Basketball Workouts to Jump Higher - What is plyometric training
Basketball Workouts to Jump Higher - What is plyometric training
Plyometric training involves completing movements which are intended to strengthen tissues and train nerve cells to achieve a higher muscle contraction in a shorter amount of time.
Power and strength when it comes to your muscles are 2 different things. Strength on one hand is the ability to apply force to your muscles, in other words the ability to lift heavier weights. Whereas power on the other hand is speed and strength combined. It is in essence how much strength you can apply in the shortest amount of time.
Plyometrics therefore is the art of training your muscles for power rather than strength.
To explain with an example: To compete in the strongest man in the world competition your muscles need to have a lot of strength. You need to be able to lift heavy weights and so the muscles in your legs would have a lot of strength.
A high jumper on the other hand has a lot of power in their legs. They may not have as much strength as a weight lifter but they contract their muscles in a very short amount of time to create the power which springs them over the bar.
Basketball has the same requirement if you want to get the highest vertical leap. Your basketball workouts to jump higher should definitely include some form of plyometric training to increase the power in your legs to spring you in the air so you can dunk hoops.
If you are interested in finding out more on what exercises you need to do for plyometric training then you really need to check out the Vertical Explosion Training Guide