Power prep sessions consist of a short dose of plyometrics.
When to do it
These are called power prep because ideally, you do them right before a primary session. In most plans, we do finger training or some technical practice before the main session. So in most plans, the main session will start at A2, B2, C2, etc.
The reason power prep is often not on an A/B/C day is so that you can do it on whichever day you feel most powerful. With power training we want a high intent to move powerfully. If you warm up and feel snappy on a certain day, that’s a good day to do your power work. If you feel sluggish or unrecovered, it’s probably not the best day for plyo.
How to do it
With power training, we want as many powerful/fast reps as possible. If I say 5-10 reps, and you feel slower on the 6th rep than the 5th, end the set. If you start your 3rd set and your first rep feels slow, you’re done with that exercise.
With jumps, you can think about two different goals:
1. Move as far as you can (distance/height UP.) e.g. with box jumps, broad jumps, etc. try to go as far as you can.
2. Touch the ground for as little time as possible (ground contact time DOWN.) e.g. with leaps, try to touch the ground for as short a time as possible and still explode upward. True plyometrics are considered to have a ground contact time (GCT) of <250ms.
With some types of jumps you can emphasize either of these qualities (e.g. seated depth jumps you can sink down further into the ground to get more distance, or try to just tap off the ground (low GCT) while still getting high enough for your target.
With pulling & pushing, the intent to be powerful is the main thing. e.g. move yourself as far or as fast as you can in that exercise. e.g. explosive push ups or velocity pull ups
Some exercises in the power prep may also involve deceleration, such as jumping into a lockoff and stopping your body. Or they may involve converting power from one movement into another movement, such as a jumping pull up or a jump-catch-pull.