Explosive power workout

Explosive, or plyometric, workouts give you more than one type of benefit. They build muscle but they also develop your power (the combination of speed and strength) and coordination.

Put simply, a plyometric exercise is one that involves extending a muscle across its full range of motion before explosively contracting it. This dynamic movement targets your fast-twitch muscle fibres, exhausting them quicker than a conventional workout but without having to add extra weight. The intensity will also raise your heart rate, burning extra calories and releasing muscle-building hormones.

These types of workouts are popular with sportsmen because they can be used to develop fast, powerful movements and improve skills, such as your vertical leap.

Designing your workout For each target body part, start by doing an activation move to warm up and stabilise your muscles. Then do the plyometric exercise before performing a single-joint move to exhaust the muscles. The emphasis of these sessions is on speed and power, rather than developing endurance. This means it is essential for you to rest for at least one minute between sets and at least two minutes between exercises.