Incredible Plyometrics - 2 Plyometric Drills to Perform on a Single 18 Inch Box!

Did you know that you can develop tremendously explosive leg power by including an effective plyometric program into your strength and conditioning regimen. For starters, if you don't include these athletic performance based drills you are doing yourself a disservice. Allow yourself a moment to look at these 2 simple drills that I guarantee will add to your vertical jump, speed, quickness, and overall fitness. The beauty of it is that they both can be done on a simple 18 inch box.

1. Standard Box Jumps: For this particular drill all you will need to do is stand about a foot in front of the plyometric box. Make sure your feet are about shoulder width distance apart. From here you will want to execute a perfect form squat jump. Make sure you do this by initiating a counter-movement with your arms by swinging your arms back at the same time you bend at the hips and knees. Next, you will want to immediately extend at your hips and knees explosively jumping off of the ground. You should land on top of the box still with your feet shoulder width apart and squatting to absorb the landing on the box. You want to land heel to toe! Simply step off of the box and get back into position to start all over again.

2. Step Single-Leg Box Jumps: For this drill you will want to stand to one side of the box. For the description lets assume it is your right leg. So begin by standing beside the box with your right foot placed up on top of the box with your left foot still placed on the ground. From here explosively utilize your arms to assist you in a vertical jump while thrusting off of the box with the right leg. You are primarily exploding up with your right leg off of the box and you will land on both feet on the ground beside the box. Remember to land with your feet shoulder width apart and to squat to absorb the impact.

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Plyometrics - Jumping Your Way Into Getting in Shape!

How many times have you been to the park or maybe watched your kids playing in the yard or at the playground? If you observe carefully they do a lot of running and jumping around. They are also getting a heck of a lot of exercise.

That jumping around and stop and go method of just being physically active is a great way to get into shape. The jumping and short burst running are also mild forms of what we recognize in the fitness industry as plyometrics. Plyometrics are specific exercises that involve quick burst of intense movements that stimulate the nervous system causing muscles to be conditioned in order to develop for more explosive and forceful contractions. This type of training is particularly used to work with helping athletes to develop more athletic and explosive movements. There are many variations of plyometrics and a beginner should always start with the most basic and lower intense plyometric-type drills. A great start is to master handling your own weight in order to jump. From here specific drills can be manipulated to progress into harder drills. For instance, you may just start by doing squat jumps and progress to jumping off of one leg and landing on 2 feet. From here you might just work on jumping and landing on just one foot! The end result is that you will end up getting a great workout.

Remember that milder forms of this can be performed by kids in a playground. You always want to make sure that you are intelligent and informed about how you structure your plyometric drills. Learn and practice flawlessly.

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Cyclist - The Importance of Strength Training For the Cyclist!

Cycling is a very physically taxing activity that your muscles must be able to endure at varying intensities. If you are a competitive cycler then you understand how hard it is on the muscles to climb the hills and still have enough left at the end to beat out your competition. This article will look at the importance of strength training for the body of the cyclist.

To be a cyclist there is no doubt your legs have to be powerful. They are constantly churning against a resistance that is constantly changing whether you are going straight, uphill, or downhill in your event. Even though that cycle has a seat you may find that your rear is out of it during some of the more demanding parts of the course. Leg strength is essential because of this very reason. My opinion on all cyclist that want to enhance their ability is that an effective strength training program should be as important as time on the bike. When we look at the demands on the legs of this event some may automatically assume that the legs are the sole muscle to train for this event and that is not necessarily true. Yes, the legs will endure a great deal of the load of an effective strength training program in this case, but the body should be more trained as a whole with more emphasis on the lower body as a foundation.

If you think about your time on the bike you realize that deep into the race you have to have a strong pair of legs, a strong back, and outstanding cardiovascular conditioning. Being on that 2 wheeled machine pedaling yourself silly should definitely be part of your conditioning, but the inclusion of effective strength training can further enhance both qualities of muscular strength and endurance. I would approach the program by doing variations of deadlifts, squats (single and double-leg), cleans, and a variety of plyometric drills(single and double-leg). The key to optimizing your performance here is also having a base understanding of the importance of periodization. You should engage in a high volume of both lifting and riding and strategically taper it down as you approach your competition.

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Vertical Jump - 2 Simple Steps to Increase Your Vertical Jump!

I want to start by trying to get your attention really fast. What if I told you that I could guarantee that you could increase your athletic strength to increase your vertical jump by almost 2-3 inches in just 3 weeks? Not only can it be done, but the 2-3 inches is the low end of the guarantee. I have seen others jump as much as 4 or 5 inches in the same time. As I explain in the steps to follow pay close attention to what I am trying to teach you. Understand that what I am talking about is obtainable if practiced flawlessly, consistently, and frequently. Note that everyone has varying levels of athletic ability and each drill can be modified from low intensity to high intensity depending on the individual level of the athlete.

