Plyometric Workouts - Good Examples For Your Lower Body

Plyometric workouts are meant for increasing speed and flexibility of the performer. They are very useful in games that call for speed, kicking, sprinting, dribbling, and dunking among other activities. There are both plyometrics for upper body and lower body. In this article you will learn more about the best exercises for lower body. These are grouped into three in various training programs, including high, moderate and low intensity.

Plyometric Workouts - Good Examples For Your Lower Body

Plyometric Workouts - Good Examples For Your Lower Body

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Plyometric Workouts - Good Examples For Your Lower Body

Plyometric Workouts - Good Examples For Your Lower Body

If you are just a beginner, the best workouts for you should be the low intensity ones to give your body enough time to adjust to the training. There are a number of activities involved and they include the following.

Jump to Box - You need a box that is not too high. Stand facing the box with your arms straight on the sides of your body. Keep the feet at a slightly wider distance than your hips. Gradually, lower your body into a half squatting position and then jump up over the box. Make yourself light as you land the feet on the box. Step back down and repeat the exercise.

Hop onto the box on your side - stand on your side (do not face the box) and keep your feet slightly wider than your hips. Lower your body into a half squatting position while ensure that the hands are on the sides. Jump on top of the box ensuring that you land softly. Step back on the floor and continue with the work out.

Squat and hop - Stand with your feet apart (maintain them at a shoulder width), flex your upper body a little bit while keeping your back straight. Flex your elbows at ninety degrees, and thighs should be parallel to the floor. Hop vertically and move your arms up into the Air immediately, and be sure to land on both feet quickly. Take a rest for a few seconds and repeat the procedure.

As soon as you have attained success with the beginner training, advance immediately to the moderate intensity lower body plyometrics.

Now you will do split squat jumps. They are easy to perform as explained briefly below.

a) Stand straight ensuring hip-feet width apart.
b) Step back with your left foot and forward with the right foot.
c) The feet and head should have the same spread out posture while your back should be straight.
d) Slowly flex your right hip and knee to a level where the thigh is corresponding to the floor.
e) Abruptly, jump as high as you can and while up in the Air, switch the position of the feet. So, you will now land with your left feet forward and right leg backward.
f) Repeat the exercise.

Another type of medium intensity exercise for lower body includes tuck jumps. They should be done in the following manner.

a) Keep your body straight and feet shoulder-width spaced out.
b) Bend your knees slightly, and keep arms at the sides.
c) Explode upwards bringing your knees as close to the chest as possible.
d) Step back to the floor on balls of your feet.
e) Repeat the exercise soon after.

Plyometric Workouts - Good Examples For Your Lower Body

Running Workouts for Advanced Runners

Advanced runners perform workouts to improve a single or multiple aspects of their running such as speed, power and endurance. There are many running and sprinting workouts that help improve these aspects, and they can be learned easily, given that the runner devotes time and effort to master them.

Running Workouts for Advanced Runners

Running Workouts for Advanced Runners

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Running Workouts for Advanced Runners

Running Workouts for Advanced Runners

1- Running to increase speed:

A lot of runners would want to improve their speed, especially those who want to join races and marathons. If you want to improve your running speed, you need to improve the time of your steps. Plyometrics exercises are unique workout exercises that use quick and powerful moveMents to increase the speed of your muscle contractions. You can use plyometrics to improve your overall running speed. Plyometrics are hard exercises, which must only be performed by advanced or experienced runners. They can bring serious pain or injury to anyone who tries them without much experience.

· Double leg box jumps- Stand upright on a box or a bench. Drop yourself off the box with both feet and immediately jump forward and then upward after dropping off the box. Repeat this step for about 10 times for each set. Remember to drop and not to jump off the box.

· Truck jumps- Stand upright on a flat or cushioned surface, with your feet about a shoulder's width apart. Jump straight up and bring your knees up towards your knees and your heels up under your hamstrings. Keep your back straight, and allow your arms to swing by your sides for balance. Do this repeatedly for about 10 times for each set.

