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Reactivity: What It Is and How to Get It - I: Think about the
last time you watched a sprinter tear down the track at blistering speeds, or a
basketball player take off from just inside the free throw line to throw down a
high flying dunk. Both feats are fast, fluid, and thoroughly amazing, but they
share something else in common as well. They're both excellent examples of
reactivity. Put simply,
reactivity can be thought of as the level of “springiness” an athlete exhibits
while playing their sport or moving in general. Some people move slowly and in a
visually purposeful or deliberate manner, while others seem to float across the
ground and move effortlessly. The latter group are those who demonstrate well
developed reactivity and it is within this group that nearly all great athletes
lie. In order to succeed at the highest levels of sport, one needs to have
exquisitely developed reactive abilities. Reactivity can be
displayed in everything from an explosive and quickly reversed back squat to an
unloaded top speed sprint. As long as one's body is taking in external energy
during the eccentric portion of a movement, and then utilizing it during the
concentric potion of the movement then they're using reactivity. However,
reactivity is largely situation specific. Just because one is bouncy and quick
while lifting weights, or even while jumping, doesn't mean they'll be able to
display similar levels of reactivity while sprinting or throwing a baseball. The
neurological recruitment patterns for each movement are just too different. The
good news though is that the physical attributes required for reactivity change
little regardless of the activity. But what are those requirements? Physically,
reactivity requires two main things: eccentrically strong muscles, and stiff
(resistant to deformation under load) tendons. Thankfully, both of these
components can be trained to a significant degree, and doing so only requires
the knowledge of how best to do it, but that's for a little bit later.
Besides the
physical aspects required for great reactivity, there is also a very important
neural aspect to the whole thing as well. Since reactivity is entirely based
upon gathering energy during the eccentric portion of a movement, the right
muscles need to be firing in the right way in order to optimally capture as much
of that energy as possible. For this to happen, two things need to be developed:
the myotatic stretch reflex, and properly ordered muscle firing patterns. As
with the physical aspects, the neural aspects can be trained as well. Again,
it's all a matter of applying the right type of training, however, the right
type of training varies greatly. Depending on the load being moved, and
therefore the speed of the movement, the requirements for reactivity are
different. As was said
earlier, the reactivity needed to burn through a back squat or recover from the
catch during a clean is very different from that needed to sprint. The
difference between each type of activity is the dominance of either the muscles
or the tendons as movement generators. At one end, where the tendons generate
the power and the muscles mainly act as stabilizers we have sprinting, and at
the other end we have the catch in a clean or a reactive squat where the tendons
act as stabilizers and the muscles are primarily responsible for generating the
power. The whole things acts along a continuum, kind of like this. Power Generated By: <-TSS---1LJ---2LJ---CMJ---SA---BJ---SJ---
OLY---TRD---ISO-> TSS = Top Speed
Sprint So, while
movements like sprinting and jumping off of one leg are largely dependent on the
amount of energy that can be stored in the tendons, movements like lifting
weights or jumping from a stand are more dependent on how much power the muscles
can generate. Exactly how this all fits together will be explained in the next
installment, and for now we're just going to go over how one can tell if an
athlete is lacking in reactivity. The easiest way to tell if someone is reactive or not is to watch them move in their sport. If it looks like they're running in sand or their movements look strained or labored, they're probably not very reactive. However, if they seem to spring off the ground or it looks like they float around the playing field rather than plod along, they're probably pretty damn reactive. Beyond that though, there are some more specific tests that can be run, but take note, these are only guidelines, and some very reactive athletes may perform poorly on them if they're not good at the drill. As a general guideline though, the tests are useful.
Depth Jump Test: The depth jump test is fairly general and is applicable to most sports,
but is best applied to those who are interested in increasing their two-footed
leaping ability, especially from a run. To perform this test, the athlete needs a way to measure their vertical
leap and at least one box to jump off of. What one needs to do is test their
vertical leap from a standing position and then test their jump heights after
stepping off one or more boxes (depth jumps). It's best if they perform a
standing vertical, a vertical off a low box (6-8”), a vertical off of a medium
box (14-18”), and a vertical off of a higher box (24-28”). If the athlete jumps
higher after stepping off of a box then they're reactive in their quads and
calves. And if their jump height continues to increase as the box increases in
height then they're very reactive in their quads and calves. Those who jump lower after dropping off of a box need to work on their reactivity. Triple Jump Test: The triple jump test applies mostly to those interested in sprinting
speed (and honestly, what athlete isn't?) and those who jump off of one leg.
Unlike the depth jump test, which primarily measures reactivity in the quads and
calves, the triple jump test measures reactivity in the hamstrings, glutes, and
calves. To perform this test, one would preferably have a long jump runway with a
sand pit, but any flat grass, hardwood, or even concrete surface will do. First
of all, the athlete needs to perform and record their standing long jump. This
is a standing jump done for distance, measured from the toes at takeoff to the
heels at landing. Next, the athlete needs to perform a standing triple jump.
This is a jump in which the athlete starts from standing, jumps once off of both
legs, once off of one leg, once off of the other leg, and then lands on both
feet. Basically, both-left-right-land or both-right-left-land. The and athlete's standing triple jump is to 3 times their standing long
jump, the more reactive they are. 2.7x and below means they need work, 2.7-2.8x
means they're fairly reactive, 2.8-2.9x means they're reactive, 2.9-3.0x means
they're very reactive, and more than 3x means they're ridiculously reactive.
Again though, this test is subjective, and some very reactive athletes may do poorly if they're bad at the drill. Beyond those two
tests, it really just comes down to general observations. You'll know a reactive
athlete when you see them because everything the do will look explosive,
effortless, and amazing. They will also often perform better out on the field
than they do in the weight room, though this is not always true. Assessments aside, this was a basic rundown of what reactivity is. No matter what sport one plays, the better they're able to absorb energy from the eccentric and reapply it during the concentric, they better they'll perform. As such, ensuring one's reactivity levels are at their absolute highest is of great importance. And as for how to do it, we'll be covering that in the next couple of installments. Until then, train hard, train smart, and keep doing your thing. -Revolution |