Welcome to French Contrast Training!
Heavy squat. Jump. Loaded jump. Assisted jump.
Repeat.
That description isn’t wrong, but I think it doesn’t exactly explain the reason the method can be so effective.
The real value of French contrast training is that it allows us to expose an athlete to several very different points along the force-velocity spectrum in the same training sequence. We can start with extremely high force and almost no velocity, move into eccentric force absorption and reactive strength, then gradually remove resistance until the athlete is producing force at very high speeds.
That is why I think one of the best ways to understand French contrast training is:
Create force. Absorb force. Redirect force. Express force fast.
And for athletes who run, jump and change direction, I would add one more rule:
Eventually you have to sprint.
What Is French Contrast Training?
Traditional French contrast training generally combines four movements performed in sequence.
The first is a heavy strength movement.
The second is an explosive plyometric movement.
The third is a lighter loaded ballistic movement.
The fourth is a very fast unloaded or assisted movement.
The theory is that the high-force exercise temporarily increases the nervous system’s readiness to produce force, allowing subsequent explosive movements to be performed with greater output. This is usually discussed under the broader concept of post-activation performance enhancement, or PAPE.
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found French contrast training produced significant improvements in both jumping and sprinting, with a particularly large pooled effect on sprint performance. Interestingly, improvements in maximal strength were much less convincing.
That tells us something important.
French contrast probably shouldn’t be viewed primarily as another way to build a bigger squat.
It is a method for learning how to use force quickly.
I Like Starting With an Isometric
Most French contrast programs begin with a heavy squat, deadlift or other traditional resistance exercise.
There is nothing wrong with that.
But for athletes, I often like the idea of replacing or supplementing that first movement with a very high-force isometric.
Imagine an athlete driving as hard as possible into an immovable bar in a squat position.
The bar isn’t moving.
The athlete is.
Neurologically and physically, they are trying extremely hard to move an immovable object.
This matters because the first part of French contrast is not really about performing a squat. The squat is simply being used as a conditioning stimulus before the faster exercises that follow.
If the objective is high neural drive and high force production, an overcoming isometric can accomplish that with very little actual movement.
That potentially gives us a tremendous amount of force without requiring the athlete to perform several heavy eccentric and concentric repetitions first.
Recent evidence supports the idea.
A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis examining 25 studies found that isometric conditioning activities can acutely improve subsequent vertical jump performance. The response appears to depend heavily on the athlete, contraction duration and recovery period, but isometrics appear to be a legitimate alternative to dynamic heavy resistance as a potentiating exercise.
Another study directly comparing isometric squats with traditional loaded squats found that both could improve subsequent countermovement-jump performance.
That is exactly what we want from the first exercise.
We don’t need fatigue.
We need a signal.
High Force Without Wasting Energy
This is where people confuse isometric training.
A 30- to 60-second yielding isometric used for tendon remodeling is completely different from a four- to eight-second maximal overcoming isometric used before explosive training.
Both are called isometrics.
They aren’t being used for the same reason.
For French contrast training, I generally want a shorter contraction performed with extremely high intent.
Push as hard as possible.
Recruit everything.
Then stop.
The athlete should walk away feeling neurologically turned on, not exhausted.
Rate of force development is heavily influenced by how rapidly the nervous system can recruit and discharge motor units during the first milliseconds of contraction. High-force and explosive resistance training can improve this ability.
That makes the isometric an excellent starting point.
But producing force is only half of athleticism.
Before you can express force explosively, you have to be able to deal with force coming back into the body.
That is where the eccentric component becomes critical.
You Cannot Be Explosive If You Cannot Stop
Almost every great explosive movement starts with force absorption.
Watch a countermovement jump.
Before the athlete goes up, they go down.
Watch an approach jump.
Before takeoff, the athlete has to absorb horizontal velocity and redirect it vertically.
Watch a change of direction.
Before accelerating the other way, the athlete has to decelerate.
Watch sprinting.
Every foot strike requires the athlete to interact with the ground, control extremely large forces and rapidly redirect them before the next step.
So the eccentric portion of French contrast should not be treated as something that accidentally happens on the way to the jump.
