by Wil Fleming |
Here's what you need to know...
- Training your body to be explosive will lead to the recruitment of more motor units, which will make you stronger and more powerful.
- The hang snatch requires a lot of technique but learning it will pay off. The kettlebell swing with a resistance band will add explosiveness to an already effective movement.
- The medicine ball side throw increases power in the upper body while clean pulls will help you improve all other Olympic lifts.
- Seated box jumps will remove all eccentric loading and take the arm swing out of the equation.
The Keys to Power and Explosiveness
Building power in the gym requires moving weight fast enough to recruit the most motor units possible.
Each of the following movements should be programmed early in your daily training session to help you build serious power and explosiveness. You'll get the most out of these power movements while fresh.
Your goal with each is to recruit the maximum number of motor units before fatigue sets in.
1. Hang Snatch
In terms of power output, the snatch matches the clean closely, but for pure coolness the snatch wins every time.
The snatch may be heavy on technique, but once you get the hang of it (after some coaching), you'll find its power-creating potential unparalleled. And it creates power that carries over to the rest of the weight room.
I've never met an athlete that's strong enough to snatch 225-pounds that couldn't squat, clean, and bench with the strongest carnivores in the gym.
Related: The Comprehensive Guide to The Snatch
Why not the power snatch? It's easier for most to achieve a respectable starting position from the hang than it is from the floor. The snatch from the floor also takes more mobility at both the hips and ankles.
2. Kettlebell Swings With Band Resistance
Most athletes will find themselves quickly running out of kettlebells as they start to get stronger with swings. Adding a band to this movement can add 30-70 pounds of resistance at the top while addressing the end range of hip extension.
To add band resistance use a half-inch to one-inch band. Just loop it through the handle and then back through itself, then step on the end of the band with each foot and you're all set to swing.
With extra band resistance you also won't have to go out and buy giant, novelty-sized kettlebells.
Bonus "No band" Movement: Kettlebell Spikes
What happens when you don't have any bands? Simply enlist an awesome partner to help you perform the kettlebell "spike."
At the top of each swing, have your friend mimic the action of a band and spike the kettlebell back toward the ground. This requires you to resist a tremendous eccentric force, so prepare to feel it in the old hams tomorrow.
3. Split Jerk
The jerk can generate more power than both the clean and the snatch, and is a tremendous exercise for developing power through quad-dominant movement.
The power jerk is an awesome move as well, explosive and total body, but splitting the feet takes it to the next level.
Much of what you do as an athlete revolves around being able to adapt to changing conditions, and changing from a bilateral stance to an offset, semi-unilateral stance trains you to be adaptable.
It also trains your lead leg to be strong in absorbing force. If you have any aspirations of being fast or athletic, this movement is a must for your training program.
4. Medicine Ball Throws
Throwing things is an unbridled expression of power. Throwing a medicine ball is unlike anything else that we can do in the gym. No deceleration period, only acceleration.
This movement trains power in the transverse plane. Transverse plane power is necessary for nearly every athlete, from the high level football player during a change of direction to the beer-league softball player during all non-beer drinking activities.
Throwing a med ball is an awesome core movement to redirect force from the ground through the upper body. The link between hip rotation, core stability, and the expression of power through the upper body is hard to miss and tough to beat.
Make sure you generate power through the lower body and rotate the back foot to finish the movement.
5. Power Clean From Blocks
For most athletes, cleans from the floor are difficult to do with good form. Starting the lift off blocks provides the same explosive benefits without exposing your back to injury.
There's a performance benefit as well. By eliminating the eccentric lowering of the bar to the start position, power cleans from blocks also help develop starting strength.
6. Clean/Snatch/Trap Bar Pulls
The Olympic pull is an absolute must if you have any interest in being a better Olympic lifter. At higher loads, it's a great way to get acquainted with moving serious weight in all other Olympic lifts.
In the video I'm doing pulls from a deficit first and then contrasting it with a pull from the ground level. Only athletes that have sufficient mobility should try pulls from a deficit.
Related: Olympic Lifting Made Simple
Both the clean pull and snatch pull help improve your feel with either lift, and you can also do a similar movement with a trap bar. The big advantage with the trap bar is that it allows you to keep the load closer to your center of gravity as opposed to in front of the body in the traditional pull.
The pull is great for athletes with flexibility limitations or when trying to reduce the impact on the upper body. Just be careful not to let the quality of the movement diminish when the weights start to get heavy.
7. Crossover Sled Drags
We've been able to figure out a ton of ways to increase power; unfortunately, most of these methods occur in the sagittal plane. But improving power in only the sagittal plane will only get you so far.
To be truly powerful, in every direction, you need to train in multiple planes.
The crossover sled drag is an awesome tool to train in the frontal (side to side) plane. This explosive move is just like the first step that aspiring NFL players take when they test their lateral movement at the NFL combine.
Heavy crossover sled drags also train your backside like nothing you've ever done before.
8. Rotational Lunge Swings
A simple rotation of the sandbag (or kettlebell) while descending into a reverse lunge will challenge your strength and core stability in the transverse plane.
Then, when you add in the power of a swing, what you wind up with is a really cool explosive movement. The swing requires decelerating the implement at the bottom of the movement before you explode from the lead leg into hip and knee extension.
9. Seated Box Jumps
While most plyo takes advantage of the stretch-shortening cycle to produce power, the seated box jump removes all eccentric loading and allows athletes to focus on only the explosive, concentric action of the movement.
Taking the swing out of the arms will force you to focus on developing power from the ground up. To take this movement to the next level, hug a weight to your chest. You'll get a loaded plyometric movement that doesn't trash your joints.
Related: Stop Doing Box Jumps Like A Jackass
Like any box jump, make sure you're truly able to land on the box to which you're jumping. Choosing a box that's too high doesn't make you more of a man, though it will remove some flesh from your shins when you miss.
10. Supine Medicine Ball Reactive Throws
Most of the movements used to train explosive power have a distinct lower body bias. The supine medicine ball reactive throw is an awesome tool to improve upper body power.
These throws train you to maintain a good position through a fast eccentric phase, and then explode through the concentric motion to finish strong. Try using these throws in a superset with the bench press and watch yourself power through the lockout.
One More Tip
Don't believe anyone who says you can't build explosiveness. It can be done, and it begins with hitting the old school staples like the power clean and snatch with gusto.
These aren't the only tools in your toolbox. The more expansive your assortment of explosive movements, the better you'll be at rising to whatever athletic challenges may be in your future.
References
1. USA Weightlifting Club Coach Manual. USA Weightlifting. Colorado Springs, CO (2010). Print.
2. Stone, M.H. Position paper and literature review: Explosive exercises and training. Natl. Strength Cond. Assoc. J. 15(3):7, 9Ã15. 1993
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