Complete Guide to Plyometrics

Plyometric training taps into the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC), a biomechanical process where muscles store and release energy, much like a coiled spring. This guide covers everything you need to know about plyometrics: exercises, benefits, and training tips.

By Travis Mash

Content menu:

Watch video here:

Introduction: What Are Plyometrics?

At its core, plyometric training leverages the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC), a biomechanical mechanism that allows muscles to store and release energy like a loaded spring. The more efficiently you use this cycle, the more power and velocity you can generate in your movements (Komi & Gollhofer, 1997).

If you’re serious about athletic performance, you can’t ignore plyometrics. This isn’t just about jumping around and looking cool, but instead it’s about training your body to produce maximum force in minimal time. Whether you’re a sprinter, powerlifter, or football player, mastering plyometrics can be the key to unlocking explosive power, speed, and efficiency.

Benefits of Plyometric Training

Plyometrics aren’t just for track athletes. It’s a game-changer for anyone who needs to produce power. Here’s what it brings to the table:

  • Explosive Strength: Enhances rate of force development (RFD), meaning you can apply force faster (Newton & Kraemer, 1994).
  • Muscle Elasticity: Trains the tendons to store and release energy efficiently, improving performance and reducing injury risk (Wilson et al., 1991).
  • Speed Development: Essential for sprinters, plyometrics reduces ground contact time and increases stride power (Weyand et al., 2000).
  • Agility and Reactivity: Faster reaction times and better neuromuscular coordination (Markovic, 2007).

How Plyometrics Work: The Science Behind It

The Stretch-Shortening Cycle (SSC) is the secret weapon behind plyometrics. This process has three phases:

  1. Eccentric (Loading) Phase; Muscle and tendons lengthen while storing elastic energy.
  2. Amortization Phase, The crucial transition period. You need to keep it short for maximum force output, rate output, and to maximize adaptations.
  3. Concentric (Explosion) Phase; Stored energy within muscles and tendons is released, producing extensive amounts of explosive passive force creating powerful movement.

The faster an athlete moves through these phases, the more powerful the output (Komi & Gollhofer, 1997). This is why elite sprinters have exceptionally short ground contact times because their SSC efficiency is off the charts.

science behind plyometrics

Yuri Verkhoshansky’s explanation of Plyometrics

Yuri Verkoshansky, the godfather of plyometrics, built his entire methodology around the Stretch-Shortening Cycle (SSC), the key to unlocking explosive power. His research showed that when an athlete rapidly descends into a loaded position (eccentric phase), the muscles and tendons store elastic energy like a coiled spring. The shorter the transition time (amortization phase), the more forcefully that stored energy can be unleashed in the concentric phase, translating into massive power output. 

Verkoshansky’s Shock Method, specifically depth jumps, took this to the extreme, dropping from a height to overload the eccentric phase, forcing the body to adapt with greater rate of force development (RFD), improved stored elasticity in the muscle fiber specifically stronger Titin Protein Filaments, and tendon stiffness. The muscle spindles, found within muscles running parallel to muscle fibers, are sensitive to the degree and speed of lengthening. They are responsible for large amounts of explosive passive force, and that amount of passive force is directly proportional to the magnitude and rate of the experienced stretch. This signal is a reflex, traveling only to the spinal cord and back, making it even more important to explosive force.

Over time, this type of training also desensitizes the Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO), reducing the body’s natural braking system and allowing athletes to produce more force without interference. His methods weren’t just about jumping higher, but also they were about creating elite-level neural efficiency, teaching the body to recruit fast-twitch fibers on demand. For sprinters and power athletes, this means faster ground contact times, improved acceleration, and higher top-end speed. 

There’s more that makes these neural responses of the SSC important to athletic performance. Both muscle spindles and GTOs are constantly sending information to the spinal cord, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex making them responsible for improvements in athletic coordination and proprioception. 

Besides all of the adaptations rendered from improvements in the SSC, there are also improvements in connective tissue, the physiological processes during actin-myosin cross-bridges, and more that we will discuss later. Once you understand the possible adaptations, application becomes simple.  

