Explosive Exercises and Different Types of Speed
The human body is equipped with a wide range of basic physical qualities and abilities. Ea ch of these can be improved through a variety of different exercises and workout routines. One example includes explosive exercises, which can be really useful for building strength, speed, and power.
Power is a combination of speed and strength. As such, it’s a quality that only really becomes obvious when an individual channels all their strength and speed into performing a single movement.
What is explosive force?
Also known as force-velocity, explosive force is the ability to move an object or body part in the shortest possible space of time. The ability to combine strength and speed is essential in a countless number of different sports, including athletics, basketball, soccer, and many more.
As a result, many athletes’ workout routines include a wide range of explosive exercises. Needless to say, these are designed to improve both strength and speed.
Explosive exercises
When it comes to performing explosive exercises, our bodies are really the only tool we need. While it might not seem like it, this means that it can actually be much easier to increase strength and speed than it is to develop other physical qualities. Although you can also use equipment such as bars or weights, your natural body weight is often enough to provide a sufficient amount of resistance. In this next section, we’ll show you a series of great explosive exercises that you can try out for yourself.
Explosive exercises – jump squats
Squats, in all their different varieties, are great exercises for strengthening your lower body and core. If you’re looking to develop your explosive strength, we would recommend incorporating a jump squat into your workout routine. The aim is to build momentum in your legs and to try to jump as high as possible.
Clap push-ups
Push-ups help to work the upper body, back, chest, and core. By adding one small variation – a clap -, they can make a great addition to any explosive workout routine.
For this exercise, you’ll start by performing a standard push-up, flexing your arms slowly, and lowering your body toward the ground. However, instead of simply extending your arms slowly to return to the starting position, you’ll need to build momentum, and push yourself up off the ground. By using your arms to inject a burst of speed into the movement, your body should be able to overcome the burden of its own weight.
Explosive exercises – bench jumps
While they’re commonly known as box or bench jumps, you can actually use pretty much any flat, stable surface for this exercise. Ideally, the surface should be around 20 inches in length. You could use a low wall, for example.
This type of exercise helps to build power in your lower limbs and torso, by forcing the body to shift its own weight. To do this exercise, you’ll need to bend your knees, building up momentum so that you can jump cleanly onto the surface of the bench, wall, or whatever object you choose to use.
The bench jump is one of the most popular and effective explosive exercises. Plus – at least in theory – it’s fairly easy to teach to beginners.
Types of speed
Speed is a fundamental physical ability for any human. It’s this quality that allows us to exert all our strength in the shortest possible time frame.
Our ability to develop this basic physical quality depends on a variety of different factors, including our genetics, nervous system, and muscular system. The three main types of speed are as follows:
Movement speed
Movement speed is the ability to travel distances in the shortest amount of time possible. It’s usually divided into short, medium, or long-distance movement speed, depending on the distance to be covered.
Reaction speed
Also known as reaction time, reaction speed refers to the body’s ability to respond to a specific stimulus within the shortest possible space of time. Generally speaking, it takes approximately 0.15 seconds for the body or part of the body to detect and react to a stimulus.
Gestural speed
Gestural speed is the ability to move a part or parts of the body to perform a specific movement. This differs from reaction time in that it’s not performed in response to a specific stimulus; it refers only to the time it takes to perform a gesture or movement, usually in the context of sport.
Speed + strength = power
The combination of two of the most important physical qualities any human can possess – speed and strength – results in pure power. As we’ve already mentioned, this quality is essential in practically every physical task we face on a daily basis, and in a wide range of sporting activities. So, are you doing enough power training?
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Maes, K. M. (2015). Influencia de la fuerza máxima en la fuerza explosiva. Lecturas: Educación Física y Deportes.
- Aullana Ibáñez, J. (2015). Aclaración de Términos y Conceptos Utilizados en el Entrenamiento de la Fuerza Explosiva. Kronos: Revista Universitaria de La Actividad Física y El Deporte.
- Zurita i Mon, C., López i Armengol, D., & Balagué i Serré., N. (1995). El entrenamiento de la fuerza explosiva. Repercusiones sobre el elemento contráctil y elástico muscular. Apunts Medicina de l’Esport. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1886-6581(95)75849-2
