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Shall we go volcanic?

Plyometrics has been described as \”explosive\” moves to develop muscles so that they can make sudden, hard efforts. That ability certainly comes into play when a cyclist must make a sprint to the finish line.

But what about non-sprint, endurance riding? Would \”plyo\” help me to increase my cruising speed? I\’d have to do it regularly for at least several months, and possibly longer, before I found out.

You know how, when you begin a new activity, it\’s fairly soon that you reach a plateau? Then it could be at least a few more weeks before any noticeable improvement; and meanwhile, you\’re in a sort of limbo. You aren\’t sure whether you\’re making progress or not.

Plyo is one of the things that makes me wish I didn\’t live in a place with a raised floor. Any kind of jumping makes the whole place shake and rattle; but I suspect that performing such exercises would do my bones good because of the impactful nature of plyo. Query: would my bones get the same benefit from plyo if I used a crash mat; even if I got really volcanic about it?

Even if not, using the crash mat might at least make the plyo sessions quieter. Since I don\’t have the space to store a crash mat, I might never find out.  At any rate, don\’t let your plyo sessions get as explosive as Vesuvius in 79 A.D.!