty of strength and conditioning under your belt, your ability to handle higher volumes of plyometrics will
be greater than someone who is newer to training.
High base levels of relative strength in particular is a key determinant of how much plyometrics, if any, an
athlete should do. Numerous reports have demonstrated that athletes with higher relative strength levels
respond better to plyometrics than weaker ones.
Part of the reason for this is the relationship between muscular power being a combination of speed and
force application. The stronger you are the more force you can apply. Often though the stronger you are the
more you are lacking in speed training. As we know improving an area of weakness is the quickest way to
performance gains.
The other reason a stronger athlete does better with plyometrics is that their muscles and joints are better
conditioned to stand up to the heavy pounding the jumping exacts on them. The extra strength makes them
more resistant to injury and more capable of recovery.
If you don't have a decent level of base strength we would strongly advise you to hit the gym and get
stronger before you undertake plyometrics. As is often mentioned by sports trainers, a barbell squat of 1.5
times your body weight is the generally accepted minimum level of strength you should have before
engaging in high intensity plyometric work.

Overall Training Workload

Consideration of your overall workload is essential when determining your training volume and type. For
example, If you are a college level athlete with 3 or 4 practice sessions a week plus games you will have
very little time and capacity to perform extra plyometrics sessions. Any high impact-high intensity training
on top of that already heavy schedule would most likely result in over-training and injury.
On the other hand, if you are a recreational athlete who plays only once a week, you obviously have a lot
more time and energy to devote to the development of your vertical jump through plyometrics. The
philosophy of reducing specific plyometric training is common amongst professional strength and
conditioning coaches who work with NBA and NFL teams. During the season professional athletes perform
virtually no high intensity plyometrics outside that which occurs naturally in playing their sports. Instead they
focus on lifting weights to maintain their strength and let the games and practices take care of the
plyometric element.
The reason for this is due to the highly taxing nature of the training and games and the simple fact that too
much can easily lead to injuries. This in-season training philosophy applies equally to everyone, not just
professionals. If you already have a heavy jumping workload, it is a good idea to reduce or even stop all
specific plyometric training if you are finding it is getting too much.

Phase of the Program

Another consideration that must be made in determining the volume and type of plyometric work is at what
stage of your long term training program are you at. A typical periodized program usually has a number of
phases. These phases are generally designed to lead up to a competitive peak by building on the areas
developed in each of the preceding phases.
For example, a 16 week pre-season basketball training program which is designed to lead into the
beginning of the season might look like this:
Weeks 1 - 4 General Fitness Preparation. This would involve the athlete lifting weights to build base
strength and some general conditioning work such as interval sprints.
Weeks 5 - 8 Sports Specific Conditioning. This phase would focus on improving the athletic qualities
specifically required for the sport. In a basketball program this would be where you introduce plyometrics to
improve vertical jumping.
Weeks 9 - 12 Sports Specific Conditioning and Skill Training. During this phase you focus on training the
athletic qualities of basketball combined with more skill based work such as shooting drills, rebounding etc.
Weeks 13 - 16 Skill Based Training. During this phase the athlete focuses primarily on developing and
improving the actual skills of basketball with athletic any improvements coming as a result of the intensity of
the skill work.
Whilst this is a made up example, it illustrates how the individual phases of a program have different
requirements. Before you start adding plyometrics to your training you should consider where your athletic
development will fit into any other longer term goals.

Time Frame of the Program

This consideration is important as it allows you to assess how much total work you will be doing in your
program. If you are undertaking a short burst 4 week program it is easier to perform more plyometric work.
The reason for this is that in a 4 week time frame, even with a reasonably heavy plyometric volume, it is
harder to over train or wear yourself down to the point of injury. Of course, results will be limited in such a
short training window, which is why many athletes take a much longer view.
If you are planning to train for a longer period of time it is much smarter to take a more conservative
approach to your training volume. Obviously the longer your program is the greater the total number of
workouts etc will be. The impact on your bodies ability to recover and adapt is therefore important to
remember.
This actually raises an interesting point about jump programs. As you train your body should adapt.
Accordingly, you should regularly test and adjust your program to account for these adaptations. You do
not want to do it too frequently though as you will not be able to get a clear picture of what is working if you
change your program all the time.
However, every four weeks or so it is a good idea to re-test your capabilities to ensure you are continuing to
make positive improvements. If you are not going forward you might need to re-assess and play with the
different elements of your program to try to find what it is that is holding back your progress.
On this point it is also good to remember that the greatest improvements will come in the early stages of
your training. Most commercial vertical jump programs will work over the first 8-12 weeks, but beyond that,
most aren't flexible enough to adapt with you so that you can continue to improve. There is only really one
program currently available that offers this sort of long term adaptability and that is Verticaljumping.com's
own Vertical Mastery jump program.

