What it is
Plyometrics are exercises where muscles produce maximum force in very short bursts, using the stretch-shortening cycle: the muscle stretches under load, as in a landing, and contracts immediately. The switch has to be quick. A slow transition wastes the elastic energy stored in the landing.
The Soviet scientist Yuri Verkhoshansky developed the original “shock method” around the depth jump: step off a box, absorb the landing, jump straight up. Common versions today: squat jumps, box jumps, broad jumps, single-leg hops, plyometric push-ups and medicine-ball throws.
How it shows up for me
I got into them for basketball and kicks. They taught me something about bodies in general: power isn’t only strength, it’s how fast you can turn a landing into a launch.