Plyometrics are considered powerful explosive exercises.
They are tailored in such a way (when done correctly) to increase your strength, endurance, and speed.
Very dynamic movements and train your muscles to work to the maximum forces in very short bursts. Not only performed by professional trainers or athletes but also for individuals looking to improve their fitness.
How to do the full-body plyometric exercises for beginners?
Let’s dig in deeper.
How Often Can You Do Plyometrics In A Week?
Is that ok if you do the plyometrics every single day?
Yes, you can do it as many times as you want but just be sure you have enough strength training experience prior. This is to ensure that your body can handle all these explosive movements.
Ideally, as a beginner, you can start with three sessions a week. Let your muscle groups slowly accustom to a certain movement while building up flexibility and strength.
You can then gradually add plyometrics into your workout routine. The good thing is these workouts mostly use your own bodyweight to build strength and endurance, with no weights involved.
Which Is A Better Workout – Plyometrics or Running?
The fact that Plyometrics if done properly and correctly, can help you to reach your fitness goals such as losing weight.
It gives the EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) effects for hours or even days after serious high-intensity plyometric workouts that bump up the heart rates.
This situation called ‘elevated heart rate resting’ means that you are actually making your body keep burning calories even after you have wrapped out the workout. Amazing, isn’t it?
That’s why plyometric exercises really focus on the amortization phase as quickly as possible. What is that?
Meaning to say the moment you finish a particular plyometric workout with your feet or hands hitting the ground, you need to hit back again in an ‘explosive’ phase. This also explained why plyometrics are effective to improve trainers’ strength and speed.
9 Full-Body Plyometric Exercises For Beginners
New to Plyometric exercises? No worries at all.
You can start with the ‘foundation forms’, in order to avoid any potential injury to the joints, ligaments, and tendons. Note: If you are feeling any pain while on plyometrics for the first time, recommend pausing it immediately and taking a rest!
These are the 9 best plyometric exercises to do at home.
1. Squat jumps. This is the core of a plyometric exercise with a loading phase (before jumping with knees bent), force creation phase (when jumping), and unloading phase (when landing with knees bend again). A three-set with every 8 to 10 repetitions is ideal to start. It really does pump up your heart rate.
2. Frog hops. This plyometric form works on major muscles in the lower body such as the core, hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes, and calves. A very good stretcher workout for the start and end will be in a squat position. A three-set with every 8 to 10 repetitions is ideal to begin.
3. Squat tuck jump. Another great heart rate bumper plyometric form focuses on the lower body muscle groups. It helps to burn calories fast and improve your jumping ability (for whatever reasons it may be for you). Start with three-set with ten repetitions each.
4. Star jumps are a full-body plyometric form working to improve the overall explosive and speed levels. What’s good is as you jump and lift up your both arms to each side, you’ll work on the delts too. To start, do two to three sets with ten repetitions each.
5. Broad jump. It seems like professional athletes practice. If your home space is spacious, this is a good workout for all the major muscles of your legs as it requires the legs’ strength and power to jump forward.
Besides, when you jump from a starting position, your upper body is also stretched as the arms swing to the max. A three-set with 8 to 10 repetitions each is good to begin.
6. Backward forward jumps. This is a good plyometric workout to improve your balance and stability by triggering the muscle groups. Depending on your strength and endurance, you can do lesser backward movements if you like. Start with two forward jumps, then a jump backward, two to three set with 8 to 10 repetitions each.
7. Front and Lateral box jumps. Both work terrific for the lower body by helping in balancing and coordination. Plus, this total explosive workout on the lower body helps to burn calories faster.
Start with a lower height of the platform for easier jump and landing, two sets with 8 to 10 reps each. The only difference is with the lateral jump, you’ll be hopping to the side of a platform, instead of to the front.
8. Plyo pushups. I personally like this plyometric form but this is not the regular pushup. The hands lift off the ground as you slowly lower your chest down by pushing through your hands with an explosive force.
This technique requires real speed, strength, and endurance. To start it easily, you can slightly bend your knees, touching the ground. For a more difficult level, clap your hands once, while off the ground in mid-air.
