Power Up

There are two ways to measure strength,” says Soloman Madron, a fitness manager at Arvada Sport 24 Hour Fitness in Colorado. “You can say that you can bench-press 250 pounds, or you can say that it takes you this amount of time to press 200 pounds off your chest—that’s your rate of force production.” And that’s what power training is all about.

A mix of plyometrics (exercises that use explosive movements to develop muscular power) and reactive training (which emphasizes precision movements), power training quickens your reflexes and develops the speed and explosive strength you need to, say, jump like Jordan. “Power training isn’t about how much weight you can move,” says Madron, “but how fast you can move.

“This type of training is really for people who have properly strengthened their core, have been doing strength and resistance training for a while, and who want to take their program to the next level,” he adds.

Kerri Walsh, one half of the duo that scored a beach volleyball gold in the Athens Olympics in 2004 and hopes to repeat in Beijing, believes plyometrics helps her gain the explosiveness she needs to jump at the net and dive for balls that seem out of reach. In addition to the benefits in her game, Walsh says the plyometrics help keep her injury-free. “Plyometrics help the muscle store more elastic energy, and that means fewer injuries,” Walsh says.

Here are three can’t-miss plyo moves that will keep you on the court moving at warp speed:

Ice skaters
Standing on one leg with your hands on your hips, jump laterally as far as you can, landing on your opposite leg so that you cradle your landing with a slight bend in the knee. Use the energy of your landing to help you rebound immediately, jumping back to the first leg in one quick, fluid motion. That’s one rep. Shoot for two or three sets of 10. Tip: Mark the distance of your jumps in the first set with a pair of cones, and strive to maintain that distance in the following sets.

Reverse wood chop medicine-ball throw
Standing perpendicular to a wall, hold a medicine ball (equal to 5 to 10 percent of your body weight) with both hands alongside the hip farthest from the wall. With knees bent slightly and core tensed, squat to 45 degrees, and explode upward in a twisting motion, throwing the ball sideways so it bounces off the wall. “You’re throwing it right if you can catch it, in the air or off the bounce, in front of your stomach,” says Madron. You’ll get the most benefit if you catch the ball so momentum brings it back to your hip and the next rep can begin without pause. Start with two sets (one on each side) of 10 to 20 reps.

Medicine-ball chest pass
Facing a partner, stand with your knees slightly bent, navel drawn in, feet pointing straight ahead, and chest slightly forward. Bring a medicine ball to your chest with your elbows high at your sides. With equal force from both hands, throw the ball straight forward. Your partner should be standing at such a distance that he or she can catch the ball and use its energy to fire it back to you right away. That’s one rep. “This is a quick-fire exercise,” says Madron. A partner is best, but you can work it alone by throwing the ball against a wall and catching it on a bounce. Shoot for two sets of 20.

Read more about Kerri Walsh and follow her progress in Beijing at 24hourfitness.com.