Part 4 of 5 - Movement Categories Series
By: Jason Bungo, CSCS
Explosive movements are the backbone of athleticism. If jumping or throwing, explosive movements provide some of the highest return to aid in performance. Explosive movements are not just for the top level athletes, they are also for everyday individuals. Slips and awkward steps can be similar to jumps. And it is astonishing how many people participate in recreational sports involving explosive movements and do not train them, often leading to injury.
Often referred to as plyometrics, there are many different types of explosive movements. We have jumping variations to train the legs, throwing variations with medicine balls of various types and weights for the upper body, Olympic weightlifting variations to work the whole body, and various other strength exercises performed at high speed or with accommodating resistance (bands, chains) to work various parts of the body depending on the movement.
The main difference between traditional strength training movements and explosive movements is that the challenge is not from how heavy the weight is, but how fast we are moving it or the position we are trying to get in. So more so than the weight (load) we are concerned with the speed (velocity). We perform explosive movements in "2" ways, low intensity (extensive) like jumping rope or high rep box jumps, and high intensity (intensive) such as max effort vertical jump or heavy power cleans.
For our purposes we are going to review the "4" categories of explosive movements and review examples of each.
Jumping Movements:
Looking for first step quickness or a higher vertical jump? Well jumping is where to begin. It trains the leg muscles to be more explosive. We will primarily perform this movement in "3" different ways:
Jump: Both Legs
Bound: One Leg to the Other Leg
Hop: From One Leg to the Same Leg
We will also be jumping in "4" Directions or a Combination:
Up or Vertically
Forward or Linear (Also Backward)
Laterally or From One Side to Another
Rotationally or With Some Level of Spin Involved
The different ways and directions of jumping will place more stress on different parts of the body and prepare us to jump in this manner. Jumping can also be useful for injury prevention as a slip or awkward step can be similar to a jump.
Throwing Movements:
These movements will add explosiveness to the upper body. And can also help prevent injury to upper body muscles, particularly for throwing or swinging based athletes. We generally will categorize throwing movements into the direction of the movement and the position we are in.
Examples of Direction of Movement and Exercises:
Up: Wall Ball
Down: Medicine Ball Slam
Forward: Medicine Ball Chest Pass
Rotationally: Medicine Ball Rotational Slam
Backward: Reverse Overhead Medicine Ball Throw
Combo: Backward Rotational Medicine Ball Rotational Slam
Positions:
Tall Kneeling: Both Knees Upright
Half Kneeling: Lunge Position Knee Down
Base Stance: Partial Squat, Athletic Position
Split Stance: Off Set Legs
Single Leg: On One Leg
Olympic Strength Movements:
You can win a gold medal for being the best athlete in your weight class with the Olympic strength movements. And these athletes can be amazing. There are "3" primary Olympic movements, the clean, the snatch and the jerk. There are also many different movements in each primary movement that are an individual part or done from a different starting position such as a hang clean. These movements are traditionally performed with barbells but can also be performed with dumbbells or kettlebells.
Other Explosive Strength Movements:
There are many other explosive movements that are our other fundamental strength movements performed at high speed ("maximal intent") with weights, bands, chains or a combination. The main idea is that we can work different rates of speed with different movements by using different weights and resistance styles. A very popular powerlifting technique is to use chains and/or bands with our "3" powerlifting movements: the squat, the bench press and the deadlift.
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