9. HIIT exercises. If you like more intense and challenging, try these plyometric HIIT exercises. Be sure that your strength and speed can handle this version!
You need to swap with some cardio and strength workouts (such as body hops, front or lateral box jumps, and Plyo pushups), with a plyometric exercise for about 20 seconds intervals.
American Council of Exercise suggested 15 minutes of this HIIT interval exercise with any plyometric forms. Do take a minute (60 seconds) to rest between any plyometric forms that you choose. Suggested choose 3 or 4 forms, except No.9 as this is more intense and you may only need to do this form solely.
Is Plank Considered A Plyometric Exercise?
Plank is a very good exercise helping to strengthen the back, neck, chest, shoulders, and abdominal muscles.
These are some of the best plank plyometric exercises at home.
1. Arm and leg lift up – in high plank position, lift one leg, then bring down and switch. Same step for the hands too.
2. Plank jacks – only move your lower body with the legs in and out, in a high plank position.
3. Side plank – putting all the weight on one side of the arm (while the other arm is high up) in a high plank position, the whole body turns to one side, with both legs close together.
4. Commando plank. This form required good strength and control using one hand at a time in a push position.
Are Plyometric Exercises Good or Bad For The Knees?
Bad, if with plyometrics ‘jumping’ exercises.
As it required very quick and explosive movements for best results, the stress build will be channeled to the knees more to complete the jumping movement.
Through extensively repeated repetitions plus explosive movements, the kneecap (patellas) and the tendons may be exposed to repeated stress. This could potentially cause tear and wear on the tendons and kneecaps to be unstable.
That is also why a beginner should always start off low until they have become stronger and have healthier bones and tendons. Take a diet enriched with Calcium and Vitamin C such as spinach, fish, and fruits such as papaya, berries, and pineapple for stronger bones.
Will Intense Plyometrics Help Maintain Muscles and Strength?
Probably easier to maintain the strength but not so on the muscles.
As plyometric is super intense short bursts exercises, they are good for building muscle mass and strength.
If it’s done correctly and consistently, a plyometric routine can help to build muscles through all the explosive movements such as the box jumps, back, and forward jumps, or squat jumps. When I said ‘explosive’ here, I meant volume and high intensity.
As strength is developed, it is not easy to fade away that soon so as long a trainer is continuing working out such as with plyometrics.
If your body is already adapted well to weight lifting workouts and you stopped training for a few months, preserving the current muscle mass will be a little difficult with plyometrics.
But the good thing is your heart rate will increase faster and circulate the oxygen well throughout the body, creating high metabolism in a shorter time, making burning calories faster too.
Are Plyometric Exercises Recommended For Everyone?
Not really.
Depending on each individual fitness goals, strength, endurance, age, and body weight. If you are a beginner, focus and learn about the forms instead of intensity.
If a person is overweight, this exercise is surely not recommended for now due to the knees already bearing the person’s weight so much, and adding more stress, for example jumping may cause serious injury to the knee joints.
For safety reasons, beginners are advised to practice on a surface with good absorbing shock (padded floor, mat-covered floor) to prevent any possible injury or reduce the impact on the knees joints upon landing.
Like any other exercise, best to start with low stress and lighter forms before moving up to weight strength movements. This is especially to train the joints and knees to slowly adapt well.
My Overall Thoughts On Full-Body Plyometric Exercises For Beginners
Plyometric exercises like HIIT training are great in helping your body to improve speed, strength, and endurance.
Besides, it is a calories burner as the explosive movements force the muscles to take up more energy which leads to more calories burned in a short period of time.
Try to integrate this workout into your regular workout routine to get leaner, fitter, or as a warmup exercise too.
Talk with your personal trainer for a suitable workout plan and get healthcare expert advice too before starting out.
Remember, it is all about how are you going to work out and how hard you are pushing yourself on the journey.
As usual, if you have any comments, leave them below and I will speed back within 24 hours.
Have a great ‘explosive’ home workout!
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