How to develop explosive strength and avoid training stagnation

What is explosive power

Explosive strength is the ability to exert the greatest effort in the least amount of time. In the process of performing explosive movements, the muscles contract very quickly, almost instantly. In this case, not only they are stressed, but also the nervous system, which provides a quick response of muscle fibers to the signal to contract.

Explosive strength often develops in parallel with the reactivity of the muscles - the ability to quickly switch from eccentric to concentric contractions.

Concentric contractions occur when muscles change body position, overcoming resistance, and eccentric ones - when muscles are stretched, yielding to the action of gravity of the limb or load.

During exercises for the development of only explosive strength, there is no stretching phase: the muscles quickly move from a relaxed state to an active one. If, during the exercise, the muscles are not just tense, but pre-stretched, this also develops reactive ability.

Let's look at an example. If jumping onto a hill is performed from a relaxed state, for example, from a sitting position on a pedestal (the athlete is sitting, muscles are relaxed), then only explosive strength develops. If, before the jump, the athlete does a deep squat, stretching the muscles, reactivity also develops.

Why train explosive strength

The ability to make maximum effort in a minimum amount of time is required in many sports disciplines:

In team sports: football, basketball, tennis.
In martial arts, for example, in boxing, where the combination of strength and speed of impact is of decisive importance.
In the sprint. The ability of a muscle to contract as quickly as possible increases running speed.
Weightlifting. Unlike powerlifting, which trains mostly pure strength, in weightlifting, power is more important, which directly depends on explosive strength. Weightlifting exercises - snatch, jerk, take on the chest - are performed with the fastest squat and exit, and the faster the athlete moves from squat to barbell press, the better his performance.

Explosive power is good for bodybuilding too. By themselves, explosive loads have little effect on muscle growth, but they help overcome the stagnation caused by the adaptation of the body. To resume muscle growth, you need to provide the body with an unaccustomed stress load. Explosive exercises become such a load.

In addition, doing explosive exercises correctly with good warm-up and adequate exercise can reduce the risk of injury.

Explosive strength exercises

Fall from a height followed by a jump

During the fall, the athlete accumulates kinetic energy, and upon landing, an eccentric contraction of muscles occurs under the weight of the body, which then instantly replaces concentric - jumping out.

Depth jumping is a rather difficult exercise for untrained people. Therefore, before proceeding with it, it is worth mastering a few simpler ones:

jumping up the stairs;
jumping from foot to foot;
long jump;
jumping over obstacles - low barriers (the jump is performed with two legs at once);
long jump with kettlebells in hands.

Lifting the bar to the chest from the hang

When you hold the bar in straightened arms, the muscles contract eccentrically: they stretch under the weight of the bar. At the moment of taking the barbell on the chest, the muscles abruptly switch to concentric contraction.

This snatch drill cannot be done slowly, so it is explosive by default. To perform it as quickly and sharply as possible and to pump exactly explosive power, do not take a lot of weight, 50-60% of the one-rep maximum is enough.

Hang dash

Like the previous exercise, the hang dash is performed as quickly as possible. Unlike the regular snatch in weightlifting, there is a small pause between the deadlift and the burst, which reduces momentum and provides more load during the burst. Working weight - 50-60% of the one-rep maximum.

Schwungs

Another snatch exercise that develops explosive muscle strength. First, you go into a shallow squat (eccentric contraction), and then straighten your legs in an explosive motion, while simultaneously pushing the bar up. During the push, the main load falls on the shoulders. If you are trying to lift the bar with your triceps, it will reduce the effectiveness of the push.

Plyometric push-ups

There are a huge number of plyometric push-ups - with jumps, claps, lifts after the phase of stretching the muscles. Here's a good selection of explosive push-ups that look incredible.

Burpee

The basic burpee movement is a push-up followed by a jump. There are a huge number of variations on how to perform this exercise:

push-ups with hands on a medicine ball and tossing this ball during a jump;
with jumping onto the curbstone instead of jumping;
on one leg (both push-ups and jump);
with a clap while jumping;
with a jump, during which the legs are pulled up to the chest;
with jumping over the curbstone after push-ups.

Choose depending on your skill level.

Jumping to the support

This exercise can be performed in different ways: jumping with an eccentric phase (as shown above) to develop muscle reactivity or without it.

