Today I'm going to expound a bit on a concept I helped to poularize: Several years ago when I released the Vertical Jump Bible I helped introduced the concept of reactive deficit testing to the mainstream world.
The idea with reactive deficit testing is to compare a regular standing vertical jump to a vertical jump done while dropping off a box and bouncing off the ground. The basic idea is that a vertical jump is part strength and part plyometric and each individual usually relies more on one than the other. Thus, people are either strength dominant or plyometric dominant and should assess themselves using a simple bounce depth jump test to see where their dominance is. They should then seek to emphasize the weak part to "balance out" their weaknesses. A person who jumped higher in a normal countermovement jump (compared to a bounce jump from an 18 inch box) tested plyometrically weak and should emphasize plyometrics in their training. A person that tested better bouncing from the box is plyometrically efficient and should emphasize strength training. It works good in practice for most people most of the time, but there are several issues with this that need to be expounded on as I feel sometimes people take the concept of training weaknesses a bit too far.
A Few Issues
Coordination issues and lack of a sufficient training base can significantly influence the results of these types of tests. Without a low level base of strength the tests are relatively useless. Too many people overlooked the first part of the assessments section in the VJ Bible where I recommend assessing leg strength as an initial qualifying assessment. Lack of strength will cause one to test plyometrically weak because they're not strong enough to absorb the force of the landing in a bounce jump. Imagine a 90 year old woman doing a depth jump. What's gonna happen? She's gonna crumble as soon as she hits the ground because she's not strong enough to absorb the force. Before you can "spring" out of a landing you have to be able to absorb the force from the landing. The science doesnt lie: The best predictor of eccentric power (such as landing from a depth jump) is maximal eccentric strength, which is highly correlated with any traditional measure of strength (1 rm testing etc.)
Thus, beginners should almost ALWAYS focus on basic leg strengthening exercise and movement efficiency exercises (low level plyometrics) to emphasize coordination. Once they have some semblance of coordination and low level strength, assessments like the bounce test then become more valid. The problem is too many people think they're different and can skip the beginner stages.
With that said there are a couple of other problems with always attempting to always emphasize weaknesses:
Strengths Tend To Remain Strengths and Weaknesses Remain Weaknesses
Strengths tend to remain strengths and weaknesses remain weaknesses: In the bounce jump test there is a significant percentage of the population that will NEVER get up higher off of a bounce than they will off a standstill from any height of box. They're simply not wired for it structurally and neurologically.
Tests like the bounce jump test really do 2 things:
A: They assess movement efficiency (coordination) and power in the jump and the relative explosive efficiency of one's inner neurological makeup
B: They help measure where a person is powerful and where they are weak with regards to muscular contribution and power in the Vertical Jump
A person can be a hip dominant jumper, knee dominant jumper, or ankle dominant jumper or any combination. I go into great detail on this topic in the upcoming VJB 2.0, but one who is extremely knee and hip dominant who is not genetically wired for speed will not tend to perform well with plyos. They are strength dominant people and will typically make immediate and long term gains emphasizing strength qualities. They will always tend to be "slower" jumpers. They will always tend to use a naturally deeper knee bend when they jump, and they will RARELy test superior plyometrically regardless of what they do. Here is a pretty good example of a strength dominant jumper:
The above athlete made all of his vertical jump gains thru steadily increased relative strength gains. What if he had been evaluated and told at an early age (back before he'd ever done any strength training) that since he wasn't a reactive dominant jumper that he should never do any strength work and should only ever focus on were plyometrics? After all, that's what his weakness would be and that's what the assessments say to do. But chances are he would've never achieved what he did had he taken that approach.
A better approach in my opinion is to train to keep an eye on your weaknesses and know what they are but still train and plan to address all qualities long term. Yes, you can and should work on weaknesses, but within the context of a properly designed longer term program that "hits" on all qualities. If all you ever do is work your weakness it won't always get you where you want to go.
Now I'd also like to talk a little more about assessments themselves:
Assessments
When it comes to plyometric assessments like the bounce jump test virtually all of them try to characterize the display of speed or power into strength dominant or speed dominant. Rather than getting extremely technical with the assessments I prefer to look at several of them and make the following holistic observation:
A: Either you're stronger then you are fast
or
B: You're faster than you are strong
For all practical purposes being faster than you are strong is the same thing as being plyometric dominant and vice-versa.