Nature of the Exercises Selected

This factor is a fairly straight forward one. Basically all plyometric exercises are not created equal. Some
are much higher impact than others. The more high impact exercises you select, the less number of sets
and reps you should do. Depth jumps for example are far more stressful on your body than bounding.
It is a good idea to select the higher impact exercises earlier in your program. The reason for this is that
you want perform the highest impact exercises whilst you are still relatively fresh. Performing depth jumps
on tired legs for example is a sure fire way to hurt yourself. This also highlights the need for a proper and
thorough warm up.
If you are struggling with the stress on your joints and muscles caused by regular plyometrics we have
prepared a guide to low impact training. This article explains how to minimize the impact on your body
whilst still obtaining some plyometric benefits.
Click here to read our article on Low Impact Training.

General Plyometrics Principles

Now that we have covered some of the key variables that influence the way in which you should approach
plyometric training, it is time to go over some of the generally accepted principles associated with this sort
of work.
First off, reps per set. This is an easy one - except reps per set isn't as appropriate as time per set. Why? A
vertical jump only lasts for a split second. Accordingly, you should only train for very brief periods of time.
By very brief we mean a maximum of 6-10 seconds. Why 6--10 seconds? Specificity! You see a max effort
vertical jump uses the anaerobic energy system. This energy system usually runs out after about 6-10
seconds. If you are doing jumping setes that last longer than that then you are training at a lower intensity.
This is not good.
With plyometrics it is much better to perform a few extremely high quality, high intensity jumps, than to burn
yourself out trying to do too many. It is quality, not quantity that will bring results.
This leads into the next training parameter - rest between sets. It has already been mentioned that
plyometrics severely taxes the CNS. It has also been highlighted that quality (quality being maximum
intensity of effort combined with no loss of technical form) of repetition is more important than quantity.
These two points, combined with the diverse nature of the exercises involved in plyometrics, means the
rest periods you should use between sets, has quite a wide range. Depending on the level of impact
(intensity) of the exercise, we recommend you take between 60 - 300 seconds break between sets. The
higher the impact, the more rest required. For example, altitude drops off a very high box can require up to
4 to 5 minutes rest, whilst some power skipping may only need 60 seconds between sets.
The next variables are the number of sets per session, and number of sessions per week. These training
parameters are more difficult to define the ranges for because they depend so much on the factors already
mentioned.
In terms of the number of sets, here are some very general guidelines. A stronger, more experienced
trainer, will be able to handle more work then a new trainer. A lighter athlete will be able to do more than a
heavier one. An athlete doing lower impact work will be able to do more sets than an athlete doing high
impact work.
Regardless of your suitability for plyometrics, we would never recommend performing more than 15 total
sets of plyometric work per session unless you are using very low reps per set (4-6 reps per set is usually
what can be done in 6-10 seconds). This comes back to the quality issue. You need to be able to maintain
maximum intensity and performing a high number of sets starts to turn your session into an endurance
event, not a power focused one.
With regards to the number of sessions you should do, again, an athlete who is doing little else can perform
plyometrics more often. A stronger athlete who is used to the demands of plyometric training will recover
quicker and be able to train more frequently. We would recommend an absolute maximum of 4 times per
week even if you were doing nothing else and those sessions were relatively brief. A more common sense
approach would be 2 sessions which provides sufficient time for recovery. You should also never do
sessions on consecutive days.
By now you should have a good idea of how the different factors impact the capacity to perform plyometrics
and you should be prepared to adjust your workouts accordingly. It is our experience that less is nearly
always better when it comes to plyometrics.

Conclusion
As you can see, determining the right way to apply plyometrics, if at all, to your vertical jump training is a
very complex task. Intuitively it might seem that getting out and doing a lot of jumping is the best way to
improve your vertical. However, much research both in controlled experiments, and in the world of
professional sports shows us that this isn't always the case.
Ultimately, the best way to tell whether or not your plyometric training is right for you is in your results. If
you are including this type of training and are getting results, keep it up. If you aren't getting the results you
want, or are finding yourself starting to develop niggling injuries, then cut back.
The smartest way to go is to consult with a qualified sports trainer at the beginning and get them to assess
your strengths and weaknesses. Do your research on a trainer first though. Try to find one whose area of
expertise is that of the development speed and power.
Alternatively you could have a look at our Vertical Mastery jump program.. This program is the best one on
the market by far for pre-testing you fully and basing your workloads and workouts on what you need most.
To return to part 1 click the link below:

Plyometrics Part 1: Plyometric Theory