This is one type of exercise to jump higher that you may be less familiar with. You're probably already pushing weights, sprinting and stretching which are all great ingredients to a successful vertical jump programme. Plyometrics remain somewhat of a mystery to some players however, so let's take the wraps off them and take an inside look at why they work so well for serious jumpers.

Why use Plyometrics?

The skeletal muscle fibre in our frame is generally classified into two categories: Slow Twitch that we refer to as Type I Fibres, and Fast Twitch that we refer to as Type II Fibres. We don't need to get too technical, but generally speaking Type I Slow Twitch Fibres contract slower, are smaller in diameter, have less contractile strength and burn oxygen for fuel. Type II Fast Twitch Fibres however contract faster, are 20% larger in diameter, have more contractile strength and burn ATP (adenosine triphosphatase) for fuel.

Of the two types of muscle fibre, guess which one is our best friend when it comes to jumping higher? Yep, it's Type II Fast Twitch Fibres. Unfortunately, we can't choose which ones we are made of, or convert one type to the other. But guess which type responds well to weight training, short duration sprints, plyometrics and Creatine Supplementation. Right again, it's our old friend the Type II Fast Twitch Fibre. And that's why, out of all the available exercises to jump higher, we need to include plyometrics along with the other stuff.

What are they exactly?

A plyometric movement is one that involves a sudden overloading of the muscle whilst it's in a stretched state. What this does is to force the muscle to generate more explosive power than it would normally do under voluntary conditions. Of course there are safety measures placed in our nervous system to prevent the muscle fibres from consciously and maximally contracting simultaneously - that would lead to injury. However we can fool our bodies into executing these moves, in order to improve power, speed and strength - all good ingredients for achieving bigger jumps.

What is a plyometric exercise?

Imagine you were walking along a street and you didn't see a raised concrete edge in front of you, and it caught your foot causing you to stumble forwards. Fortunately your right foot thrusts ahead of you into a lunge position and stops you from falling face down onto the ground. The force generated by your glutes and quads at the moment the sole of your foot slams the ground is far greater than you would have been able to generate consciously.

How do I incorporate them into my training plan?

Basically you must continually force your muscles into the overload position we described above. When you do that you increase the muscle's eccentric strength and your own conscious ability to recruit the power from your muscles on demand. However, due to the dynamic and explosive nature of the exercise they carry a higher risk of injury, so must only be performed after a thorough workout. The usual in-workout rules apply too -listen to your body and stop if you feel at the point of damage. (But still work hard!)

Studies done on sprint runners concluded that the athletes who used both weight training and plyometrics as part of their exercises to jump higher out-performed those athletes who used only one of the methods or neither.