Complete Guide to Explosive Power Training

Definition of Power Training

Maximum force, as fast as possible

Strength + Speed = Power

Jumping with weights or throwing weights are two examples of power training exercises

Power training utilizes two physiological processes deep breathing, which results in increased intra-abdominal pressure; and post-activation potentiation, which is the enhanced activation of the nervous system and increased muscle fiber recruitment.

Power training can be used for general ability to produce power or be sports specific.

What elements are necessary for power

Core Strength: The body's core, sometimes referred to as the torso, helps all other movements of the body. In power movements this is especially the case as the core musculature is increasingly recruited in order to provide additional power. A stronger core also improves a person's ability to balance. The most effective core strength training involves all parts of the core being strengthened.

Joint Strength large amount of power can only be applied if the joints are strong enough to be able to cope with it and transfer it. If a joint is too weak then the power that can be applied by and through that joint is necessarily limited.[15] This is especially the case in dynamic movements which require the rapid application of force to an external object and the absorption of impact forces by the body. For instance, a sprinter must have strong ankle joints in order for their foot to be able to apply leverage and transfer force to the ground, and also to help to absorb any impact forces when the foot is placed. Due to the requirements of any given stride, the ankle must be strengthened in all ranges of movement, including twisting

Proportion The body most efficiently produces power when its strength producing areas exist in particular proportions. If these proportions exist in the correct ratio to each other, then power generation can be optimised. Conversely, if one area is too strong, this may mean that it is disproportionately strong relative to other areas of the body. This may cause a number of problems: a weaker area of the body may be excessively strained by working in conjunction with the stronger area; and the stronger area may be slowed by working with the weaker area. Such problems hinder power development.

Plyometrics

Typically involves Jumping Exercises

Can be feet, or from hands, such as explosive Push UP

What defines plyometric? Speed of the movement. Stretch Shortening Cycle.

Athetes are able to jump higher by taking advantage of the stretch shortening cycle.

Loaded Plyometrics can be jumping while holding a barbell or trap bar.

Complex Training (contrast training)

Involves alternating heavy lifts with plyometric exercises. Ideally, the exercises should move through similar ranges of motion. For example, a set of back squats at about 85-95% 1RM followed by a set of vertical jumps.

Contrast training is using set of heavy resistance repetitions followed immediately by an unloaded, explosive exercise utilizing the same movement pattern

So. Strength training with 1-5 Maximum reps to excite the nervous system, followed by unloaded plyometrics. There should be a rest period of 4-8 minutes, but athletes should just rest until they feel ready to go.

Another one could be a set of trap bar deadlifts followed by box jumps

Or loaded step ups then power step ups.

Speed Training

Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period.

Linear Speed, is how fast an athlete can run in a straight line.

Important factors

· Strength

· Adrenaline

· Anaerobic Capacity

· Breathing

· Foot Speed

· Fast Twitch Muscles

Agility

Agility training exercises help improve speed, explosive power, coordination, and specific sports skills. From high school to professional sports teams, all athletes can benefit from agility training exercises.

Change of direction ability involves training for an athlete to accelerate, decelerate, turn and accelerate.

Acceleration

Reactive power refers to athletes ability to produce high amounts of force in a short period of time.

Acceleration is defined by a few standard guidelines such as:

• A shorter distance 0-20 yards

• A more aggressive forward lean position, led by a positive shin angle in the starting position

• A piston-like leg action that is a more aggressive attack

Some physical limiting factors that significantly affect acceleration include:

• Strength will significantly improve the youth and the untrained, but it can only take you so far.

• Mobility, especially in the hip flexors

• Proper body positioning

When training for acceleration speed, the quality of work must be very high. Sprints will be shorter in the distance 5-20 yards and full recovery will be needed for every single rep. A starting rule of thumb for elite athletes is 1 minute per 10 yards. You may not be training "elite" athletes, but you still cannot turn this into a conditioning session. If you train youth athletes who are easily distracted you can mix in filler movements during their rest to still give them something to do, but not disrupt the training session's goal.

Basketball

When training for basketball, focus of the core should be on correcting postural imbalances such as kyphosis, as well as correcting hip imbalances.

With high topped shoes, basketball players lack ankle mobility, and this can lead to knee issues and even hip issues.

Sample Program Format

The beginning of this program should focus on stability if basic tests are failed.

1. Mountain clumber, side plank, T, and single leg balance

2. IF this stage is passed, there can be a strength and power phase

3. Band walk, stir the pot, Pallof, Weighted Incline T,

4. Finally Power: Medicine Slam, Medicine Side Throw, Box jump

Combat-Rotational-Boxing, Kicking, Wood Chopper

Training for combat involves stabilizing the core, turning your hips, to deliver force.
In many instances, conditioning programs will use ballistic training which is jumping, running, or throwing weights

American Football
American football has different requirements for different positions.

