OnFitness Magazine - March/April 2022 - 72

WWW.ONFITNESSMAG.COM | VOL 22 NO 5 | 2022 72
MUSCLE SCIENCE
amount of force (eccentric load to
concentric return) to put into the
ground (sprinting) or into an opponent
or object in the shortest amount of
time will typically be the fastest or
most explosive.
Exercise selection for plyometric
training then is not simply about
performing jumping, bounding, or
moving vertically and horizontally. It's
about matching the sport-specific
timing of the exercise to the athlete's
sport of choice.
Because typical sporting
movements take place under two
hundred and fifty milliseconds, it will
be important for the athlete to execute
all plyometric movements as fast as
possible.
So even if multiple broad jumps are
in a plyometric program to match the
movement direction for sprinting
(horizontal), it should be the athlete's
focus to get off the ground as quickly
as possible during both the eccentric
loading phase and concentric return.
What appears to be a sportsspecific
exercise using multiple broad
jumps then becomes a waste of time in
terms of sports transfer to sprint speed,
which again has much shorter foot
contact times than broad jumping.
Plyometric exercises that naturally
lend themselves to be important drills
in developing force while limiting
ground contact time can be time-based
rather than repetition-based.
For example, if you give an athlete
ten seconds to do as many lateral cone
jumps as possible or ten repetitions of
lateral cone jumps, the athlete will
typically get off the ground faster with
the timed exercise to get as many
jumps possible, while the repetitiondriven
athlete is only counting
repetitions to get to ten.
If an athlete continually jumps
completely over the cone and is
increasing the number of repetitions
performed in ten seconds, there's no
doubt the athlete is reducing foot
contact time and improving eccentric
to concentric transition times. The
athlete in short is getting more
explosive.
The best chance for a plyometric
program to mold itself after improved
sports performance will depend on
how the plyometric exercises are
presented with coaching cues (off the
ground fast, attack the ground, etc.)
and how the drills are administered (in
other words repetition-driven sets
versus timed sets).
Failure to appreciate the importance
of foot contact time when selecting and
administering plyometrics exercises
leads to reduced effectiveness of the
program as a whole.
The upper-body
balance approach
commonly asked question that can be
heard in many gyms is, " How much
can you bench? " While this question
is well-intended, the implication is
fundamentally based around the idea of
working muscles we can visually see, or
simply stated, working the mirror muscles.
Mirror muscles include the pectorals, lats,
biceps, and deltoids.
However, this approach to training can
lead to deficiencies in shoulder posture,
function, and stability, which can potentially
lead to shoulder problems down the road.
Some of these deficiencies include a forward
head, rounded and/or hiked up shoulders,
and a hunched back.
Researchers from Slippery Rock
University examined bodybuilders and found
that their workout regimens led to muscle
imbalances in the upper body. These findings
highlight the need for intervention regarding
making potential adjustments and
improvements in your workout program
design.
The wall slide test is a simple test that
checks shoulder posture. First, sit crosslegged
with your entire back (head, back,
and buttocks) against a wall.
Next, hold your arms up against the wall
as though a police officer just shouted,
" Hands up! " Both arms should be at right
angles at the elbow.
A
Next, while maintaining the back of your
elbows, wrists, and hands against the wall,
slowly slide them up toward the ceiling until
they're completely straight.
If you cannot straighten more than
halfway up or much further than a few
inches, this can be a sign of tight pectorals,
lats, and weakened lower traps, rhomboids,
and serratus anterior.
Since upper back muscles tend to be
weaker than chest muscles, having at least a
two to one pull/push ratio will aid in
improving your upper body balance.
For instance, if you perform three sets of
bench press, you'll need to perform six sets
of upper back exercises such as rows or pulldowns.
This will biomechanically improve
the relationship between the push/pull
muscles, thereby improving your shoulder
posture and alignment.
One of the best functional pulling
movements is the bodyweight inverted row.
This exercise can be performed on a Smith
machine or a power rack with a bar. The
biggest factor for the level of difficulty is
your body inclination relative to the bar. The
lower the bar, the more difficult the exercise.
So, adjust the bar height accordingly to
optimize this exercise.
First, lie on your back under a bar and
grab it, having your legs straight for the
advanced or bent for beginners. Then
keeping your back straight the entire time,
lift yourself until your chest touches the bar.
For best results, perform three sets of ten to
twenty repetitions.
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OnFitness Magazine - March/April 2022

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