Plyometric training / stretch-shortening cycle
Performance and injury prevention meta-analysis
Key Findings
30 RCTs in track and field athletes of any competitive level, plyometric training vs usual training without plyometrics; 27 contributed to meta-analyses (RevMan; TESTEX quality, Cochrane RoB 2)
Sprint: 30 m time −3.53% (p=0.02)
Jumps: countermovement jump height +5.11% (p=0.03), vertical jump +2.95% (p=0.02), standing long jump +2.55% (p=0.01)
Endurance-related: VO2max +3.05% (p=0.04) and running economy at 14 km/h −1.96% oxygen cost (p=0.05)
Injury: one RCT out of 30 assessed injuries and reported a significant reduction in lower-limb injury incidence — preliminary
Heterogeneity ranged from low to substantial across outcomes
Full text, checked 2026-09-27: mechanisms discussed are SSC efficiency, neuromuscular coordination and tendon stiffness
Practical Application
Meta-analysis of 30 RCTs in track-and-field athletes: plyometric training improved 30 m sprint (−3.53%), countermovement jump (+5.11%), vertical jump (+2.95%), standing long jump (+2.55%), VO2max (+3.05%) and running economy at 14 km/h (−1.96%, p=0.05); injury reduction rests on a single RCT. For a runner the economy and VO2max gains are the transferable part; the injury-prevention claim is preliminary.
Not from this paper; the base's own practice: introduce it as a small, low-volume addition — one or two short sessions a week — beginning with low-impact forms (pogos, skipping) and progressing to depth jumps only once tendons have adapted to heavy loading (REF-517).
Not from this paper; the base's own practice: keep it away from peak running-volume weeks — impact load accumulates across both.
Inference, not tested: a masters athlete should progress more slowly than the track-and-field populations in the meta-analysis did (REF-349 is the base's unsourced masters framing).
Limitations
Sample = track-and-field athletes (not specifically endurance masters); transfer to masters athletes needs caution
Injury prevention rests on one RCT of 30 — "preliminary" evidence; the authors call for exposure-based RCTs
Heterogeneity of plyometric protocols, low to substantial across outcomes; the running-economy effect sits at p=0.05
How this entry was checked and changed
Content correction 2026-09-27
"No dose reported in this entry" and "transfer to endurance ... is inferred, not measured here" -> the abstract reports VO2max +3.05% (p=0.04) and running economy at 14 km/h −1.96% (p=0.05); these were measured. Lead bullet now carries all pooled outcomes.
Added 30 RCTs / 27 pooled, sprint and jump percentages, and that injury prevention rests on one RCT.
"One or two short sessions a week", low-impact progression and volume-week advice labelled as the base's own practice; mechanism list labelled full-text content.
Lines labelled "full text; not checked" were read against the open-access full text (PMC13599290): 1 confirmed and relabelled.
Full text (checked 2026-10-12)
The 30 RCTs were published from 1999 to 2025, included male and female athletes with mean ages from approximately 11.9 to 38.2 years, had 10 to 42 participants, and ranged from single-session acute protocols to 12-week programmes (full text).
Endurance-runner trials used, for example, drop jumps 8 w, 1×/wk (Berryman 2010), progressive plyometrics 6 w, 2–3×/wk (Spurrs 2003) and jump rope plus CMJ 12 w, 3×/wk in ultra-endurance runners aged 38 y (Giovanelli 2017) (full text, Table 1).
Pooled 3 km time-trial performance did not improve significantly (−1.04%, 95% CI −3.09 to 1.00; p = 0.32) (full text).
VO2max improved 3.05% (95% CI 1.14 to 5.96; I² = 0%), while running economy at 14 km/h (−1.96%, 95% CI −3.91 to −0.02) had substantial heterogeneity (I² = 85%) (full text).
GRADE certainty was high for VO2max and vertical jump height, moderate for 30 m sprint, CMJ, standing long jump and 3 km time trial, and low for 20 m sprint, squat jump and running economy (full text).
Squat jump height rose 7.08% but not significantly (p = 0.06) (full text).
The single injury RCT (Méndez-Rebolledo 2021, female youth athletes, 6 w, 3×/wk multicomponent plyometrics) reported lower-limb injury rates of 6.58 versus 17.89 per 1000 h of exposure (p = 0.044) and medial tibial stress syndrome of 0.82 versus 5.96 per 1000 h (p = 0.012) (full text).
The authors state programmes appear most effective at 2–3 times per week over a minimum of 8–12 weeks, using drop jumps, bounding drills, hurdle hops and unilateral plyometric movements (full text).