Part 2: Strength training is so much more than lifting weights.

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TRAINING BREAKDOWN

“Your strength training sessions can do it all!”

By Emma O’Toole

Hello!

Welcome back to part 2 of why strength training is so much more than lifting weights. If you think that strength training involves simply picking up and putting down “heavy” things, get ready to think again.

Last week we saw how a key part of your strength and conditioning sessions comes before you’ve even touched a weight (read that article here). This week we’re diving into another training benefit from your strength training sessions that again doesn’t involve you picking up a weight.

Enter: Plyometrics.

Before you click off this thinking that I’m going to recommend you to jump on high boxes, please take the next couple of minutes to read through this newsletter as plyometrics are not as daunting as social media would have them appear and there is a lot to be gained from including them in your weekly training plan. Plus you don’t need a lot of them to see big improvements… in fact as little as 50 ground contacts have been shown to be beneficial!

In today’s newsletter we’re going to cover the goal of plyometrics, the benefits of including them in your training week for your running and cycling, important considerations that you should make answered with a 5-point checklist for plyometrics and how plyometrics can fit into your strength training with a sample plan.

Get ready to think again about your strength training and how it really can do it all!

What is the goal of plyometrics?

The main goal of plyometrics is to increase your ability to produce force in order to be a faster and more powerful runner and cyclist. Plyometrics condition your muscles, bones and connective tissues to be able to produce and absorb explosive force- very important for us runners and cyclists over 30 whose muscles are naturally losing strength, our bones are becoming weaker and our tendon health is degrading whilst we age (hello annoying Achilles problems and painful bone stress injuries to mention just two!).

What are the benefits of plyometrics?

From improved endurance to enhanced power and explosiveness, plyometrics have many benefits. But what does that actually mean for your running and cycling?

Running:

Research shows significant increases in running endurance performance and explosive strength shown in as little as 6 weeks of 2x weekly plyometric training for middle and long-distance runners from 1500m to marathon distance. The plyometric exercise used in this study was 60 drop jumps per session.

Cycling:

Plyometrics for cyclists is often overlooked, yet they should not be! A study showed that in just 12 weeks the cohort of road cyclists improved their 1km power by 8.7%, their 4km power by 8.1% and their peak power by 6.8%. Incredible results in just 12 weeks! The riders were performing exercises such as explosive single-leg jumps and doing 3 sets of 20 on each leg.

Important considerations for plyometrics:

Before you jump in with explosive single-leg jumps and drop jumps, it’s important to consider your starting point with plyometrics and when you’re going to to do them in your week. There are many ways of getting a healthy dose of plyometric training into your weekly program and the ceiling is the limit in terms of your ability to progress, for instance we can focus on reducing our ground contact time, the vertical height of objects we use, the distance we cover, and using external resistance through bands and weights for example. Below is a 5-point checklist to help you when thinking about plyometrics and your training.

5-point checklist for plyometrics:

1. Start small and nail your technique.

The depth jumps can wait, instead focus on nailing the basics first with your form and how you land, eg. 3 sets of 15s pogo jumps.

2. The devil is in the dosage.

Think quality over quantity. Start with 50-80 ground contacts and progress sensibly from there.

3. Program well.

Typically plyometrics are performed at the beginning of your strength and conditioning training sessions, after your dynamic warm up, when you’re fresher and more aware. This is particularly important for exercises that require more control, concentration and less fatigue. At certain points in your season programming plyometrics differently can be an effective way to give you the edge for an upcoming race/event.

4. Two birds, one stone.

Include plyometrics as part of your strength and conditioning program to develop a well-rounded training plan that is going to progress your running and riding week on week. This is great to save time in your busy week.

5. Risk vs reward.

3 days out from your “A race” of the season might not be a great time to be doing more “risky” plyometric exercises, eg high box jumps, as a momentary lapse of concentration could see you ruled out of your main event of the year. There are plenty of other exercises out there that you can do that will still leave you fired up and fresh ready for race day.

Plyometrics as part of your strength training program:

Every day we are seeing more and more, in both research and practice, that by far the best way to see training and performance improvements with your running and cycling is through a double pronged attack of both resistance training and plyometrics. We also of course know the benefits of regular mobility!

The good news is that your strength training sessions can do it all! By revamping what makes up your strength training sessions and your mindset towards strength training is a game-changer for your running and cycling. We’ve seen that a well-rounded strength training session includes mobility work, plyometrics and of course the resistance exercises in the the session itself.

Here’s an excerpt from a sample strength training plan with plyometrics with videos from our YouTube channel:

Dynamic warm up (we covered this last week, click here to read)

Main set:

3x 15s toe taps - focusing on co-ordination and quick ground contact time

3× 10 reps Romanian deadlifts

3× 8 reps each leg RFE split squats

3× 10 reps each arm single arm bench row

What do you think?

Do you still think strength training is simply lifting weights? I’d love to know, please reply to this email with your thoughts!

Have a great Sunday!

Emma

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