At school and university training centers and at gyms around the country, a practice called explosive training has emerged as a major trend. Explosive training involves intense, Olympic-style movements and lifts with very heavy weights – and numerous repetitions in a short amount of time.
What is Explosive Strength Training?
Explosive strength training is training designed to increase power output by combining speed and strength. The key equation when it comes to explosive strength is simple:
E2 = S + S
In other words, explosive exercises (E2) performed with strength plus speed (S + S).
To enhance capability, athletes must practice explosive exercises – movements that require intense power output (maximal effort) in a short amount of time.
Explosive exercises, which are also referred to as explosive power exercises, combine strength training with dynamic movements that are designed to increase strength and speed. Because the objective is to move heavy weights faster while maintaining a strong core, they emphasize controlled, large-muscle movements. The goal is for the athlete to gain enough power to quickly move heavy weights.
Athletes should start with light weights and slower movements that are easily controlled. Athletes can then increase the amount of weight and the speed of their movements with each training session.
What are the Benefits of Explosive Strength Training?
The main benefit of explosive strength training is that it builds athletic power, but this type of training works best when combined with others. Combining maximal strength training with explosive strength training produces effective results as this allows athletes to build up their strength and then focus on power and speed training.
Explosive strength training is ideal for athletes whose sports demand that they generate extreme force but in a short burst of time. Consider, for example, the volleyball player who needs to leap high into the air and, at the peak of the jump, strike the ball with maximum strength toward the ground. That type of move requires explosive strength. Many sports require moves with explosive strength including volleyball, football, basketball, track and field, and many others.
What type of Exercises are used for Explosive Strength Training?
Explosive strength training involves explosive exercises with large muscle movements such as squats, box jumps, power cleans, sprints, lunges, heavy ball throws, agility drills, plyometrics, and weighted or unweighted vertical jumps. It is important to start slow and increase training over time to reduce the risk of injury.
The Right Flooring
In any athletic training or competition, having the right type of flooring is critical, considering the types of movement involved. This is especially true for explosive exercises.
Sprint Training Flooring
As mentioned above, athletes benefit from including sprints as part of their explosive strength training. Athletes who do sprints need just the right combination of shock absorption and energy return from the training surface. The Mondo surface that is designed to be used for weight room sprint lanes is Super X Performance. This flooring has a bottom layer composed of four-sided air cells that deform in two directions to absorb impact and return energy to the foot for takeoff on the next step, and a top layer that provides superb grip and traction.
About Super X Performance:
- World’s first vulcanized rubber track
- Consists of two layers vulcanized together
- Top layer is resistant to spikes and provides excellent grip, traction, and drainage
- Bottom layer consists of four-sided air cells that deform in two dimensions to provide shock absorbency and energy return
- Made with up to 37% recycled materials and 6% renewable materials
Power Training Flooring
When it comes to power training, the flooring requirements are very similar. Weightlifter movements can carry the force of several hundred pounds, which can put tremendous stress on their bodies. Plastic tile or other flooring with no shock absorbency can transfer force from weightlifters' movements back to their limbs and joints, while flooring that’s too soft doesn’t provide the firm footing that’s so important for weightlifting exercises.
Mondo’s vulcanized rubber surfaces – MondoArmor Strength, Sport Impact, and Ramflex – meet all of these requirements. They provide outstanding energy return and shock absorbency, they are slip-resistant, and they provide superior traction control. The coefficient of friction (COF) – the measure of how a lateral surface (the floor) reacts to vertical force (from someone’s shoe) – is optimal and makes these flooring types the gold standard for athletes performing sprints, power training, and other explosive exercises.
Mondo vulcanized rubber flooring is also made from environmentally-friendly components that make it fire resistant, microbially resistant, low maintenance, and extremely durable.
About MondoArmor Strength:
- High-performance three-layer flooring that provides excellent support for weightlifting and strength training
- Provides stability that reduces the risk of injuries and prevents weights from bouncing around
- Top layer resists lacerations and abrasions, middle layer dissipates shock and stress, underlayer with air-cell technology absorbs shock and provides energy return
About Sport Impact:
- Two-layer impact flooring that is stable, uniform, and comfortable
- Thick top layer is resistant to lacerations and heavy loads
- Underlayer provides stability and uniform shock absorption
- Absorbs violent impact from free weights
About Ramflex:
- Two-layer vulcanized rubber that provides excellent shock absorbency and stability
- Highly resistant to heavy machinery and dropped weights
- Hammered top layer can withstand wear from weights and light abrasions and is slip resistant
- Underlayer provides shock absorbency for perfect dimensional stability
Contact Mondo for Strength Training Flooring
Just as explosive training can help facilitate athletes’ success in high-powered and fast-movement sports, Mondo vulcanized rubber flooring provides the platform for athletes’ safety and comfort while they train.
For more information about Mondo strength training flooring, contact us or call us at (800) 361-3747.