Plyometrics are high impact exercises that involve jumping and activation of the larger leg muscles. Plyometrics exercises are used in fitness to help build strength, agility, and power. Because plyometrics are high energy and high impact exercises, they also blast calories and fat better than other types of exercises. If you are looking for ways to improve your vertical, try adding some of these plyometrics exercises into your fitness and training routine:
- Box Jumps. The explosive power that comes from box jumps gives your core and leg muscles a challenging workout. When you take a personal fitness trainer course, you learn about proper form and the muscles that are used in performing different muscles. Jumping up on a box or platform uses your core, quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. When you land the box jump, your quads absorb that shock and build muscle around the joints that help to strengthen and protect from sports injury.
- Bounding strengthens the hamstrings and hip flexor muscles so that you can have a faster and stronger rotation of movements. Bounding also helps with balance and agility and improves muscle tone. Bounding is a popular and functional addition to any personal fitness training program.
- Jumping Jacks. Jumping Jacks are probably one of the first plyometric exercises that everyone learned to do. Jumping jacks are efficient in building cardiovascular strength and supporting muscle growth. Another benefit of this plyometric exercise is that you can do them anywhere and do not need a lot of space or any equipment to get your workout in. Fitness trainer class instructors may even use jumping jacks as a warmup to get your muscles activated and ready for work.
- Push-Up Variations. Many variations in push-ups allow this resistance training exercise to cross over into the plyometric side of exercise. Pushing off and clapping provides a total body workout that builds power and strength. Health and fitness course programs promote variations of commonly performed exercises to show individuals they can get a full body workout and be challenged using just their body weight as resistance.