Verkoshansky didn’t believe in gimmicks. He focused on hard data and results. If you want to sprint faster or develop serious power, integrating true plyometrics the way he intended is crucial.

The Shock Method by Dr. Yuri Verkhoshansky

That The Shock Method, developed by Dr. Yuri Verkhoshansky, is one of the most powerful tools for developing explosive power and speed in athletes. Now, let’s be clear, this isn’t just your typical box jump routine. We’re talking about true plyometrics, the kind that forces the body to produce massive amounts of force in a fraction of a second. This is where the fitness world has totally misunderstood and misused the term ‘plyometrics’. It’s not a look at jumping and skipping. It’s about eliciting a specific response.

The Shock Method is built around depth jumps, where an athlete steps off a high platform (typically 75-110 cm), lands forcefully, and immediately rebounds into a maximal vertical or horizontal jump. The key here is the rapid eccentric loading. As the athlete lands, their muscles and tendons stretch like a loaded spring, storing elastic energy that’s released in the explosive jump that follows. The time it takes to switch from the eccentric phase to the concentric phase is called the amortization phase, which is the second component that needs to be observed in real plyometrics. Verkoshansky found that this extreme stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) created the kind of neuromuscular adaptations that regular weight training just couldn’t replicate. All of this to create a powerful concentric phase filled with passive force from the SSC, tendons, titin protein filaments and improvements in our own active force. Potential energy is now kinetic energy leading to increased jump heights and speed improvements. 

The Shock Method

Overall, applied correctly, it teaches the body to transfer force efficiently and explosively.The exact skill needed for sprinting, jumping, and change of direction in sport. But here’s the thing, this method is brutal. It demands high levels of strength and tendon resilience. If an athlete isn’t prepared, they’re going to break down rather than build up. That’s why Verkoshansky himself warned that depth jumps are not for beginners. Depth Jumps should be reserved for advanced athletes with at least a double bodyweight squat and well-conditioned tendons. Done right, though? The Shock Method turns good athletes into absolute monsters when it comes to reactive strength and power output.

Adaptations Possible with Different Types of Pyometric Training

There are four main types of adaptations possible for making athletes faster, quicker, and having them jump higher. There are muscular adaptations, neural adaptations, connective tissue adaptations, and musculotendinous junction adaptations. Most of the time all of these physiological properties are working together in some form or fashion.

Let’s look at each separately:

  • Muscular Adaptations
    – Myosin and Actin Crossbridges create muscular force production
    .The sliding filament theory
    .All of those processes can improve with max intent
    – Resistance to stretch happening at the Titin Protein Filament as it holds the Myosin in place between the Actin
  • Neural Adaptations
    – SSC which we have gone over in detail
    – High Threshold Motor Unit Recruitment
    .Improves with Rate Coding aka speed of the signal
    .Synchronization and Coordination
    – Cross Extensor Reflex important for improved sprint times
  • Connective Tissue Adaptations
    – Tendon stiffness
  • Musculotendinous Junction- the way the tendon and muscle work together to resist stretch and produce force.

Considerations for Targeting Each


Improve Max Sprint Velocity and Change of Direction

For maximum velocity sprint and change of direction improvements, you will want to focus on plyometrics with short ground contact times, stiff joint landings, and eventually horizontal and unilateral in nature. Here are suggestions:

  • Drop Jumps from lower heights ~30cm with the main purpose of getting off the ground as fast as possible and as high as possible. 
  • Unilateral bounds with a focus on short ground contact times and max horizontal distances. (measure with a jump mat somewhere within the set looking at contact time as well as measuring total distance), 100-200 ms max per step, and use off leg for violent knee flexion incorporating the cross extensor reflex. Read my article “Improve Sprint Performance in the Gym”
  • Unilateral Hurdle Hops front to back and side to side

Performing some of these exercises with a derivative of Olympic weightlifting or a trap bar jump will produce even better results with post-activation potentiation. I will explain that more a little later.

Improving Max Jump Height, Rate of Force Development, and Acceleration in Sprinting

Whether you want to jump as high as possible or improve overall power, Verkhoshansky’s methods for Shock Training is the way to go. 

