Kinetic Analysis of Horizontal Plyometric Exercise Intensity

ABSTRACTPlyometric exercises are frequently performed as part of a strength and conditioning program. Most studies assessed the kinetics of plyometric exercises primarily performed in the vertical plane. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the multi-planar kinetic characteristics of a variety of plyometric exercises, which have a significant horizontal component. This study also sought to assess sex differences in the intensity progression of these exercises. Ten men and ten women served as subjects. The subjects performed a variety of plyometric exercises including the double leg hop, standing long jump, single leg standing long jump, bounding, skipping, power skipping, cone hops, and 45.72 cm hurdle hops. Subjects also performed the countermovement jump for comparison. All plyometric exercises were evaluated using a force platform. Dependent variables included the landing rate of force development (RFD) and landing ground reaction forces (GRF) for each exercise in the vertical, frontal, and sagittal planes. A two-way mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures for plyometric exercise type demonstrated main effects for exercise type for all dependent variables (p ≤ 0.001). There was no significant interaction between plyometric exercise type and gender for any of the variables assessed. Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons identified a number of differences between the plyometric exercises for the dependent variables assessed (p ≤ 0.05). These findings should be used to guide practitioners in the progression of plyometric exercise intensity, and thus program design, for those who require significant horizontal power in their sport.