Plyometrics Exercises for Sports Training

Article by Dale Miller

Sports like soccer are incredibly demanding on the body. Players must be continually running around a large field exerting themselves in all kinds of ways, whether it be sprinting, jumping, sliding, tackling, or kicking. The average soccer play will run over eight kilometers in a ninety minute game, and this distance will be covered with all kinds of different speeds and intensities. This is why plyometrics are particularly powerful exercises for the soccer player. In fact they are beneficial for athletes of any sport, so if you are not a soccer player do not be dissuaded. Any sport that requires jumping and sprinting lends itself to plyometric training.

Plyometrics are exercises which harness sudden and powerful movements of the body in order to optimize muscle contraction for the fastest possible movements. Before beginning any plyometric exercise it is important to begin with some light cardio, preferably a light jog, just enough to work up a sweat. It is also important to stretch thoroughly before beginning plyometrics because the high impact of the exercises can be hard on muscles and lead to injury if the muscles are cold.

After warming up there are some very simple plyometric exercises you can try, just to get into the swing of things. For example, you can place your feet together while jumping side to side, then forwards and backwards. Skipping is also a good warm up exercise, just try to get as much distance and height as possible while you