In general, due to the nature and timing of the game, fast twitch muscle fiber training is essential.

The exercises most important to train for strength are the following

1. Deadlifts: Especially Trap Bar

2. Box Squats

3. Incline Dumbbell Press

4. Bent Over Row

There are generally 3 phases to focus on in the offseason

1. Hypertrophy 4 Weeks + Deload

2. Strength 4 Weeks + Deload

3. Power and explosion 4 Weeks
Peak Performance

Plyometric training is an important part of the process, for the majority of positions.
Certain positions may benefit more from flexibility, such as a quarterback, while others may benefit more from agility and change of direction such as a running back.

Repetitions for power training

Normally when you think of training you hear of 3 sets of 10, well actually you want to do the opposite for plyometric or power training. You want to maintain the quality of the repetitions and take very long breaks. If you start doing more reps in less times, you move away from power and now you are doing more conditioning.

We want to save the conditioning for when you are playing a sport or doing an athletic movement. So stick to below 5 reps, and you can even do 3 reps, taking long enough breaks to maintain the quality of the movement.

Vertical Jump Training

Beginning any performance program starts with movement screen. We want to assess the health of our shoulders, hips, ankles, as well as mobility. We want to see if any injuiries will prevent us from reaching our performance goals.

Phases of Power Training for Vertical Jump Training

Just like with other training goals, we can form 3 general phases

1. Functional movement testing

2. Strength building + Movement

3. Plyometric/Skill training

The first thing we want to do after clearing ourselves from any injuries or movement difficulties, is to build unilateral strength and reduce our bodyfat. We want to build up our core strength as well.

Unilateral strength means single leg (or arm) strength. This can be done through Bulgarian split squats, Lunges, RDLs, Single leg steps downs, step ups and more.

Core strength should focus on anti-extension and anti-rotation, as well as hip stability and strength.

The next phase will focus on our movement, as well as building up the elasticity in our joints. Depending on your specific jump goal, you may want to visit the expert in that field. I have been studying NBA trainer, Paul Faber, who has loads of knowledge on how to improve your vertical jump for basketball.

Overall, your goals should remain realistic. An inch a month for vertical jump is a reasonable goal, but remember this is done through jump technique, leg and core strength, reducing body fat, and improving our mobility and tendon health.

Recovery

Recovery is the single most important part of any training or exercise program. Recovery allows for improved performance, permits time for our body to heal itself in preparation for the next training load, and decreases the risk of potential injury. All these benefits allow for the attainment of new goals and PB’s. Factors influencing recovery include sleep, mental fatigue/stress levels, nutrition, hydration, frequency and type of training loads, alcohol intake and methods of warm up pre-exercise and cool down post exercise. All of these can be manipulated, nurtured and controlled to have positive or negative effects on one’s recovery.

Let’s look at each factor in detail.

Sleep:

Sleep provides crucial time to recover, with adequate levels of sleep allowing time for fundamental processes to occur. Sleep debt, or insufficient levels of sleep, impairs recovery from exercise via several pathways:

· Increases cortisol (also known as the stress hormone) leading to reducing testosterone production, which in turn lowers muscle protein synthesis.

· Reduces the production of growth hormone, which is released when your body enters into a deep sleep stage. This growth hormone, released by your pituitary gland, stimulates tissue growth and muscle repair.

· Increases the risk of injury by decreasing balance and postural control which can lead to poor technique and decision making/cognitive performance. A study has shown that athletes who sleep on average 8 hours.

· Increases risk of infections leading to a cold or flu. Those who sleep 7 hours sleep. This can be a cause of skipped sessions or poorer quality of sessions.

Mental Fatigue & Stress:

Mental fatigue and high stress levels has been shown to be linked to:

· Decreased endurance performance

· Decreased cognitive performance

· Decreased intermittent running performance

· Increased rate of perceived exertion

· Increased risk of overreaching

A recent study from 2015 investigated the relationship between high stress levels, both physical and academic, and injury and illness in Division 1 college footballers. Results showed the rate of injury/illness restrictions during the weeks of high academic stress are nearly twice as high compared to during weeks of low academic stress.

Nutrition:

Nutritional advice will differs from client to client dependent on many factors such as training goals (increased muscle mass, fat loss, etc.), training loads (intensity, quantity, strength vs cardio, etc.) and client preferences/beliefs. However, optimizing one’s nutrition has been shown to improve recovery, aiming to eat as much fresh food as possible and limit the amount of processed and take away foods.

Some important factors that need to be considered when evaluating macronutrients and micronutrients include:

· Protein forms the building blocks of muscles, numerous studies show that eating sufficient protein can help increase muscle mass and strength. High levels of protein can also help prevent muscle loss when your body is in a “catabolic” (breaking down) state, such as during weight loss. Consuming protein immediately prior to sleep, after strength training late at night, effectively stimulates muscle protein synthesis and improves whole-body protein balance during overnight recovery.

