Starting Plyos and Speed Work

Hallelujah it's finally warm!  Today I did some plyometric work and top speed training outside

From now until mid-May my primary focus will be on speed, agility, and plyometrics. This does not mean that I'll be doing agility workouts every day.  It means that I plan my other workouts so that I get optimal results from my speed, agility, plyometric workouts.  In order to reap the benefits of speed and agility training, the work must be done while there is little residual fatigue from other workouts.   This month is a perfect time for this type of training because I don't have to worry about league games interfering with my training schedule.

Before you get too excited about my upcoming plyometrics posts I will warn you that I am going to be extremely conservative with my vertical jump training.  So don't expect me to go all Air Alert or do crazy depth box jumps.  Maybe next year.  This year, I just want to add a few inches to my vertical jump and learn how to better transfer forward momentum into vertical motion.  My primary responsibility is to not injure myself in my training.

So what did I do today?

The purpose of today's work was to introduce my body to plyos and max speed training.

Intro to Plyos

1.  I started by doing some basic hopping or what Tim Morrill calls "pogo's."  Pretty much like jump roping except with no rope.  I did two sets of ten hops concentrating on really popping off the ground and trying to get as high as possible with minimal ground contact time.

Tim Explains this better himself:

2.  I then did 4 sets of jumping over some cones.  I was probably only jumping about 12 inches off the ground.  My focus was on landing as softly as possible on the area between the midfoot and balls of the feet.  Unlike in Tim's video I was landing and sticking, not doing repeat jumps.

3.  Next was one legged hopping over cones.  I did 3 sets of five reps on each leg.  Again the focus was on a soft landing.

Plyometrics is about using the elastic energy in your tendons and muscles to increase your jump height on the move and allow quick changes in direction.  You may think that none of the above exercises do that and you would be correct.  Right now I'm focused on landing.  The body needs to be able to land safely and get used to absorbing forces before it's ready to work on minimizing the turnaround time between force absorption and production.

Speed Work

4.  Next up I performed 2 sets of 3 sprinting stance starts off each leg.  Though an ultimate player is never in a sprinter's stance, I think starting this way helps to train the forward lean necessary for good acceleration.  The focus in this drill was on the first five steps.

5.  Top speed.  I ran 6 forty yard sprints with 3-4 minutes rest in between.

Motor Skills (Pulling Practice)

6.  I usually don't mix motor skills and training but today's format and the weather were perfect for getting in some pulling practice.  Between reps of my 40 yard dashes I took a pile of discs and practiced my pulls.

All of today's training and practice was complimentary. There was no mixing of training goals and no attempt at mixing endurance with speed.  All of the work was about doing things right with high intensity, and maximum focus.  Even the pulling practice was in this category.  Furthermore it kept my brain engaged while waiting for the next sprint.

Related Posts:

Movement vs Motor Skills