Plyometric training for triathlon increases your agility,
power and efficiency. © Corolanty | Dreamstime.com
Plyometrics are a kind of explosive strength training that sprinters and team sports players have been using for years to increase their power in sports-specific movements. Why should triathletes who call an hour-long race a "sprint" care about plyometric drills? Because plyometric training makes you a more efficient athlete, especially when you're tired. So you will not only see the benefits of a plyometric training program in a sprint triathlon, but in the late stages of an ironman as well.
What are plyometrics?
Plyometrics are a kind of dynamic strength training that uses the stretch-reflex mechanism to quickly overstretch a muscle before contraction. Load is added to a muscle to make it stretch before maximum contraction, so when the muscles snap back and contract, they override the reflexes that keep you from exerting maximal contraction.
Think of your muscles like a diving board. If you stand at the end of the diving board and jump right into the pool, the board will give you a few extra inches of spring. But if you take a hop at the end of the board before jumping into the pool, you can push the board down even farther than you could with just one jump. When the board snaps back, it will launch you several feet into the air, much higher than if you had jumped off without the hop.
Traditional weight training uses your muscles like a single jump off the diving board, using no potential energy and keeping muscle contraction within certain limits. All our muscles are designed to quit before we've actually reached maximal contraction. This is a protective mechanism, to keep us from getting injured. We've all heard of incidents where people who have overcome their muscles' limitations under extreme situations to lift cars or jump high into the air. Plyometrics are another (and less stressful) way to overcome muscle contraction limitations to teach your neuromuscular system to allow your muscles to fire at a greater percentage of their maximum potential. An athlete who engages in frequent plyometric training can fire more muscle fibers at once, making them a more efficient athlete.
To understand more about how plyometric training works, consider a tuck jump (pictured above). As you squat down, you load the muscles increasing the potential energy like a squished spring ready to pop. When you jump, the muscle fibers in your legs explode together, producing a huge burst of power. When you land, your legs bend slightly to absorb the shock (and absorb the potential energy again), flinging you higher in the air than if you started jumping in an erect standing position. Tuck jumps will fatigue your muscles much more than bodyweight squats, but your muscles will adapt to the increased demand by becoming stronger. Also, your neuromuscular system will strengthen the neuromuscular pathways that your brain uses to communicate with those muscles, allowing them to work faster and more efficiently together.
More information: Why is strength training good for triathletes?
Why do plyometrics help triathletes?
How to incorporate plyometrics into your triathlon training
For an excellent explanation of the importance of strengthening neuromuscular pathways, read Matt Fitzgerald's Brain Training for Runners.
References: Mauro, P.; Using Plyometrics to Improve your Triathlon Performance; 2005
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