Within Session Sequence of Balance and Plyometric Exercises Does Not Affect Training Adaptations with Youth Soccer Athletes.
The integration of balance and plyometric training has been shown to provide significant improvements in sprint, jump, agility, and other performance measures in young athletes. It is not known if a specific within session balance and plyometric exercise sequence provides more effective training adaptations. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of using a sequence of alternating pairs of exercises versus a block (series) of all balance exercises followed by a block of plyometric exercises on components of physical fitness such as muscle strength, power, speed, agility, and balance. Twenty-six male adolescent soccer players (13.9 ± 0.3 years) participated in an 8-week training program that either alternated individual balance (e.g., exercises on unstable surfaces) and plyometric (e.g., jumps, hops, rebounds) exercises or performed a block of balance exercises prior to a block of plyometric exercises within each training session. Pre- and post-training measures included proxies of strength, power, agility, sprint, and balance such as countermovement jumps, isometric back and knee extension strength, standing long jump, 10 and 30-m sprints, agility, standing stork, and Y-balance tests. Both groups exhibited significant, generally large magnitude (effect sizes) training improvements for all measures with mean performance increases of approximately >30%. There were no significant differences between the training groups over time. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of combining balance and plyometric exercises within a training session on components of physical fitness with young adolescents. The improved performance outcomes were not significantly influenced by the within session exercise sequence.
Tunisian Research Laboratory "Sport Performance Optimisation", National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS) , Tunis, Tunisia.
Mehdi
M
Chaouachi
Division of Training and Movement Sciences, Research Focus Cognition Sciences, University of Potsdam , Potsdam, Germany.
Urs
U
Granacher
Tunisian Research Laboratory "Sport Performance Optimisation", National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS) , Tunis, Tunisia.
Issam
I
Makhlouf
Tunisian Research Laboratory "Sport Performance Optimisation", National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS) , Tunis, Tunisia.
Raouf
R
Hammami
School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Memorial University of Newfoundland , St. John's Newfoundland, Canada.
David G
DG
Behm
Tunisian Research Laboratory "Sport Performance Optimisation", National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS), Tunis, Tunisia; AUT University, Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand.
Anis
A
Chaouachi
Power; balance; children; jumps; sprints; strength