Whose done it? Did it help you? Any specific books/videos you can reccommend SPECIFICALLY for Judo using plyometrics?
Mike
Plyometric is a big subject area.
That is there is a science and principle behind it that alot of people in the U.S don't understand or don't care to know. This has resulted in a great variance of "success" with them.
First off there is a difference between "plyometric training" and "plyometric exercise".
It is "plyometric training" that generally benefits an athlete and not just "plyometric exercises". It also needs to be kept in mind that "plyometric training" isn't necessary for some athletes and isn't necessary for some athlete during certain portions of their training season.
Before one should even think of incorporating "plyometric training" into their workout program they really need to look to see if they even "need" it in the first place.
Another thing to consider is that alot of the exercises that are called plyometric aren't really plyometrics. They are actually preparation exercise, that is, exercise that prepare you for plyometrics.
The late Dr. Mel Siff outlines the plyometrics in his book SuperTraining written with Yuri Vershokansky the Russian Scientist who is considered the pioneer of Plyometrics and Plyometric training. One thing both of this authors stated was that Plyometrics was really abused and misunderstood in the West, particularly by U.S coaches. Plyometrics became like a magic pill in the western sports world. It basically came down to Western coaches "copying" what the Russian and Eastern European were doing without really giving much thought into the science behind it.
I've been doing them. and like the results.
I think MIke Swain has a tape out about it.
You can get it at http://centuryfitness.com