This is where Verkhoshansky’s Shock Method really came in handy. I recommend testing athletes with five or six heights:

  • 30cm
  • 45cm
  • 60cm
  • 75cm
  • 90cm
  • 100+cm

Make note of which height produced the highest jump, and which height produced the best Reactive Strength Index. Perform your depth jumps from the box producing the highest jump. If that came from a low box height like 60cm, you should consider strength training especially contrast training that I discuss a little later.

You are still incorporating the SSC, but several muscular adaptations will take place at higher box height. Stored elastic energy from the Titin Protein Filament will take place at a greater degree. Overcoming these greater heights will allow for greater joint angles, so the musculotendinous junction is more important than just tendon stiffness. 

The rate of force development is important, but there is a greater time domain to work with. Passive and active force production are important. The rate and magnitude of the myosin and actin crossbridges are both important, and both will improve with higher box heights. This is another reason why the Olympic lifts and even max strength movements combine well with these movements.

Best Plyometric Exercises for Power, Speed, and Jumping

Lower Body Plyometrics

  • Drop Jumps- normally performed at shorter box heights with a focus more on speed off the ground and a hard knee landing of 90 degrees or less. The gold standard for maximizing SSC efficiency (Bobbert et al., 1987).
  • Depth Jumps- were Verkhoshansky’s focus, and he mainly looked at the height of the jump. This was more of a look at power, strength, and one’s ability to store elastic energy in the tendons primarily but also muscles.
  • Box Jumps, great for general explosiveness.
  • Bounding mimics sprint mechanics, improving horizontal force production. A single leg approach is best when focused on sprint mechanics and efficiency.
  • Squat Jumps build RFD and leg stiffness, critical for sprinting (Nagahara et al., 2020).

Upper Body Plyometrics

  • Plyo Push-ups develop explosive upper-body power.
  • Medicine Ball Throws build rotational and pressing power. The shock method can be utilized with med ball catch and throw drills from various heights.
  • Clap Push-ups trains rapid force production for combat sports and football linemen.
  • Depth Push-Ups – are the upper body’s counter to depth jumps. Athletes start on top of stacked plates or boxes, drop to the ground, and return to the plates or boxes as fast as possible and as high as possible.

Core Plyometrics

  • Medicine Ball Slams enhance force transfer between upper and lower body.
  • Explosive Russian Twists to train rotational power for sprinting and agility sports.

Plyometric Training for Specific Sports

Plyometrics for Sprinters

You can read above in the adaptations section that max velocity is best improved with lower box drop jumps ~30cm with a focus on minimizing contact time. Though acceleration is improved with higher box heights for depth jumps with a focus on max height while minimizing contact time.

  • Focus on single leg bounding, drop jumps, and resisted sprint drills.
  • Train short ground contact times (Weyand et al., 2000).
  • Higher box depth jumps for acceleration.

Plyometrics for Basketball & Volleyball Players

  • Maximize vertical leap with depth jumps and box jumps. If vertical leap height is the primary concern, focus on jumping from as high as possible where a return height is maximized. 
  • For change of direction and faster repeat jumps, drop jumps from ~30cm focusing on low contact times will be the best option.
  • Prioritize landing mechanics to prevent injuries (Hewett et al., 2005).

Plyometrics for Football Players

  • You will need to focus on Verkhoshansky’s higher depth jumps for acceleration, power, and massive rates of force development.
  • ~30cm drop jumps with contact time being the focus is best for change of direction and improving sprint specific SSC
  • Unilateral horizontal bounding for max speed as well.
  • Agility-focused drills like lateral bounds and drop-step jumps.
  • Strengthen posterior chain with explosive hip-dominant movements.
  • Consider the contrast method that I am about to discuss later in this article.

How to Program Plyometrics into Your Workout

Plyometrics should be strategically implemented for maximum effect. Here’s how:

  • Beginners: 2 sessions per week, focusing on technique and controlled landings.
  • Advanced Athletes: 3-4 sessions per week (2 lower and 1-2 upper), using complex multi-joint movements.
  • Sets & Reps: Quality over quantity—3-5 sets of 3-6 reps for max power (Newton & Kraemer, 1994).