Those who are stronger then they are fast will tend to have many of the following characteristics:
A: You will tend to be much faster at the start than the finish of a race (check out The 40 yard dash assessment)
B: You will tend to have a shorter, thicker build with larger ankles and calves, thicker wrists, shorter legs, and longer torso.
C: Your running bilateral vertical jump will be nearly the same as your standing vertical jump. (around 4 inches or less difference)
D: Your running bilateral vertical jump will be higher than your running unilateral vertical jump
E: The bounce depth jump (off any height box 12 inches and up) will tend to be the same or lower than your stationary jump
F: Your strength will be ahead of your speed and movement efficiency (you have naturally good weight room numbers but not so naturally impressive speed and vertical jump numbers).
G: Naturally quad and calf dominant - (Calves and quads are naturally better developed than glutes and hamstrings)
H: Naturally less ripped and defined
I: Naturally less quick in rapid fire low tension movements (quick hands and feet) - even if explosive & powerful
Look for general trends and characteristics. You probably won't answer yes to ALL of these but look for a majority. Those are all indicators that your body is more genetically wired for strength than speed.
Those who are faster than they are strong will tend to have many of the following characteristics:
A: You tend to be faster at the end of a sprint than the start (Naturally good top speed)
B: Your build is lean and muscular and it's not difficult for you to stay that way
C: Your strength has never been dramatically ahead of your speed in any event (bench pressing vs throwing a baseball, squatting vs jumping)
D: Your best bilateral (2-legs) vertical jump from either a run-up or a depth jump is about 20% or more higher then your best jump from a standstill.
E: Your bounce depth jump (from a box height of 12-18 inches or more) will be higher than your best standing verical jump.
F: Your running 2 leg vertical jump will be 4 inches or more higher than your stationary jump.
G: Your running 1 leg jump will be about the same or higher than your running 2 leg jump.
H: Naturally glute dominant - (Naturally less muscular calves and quads and better developed glutes).
I: Naturally longer build with higher muscle insertion points
J: Naturally more quick - even if not explosive and powerful
Again look for general trends and characteristics. These are all indicators that your body is more genetically wired for speed than strength.
Which Way Are You Wired?
Those who are wired more for strength often need to pay close attention do movement efficiency work to optimize their coordination. They also need to pay close attention to muscle recruitment issues and impairments (particularly the glutes). They tend not to respond well to hypertrophy. They do tend to respond well to explosive training such as jump squats, olympic lifts, speed squats, and plyos, at least initially, but they shouldn't necessarily always neglect strength work. They rely on their strength to get things done and often will continue to get better and better as they get stronger and stronger, at least up to a certain point.
Those who are more wired for speed than strength are relatively easy to train do not typically benefit much from pure speed/plyo/and explosive work except in a deload. If they're not getting stronger in some fashion on a consistent basis they're often not progressing.
Those who have no obvious lean one way or the other could be considered balanced. It should also be noted that those who are naturally stronger than fast will have a naturally lower potential for improvement. There's only so much you can improve CNS processes and leverages and those tend to become the ultimate limiting factors.
All groups should seek to train properly long term with a lean towards addressing their weaknesses.
Setting Up A Longer Term Program
By train properly long term I mean follow a properly periodized long term protocol including movement efficiency, optimum muscle recruitment, strength, power, and peaking work with respect to you as an individual. I plan to expand on this a GREAT deal in my upcoming Vertical Jump Bible 2.0 In the meantime however, below is a sample conjugate style 16 week 5 block program for a random intermediate athlete.
