FITNESS
•Centr Team
3 big reasons plyometrics isn’t just for athletes
Plyometric training – heard of it? Our favorite gymnast-turned-stuntman swears by it for strength, mobility and power gains. And thanks to his explosive plyo workouts on the Centr app, you too can unlock the little Bobby Holland Hanton that lives inside all of us.
Plyometric exercises challenge your muscles to their maximum potential over short bursts of time. They require you to move your body from a muscle extension to a muscle contraction in an explosive manner, reaping even bigger results than a standard resistance exercise.
Professional athletes love plyo because it targets fast-twitch muscles, which we rely on for sharp, powerful bursts of movement. According to Bobby: “Fast-twitch movements are very explosive. Sprinters, for example, use their fast-twitch muscles all the time.”
Think plyo sounds like something best left to the professionals? Think again. Athletes might love plyo, but that doesn’t mean that they’re the only ones who can benefit from it. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve already given it a go. Ever done a jump lunge with Ashley or switches with Da Rulk? They’re plyometric moves!
Check out the big three reasons athletes love plyometric training, and how those reasons can benefit your fitness. Then lace up your jumping shoes and get to work.
1. Even the pros prefer short workouts
That’s right, it’s all about maximum gains in minimum time. “I'm not a big believer in going to the gym and spending two hours there,” says Bobby. “It's far more beneficial to go hard and not stop for a short amount of time.”
Plyometric exercise is great at burning calories because you’re using big muscles (like your quads and glutes) in an explosive way. Bobby’s plyometric workouts on Centr clock in at around 30 minutes, so if you want big-time results, fast, you’ve come to the right place.
Join Bobby in a Plyo workout and discover what it's like to live at the intersection of strength and speed.
2. Discover newfound power
Power lives at the intersection of strength and speed – it’s a key characteristic of athletes who are required to be explosive in their movements. Plyometric exercises develop power through repeated stretching and shortening of muscles.
But if you’re not a 100m sprinter or Olympic hurdler, why should you care about power?
According to the American Council on Exercise, power training can help tendons and ligaments become stronger and more resilient, which can significantly reduce your risk of sprains and strains – especially as you get older.
There are other benefits, too:
- Do you play a sport – even if it’s just socially? Whether you’re leaping for a layup on the basketball court or driving your body into the path of an opponent on the rugby field, consider plyo sessions with Bobby your ‘conditioning’. It’s been shown that developing power through plyometric movements gives you a foundation from which you can improve your skills.
- Outside of the sporting arena, gains in power will improve your strength, as well as your reaction time. Fast reactions are especially important as we age, and are linked with improvements in balance and stability.
Plyometric training can also improve your endurance and the economy of your movement, which means you’ll still have reserves of power to draw on in the home stretch of a marathon or a hike through the hills.
“Plyometric workouts will improve your all-around fitness, muscle tone, and body mechanics.” says Bobby. “You’re getting airborne a fair amount and you’re moving fast, so your heart rate is through the roof.”
3. Take your agility to the next level
While mobility is the ability to move a joint through a full range of motion, agility is more about reactionary movement – changing direction and body position in response to changing situations, and staying in control as you do so. A study of athletes who undertook plyometric exercise for six weeks found that it both broke the monotony of training and improved an athlete’s agility.
And it’s not just athletes who need to be agile. Think about times you have to physically react quickly and with a non-standard movement: dashing across a busy street, helping a buddy move a sofa down a flight of stairs, catching a rogue toddler before grandma’s china cabinet is destroyed… you get the picture.
The great thing about plyometric training is that it doesn’t just increase the power and agility of your muscles, it can actually enhance neuromuscular coordination or ‘muscle memory’ – the speed at which your muscles act on a message from your brain.
For instance, when you see Jackie Chan blocking blows from bad guys in all directions without blinking, you know his neuromuscular coordination is really pumping. Okay, you may not be fighting off enemies on a daily basis, but this quick reaction time can help you avoid unexpected obstacles and come out unscathed. It can also improve your performance in everyday training – giving you an edge to take it to the next level.
So if you’re ready to get explosive, Bobby’s plyometric workouts on Centr are here to light the fuse.
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