· Scissor kicks- Begin in a standing position and place one foot on an elevated surface in front of you. The elevated surface should be about 20 inches. With your other foot flat on the ground, push with your raised foot and spring into the Air, switch your leg positions, and land on your previously raised foot on flat ground, and your back foot raised.

2- Running to build endurance:

People who want to build their running endurance usually do so in order to run long distances without getting too Tired or injured. There are also several exercises you can do to improve your running endurance.

· Plyometrics- Plyometrics workout exercises like truck jumps, scissor kicks and lunge jumps improve your overall running endurance by strengthening your leg muscles. Once your leg muscles are able to contract Faster and are much stronger, your legs would be able to withstand running long distances as well.

· Long running - Running long distances repeatedly would train your muscles and make them grow stronger. Increase your running distance 2-3 times every week and your overall running endurance should greatly improve.

3- Running to increase power

Improving running power also allows the runner to run Faster and longer. With enough running power, a runner should be able to finish a race with a short time. Truck jumps, box jumps and other plyometrics workouts can also be used to improve your running power.

· Lunge jumps- Begin in upright position with one knee bent and in forward position and the other leg, also bent on the knee but in resting on the ground behind your body. Lower your body for about 10 inches and jump forcibly into the Air using your front leg and land in the same starting position.

Running Workouts for Advanced Runners

Workouts to Jump Higher - Learn How to Jump Higher

You are going to find a lot of workouts to jump higher.  The truth is, depending upon what level of fitness you are in already, you will have initial gains with any program simply because you are doing something different than what your body is accustomed to doing.  To be successful at any program you will have to dedicate time and consistent effort to it.  Learning how to jump higher is not any different.  I am going to give you a workout to jump higher that really works, and I will even tell you why it works.

First let's go ahead and start with the why it works.  Effective workouts to jump higher are built around 3 key principles: total body moveMents, change of direction, and stretch reflex. 

• Total body moveMents are just as they suggest, moveMents that incorporate the whole body. Jumping is a whole body moveMent, so why waste your time doing hamstring curls, a single joint movement.  It is not specific enough to increase your vertical leap and jump higher.
• Constant change of direction in your exercises is important because jumping is the perfect example of a change of direction.  You will be changing from a forward motion to an upward acceleration in a very short period of time.  Which brings us to the final point.
• Stretch reflex is the body's way of transitioning from slowing down to speeding up.  The only way to train a stretch reflex is to train Fast with minimal amount of time on the ground.  The best training method to achieve this is plyometric training.  Plyometrics is simply quick jumping movements.

Now for the workout.  I will only give a brief idea of the exercise description because it seems everybody tends to call the exercise something different.  Here is a workout to jump higher that has repeatedly worked for my clients.  Exercises to increase vertical leap require high intensity and effort as well as short duration.  So, don't expect a workout to jump higher to last very long.

1. Jump squat (3 x 8): A jump squat is a combination of a quick squat that finishes with a jump.
2. Scissor jump (3 x 8 each side): With your feet sTAGgered in a lunge position, jump as high as you can.  While in the Air switch your feet and repeat.
3. Ice skaters (3 x 8 each side): Start with your left foot and jump to the right as far as you can with only your left foot.  Land on the right foot and jump to the left.  Spend as little time in transitioning between each jump.  This is actually a hop (but who cares about semantics?)
4. Repeated Broad Jump (3 x 4): Jump as high and as far as you can 4x quickly.  Turn around and do it again.  Make sure you are doing this one on a moderately soft surface such as grass.  Never do this one on concrete (ouch! Can you say shin splints?)

The secret to a good workout to jump higher is that the exercises must be completed quickly with maximum effort.  That is why good jumping programs work.  The transition between one jump to the next must involve minimal amount of time on the ground.  The longer you spend on the ground, the less effective the exercise becomes.  Remember the critical components of a good workout to jump higher and you will be well on your way to dunking over that rival of yours in no time.  Now is the time to start that program you have been looking at.  Train Fast! Increase Vertical!

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