The value of Plyometric Training for MD Athletes

This article will include a variety of ideas that may be of value to MD coaches, there is plenty more to this topic than follows but I hope that the following may be a good starting point for re-thinking the use of plyometrics for some.

Plyometric training stimulates a special quality of muscles that involves them storing energy and returning it like a spring. It is therefore to a certain extent free energy for an athlete.

To improve say 1500m performance requires improving aerobic energy contribution of the athlete and also the ability to access Anaerobic energy systems appropriately. Having both systems contributing maximally at the same time of the year in a peak season reason is the ultimate aim. Another concept that impacts on how fast an athlete is able to run with all this energy is the athletes efficiency or "ease of speed". This I believe is the major weakness in many programs due to either too many slow Km or too much of a focus on highly lactic anaerobic work especially when an athlete is running with loss of form.

To improve efficiency requires practising perfect often without a fatigue component and then as success is developed in this area loading what is a good motor pattern with fatigue. This needs to be done at and above race speed.

Plyometrics fit into this picture by developing athlete specific leg power so that to run at a given speed requires less effort. Quicker contact times will be noticed which also represents less energy wasted in slowing the athlete down.

I believe this is an area that can improve considerably in most athletes with steady and integrated work. It should also to minimize trauma be done at lower intensity levels than a sprinters plyometric program.

Some ideas include:

Progressing from something like

1/ Double leg impacts just landing and stopping

2/ Double leg impacts just bouncing over low hurdles with a small jump in between

3/ Double leg impacts just bouncing over low hurdles with quick contact times

4/ Hops just landing and stopping

2/ Hops over low hurdles with a small jump in between

3/ Hops over low hurdles with quick contact times.

The above ideas could start on grass in training shoes and progress to synthetic in racing flats.

I usually count foot contacts in a session and have had no troubles at all up to 100 impacts per leg in combination with other running work. If the intensity is raised too high or on hard surfaces problems will arise , so factor it into the athletes ability to adapt.

We have also integrated plyometric training with endurance training with good effects eg

2 x 5 x 300 rest 60s over 100m via 6 low hurdles that are double leg bounced over.

After slowly introducing this sort of session athlete have tended to hold themselves higher and have faster contact time even when tired.

Recognize how nice it would be to have an athlete "stay bouncy" in the late stages of a race.

I believe that training on very soft surfaces like grass and especially sand may increase strength and muscle endurance at the expense of plyometric qualities of the muscle. So I tend to stay away from sand but I guess that it would be OK if it is cycled in the micro and macro cycles smartly.

In conclusion

I believe it is well worth planning plyometric training for any athlete and saving some adaptation ability so that it can provide good benefits without the risk. Some research has suggested that plyo-training can also decrease muscle soreness during other running on hard surfaces and in running downhill if performed even just once every few weeks.

El Guerrouge is reported to 300 impacts in a session of a variety of jumps every week along with high volume training , this believe may be fundamental to his brilliant ease of speed, I have seen Wilson Kipketer in Sydney doing a session of nothing but what could best be described as low intensity bounding.

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Recommended Reading about Plyometrics

Power Training for Sport : Plyometrics for Maximum Power Development
by Tudor O. Bompa

Explosive Power and Jumping Ability for All Sports 

High-Powered Plyometrics

Jumping into Plyometrics 

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A great looking new book on Middle Distance Training is

Improving Sports Performance in Middle and Long-Distance Running : A Scientific Approach to Race Preparation
by Joanne L. Fallowfield, David M. Wilkinson  (July-1999)

Book Description
The first volume in the Improving Performance in... series, this book addresses the physiological demands of middle and long distance running, presenting contemporary research on running physiology in the form of a manual for the athlete's body. It covers limitations to running performance as well as methods for monitoring and assessing running performance. It also examines how this knowledge can be applied to training and preparation, and discusses special nutritional, environmental, and other special considerations for optimising performance.