How to Train...
Plyometrics training is a specific area of exercise which is designed around an athlete to produce quick, powerful, and explosive movements. It also encourages rapidness of the nervous system and - in turn - increases speed of signals to the muscles.
While speed and strength contribute to power, greater speed and strength will provide even more explosive power, which is what each gymnast strives to achieve to be able to perform more challenging and extravagant routines and skills.
To receive the full advantage of plyometrics training, a gymnast must be aware that plyometric exercises refer to those in which the muscle is pre-stretched before it is immediately contracted. This pre-stretching creates an additional amount of stored energy in the muscles to be used for increasing the explosive power the muscle is able to generate.
In scientific terms, the muscle is contracted eccentrically, then immediately concentrically which then allows a muscle to achieve the maximal amount of power in the shortest amount of time.
While speed and strength contribute to power, greater speed and strength will provide even more explosive power, which is what each gymnast strives to achieve to be able to perform more challenging and extravagant routines and skills.
To receive the full advantage of plyometrics training, a gymnast must be aware that plyometric exercises refer to those in which the muscle is pre-stretched before it is immediately contracted. This pre-stretching creates an additional amount of stored energy in the muscles to be used for increasing the explosive power the muscle is able to generate.
In scientific terms, the muscle is contracted eccentrically, then immediately concentrically which then allows a muscle to achieve the maximal amount of power in the shortest amount of time.
In gymnastics specifically, plyometrics is used to develop the "punch" technique used in tumbling and vaulting. The "punch" is its own plyometric exercise. Plyometrics exercises are also a way of developing fast-twitch muscle fibres. These exercises cannot change the number of fibres an individual is born with, but can increase the size of the fibres. Larger and stronger fast-twitch muscle fibres allow a gymnast to run faster and jump higher. A gymnast's plyometric exercises should be specifically tailored to their body and skill level, they should never push themselves past their point of comfort and should always put safety first! |
|
Sources:
http://gymnasticszone.com/plyometrics-what-every-gymnast-needs-to-know
Exercise Science Textbook
http://gymnasticszone.com/plyometrics-what-every-gymnast-needs-to-know
Exercise Science Textbook