Introduction to Plyometrics
Plyometric actions are everywhere in sporting performance; wherever an athlete needs to receive, control and subsequently return force in an extremely short space of time. We witness them predominantly when athletes are sprinting and jumping; two fundamental movements in most sports and massively important to Rugby players.
Improved efficiency of the plyometric action should help to elicit improved physical performance through increased anaerobic power output, speed and running economy. This site takes a look at the different neural mechanisms and muscular contractions behind this powerful action and justifications for the inclusion of these exercises within training programmes for rugby. |
History of Plyometrics: Current training theories originated in 1960s Russia (Verkoshansky, 1967). However, the term Plyometric (Plio meaning more, metric meaning measure) was coined by an American, Wilt (1975) in the 1970s as these methods were exposed to the western world. |