SCROLL FITNESS INSTAGRAM and Tik Tok and you'll see @jtm_fit doing flying pushups off (or onto!) a stack of dumbbells, @JustFlySports bounding across 20 meters of turfon just... one...leg, and @BrotherFaris doing insane hurdle hops.
It's a frenetic feed of jumps and leaps and explosive moves that might make you wonder if your own workout needs revving up. And the truth is, this time the fitfluencers are actually onto something.
All those viral posts have reintroduced aclassic kind of movement called plyometrics, a specialized training modality that pushes your body to essentially jump, land, and then immediately jump again. These high-speed training moves are usually reserved for pro athletes, because the exercises can be very technical (and when performed incorrectly can increase your risk of injury) and sports scientists have long felt there were only marginal benefits for civilians.
But new research reveals that injecting a few plyometric drills into your regular routine can enhance your overall athleticism. "Whether you're hoping to play pickup hoops or chase your kids around long into midlife, plyometrics makes you more durable for those tasks," says Paul Fabritz, C.S.C.S., who trains top NBA players like James Harden.
The first-ever plyo drill was originally implemented in the 1960s by Russian track coach Yuri Verkhoshansky, who had athletes jump from a box onto the ground, then jump again, and repeat. Doing plyometrics helped his sprinters find an extra gear in competition thanks largely to improved power production, and over the past few decades, trainers have embraced similar ideas while working with elite athletes.
Denne historien er fra May - June 2024-utgaven av Men's Health US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May - June 2024-utgaven av Men's Health US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Say What? - Hearing loss isn't just a thing that happens to your parents. Nearly one in five people in their 20s show signs of it already. And it puts your brain and well-being in danger, too. Luckily, new tech can help. Listen up.
Hearing loss isn't just a thing that happens to your parents. Nearly one in five people in their 20s show signs of it already. And it puts your brain and well-being in danger, too. Luckily, new tech can help. Listen up. An estimated 15 percent of American adults-that's about 38 million peoplehave some level of hearing loss, according to the CDC. Research increasingly suggests that untreated hearing loss can lead to other significant health issues, including depression and Alzheimer's disease.
Back-Round Check! - Tap into next-level total-body strength and supercharge muscle gains by learning when and how) to round your back in the gym.
Lift with your legs, not with your back. It's a cue many trainers use anytime you bend down to lift something heavy. It makes sense, too, since conventional wisdom holds that rounding your back with heavy weight leads to injury. But if you look closely at a strongman like Tom Stoltman hoisting a 300-kilogram (661-pound) Atlas stone, you'll notice that his spine isn't ramrod straight at all. Instead, he's almost hunching forward, curling his entire spine around the stone. And if you scroll fitness social media long enough, you may come across an exercise called the Jefferson curl, which asks you to stand holding a light barbell, then lower the barbell while simultaneously rounding your back as much as possible.
Christian Mccaffrey is Him - He's entering his eighth season in the NFL, but the league's most electric running back is not slowing down.
Every off-season for the past seven years, Christian McCaffrey, the San Francisco 49ers' All-Pro running back, has met up with Brian Kula, C.S.C.S., a trainer he's worked with since eighth grade. They talk about any injuries and any niggling pain from the previous season, do a battery of strength and movement tests, and then create a program "to turn CMC back on."
A Merciless Sun
Just over a year ago, Kekoa Lansford watched from a hilltop as the Maui wildfires incinerated his hometown.
TREN NATION
HOW AN OBSCURE BUVINE STEROID BECAME GYM GEN Z'S FAVORITE SOCIAL-MEDIA MUSCLE FLEX.
ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, JAKE
How societal menace and serial disrupter JAKE PAUL is trying to change the sport of boxing, influence influencer culture, and, gulp, maybe change the world, too.
THE REINVENTED QUARTERBACK
A 2023 bookended by injuries pushed the Bengals' JOE BURROW to reconstruct his entire approach to fitness and nutrition.
THE WRECKING BALL WIDEOUT
DK METCALF pursues an old-school path to hardcore strength: PUSH. YOUR. LIMITS.
FATHERHOOD BUT WITH QUESTION MARKS
I've always wondered if I'm a good dad. So I did something drastic: I asked my kids.
CAN MARVEL REGAIN ITS SUPERPOWERS?
Critical savaging. Box-office meh-ness. Cultural irrelevance. How did the MCU lose its dominance over all screens, and what will it take to restore it?
