Don't Get Fooled by Plyometric Training Promotions!

I recall a conversation I had with my mentor, Bob Gajda, back in the early 1980's at his SPRI training facility in Carol Stream, Illinois, about the newest training approach on the athletic conditioning market-PLYOMETRIC TRAINING. Bob informed me that while it was effective in the short run, what it would lead to in the long run would be tendon, ligament, and joint injuries from all of the leaping and landing on higher / lower surfaces and then rebounding back to the original starting point rapidly and in successive reps.

I noticed myself that when I experimented with "plyometric bounding" training methods, I came to the conclusion that it was placing a lot of stress on my feet, ankles, and knee joints. I instinctively knew that if I were to persist with such training over a protracted period of time, I would probably end up with some injuries or arthritic problems somewhere down the line.

I have seen Bob's words, and my own instincts prove to be true over the past several decades as friends and associates have begun to complain about knee, ankle, foot, and low back problems that are just now beginning to nag them every day...possibly as caused by plyometric training done years ago. I have also seen some pretty debilitating joint injuries incurred by such training in many gyms, fitness facilities, and university athletic training centers. Why risk it when you can get similar results in safer ways?

I started thinking of writing this post when I came across an article in a local paper that was touting a plyometric training regimen that would allow guys with "dreams" to have the ability to dunk a basketball. Yeah, some people do find that a protracted period of plyometric training can give them the exstra "umph" needed to dunk a basketball, but at what price?

Usually it is an older, heavier, and more mature individual who takes up such training, and that type of individual conveniently neglects to read the signals his or her body is giving out regarding just how stressful such training is on the muscles and joints. All they want to do is dunk a basketball and jump higher. They never think of the effects of, let's say, the tremendous forces that must be absorbed byt the tendons, ligaments, and joints every time they come back down from those dunks or near dunks. They never think about the problems with the possibity of being "undercut" or pushed into really awkward positions while going up or coming back down. Again, all they can think of is "taking it to the hoop," or touching the sky!

I have also noted that most of the folks who want to dunk at all costs are usually not the most technically skilled players in the first place. Who needs to dunk if you can fake your man out of his shoes, dribble like a magician, and then drain the subsequent open shot like butter running down a hot knife? Plus, all of the natural "great leapers" I have known all succumb to the same lowerbody and lower back injuries over time...yeah, even eagles fall out of the sky in the end.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with plyometrics because of the eventual price to be paid. It is just like those stupid martial arts magazine ads showing some guy or gal doing the splits between two chairs...for what? No one really needs that kind of flexibility in order to be able to fight well. And, most people will find that if they do go through such flexibility training for 3-6 months, they rapidly lose the flexibility rapidly unless they spend a lot of time every day maintaining it. Time that could be put to better ends in other pursuits, believe me. In fact, unless you are interested in becoming a master gymnast, or a member of Cirque du Soliel, you don't nee anywhere near the ability to perform the splits between chairs. Also, the reason why the body snaps back rapidly to more normal ranges of motion after ceasing "super flexibility" training is because the body instinctively knows what IT needs best for daily optimum functional operation and survival. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND DON'T GET THROWN FOR A LOOP BY MARKETERS AND CON ARTISTS.

More on this subject in the near future. Until then, try to THINK before you buy the outrageous trainig methods, supplements, and promises of those who pray on those of us who arre involved in physical culture, athletics, and martial arts. It will save you a lot of grief in the long run, trust me.
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