@article{HammamiGranacherMakhloufetal.2016,
  author    = {Hammami, Raouf and Granacher, Urs and Makhlouf, Issam and Behm, David George and Chaouachi, Anis},
  title     = {SEQUENCING EFFECTS OF BALANCE AND PLYOMETRIC TRAINING ON PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE IN YOUTH SOCCER ATHLETES},
  series = {Journal of strength and conditioning research : the research journal of the NSCA},
  volume    = {30},
  journal   = {Journal of strength and conditioning research : the research journal of the NSCA},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Philadelphia},
  issn      = {1064-8011},
  doi       = {10.1519/JSC.0000000000001425},
  pages     = {3278 -- 3289},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Balance training may have a preconditioning effect on subsequent power training with youth. There are no studies examining whether the sequencing of balance and plyometric training has additional training benefits. The objective was to examine the effect of sequencing balance and plyometric training on the performance of 12- to 13-year-old athletes. Twenty-four young elite soccer players trained twice per week for 8 weeks either with an initial 4 weeks of balance training followed by 4 weeks of plyometric training (BPT) or 4 weeks of plyometric training proceeded by 4 weeks of balance training (PBT). Testing was conducted pre- and posttraining and included medicine ball throw; horizontal and vertical jumps; reactive strength; leg stiffness; agility; 10-, 20-, and 30-m sprints; Standing Stork balance test; and Y-Balance test. Results indicated that BPT provided significantly greater improvements with reactive strength index, absolute and relative leg stiffness, triple hop test, and a trend for the Y-Balance test (p = 0.054) compared with PBT. Although all other measures had similar changes for both groups, the average relative improvement for the BPT was 22.4\% (d = 1.5) vs. 15.0\% (d = 1.1) for the PBT. BPT effect sizes were greater with 8 of 13 measures. In conclusion, although either sequence of BPT or PBT improved jumping, hopping, sprint acceleration, and Standing Stork and Y-Balance, BPT initiated greater training improvements in reactive strength index, absolute and relative leg stiffness, triple hop test, and the Y-Balance test. BPT may provide either similar or superior performance enhancements compared with PBT.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ChaouachiGranacherMakhloufetal.2017,
  author    = {Chaouachi, Mehdi and Granacher, Urs and Makhlouf, Issam and Hammami, Raouf and Behm, David G. and Chaouachi, Anis},
  title     = {Within Session Sequence of Balance and Plyometric Exercises Does Not Affect Training Adaptations with Youth Soccer Athletes},
  series = {Journal of sports science \& medicine},
  volume    = {16},
  journal   = {Journal of sports science \& medicine},
  publisher = {Department of Sports Medicine, Medical Faculty of Uludag University},
  address   = {Bursa},
  issn      = {1303-2968},
  pages     = {125 -- 136},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {The integration of balance and plyometric training has been shown to provide significant improvements in sprint, jump, agility, and other performance measures in young athletes. It is not known if a specific within session balance and plyometric exercise sequence provides more effective training adaptations. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of using a sequence of alternating pairs of exercises versus a block (series) of all balance exercises followed by a block of plyometric exercises on components of physical fitness such as muscle strength, power, speed, agility, and balance. Twenty-six male adolescent soccer players ( 13.9 +/- 0.3 years) participated in an 8-week training program that either alternated individual balance (e. g., exercises on unstable surfaces) and plyometric (e. g., jumps, hops, rebounds) exercises or performed a block of balance exercises prior to a block of plyometric exercises within each training session. Pre- and post-training measures included proxies of strength, power, agility, sprint, and balance such as countermovement jumps, isometric back and knee extension strength, standing long jump, 10 and 30-m sprints, agility, standing stork, and Y-balance tests. Both groups exhibited significant, generally large magnitude (effect sizes) training improvements for all measures with mean performance increases of approximately > 30\%. There were no significant differences between the training groups over time. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of combining balance and plyometric exercises within a training session on components of physical fitness with young adolescents. The improved performance outcomes were not significantly influenced by the within session exercise sequence.},
  language  = {en}
}