Explosive Workout Quotes

This explosion of athletic wear and rompers is very ironic when you think about how much more sedentary we've become. As we've become less active and higher-tech, we're wearing more and more workout clothes.

In our everyday lives, if we intentionally set out to learn new things or do familiar things in new ways (such as commuting to work via a new route or taking the bus instead of a car), we effectively rewire our brains and improve them. A physical workout builds muscle; a mental workout creates new synapses to strengthen the neural network.

The past decade has seen an explosion of research into the science of high-intensity interval training, better known by its acronym, HIIT, pronounced “hit.

Periodically speed up or slow down the movement from the comfortable pace. For example, snatch at the limit of your explosiveness or at a near stall. When pressing, lowering the kettlebell fast but lifting it slow or vice versa is an option. If you have been following the Power to the People! workout, alternate a 2-4 week period of kettlebell training with a PTP cycle.

It’s true that low rep workouts, consisting of powerful and explosive movements, will build more size (but not less definition) than high rep workouts, because the “fast twitch” muscle fibers required in explosive movements are much larger than “slow twitch” fibers required for more enduring tasks. But really, for mass, wouldn’t you want to recruit all possible muscle fibers and not just the fast twitch? Likewise, for “definition”–that is, losing body fat so the striations in your muscles show more–wouldn’t you want to recruit all possible muscle fibers, especially since the number one factor affecting our resting metabolic rate, and thus fat loss, is muscle mass? The only thing you should alter depending on your goal–whether it’s to tone or bulk up–is nutrition.

As you can understand, my conclusions—rooted in critical thinking and my own experience training athletes—are that the force velocity curve unnecessarily overcomplicates the training process. In reality, a polarity model, where an athlete trains both ends of the spectrum (maximum strength and speed), is all that’s truly needed to achieve his/her highest jumps and fastest sprints. Increasing maximum strength leads to improvements across all other categories, as strength plays a critical role in each of them. Training on the opposite end of the spectrum (speed) is the most effective way to develop fast force production.

While Olympic lifts can help athletes learn to apply force quickly, the velocity demands of field actions are much higher than those in Olympic lifting. Additionally, to fully benefit from Olympic lifts, an athlete needs excellent technique, which is not always the case in practice.

When we refer to elasticity in the context of plyometrics, it doesn't mean the ability to stretch far, like a rubber band. Instead, think of it in terms of an elastic collision. In an elastic collision, objects separate after impact without losing any of their kinetic energy. Imagine a bouncy ball bouncing off a hard surface. In most sports movements, we want our legs to interact with the ground in a similar way to the bouncy ball. This is achieved by keeping the leg and foot relatively stiff when making contact with the ground, not by stretching too far. Plyometrics build this type of elasticity through structural adaptations in muscles, fascia, and tendons.

The easiest way to think of plyometrics is by considering the "land-to-takeoff action" that occurs within a relatively short time frame (0.25 seconds or less). If these two criteria are not both present in an exercise, it cannot be classified as plyometric.

Training a movement (top speed) where force is applied in a minimal time frame makes it easier to apply that force in slower movements. Faster athletic actions transfer really well to slower movements, but the opposite is not true. For example, practicing the two leg vertical jump, which has a ground contact time of around 0.5 seconds, will improve your two leg vertical jump, but not your sprinting. In contrast, top-speed sprinting will enhance your sprinting (both top speed and acceleration), as well as your ability to jump from either one or two legs, change direction quickly, and perform all athletic movements on the field more quickly.

The ideal distance for team sport athletes to train their maximum speed is 40 meters. I haven't yet seen an athlete I train who doesn't reach his top speed by 40 meters. It’s the perfect distance to kill two birds with one stone—training both acceleration and top speed.

Agility and change of direction are closely related, with one key distinction. Agility refers to "a rapid whole-body movement involving a change in velocity or direction in response to a stimulus." Change of direction, on the other hand, is any movement involving a rapid change of velocity or direction, but with a pre-planned nature.

The more force you apply to the ground in the shortest time possible, the faster you will run a specific distance and the higher you will jump. In fact, sprint times and jumping heights are closely correlated, but only if the ground contact time during the jump is taken into account. While athletes with great vertical or broad jumps tend to have good sprinting times, athletes who execute these jumps in a short time frame have the best sprinting abilities.

You should understand that power is merely a simple measure, and most athletic movements are much closer to the speed spectrum than the power spectrum. Exercises that produce the highest power outputs are often too slow to effectively train the rate of force development required for sport movements.

To keep the intensity consistent between double and single leg exercises, the hurdle height for single leg exercises should be exactly half that of double leg exercises. The height from which your body falls to the ground is the primary factor that determines the intensity of a plyometric exercise. Other variables, such as the direction of body displacement (e.g.,forward + vertical displacement is more intense than vertical displacement alone), also affect intensity. However, when comparing double and single leg exercises of the same type, the height is the key determinant.

Social media is full of videos featuring extremely high box jumps. However, the height of the box or hurdle doesn't necessarily reflect an athlete's jumping abilities but rather their hip mobility. What truly matters is the center of mass and hip displacement. From this, you can gauge how high someone can jump—not from how high the box or hurdle is.

The rotational power that medicine balls are supposed to provide athletes is highly debatable. Ask a thrower which exercises are the most important in his/her training, and I doubt anyone will answer 'medicine ball throws.' Most will say squats and presses. It's important to understand that rotation is a complex movement that involves motions from the feet all the way up to the shoulders. Additionally, rotation differs from sport to sport. For example, swinging a bat, throwing a discus, or delivering a punch are all distinct actions that require different muscle coordination than simply performing rotational throws with a medicine ball. Therefore, the most effective approach is to focus on increasing your total body strength in the weight room, while training the rotational component of your sport through actual practice. There’s no need to make training more complicated than it needs to be.

