Posted on September 21, 2016 by Jenny Cromack

For many individuals who lift, there will ultimately come the time when you experience a plateau, in which you cannot lift any greater load. One strategy to overcome a plateau is to develop your ability to move quicker, or become explosive. Therefore it’s important to include explosive moves in your workouts, and so, here is an explosive workout for you to incorporate into your training.

To implement this program assuming you train four times per week, maintain two sessions as normal using an upper lower split. The other two sessions switch to the following explosive workout below. Complete this for a 6 week cycle, then re-attempt your plateau load, I think you’ll be surprised. Example week overview:

• Monday: Explosive Lower Body
• Tuesday: Heavy Upper Body
• Thursday: Heavy Lower Body
• Friday: ExplosiveUpper Body

Monday Explosive Lower Body Session:

• A. CMJ for max height 4 x 5
• B. Barbell Squat Jump 4 x 5 @ 20-40kg
• C. Hang Clean 4 x 5 @ 50% 1RM
• D. Pause explode glute bridge 3 x 8

Rest 3-5 mins between sets, if you get bored easily work on mobility through foam rolling in the rest periods.

Friday Explosive Upper Body Session

• A. Medicine Ball Netball Chest pass 4 x 5 @ 3-6kg
• B. Medicine Ball Slams 4 x 5 @ 3-6kg
• C. Push Press 4 x 5 @ 60% 1RM
• D. Overhead Med ball throw 4 x 5 @ 3-6kg

Once again rest 3-5mins

For these explosive workouts to work each repetition needs to be a maximum velocity, it is not uncommon for individuals developing power to take 10-15s rest between repetitions. Moving through these exercises quickly will simply develop your aerobic pathways. Think quality, quality, and quality!