Plyometrics - History

History

Fred Wilt, a former US Olympic long-distance runner, is credited with coining the term plyometrics. He admits that it is not a very good term but it was the best he could come up with after watching the Russians execute jumps in their warm-ups prior to their event in track and field. He could not understand why the Russians were doing all of these jumps while the Americans were doing multiple static stretches. But he firmly believed it was one of the reasons why they were so successful in many events. From its beginnings in the early 1980s, the term plyometrics gained greater popularity and is now well established. When Fred Wilt learned of the work being done by Michael Yessis in the field of Russian training methods, they quickly teamed up to help disseminate information on plyometrics.

In collaboration with Yessis who visited and worked with Verkhoshansky in the former Soviet Union the early 1980s, the term plyometrics and how it is used (practiced) was gradually disseminated in the US. Yessis brought this information on plyometrics back to the US and in the following years was able to create even more ways of using this method to train and improve explosive power.

Plyometrics (the shock method) was created by Yuri Verkhoshansky in the late 1960s, early 1970s. Since then the shock method of plyometrics is still being practiced for improvement of athletic performance by what appears to be a relatively limited number of athletes. These athletes still do depth jumps, the key exercise in the shock method, according to the guidelines established by Verkhoshansky.

Most athletes execute simple and complex jumps and call them plyometrics rather than jump training as it was called in the past. This includes the depth jump which was executed in ways different from what was recommended by Verkhoshansky. This form of jump training but called plyometrics is very popular and is a buzzword for any and all types of jumps, regardless of how long it takes to execute the jump. Its use is so pervasive that it is even possible to find push-ups described as being plyometric.

Due to the wide use and appeal of the term plyometrics, the true meaning plyometrics as developed by Verkhoshansky has for the most part, been forgotten. Verkhoshansky was well known and respected worldwide in both the scientific as well as in the coaching arenas. He was relatively unknown in the United States except for some of his articles that were translated and published in the “Soviet Sports Review”, later called the “Fitness and Sports Review International”.

In addition to creating the shock method, Verkhoshansky is credited with developing the stretch-shortening concept of muscle contractions and in the development of specialized (dynamic correspondence) strength exercises. Note that plyometrics or more specifically the shock method, is considered a form of specialized strength development.

Thus before undertaking plyometric training it is necessary to distinguish jumps that are commonly called plyometric and true plyometric jumps as exemplified in the depth jump which is illustrative of the shock method. Since its inception in the former Soviet Union as the shock method, there have been other forms of true or explosive or the plyometric exercises created by Yessis that do not involve jump exercises. For details and illustrations of these exercises see “Explosive Running” and “Explosive Plyometrics”. These exercises involve the stretch-shorten concept that underlies the shock method.