Kinetic Quantification of Plyometric Take Off, Flight, and Landing Characteristics

This study assessed the kinetic characteristics of a variety of plyometric exercises and assessed gender differences therein. Twenty-six men and 23 women performed a variety of plyometric exercises including line hops, 15.24 cm cone hops, squat jumps, tuck jumps, countermovement jumps, loaded countermovement jumps equal to 30% of 1 RM squat, depth jumps normalized to the subjects jump height, and single leg jumps. All plyometric exercises were performed on a force platform. Outcome variables associated with the takeoff, airborne, and landing phase of each plyometric were assessed including the peak ground reaction force during takeoff, time to takeoff, jump height, peak power, peak ground reaction force during landing, and landing rate of force development. A number of differences were found between plyometric exercises.