PLYOMETRICS: Re: Geb, Krummenacker, and Others who have had success

The answer is all of the above. It helps your neuromuscular system and motor neurons to function more properly. You should do the plyo work either before your running workout or as an alternative workout to running as an easy day and have at least 48 hours of rest between these workouts. This is nothing new. Seb Coe did this as well as Herb Elliott. Percy Cerrutty had Elliott doing this stuff long ago.

Can someone tell me where to find a list of plyo drills or knows enough about them to describe how to do them.

Plyos as recovery? These should NEVER be done on a recover day.

No matter how easy you run, if you add plyos for the day, it has become a hard day, at least if you do them PROPERLY.

The key to the drills is QUALITY not quantity. You can do a thousand different exercises, but if you do not perform them with correct form and technique, not only will you not improve, but you can cause HARM to your running stride.

I do not think the original post sought to "reinvent" the wheel.

Obviously runners have been doing them for years. It seems that the guy just wanted to know everyone else's experience with them.

I was an unrepentant mileage guy who moved down to middle distance a few years back (after 12 years away). The sprint group were the majority in my club, and I decided to give 1 day of plyos a week a try. I did them on what would have otherwise been a hard day, and I snuck 2 or 3 miles of running in before the rest of the group showed up.

I got a lot of leg speed back after a couple of months of them, although the first few weeks I could barely walk the day after. I got a stress fracture at the end of the season (more related to running and racing on indoor tracks, I believe, than to plyos), and never got the chance to take them up again. I would consider them if I get serious, particularly for middle distance.

I think plyo's are a great way to supplement running for middle distance runners. My freshman year before track season, my coach had my team do a plyo drill on one end of a football feild, and run to the other end to do another plyo. we did this (up and down the feild) 4 times, with a different plyo each time, after our 4th we would have one minute recovery, then do 4 more different plyo's w/ 100 yards in beteween. we then did 4 more diff. plyo's the same way, and after our 1 min break we would run a 1000 meters at about 85%. this workout was done twice a week (tues./thurs.) We eventually got to the point where we did 3 sets of what we called "Jeff Workouts". by the first meet I ran my PR in the 800. I'm a strong beliver in plyo's for middle distance runners. (800 to possibly 10k)

Great idea, sprinting from one end of the football field to the other for plyos. CRAZY JASON FULLY ENDORSES THIS IDEA.

I do plyos myself, and I need to get back to them, but they wont let me run on the football field here. You should only do PLYOS on grass or dirt, never the road or the track, well, maybe a dirt track.

The plyos that I like to do are:

(1) Frog Hops (high as possible)

(2) One legged hops (high as possible)

(3) High knees.

(4) Bounding.

(5) Butt kicks.

(6) Skipping.

jason

JDA-

Butt kicks in no way mimic ANY part of the running stride.

NEVER while running does your leg position itself in the way that the legs "kick" the butt during that drill.

It only reinforces the WRONG movements.

You will notice that runners like Tergat or especially Komen (when he was juiced up running WR's) have a VERY high back kick.

This is the combination of their quick forward velocity, dorsiflexion, and a high knee lift.

They do not CONSCIOUSLY kick the heels back to the butt. It happens naturally at a faster ppace, shortening the lever of the leg and pulling it through for a faster and longer stride.

Long story short: butt kicks are a waste of time

Right on BKATD.

Better to think in terms of "A", "B", and "C" motion (which is how I learned them). "A" has the runner bringing the foot almost straight up (bending the legs to do so, of course) to the torso, but no "kick back" to have your heels hit your butt. Straight up and down.

Those are actually drills, which I learned as being a thing apart from plyos. But either way, if I got the ol' "A" motion down during a stride or at the end of an interval or race, my speed went up markedly with no increase in effort.