Here is a link to an article about building upper body power through plyometrics:
The article reviews some of the research on plyometrics for the upper body. While the research clearly supports plyometrics to build lower body power, the research is mixed on upper body plyometrics.
Many athletes use plyometrics, such as box jumps to build power. When training the legs, the athletes bodyweight (150-250 pounds) is usually used as the resistance. However, for upper body plyometrics, the norm is to use medicine balls of 5 or 10 pounds. The author suggests that the reason why the research is less favorable for upper body plyometrics is because the weights used are so much lower than for lower body plyos.
He suggests using substantially heavier weights for upper body plyometrics, in the range of 30-50 pounds. Or, use a portion of the athlete's bodyweight, as in the plyometric press-up, where you fall forward from a kneeling position and catch yourself with your arms, lower your body, then press it back up to a straight upright kneeling position.
In any case, plyometrics should be preceded by some general strength training first, then you can start doing plyometric exercises. Also, technique is paramount. Someone should teach you proper technique in each exercise and you should only use weights that permit you to use optimum form. Do not sacrifice technique in any case. Plyometrics are a very effective method for increasing your power since they are done at a higher rate of speed than most resistance training.
There is some recent research on tennis players where medicine ball workouts were very effective in increasing the power of their tennis strokes. They split the group into 3 parts- one group did medicine ball workouts and tennis training, another group did training with weighted rackets and tennis training and a third group did tennis training alone. The medicine ball workouts were more effective than weighted rackets in increasing power and both medicine balls and weighted rackets were more effective than just playing tennis alone in increasing power. However, the medicine ball group was less accurate in their strokes than the other groups.
So, translating the research to canoe slalom, it appears that plyometrics and medicine ball training can be an effective means of building power. Like the author of the study, I think that heavier medicine balls are going to be more effective. And plyometrics such as the plyometric press-up, and medicine ball throws such as the chest pass, side throw, overhead pass, etc. can be incorporated into your current resistance training workout to add more dynamic movements to your training. Here is the link to the article:
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