Step 1: To begin, the vertical jump is a well-known measuring stick for athletic performance. It is a measure of core strength and leg power. Because it is a measure of these two physical tasks these are the two areas that have to be focused on in an attempt at increasing one's vertical jump. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!" Well after you attempt these simple, but gruesome drills you will completely understand that old saying. First you must include a variation of plyometrics.

Plyometrics involve specific exercises that stimulate the body's nervous system and cause the muscles to stretch and shorten by contracting in rapid succession. Some good examples of plyometrics involve bounding over hurdles, box jumps, single leg bounds, and squat jumps. The plyometric exercises that I want to recommend involves a series of box jumps and squat jumps. Depending on your level or ability you can start with box jumps with a height range from 12 inches all the way to 24 inches.

If you don't own these they can be easily constructed with plywood. The most effective progression can be multiple boxes starting at the lowest height of 12 inches and increasing every 6 inches to the highest box at 24 inches. From here you can structure your box jumps however you like, but be sure to obtain a volume of repetitions that total 80! This is an average of 20 repetition jumps at each box height. When you jump from the ground to the box you should be executing a perfect squat jump. You should be landing on the box each jump with your feet at about shoulder width distance and absorbing your landing each time by making contact with the box heal to toe. To intensify this drill you can execute the jumps by adding some kind of resistance. Holding a pair of dumbells is an excellent way to do this. Note that for optimal results these should be practiced at least 3 times per week.

Step 2: The next area to target is going to be the development of core strength. One way to do this simply in the comfort of your home or in your front yard is by doing planks. Planks involve lying prone (or face down) on the ground with only your elbows and toes (or balls of your feet) touching the ground. Your body should be perfectly straight and rigid like a plank or bridge. This is a static hold and you can start by minimally doing each set for 1 minute! Friends these are intense. You should do these on the days you do your plyometrics. You should also complete 3 sets of 1 minute in week one. Each week you should increase a minute working up to 3 minutes per plank for 3 sets in the third week!

These two steps will undoubtedly improve your conditioning and vertical jumping power. Remember that this is only a basic home drill and is merely a taste of the main course. Further modifications to this and other areas of your program can drastically improve your overall athletic performance.

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com. To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html. I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Athletic Fitness - 3 Ways to Construct an Athletically Fit and Athletically Functional Body!

I had a friend the other day that was just starting back into working out and he asked me "what is the best thing for me to do to get back into shape?" He is an ex-athlete like myself and I asked him if he remembered how hard his workouts were in college. He, of course, said yes and I proceeded to tell him that he needs to start training like an athlete again. Why, he asked? I followed up by asking him at what point in his life was he in the greatest shape and he replied "when I was doing preseason workouts for football in college." I rest my case. Most of the time people don't want to revert to doing what they used to because they have forgotten how, they are lazy, or maybe they have never had an effective training regimen in their life.

Step 1: The first step in building the ultimate greek-god or goddess-like body is to implement Olympic Lifting into your strength training program. The three main lifts that people are familiar with in olympic lifting are the snatch, clean, and jerk. All three lifts are incredible in developing explosive power, strength, and animal-like resiliency. By including these lifts and variations of them into your strength program you will find that you will get a much quicker workout because of the intensity of the lifts. Also, these lifts can be structured into your workouts as a primary lift which can be readily combined with the remaining lift and workout strategies I will explain in Steps 2 and 3.

Step 2: The second step in your journey for elite fitness status involves the inclusion of Kettlebells. Yes, kettlebells are a tremendous way to supplement your Olympic Lifts that you might execute with barbells and bumper plates, but with kettlebells, certain olympic lifts can be executed as well. Because of its shape and size many different lifts with different objectives can be executed readily with the bell. This allows you to bypass a normal training obstacle that occurs frequently with other free weights like having to slow down to change around weights, racking plates, and having to move to a different area for another lift. In other words, there is no interruption of your workout, therefore your intensity level stays in HIGH GEAR! The bell can be used for heavy explosive type lifts, conditioning-oriented lifts, and slower lifts that create tremendous muscular tension! All are effective for constructing your body and getting to greek-god status.

Step 3: The third step in getting ridiculously quick results in your program is making sure to add in Plyometrics. Plyometrics involve completing intense quick explosive movements that stretch and shorten the muscles rapidly. They stimulate the nervous system causing the muscles to react quicker so athletic movements like sprinting, jumping, and agility can be effectively executed. This is also a great way to gain tremendous conditioning and to reduce the risk of injury by stressing the body in this manner.

Remember that none of these three steps should be included into your program unless you are 100% confident in your technique. Don't be a knucklehead and do something that would injure you and put you out of commission. However, you should take the time to study, research, and flawlessly practice these steps. Once you do your INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT will be completed way before anyone else's deadline!

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!