The Role of Contrast Training in Plyometrics

Contrast training is one of the most powerful tools to maximize plyometric results. It involves pairing a heavy strength movement with a similar explosive plyometric exercise to trigger post-activation potentiation (PAP). This increases muscle recruitment and improves RFD (Tillin & Bishop, 2009).

Best Pairings:

To Maximize Sprint Speed

I recommend using either an Olympic lifting power movement (power snatch or clean) paired with weighted jumps, and finally paired with unilateral broad jumps with a focus on horizontal distance and minimum contact time.


Example:

1a. Power Clean set 1 75% bodyweight, set 2 90% bodyweight, set 3 100% bodyweight, and set 4 110% of bodyweight
1b. Weighted DB Jumps 20-30% of bodyweight for 3-5 reps
1c. Unilateral Horizontal Jumps in cluster sets 12 total reps (3-4 reps with 10 sec rest) per leg.

To Maximize Jump Height and Power

I recommend using back squats paired with Olympic lifting power movement (power snatch/clean or trap bar jumps) paired with depth jumps with a focus on jumping as high as possible and getting off the ground as fast as possible.

Example:

1a. Back Squats 2-6 reps at .5-.7m/s aka 80-70%
1b. Power Clean set 1 90% bodyweight, set 2 100% bodyweight, set 3 110% of bodyweight, and set 4 115-120% with the goal to stay above 1.0m/
1c. Depth Jumps from the Athlete’s Personal Box Height that equals his or her max jump height for 2-5 reps

Regardless, you will need to use your GymAware FLEX or RS unit to monitor force, power output, and compensatory acceleration along with a jump mat for contact time and jump height.

Here are a few other pairings:

  • Trap Bar Deadlift → Hurdle Hops
  • Heavy Back Squat → Box Jump
  • Bench Press → Plyometric Push-ups

By combining max strength with explosive movement, athletes train the neuromuscular system to fire faster and with greater force. If you understand what Power really is, you will understand that we are maximizing that exact parameter.

How Velocity-Based Training (VBT) Can Enhance Plyometrics

Velocity-Based Training (VBT) uses bar speed tracking to determine optimal loading for explosive training. This allows athletes to train at peak power output, ensuring every lift and jump is performed with maximal intent (Weakley et al., 2021).

Best VBT Applications for Plyometrics:

  • Squat with GymAware (RS or FLEX) measuring bar speed for explosive intent.
    – Focus on adding loads to specific rates like 0.5m/s for strength and 0.8m/s for power
  • Power Clean with a GymAware Velocity Tracking Device to optimize velocities at specific bodyweight loads to emphasize relative strength improvements:
    – 75% of Bodyweight
    – 90% of Bodyweight
    – 100% of Bodyweight
    – 110% of Bodyweight
    – As these velocities improve, you should notice improvements in acceleration and Power.
  • Depth Jump and Drop Jump measuring with a jump mat or GymAware RS unit – Tracks height of jump, ground contact time, and reactive strength index for efficiency improvements.
  • VBT ensures that athletes never overtrain while consistently working within their optimal power zone.
  • Another consideration is using VBT to monitor fatigue. This can lead to systems that maximize the main goal of the day.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Plyometric Training

  • Skipping the Warm-Up which leads to Increases in the risk of injury.
  • Poor Landing Mechanics which leads to joint stress and inefficient force transfer.
  • Too Much Volume, plyometrics aren’t endurance drills; they require max effort (Ebben, 2002).
  • Neglecting Strength Training, without strength, plyometrics lose their effectiveness.

Plyometrics vs. Strength Training: What’s the Difference?

Strength training builds absolute force production, while plyometrics optimizes speed and efficiency of that force application (Cormie et al., 2011).

Athletes need both because heavy lifting prepares the body to produce force, and plyometrics fine-tunes it for speed. Explosive strength movements like Olympic weightlifting and trap bar jumps improves an athlete’s rate of force production and acceleration potential. (MacKenzie SJ, et al., 2014) showed us the importance of weightlifting movements for rate of force development to improve jump heights. However, a base level of absolute strength is needed from movements like the back squat and deadlift to have explosive strength potential.

