by Bryan Harney & Ellen Harmening
In light of the fact that Thursday’s are our K.O. Training Cardio days, I’d like to share a few of my favorite Plyometric movements. We do a ton of Plyometrics at Southside Knockout. They are the most vital part in building functional leg strength, speed & power.
Ever since I incorporated Plyometric exercise into my daily workouts, I have seen vast improvements in my clients and my own speed & power. They are also a great way to burn calories and get into phenomenal shape.
Here is an example workout for these exercises.
5 Exercises. 5 reps per exercise. 3 rounds for time.
Time yourself on how fast you can complete this cycle 3 times. Take little to no breaks.
Always remember, you do not need to use the same amount of boxes that we are using. If you are new to Plyometrics, I recommend starting off with 1 or 2 boxes.
Exercise 1: Box Jump Burpee
For this exercise make sure when going into and out of your burpee position that your legs move simultaneously in & out.
Exercise: 2: Rockets
The key to this exercise is to make sure your butt touches the boxes every time before your explode up and onto the boxes. You can hold a 5-10lb medicine ball for extra resistance.
Exercise 3: Pop Up Jumps
A good key for this exercise is to replace where your hands are on the floor with your feet when jumping up. You are not simply jumping vertically from the floor to your feet but instead vertically and slightly out in front of our original position.
Exercise 4: Offensive Jumps
Make sure you are able to continually jump back and forth without double jumping when you land. If you are double jumping then you are using too many boxes and need to lower them. 1 rep for this exercise is counted when you return to your original position (There & Back = 1 rep).
Exercise 5: High Jump
It shouldn’t matter if you have 1 or 7 boxes stacked up for this exercise. Either way you are exploding with both feet aligned with your shoulders. When jumping, you need to throw your knees high into your chest for maximum height.