To use your purposely built Muscle Runner speed shoes to their max and develop your speed to the max you need to add some special ingredients into your speed workout mix. Perhaps the most potent is plyometric training.
Plyometrics “jumping” drills have numerous benefits. They can increase leg stiffness, power, speed and reactivity. So, how is this done and why is leg stiffness good for improving speed and change of direction ability? Let's explain.
A plyo drill enhances the stretch-reflex capability of your muscles, ligaments and tendons.
A plyo drill enhances the stretch-reflex capability of your muscles, ligaments and tendons.
Think of an elastic band: when you stretch it, it stores energy, then when you release it the ends snap back unleashing considerable energy.
This is the aim of plyometric drills - to enable you to produce more explosive energy through muscles and other soft tissue by improving the stretch-reflex.
If you are able to get off the ground more quickly, whilst generating more power then you will sprint faster or jump higher and/or longer, for instance.
And leg stiffness???
Regular plyo training will stiffen soft tissue so that it is able to absorb and return energy that much better. In this respect tendons are crucial – more on these bands of soft tissue which connect muscle to bone in another post.
Antepes the optimum plyometric partner
Antepes Muscle Runners are able to return force in a far superior way to most conventional running shoes. With their ForeSpring™ carbon plate technology specifically designed for impact distribution and fluid energy transfer and ForeStrike ™ dual density TPE foam they can get you off the ground with lightening speed.
The world's best acceleration and speed trainer’s unique design also includes a Negative heel gain of 8-10mm (depending on size). The shoes are purposely designed to load the forefoot and not the heel. This will facilitate a quick transition from ground contact to toe-off – something which is fundamental to sprinting and plyometrics.
Your dynamic speed shoes will “push” you into very powerful and fast exit positions. They will keep you on your toes and enhance energy return and quicken ground contact #.
Plyometrics are fundamental to athletes from all sports
It’s not just sprinters who need to power up with plyometrics. Indeed, you should see plyometrics as a way to improve agility, cutting and change of direction movements and even max strength!
It’s not just sprinters who need to power up with plyometrics. Indeed, you should see plyometrics as a way to improve agility, cutting and change of direction movements and even max strength!
Football and soccer players, for example, agility train - however, it is perhaps more relevant to describe this type of training as a derivative of plyometric work.
If your sport requires you to dynamically change direction then muscles, ligaments and tendons will go on stretch as they put the brakes on before shortening to push your body in another direction. This is the stretch-reflex of a plyo drill in operation. There are many lateral (and linear) plyo drills which can be used to improve “agility”.
We will be exploring these in future posts and looking at how to maximise their returns in your dynamic speed shoes.
Progress sensibly
You need to build your plyo training gradually over a number of training blocks (especially if you are unused to this type of work). However, don’t worry as we will be producing training plans for various sports and goals designed to do just this for you. You can check out our SPRINT PLAN.
Plyo Intensity
Some plyos are more intense than others but this does not make them less effective.
Some plyos are more intense than others but this does not make them less effective. It’s the loading we are referencing and not any superiority. A series of 4 hops with a 10-step approach is a very high intensity plyo compared to 10 straight leg pogo jumps up and down on the spot, for example. Yet both have their place in a conditioning routine.
It’s all about being progressively conditioned to withstand the specific intensity. And it’s important to mix and match your plyos to you and your sport’s needs (look out for a series of future posts covering this and more).
# Conventional running shoes, sprint spikes and Muscle Runners were tested over two speed conditions by Canadian sports scientists: 30m at 80% speed and 30m at 100% speed. According to the researchers the ground contact time (GCT) for the 30m sprint at 100% was 0.135 +/-0.016sec for the spikes and 0.140sec =/-0.004sec for the Muscle Runners. Compare that to a huge gulf of 30 milliseconds between the Antepes and conventional running shoes.