In the first case, the jump is performed from a low squat, in the second - from a sitting position. When the athlete sits on the pedestal, the leg muscles are in a relaxed state, and then abruptly move to the concentric phase - the jump.

Instead of a pedestal, you can use different elevations, depending on your preparedness. For jumping up, ladder steps, low obstacles are suitable. When you master jumping with your own weight, you can complicate the exercise: jump with dumbbells or kettlebells in your hands.

Jumping out of the pistol

A more difficult version of jumping out, when the load is completely transferred to one leg.

Jumping with change of legs

This is a simpler option that is suitable for beginners. The faster you jump out of the lunge, the better.

Throwing the ball

One of the basic exercises in CrossFit is medicine ball throwing. The muscles are stretched in the squat and then straightened sharply during the throw. Medicine ball throw weight and height depends on your ability.

In general, almost any bodyweight or free weights exercise can be turned into an explosive exercise by increasing the speed of the concentric phase. For example, while squatting with a barbell, you can do a sharp rise after a slow squat.

Now let's look at how explosive strength training is structured.

How to choose a workout

Warm up

Before exercising, be sure to warm up. Only a masochist who dreams of dislocations and sprains can perform an explosive effort without a warm-up. If your workout will last 45 minutes, then ten of them should be devoted to warm-up and stretching. Pay special attention to the muscle groups that will have the main load.

Exercise selection

Until your muscles are used to explosive loads, choose bodyweight exercises. Long jump, jumping up to a hill are well suited. In the first case, you will easily track your progress, in the second, you will adjust the difficulty as you get used to.

First, you can use a ladder or step platform, then go to the curbstone, and then increase the difficulty either by height, for example, using pancakes, or by weighting it with dumbbells or weights.

Burpees in all their variety are also suitable for beginners, jumping with a change of legs, push-ups, throwing the ball.

The number of repetitions and approaches

The workout will consist of 3-6 exercises. For example, this can be a set of burpees, jumping on a box and throwing the ball.

As for the number of approaches and repetitions, it all depends on the exercises chosen and your training:

If you are doing light exercises, such as jumping from a lunge with a change of legs or jumping to a box without weights, do 2-4 sets of 8-10 reps.
If you choose heavier exercises, such as a hang snatch, kettlebell jump, or difficult plyometric push-ups, do 3-7 sets of 2-3 reps.

Circuit training is a good option for trained athletes. One circle consists of three explosive exercises, which are performed one after another with a break of 10 seconds.

Here's a rough diagram: force output - 10 seconds rest - box jumping - 10 seconds rest - throwing the ball - 90 seconds rest - next round.

When choosing the number of circles and exercises, focus on your feelings. On average, four circles of 3-5 repetitions of each exercise will be sufficient.

Rest between sets

The break between sets should be no more than 30 seconds. Explosive exercises do not tire the muscles too much, so this time should be enough. You can rest for 1-2 minutes before doing the next exercise.

Number of workouts per week

If you work out only explosive strength, the rest of the indicators will begin to decline. Moreover, explosive movements load not only and not so much muscles as the nervous system. Therefore, they should be performed no more than 1-2 times a week after the main workout.

If your goal is to get stronger or build muscle, it is especially important to properly combine explosive and strength exercises. The combination of strength and power training raises testosterone levels, which play an important role in muscle growth and body fat reduction. Thus, performing explosive complexes after strength training will have a positive effect on the figure.

Safety engineering

And the last thing worth mentioning is injury prevention. Here are some tips to help you avoid injury during explosive workouts.

Warm-up is a must. If you're doing an explosive workout separate from your strength workout, spend at least 10-15 minutes warming up and stretching.
If jumping is a part of your workout, choose a non-rigid surface, such as the ground or rubber flooring in the gym. This will relieve some of the stress on the joints.
Don't get distracted during exercise. Monitor your body position. Any deviation from the correct technique could result in injury.
Choose the right weight. Trained people can do explosive strength exercises at 50-60% of the RPM. That is, if you can do one squat with a barbell weighing 60 kilograms, then for an explosive performance of this exercise, choose a weight of 35 kilograms. For jumps with weights, a weight of 30% of the one-rep maximum is suitable.