· Omega 3 fatty acids have an anti-inflammatory effect, and it is important to buy good quality, well transported and stored products. Good sources of Omega 3 include fish oils and flax seed oils. Omega 3 are often limited in many peoples diets, therefore supplementation may be needed. Reducing inflammation can accelerate healing.

· Zinc is a key substrate for the production of testosterone. It is beneficial to have testosterone available for exercise, in particular, weight training to help with tissue repair, and to build muscle and develop strength. A study showed that supplementing zinc in athletes with depleted testosterone and thyroid hormone from exhaustive exercise was effective in restoration of normal testosterone and thyroid levels. Additionally, zinc plays important role in supporting immune function.

· Magnesium is required for a number of physiological processes related to workout recovery. Magnesium plays an important role as a muscle relaxant, in promoting nerve functioning, cardiac activity, bone health and synthesis of proteins and fats.

Hydration:

Water makes up roughly 65 percent of the human body. Ensuring that you are consuming adequate amounts of water each day is important for a range of bodily processes, however most people do not meet their daily requirement needs. It is common for people to drink sufficient amounts of water during exercise but this is often forgotten post exercise and in the following hours or days. Every type of exercise you complete will result in some level of loss of fluid, and these fluids need to be replenished. Water is involved in many of our vital bodily process and is essential to maintain blood volume, regulate body temperature and allow muscle contractions to take place.

Alcohol:

Alcohol can have a major effect on how the body functions, and significantly impair recovery. The factors underlying this negative impact include:

· The impact of alcohol affecting quality and quantity of sleep, which in turns leads to a decrease in protein synthesis and decreases in testosterone secretion.

· Decreased cognitive performance.

· Comprises in immune system functioning, leading to illness/infection.

Warm up and Cool down:

Having an understanding of applied function science allows for the implementation of sports or exercises specific pre and post exercise programs. These programs will be individualised tasks that will get you set up for exercise turning on the muscles needed, gaining the mobility required and begin to get the cardiovascular system pumping building in intensity. The cool down will be similar to the warmup but at a lesser intensity and often involve some walking or light cardio and active stretching to allow the body the best chance to recover. These programs should concentrate on addressing movement in all three planes of motion. Self-myofascial release may be incorporated into both programs.

Warming up has been shown to decrease Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness (DOMS) with no loss of muscle function. Dynamic stretching has been shown to positively influence power, speed, agility, endurance, flexibility, and strength performance when used as a warm-up. The cool down also brings fresh blood into areas to help with lactic acid removal, while bringing your heart rate down to resting rate safely.

Foam Roller / Self-Myofascial Release (SMFR):

Two recent systematic reviews looking at self-myofascial release (SMFR; one example being the use of a foam roller) has found have a range of valuable effects, including:

· Increased joint ROM short term without impeding athletic performance. SMFR therefore seems suitable for use by athletes or the general population prior to exercise, training sessions or competition.

· SMFR can alleviate Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and may therefore be suitable for use by athletes or the general population for enhancing recovery from exercise, training sessions or competition.

· There is some limited evidence that SMFR may lead to improved arterial function, improved vascular endothelial function, and increased parasympathetic nervous system activity, which may also be useful in recovery.

· Finally, there is some evidence that long-term SMFR may lead to improved flexibility, however not all studies supported this link.

Methods to help improve recovery:

Research shows there are several ways you can allow your body the best possible chance to recover.

· Sleep at least 8 hours per night. For tips to improve sleep please see my Sleep Hygiene post

· No alcohol consumption post training, although if you must then limiting your intake to 2 drinks for males and 1 drink for females has been shown not to have a large influence on recovery

· Hydrate – make sure you drink at least 2L of water per day, possibly more, dependent on the amount of exercise undertaken. This should be spread out throughout the day, not at one time – our bodies can only absorb a certain amount of water at one time.

· Plan your meals in advance and get advice on appropriate nutritional intake required for your exercise or training program.

· Complete both a warm up session before exercise and cool down after any exercise. Ideally this should be specific to the task/training you are about to complete. The warm up and cool down should address movement in all three planes of motion, include dynamic stretches/movements, strengthening exercises and cardiovascular work.

· No static stretching pre exercise as it has been shown to reduce muscle strength, power and explosiveness.

· Manage workloads by concentrating on building training loads over several weeks, don’t go too hard, too fast.

· Foam rolling / Self myofascial release – Can be used pre and post exercise to help with recovery with no effect on performance. Improvement with DOMS, joint range of motion and possibly flexibility can be seen.

· Compression garments – The use of compression garments appears to reduce the severity of DOMS and accelerate the recovery of muscle function.