Final tips and takeaways

First, make sure that you are ready for plyometrics. Can you back squat double bodyweight? Then you can perform higher box depth jumps. In case you’re not there yet, consider working on lower box drop jumps, landing mechanics, and get strong.

Without testing and measuring ongoing, it’s hard to know if your athletes are doing the right thing and/or improving. Use GymAware to monitor improvements in absolute strength around 0.5m/s, strength speed at around 0.75m/s, and maximum power around 0.8 to 1.0 m/s.

Use a jump mat or the GymAware RS to measure jump heights and contact times at various box heights. Then measure to make sure your athletes are improving. Use contrast training to elicit post-activation potentiation to help your athletes along the way.

By intelligently implementing plyometrics, combined with contrast training and VBT, you’ll be unstoppable on the field, court, or track. If you want faster sprints, higher jumps, and more explosive power, train smart and execute with intensity.

References:

  • Bobbert, M. F., et al. (1987). “Why is countermovement jump height greater than squat jump height?” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
  • Cormie, P., et al. (2011). “Developing maximal neuromuscular power: Part 1 – biological basis of maximal power production.” Sports Medicine.
  • Komi, P. V., & Gollhofer, A. (1997). “Stretch Reflexes Can Have an Important Role in Force Enhancement During SSC.” Journal of Applied Biomechanics.
  • Weakley, J., et al. (2021). “Using Velocity-Based Training to Enhance Athletic Performance.” Strength and Conditioning Journal.
  • https://www.scribd.com/document/141658660/Yuri-Verkhoshansky-01-MainFeaturesOfAModernScientificSportsTrainingTheory
  • Taube, Wolfgang1; Leukel, Christian1,2; Gollhofer, Albert2. How Neurons Make Us Jump: The Neural Control of Stretch-Shortening Cycle Movements. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 40(2):p 106-115, April 2012. | DOI: 10.1097/JES.0b013e31824138da 
  • Taube W, Leukel C, Lauber B, Gollhofer A. The drop height determines neuromuscular adaptations and changes in jump performance in stretch-shortening cycle training. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2012 Oct;22(5):671-83. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2011.01293.x. Epub 2011 Apr 4. PMID: 21457355.
  • de Villarreal ES, Kellis E, Kraemer WJ, Izquierdo M. Determining variables of plyometric training for improving vertical jump height performance: a meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Mar;23(2):495-506. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318196b7c6. PMID: 19197203.
  • Markovic G. Does plyometric training improve vertical jump height? A meta-analytical review. Br J Sports Med. 2007 Jun;41(6):349-55; discussion 355. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2007.035113. Epub 2007 Mar 8. PMID: 17347316; PMCID: PMC2465309.
  • Berton R, Lixandrão ME, Pinto E Silva CM, Tricoli V. Effects of weightlifting exercise, traditional resistance and plyometric training on countermovement jump performance: a meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2018 Sep;36(18):2038-2044. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1434746. Epub 2018 Feb 1. PMID: 29385904.
  • MacKenzie SJ, Lavers RJ, Wallace BB. A biomechanical comparison of the vertical jump, power clean, and jump squat. J Sports Sci. 2014;32(16):1576-85. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2014.908320. Epub 2014 Apr 16. PMID: 24738710.
  • Bobbert MF, Huijing PA, van Ingen Schenau GJ. Drop jumping. I. The influence of jumping technique on the biomechanics of jumping. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1987 Aug;19(4):332-8. PMID: 3657481.
  • Pedley, Jason & Lloyd, Rhodri & Read, Paul & Moore, Isabel & Oliver, Jon. (2017). Drop Jump: A Technical Model for Scientific Application. Strength and Conditioning Journal. 39. 1. 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000331. 
  • Burgess KE, Connick MJ, Graham-Smith P, Pearson SJ. Plyometric vs. isometric training influences on tendon properties and muscle output. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Aug;21(3):986-9. doi: 10.1519/R-20235.1. PMID: 17685695.
Coach Travis Mash

Travis Mash

Being a World Champion in powerlifting, Travis competed at a world-class level in Olympic weightlifting and has coached professional Olympic weightlifters alongside Don McCauley and Glenn Pendlay at Team MDUSA. Now Travis coaches the most successful weightlifting team in the USA.