Jump-start your running

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, Oct, 2004 by Frank Claps

PLYOMETRICS, used primarily by athletes in power sports, combines strength and speed training, and research shows these moves could benefit distance runners, too.

Researchers at the Australian Institute of Sport divided 15 highly trained distance runners into two groups; one group underwent plyometric training three times per week for nine weeks. At the end of the study, those runners could run faster and/or farther with less fatigue.

To gain the same benefits, try incorporating squat jumps for maximal height and fast feet drills "with emphasis placed on short contact time and fast force production," says researcher Philo Saunders, PhD.

--Frank Claps, MEd, CSCS