Therefore, it’s easy to see why both maximum strength and speed training are crucial. Maximum strength raises the ceiling of the force you can apply in athletic movements, while speed training “teaches” you how to apply that force quickly. Both are essential. If you focus solely on speed, you might be able to apply force quickly, but without sufficient strength, the applied force won’t be significant, limiting your performance. On the other hand, if an athlete only trains for maximum strength, he may develop high strength levels but struggle to apply it quickly due to a large explosive strength deficit.

Is it possible for an athlete to reach high levels of strength without building muscle? The answer is a definitive no. While beginners can initially increase their strength primarily through neural adaptations with minimal hypertrophy, this phase is short-lived. Typically, these neural improvements plateau after 4 to 10 weeks of training. Beyond this point, muscular hypertrophy becomes the dominant mechanism for further strength gains. In simple terms, once neural adaptations reach their limit, muscle growth is what drives continued strength improvements.

The truth is, you can’t separate neural strength from muscular strength. Why? Because the last 5 reps in a set, which are the most stimulating from a muscular standpoint, are also the most intense in terms of nervous system activation.

You should prioritize basic compound movements over isolation (single-joint) exercises for a simple reason. Compound movements engage multiple muscles simultaneously, and the joint actions mirror those in real-life activities and sport. When you run, jump, or change direction, your knees, hips, and ankles extend. The same motions occur when you squat or deadlift. Similarly, when you push something or someone, your shoulders flex, and your elbows extend. These actions are replicated in exercises like the overhead press and push-ups. Therefore, big compound movements require similar muscle coordination to what’s needed in sport. As a result, the strength you gain in the weight room is more easily transferred to athletic performance.

Every athletic action where you move your own bodyweight is a ‘battle’ against gravity. Gravity constantly pulls you down, and your ability to overcome it is what allows you to jump higher and sprint faster.

Both muscular and neural activation are similar between heavy and light loads when both are taken to or near failure. As mentioned before, the final repetition performed just before failure, regardless of the number of reps in a set, has a similar impact on the nervous system as a 1RM (one-rep max) load. The only difference is that heavy loads provide a greater stimulus to joints and tendons compared to lighter loads.

Regarding force production, a muscle fiber can only contract at its full capacity or not contract at all. It cannot contract with varying degrees of force based on the effort required. Therefore, the level of muscular contraction depends on the number of muscle fibers recruited to perform an action, rather than the degree of contraction per individual muscle fiber.

Barbell squats engage more stabilizers than Smith machine squats, and single-leg squats challenge the stabilizer muscles even more than the barbell squat. Does this make the single-leg squat a superior exercise? Absolutely not. It’s important to know where to draw the line between an effective strength exercise and one that hinders strength gains due to instability issues.

It's essential to focus on building strength with the right exercises in the weight room and dedicate time to practicing your sport on the field. These two activities should not be combined. In simple terms, “sport-specific” or “functional” movements are exercises that do not replicate the actual sport movement, nor do they build strength as effectively as traditional, proven exercises. Strength training should be viewed as a general pursuit. There isn't a distinct type of strength for each sport—strength is strength, whether you're playing soccer, basketball, or rugby. Your goal should be to get stronger using the most effective exercises available, while simultaneously practicing the specific skills of your sport to ensure your strength can effectively transfer to the field.

Research, as well as my own experience, has shown that intensity is what helps retain the gains made during the off-season. As for the training volume, you can maintain what you’ve built with just one-third (1/3) of the training volume required to develop strength and speed.

This is the final stage of plyometrics, featuring the most intense exercises. To introduce this phase into your training, two key requirements must be met. First, the physical maturity of the athlete is crucial. These exercises are not recommended for athletes under the ages of 17 or 18, especially depth jumps. Second, the athlete should have a good level of relative strength. The minimum requirement is a back squat of around 1.4-1.5x bodyweight for a 1RM (repetition maximum). Taller athletes can begin these exercises if they are closer to 1.4x bodyweight, while shorter athletes should be closer to 1.5x bodyweight.

If you’re a coach, my recommendation is that this program should not be executed by athletes younger than 11 or 12 years old. Athletes under the age of 11 or 12 should not focus on such programs. Instead, low-intensity plyometrics in a playful form, along with their regular practices, are sufficient. Don’t harmchildren’s psychology by training them like adults. Children should play, not train.

Conditioning training is just as important for sports performance as strength and speed training. You don’t want to be the player who starts the game fast and strong but slows down as time passes. To avoid this, your conditioning levels must be high.

The athletes of most team sports should train at intensities equal to or below their anaerobic threshold. Intensities higher than the anaerobic threshold are not typically necessary for sports with lower metabolic demands during a game, such as American football, baseball, or volleyball. In contrast, for sports with higher metabolic demands, such as soccer or rugby, intensities above the anaerobic threshold should be included only in small amounts and for brief durations to avoid negative adaptations that could harm the sport's performance.

The predominant energy systems used during a match—whether it’s football, rugby, basketball, hockey, or another sport—are the aerobic and anaerobic alactic energy systems, not the anaerobic lactic system, as many assume.

Instead, an athlete with an underdeveloped aerobic system will rely on the anaerobic glycolytic energy system for the next fast action in the game. This happens because the aerobic system hasn’t replenished the alactic building blocks quickly enough. However, the downside is that the glycolytic system is not as powerful as the alactic system, and if it is used repeatedly throughout a game, it will fatigue the athlete, causing heavy legs and a reduced ability to repeat explosive movements at the same intensity.