Some of you know from talking to me that we are adding a members-only section of the site. So, we’ll now have the free section that you’re used to plus a members page where you’ll have access to in-depth video, articles, audio interviews, custom-made workouts of the month, mini-DVD’s of the month, and more…

Here is a quick peek at the 4-Part Series on Plyometrics for Football. It started off as a simple article that I was going to send out to a magazine…but then it turned into a full-length manual (over 70-pages) and I decided to keep it right here with my own readers.

Remember, this is only the intro to the Plyo manual. Just wanted to let you guys see what I have in store for you in the very near future!

How to Use Plyometrics in Your Football Training Program, Part 1

Plyos – Football Training Gold or All Glitter?

They say sex sells. They also say sexy sells. Well, we don’t see much sexual stuff in the football training world, but we sure do see “sexy” training programs. These are programs and exercises that rely way too much on the cool-factor rather than, ya know, like, results. We see it all the time when it comes to agility training. Just last night I saw an EAS commercial featuring Matt Hassleback where he’s zig-zagging through cones and doing all kinds of odd movements against a nice TV background. It’s visually impressive.

But, it’s a waste of time. Think about when you watch a college football game. They almost always show video clips of guys training – sometimes lifting weights, but more typically it’s them doing something exotic looking; wearing vests, towing people, running with parachutes.

It’s excellent promotion for those products and makes coaches feel smart. And, the unsuspecting player believes he’s busing his ass to improve while in reality he’s doing nothing more than running through obstacles like a dog in a dog show.

Agility training is by far the most impacted football training facet affected by this. However, Plyometrics are a very, very close second.

What are Plyometrics

When Plyos Go Wrong…

Plyometrics, or Plyos, grew out of what was simply known as “jump training” in Eastern Europe. Because the Eastern Europeans and Soviet were just dominating damn-near every sport, the West began to obsess over what they were doing that was setting them apart. Drug, of course, were the first explanation, but that fell flat when we realized that western athletes were probably on better drugs.

Eventually some of the “secrets” of the Soviets made their way over to the West and Plyos caught fire. Soon just about every sport was incorporating Plyos into their training. And, as we Westerners are so apt to do, we went overboard. If one day of jumping was good, 7 would be awesome. This, coupled with lack of overall knowledge of how and why Plyos worked led to injured athletes, reduced performance, and wasted time.

Donald Chu, one of the world’s leading Plyometric training experts sums it up nicely, “If there was any drawback to this enthusiasm, it lay with the lack of expertise that American coaches and athletes had in administering Plyometric programs and a faulty belief that more must be better.” Chu’s books are great, and recommended reading for all football training coaches.

Things eventually got better in with Olympic Athletes but when it came to football training, it only got worse. In the 1990’s, the use of Plyos became super popular and most of the coaches using them had no idea how to properly use them, when to use them, or why they should use them. But, this did not stop them one bit.

How They Work

Despite the lack of knowledge (of which there should be none because there are literally huge volumes of literature on Plyometric training – which should tell you that they are not to be taken lightly), there is hope for those wishing to take their football training programs to the next level by adding Plyos.

Plyometrics, by definition are exercises that allow the muscle to reach maximum strength in as short a period of time as possible.1 Re-read that and think of it’s applications to football training! That’s what it’s all about. Producing as much force as possible, as fast as possible.