Physical Preparation Podcast · Mike Robertson

Ken Vick on Extensive Pogos, Deep Tier Plyos and Building Real Eccentric Strength

·53 min·3 clips

Ken Vick uses true heavy eccentric overload, reactive eccentrics, Olympic lifts, and jerks as a continuum.

1. Physical Preparation Podcast centers on Ken Vick and his view of extensive pogos, deep-tier plyos, and eccentric strength. 2. Mike Robertson interviews Ken Vick, president and global high performance director of Velocity Sports Performance, whose coaching background includes Olympic weightlifting, track, rehab, and work with 40-plus sports. 3. The episode asks where eccentric actions fit when the goal is strength, tissue change, or skill. 4. Ken defines “shocks” as eccentric actions that attenuate and manage forces during landings, stops, decelerations, and follow-throughs. 5. He defines “springs” as eccentric actions that potentiate the next action during counter-movements, cuts, and takeoffs. 6. Ken says the main mistake is ignoring the eccentric side of the force-velocity curve while tracking only jump height, lifted weight, or forward speed. 7. He says a second mistake is separating eccentric work into only weight-room methods or only plyometrics. 8. He says a third mistake is reducing eccentric training to slow tempo work, which he calls submaximal and incomplete. 9. Ken uses a continuum that includes heavy eccentric overload, like two-up one-down work and safety-squat-bar split squats. 10. He also includes reactive eccentrics, Olympic lifting catches, dumbbell jumps, and jerks as different points on that continuum. 11. Ken gives timing landmarks, calling very fast under 180 milliseconds and very slow over 780 milliseconds. 12. He says a counter-movement for jump height can last 700 to 800 milliseconds, which is why the tempo label alone can mislead coaches. 13. Ken says coaches should think about the inputs to an eccentric action, not only the output. 14. He ties those inputs to momentum, because more weight, more mass, more speed, or a different vector changes the training effect. 15. Ken says strength coaches and rehab staff do best when they gradually step momentum up instead of avoiding it. 16. He says rehab gaps often remain in eccentric momentum control, which helps explain why athletes may not feel ready even when isolated tests look good. 17. Ken says the weight room is limited in the vectors it can train, so plyometrics and medicine balls are essential for movement. 18. He describes medicine balls as another way to train the same shocks-and-springs continuum, especially for grappling and other rapid eccentric demands. 19. Listeners who coach athletes, program rehab, or use plyometrics will get the most from this discussion. 20. Listeners wanting general motivation without training detail will probably skip it.

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