Men\'s Health Australia - 11.2018

30 menshealth.com.au

A

FITNESS

WORDS: LOUEE DESSENT-JACKSON; PHOTOGRAPHY: ROWAN FEE

IT’S NOT OFTEN that we implore

you to drop the dumbbells and

evacuate the gym, but in this

instance we have good reason.

First, summer’s close! Second

• and more scientifically – it
  turns out that not only are the
  bodyweight plyometrics you can
  perform in the park as effective at
  building strength as a barbell, but
  they’ll also improve your lower-
  body power output, enhancing
  your sports performance. That
  means the lost metre of pace that
  consigned you to the bench after
  you hit 30 is back. Game on.
  A study in the Journal of
  Strength and Conditioning

ENHANCE YOUR

POWER BY LEAPS

AND BOUNDS.

LEAVE YOUR

COMFORT ZONE

Raise your fitness

at these upcoming

outdoor events

NOOSA

TRIATHLON

Attempt the Olympic

distance: 1500m

swim, 40km bike,

10km run. Resilience

essential. (Nov. 4)

PEAKS

CHALLENGE

Pedal up more than

4000m of Victoria’s

most imposing rises.

Start training now.

(March 10)

of squat jumps, power

skipping, tuck jumps and

bench jumps.

It applies to your

upper body, too: a separate study

in the same journal found

that using plyometric push-ups

(where you explode up and your

hands leave the f loor),

in addition to the bench press,

produced extra strength gains

of almost 5 per cent. And did we

mention that a review published

by Exeter University associated

outdoor exercise with decreases

in anger and depression? Still

want to arg ue? A ll right, let’s take

this outside.

Research found that after an

eight-week plyometric program,

participants of the trial had

significantly increased the power

of their vertical and standing long

jumps – which translates to a leap

from water boy to First XI.

But more surprisingly,

and more pertinently to those

who have locked themselves in

the weights room for fear of losing

their hard-won progress, the

jumpers also made equal strides

in their back squat one-rep max

compared to subjects who focused

only on indoor resistance work.

Maximise these benefits by filling

your park workouts with a primer

Jump-Start

A Sporting

Renaissance

RAT RACE

Take on the Misty

Mountain MTB

Marathon in the

volcanic crater near

Byron Bay. (Dec .15)

Make the most of the great outdoors – take a

giant leap towards recapturing your former

glory beyond the confines of the weights room