Stretch-Shortening Cycle: Your body has a natural boost for 💥 explosive power💥 in the form of a
🚧safety mechanism🚧. Lets go through it!
When a muscle lengthens beyond its normal range, defense mechanisms trigger an automatic contraction to prevent overstretching. You can exploit this by initiating your next movement right as this reflex fires.
In practice: When you land from a jump, your muscles stretch to absorb impact. This triggers a reflexive contraction—like a rubber band snapping back. If you immediately explode into your next jump as this contraction kicks in, you get a massive boost of power. This is how elite athletes generate explosive, anime-level performance that seems superhuman.
This is best used for body weight movements, as this same concept is a leading cause of injury in the gym WITH WEIGHTS. The reason is, the added weight, plus this explosive power ends up being more than your joints can handle. So try it out, but body weight only!