Phase I - Focus: Hypertrophy/GPP Perform 2 workouts per week for 3-4 weeks
Session A: (Monday or Tuesday)
Single response knees to chest tuck jump, on box jump, or squat jump 4 x 6-8 (stop and reset prior to each jump)
Depth drop 2 x 5 (increase one set per week until you reach 4 sets)
Squat 4 x 8
glute ham 4 x 8
step back reverse lunge 3 x 8
calves 3 x 20-30
Session B: (Thursday or Friday)
Single response knees to chest tuck jump, on box jump, or squat jump 4 x 6-8 (stop and reset prior to each jump)
Depth drop 2 x 5 (increase one set per week until you reach 4 sets)
Deadlift 4 x 5
bulgarian split squat 4 x 8-10/side
calves 3 x 20-30
Phase II - Focus: Strength Perform 2x per week for 3-4 weeks
Session A:
Multiple response knees to chest tuck jump, ankle jump, or lateral barrier jump 2 x 8 (perform rhythmically with no pause between reps)
Depth jump: 2 x 10 from low box (use a box height you can easily rebound off and on, almost like an ankle jump)
Jump squat: 2 x 8 @15% of max or 45 lb bar pause and reset each rep
Squat: 5 x 5 (add weight for first 3 sets, maintain it the last 2)
standing calves: 3 x 15-20
Post chain (reverse hyper, hip thrust, pull thru) 2 x 10-15
Session B:
Multiple response knees to chest tuck jump, ankle jump, or lateral barrier jump 2 x 8
Depth jump: 2 x 10 from low box
Jump squat: 2 x 5@15% of max or 45 lb bar - pause and reset each rep
Squat: 8 x 1 @ 90% (add weight the 1st 4-5 sets working up to heavy but solid form single. Reduce the weight by 10% and perform 3-4 more sets of 1)
standing calves 3 x 15-20
Post. chain (reverse hyper, hip thrust) 2 x 10-15
Phase III - Focus: Explosiveness 2-3 weeks
Session A:
Depth jump 2 x 10 from medium box (12-18 inches typically - add 1 set per week until you get to 4)
Wave loaded Rhythmic 1/4 Jump squat 6 x 5 with 15, 20, 25, 30, 20, 15% of max. (perform rhythmically no pause between reps)
Close stance Squat: 6 x 1@85-90%
Post. chain (reverse hyper, hip thrust) 2 x 10-15
Session B:
Depth jump 2 x 10 from medium box (add 1 set per week until you get to 4)
Wave loaded Rhythmic 1/4 jump squat 6 x 5 with 14, 20, 25, 30, 20 & 15% of max.
Explosive squat 6 x 2 @ 60% of max squat (bands, chains, box are optional)
Heavy Squat: 3 x 3 with 5rm weight
Post. chain (reverse hyper, hip thrust) 2 x 10-15
Phase IV - shock/plyometric 2 weeks
Perform 3 workouts per week for 2 weeks
session A: Mon
Depth jump 4 x 5 from optimized box height (find the box that allows the highest jump at ground contact but perform your reps a tad quicker off the ground then that)
Jump Squat 2 x 5 with 15%
squat: 5 x 1 @ 85%
Post. chain
session B: Wed
Depth jump 4 x 5 from medium box
Session C: Fri
Depth jump 4 x 5 from optimized box height
Jump squat 2 x 5 with 15%
Squat 3 x 3 with 5 rm (or 4 x 1@90%)
Post. chain
Phase V - Peak/potentiation 2-3 weeks
Session A: Mon or Tues
depth jump 5 x 3 low box (each set alternated with running jump x 3)
Explosive squat 6-8 x 2@ 60-70% supersetted with Rhythmic Jump squat 6 x 5 w/45 lb bar
Session B: Thurs or Fri
depth jump 5 x 3 low box (each set alternated with running jump x 3)
1/4 squat 4 x 3 @ 110-120% of squat
superset with:
Jump squat 4 x 5 w/45 lb bar
That is just a rough example of setting up an intermediate length training template. One who is faster than strong might perform the blocks as written. One who is already stronger then they are fast rarely needs hypertrophy work so they might eliminate the hypertrophy phase altogether and combine the strength and power phases into one and extend the later phases. There are a multitude of different ways of constructing a training template but hopefully that gives you some ideas.
If you'd like to see more on speed and strength assessments as well as detailed intermediate term periodized workouts broken down for strength and speed dominant athletes respectively check out any of my sports training books particularly the No Bull Speed Development Manual
Hope that helps!
-Kelly