Debunking Plyometric Myths for Older Women

Jessica Bento, Physical Therapist (Creator of DVRT Rx Corrective Exercise Programs for Knees, Shoulders, Low Backs, & MORE)

People sometimes ask me, “Jessica, what podcasts do you like to listen to?” They are often surprised that my answer is really none. Now, that isn’t all because I think podcasts in general are highly flawed, my schedule makes it often very difficult to spend time on such things. However, even if I had time, I would probably favor a true crime podcast over a health and wellness one. 

Why? Most of the clips I do see, or those that I am sent as questions by others, are statements that are very misleading to those that need a lot more context. One that I get sent a lot and people ask what I think is one that has traveled around the podcast sphere is the idea older women SHOULD perform plyometrics. 

This is often stated as a great way to build bone density as well as quality of life. So, first let’s see what the research actually says about such things. One of the first things to ask yourself when you hear any information like this is to ask was a certain training method compared to anything? 

Plenty of research demonstrates that older populations should train power. Since we lose power faster than strength as we age, this is not a new concept. We see increases in walking speed, improvements in quality of life and the like. However, power training can range from just trying to accelerate a weight, throwing a medicine ball, to things like plyometrics. These have different stressors on the body that can become potentially an issue because of the higher levels of force. 

So, how do we go about answering these questions? The most cited (often poorly cited more often alluded to study) is a meta-analysis (a study that looks at many studies PMID: 30387072). 

This is a bit tricky, because to really understand this subject, we would have to look at all the studies examined in the paper. Instead of doing that, I thought I would share some highlights…

-This study (PMID: 26226987) actually looked at bone density of men with a variety of jumping protocols and not women. It found, “the current combined program did not elicit significant improvements in bone mineral density”. 

Curious enough, several of the studies looked at actually were examining the impact on men, not women. So, this meta-analysis as far as “proof” women should do plyos has some issues. However, we do have some that looked at the impact on women. 

-This study (PMID: 25990940) showed in a five year period, older women who participated in a combined strength training and “jump” exercise protocol significantly decreased their risk of falls. Unfortunately, I was not able to get access to the full paper and don’t know what type of jump training they performed. It also did not compare just a strength training group to the strength training and jump group so we don’t know if we would have seen a difference and what actually made the impact. 

-This study (Alterations in body composition, capillary glucose and functionality during explosive strength training in older women) on older women found, “The concurrent explosive jumps and high velocity movements on multi station machines optimize positive changes in body composition, capillary glucose and functionality compared with explosive jumps training alone.” So, its hard to say jump training was very impactful.

-Last one we will look at is the one MOST relevant to the claim plyometrics help the bone density of older women. This study (PMID: 21996058, again sadly I couldn’t gain complete access to), found, “This exercise program appears to have modest benefits for post-menopausal women with osteopenia who are not taking bone-enhancing medication. This mode of exercise delivery has adherence and progression limitations but may be appropriate to recommend for some people.”

First off, I don’t know what the “jumping” protocol meant, but you can see these are very modest improvements when specific strength training was also part of the program (there was no comparison again). 

My point is the idea that women will have this dramatic effect on bone density and other factors if they add plyometric training to their workouts doesn’t seem to be really the case. Does that mean I’m anti plyometrics for older women? Well, we have to be more thoughtful about this question.

I think one of the most important parts of this discussion is how we define plyometric training. In the actual textbooks of plyometrics have 3 distinct phases. 

-Eccentric Loading Phase: this is a quick downward eccentric loading movement that can be a simple as how one drops down before the jump upwards. 

-Amortization Component: this is brief time period between the eccentric (muscle lengthening) and concentric (muscle shortening) phases of a movement. It’s the “transition” phase where the body switches from absorbing energy to releasing it. A shorter amortization phase is crucial for maximizing power output in plyometric exercises.

For example, if you did a forward jump, the time between you hitting the ground and jumping back up is considered the amortization phase. The shorter the time this takes the more of a plyometric effect you build. 

-Concentric phase: this would be when you jump upwards or forwards after the landing. 

This is important to understand because jump and plyometric training aren’t necessarily the same thing. For example, if you do a box jump (you jump up onto a box) this is more of a jumping exercise not plyometric training because you do not have the amortization phase or the concentric phase occurring. If you were to step off of a box, quickly land on the ground, then jump upwards, this would be more of a true plyometric exercise. 

I bring this up because the word plyometric gets thrown and misused a lot and can be confusing. Ultimately, you want to know SHOULD older women use them. My answer, it depends. 

On what? 

-Health history: the benefits of plyometrics are mostly speculated upon due to the high forces that they create in the body. Most studies examine “healthy” individuals so, if you have a history of issues like knee and low back pain, we would have to decide if this was a worthy risk to potentially increase issues. 

-Training history: athletes are most known to use plyometrics and often spend a considerable time building a foundation of strength first to help absorb the higher forces that plyometrics create. The more experience someone has with doing big compound lifts like squats, lunges, push-ups, and the like, the more likely they are to safely use plyos. 

-Types of plyometrics: going to the track and doing sprints is far more intense than performing a few hopping and skipping exercises. It really depends on what we are talking about. 

-Training goals and perceptions: I always have to consider the goal of the individual first and foremost. There is no evidence that plyometric training creates any greater fat loss, strength, or muscle gain than just strength training. In fact, this study shows that there is no great hormonal impact that relates to any improvements of some of our fitness goals (Combining plyometric and resistance exercise does not seem to produce additive effects on anabolic signaling or muscle growth, even though this area requires future study. PMID: 32579911)

There is also an important consideration in the fear that many older people have about doing any such activities. I’ve had people almost have a panic attack over jumping up to a 2 inch box. If this is the case, we can work on improving their confidence other ways and finding many other tools to improve power. Simply trying to accelerate a weight while lifting has been shown to improve power elements, it doesn’t HAVE to be plyometrics. 

I know this is kinda long, but I wanted to give you some real perspective on what ends up being a sound bite online. I fear that I end up seeing more and more people with knee and low back issues that rush into doing plyometrics because they are told they should be doing them from an online expert. When people have pain, they often will become less physically active which defeats the whole goal we have anyways. 

In upcoming posts I’ll share probably more practical and potentially more beneficial means of helping age better. 

Save 35% on Jessica’s corrective exercise programs like her Healthy Knees program HERE with code “corrective”

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