It is one of the most important parts of the training session.
Eccentric contractions allow muscles to tolerate very high forces and play an important role in the stretch-shortening cycle used during jumping, running and sprinting.
That means the athlete doesn’t simply need a bigger engine.
They need better brakes.
Force Absorption Determines How Much Force You Can Use
Imagine putting a 1,000-horsepower engine into a car with terrible brakes and suspension.
You wouldn’t be able to use the horsepower very effectively.
Athletes are similar.
An athlete may be able to produce enormous force in a squat or trap-bar deadlift, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can use that force during a 150-millisecond athletic movement.
The body first has to tolerate the incoming force.
That requires eccentric strength.
Then it has to stop that eccentric action quickly.
That creates an extremely brief isometric-like transition.
Then it has to reverse direction.
That becomes concentric acceleration.
This sequence happens incredibly fast.
Eccentric → isometric → concentric.
That is the stretch-shortening cycle.
And one of the goals of advanced athletic training should be shortening the amount of time between those phases without losing force.
That is why depth drops, depth jumps, landing drills and reactive plyometrics belong in this conversation.
We aren’t jumping just to jump higher.
We are training the athlete to become better at accepting force and giving it back.
The Ground Is an Immovable Object
This is also where the isometric discussion comes back.
When an athlete hits the ground, the ground doesn’t move away from them.
At sufficiently high running and jumping speeds, the athlete has only milliseconds to create enough muscular and tendon stiffness to keep the joints from collapsing excessively.
In that sense, sport repeatedly exposes athletes to extremely brief high-force quasi-isometric events.
The musculotendon system is more complicated than saying that every muscle simply contracts isometrically during ground contact, but the concept is useful.
The athlete has to become very good at creating tremendous force with very little visible movement.
That sounds a lot like an isometric.
So I don’t view isometrics and plyometrics as opposite training methods.
One develops the ability to create force against something that will not move.
The other teaches the athlete to use that stiffness when the body is moving extremely fast.
The Second Exercise Should Teach the Athlete to Catch Force
This changes how I look at the plyometric portion of French contrast training.
Many programs immediately focus on jump height.
I would rather ask:
How well did the athlete absorb the landing?
Did the ankle collapse?
Did the knee continue traveling after contact?
Did the pelvis lose position?
Did the athlete require a long countermovement before reversing direction?
Or did the athlete hit the ground, organize the body quickly and redirect force?
For some athletes, a depth drop and controlled catch may actually be more important initially than a depth jump.
Build the brakes first.
Then shorten the braking time.
Then turn the brake into a spring.
For advanced athletes, depth jumps and reactive plyometrics become valuable because they compress the eccentric, stabilization and concentric phases into an extremely short period.
That is reactive strength.
And that quality appears to matter.
A recent 10-week study of collegiate basketball players found French contrast training improved countermovement jumping, squat jumping, drop-jump performance, reactive strength index and eccentric utilization, along with acceleration and change-of-direction performance.
This is what most people are looking for in my office, not just a bigger squat or bench.
Lastly We Remove Load and Add Velocity
Once the athlete has been exposed to extremely high force and then eccentric/reactive loading, we gradually move toward velocity.
The third movement in traditional French contrast training is generally a lighter loaded ballistic exercise.
That could be a loaded jump squat, trap-bar jump or another movement where the athlete is allowed to accelerate through the entire movement.
Now the athlete has less resistance than the original strength exercise but can move substantially faster.
Then we remove even more resistance.
An unloaded jump.
An assisted jump.
A bound.
Or, depending on the athlete and the purpose of the session, a sprint.
Every step moves farther toward the velocity end of the force-velocity spectrum.
And that final part is where I think many strength programs stop too early.
Sprinting Is Not Conditioning
If you train volleyball, basketball, football, soccer or nearly any field or court athlete, sprinting should not be treated simply as cardiovascular conditioning.
Sprinting is one of the highest-speed strength exercises available to us.
And you cannot recreate it perfectly in the weight room.
A 2026 study compared maximal sprinting with several exercises and found that the peak knee power produced during maximal sprinting was not replicated by the gym exercises tested.
That matters.
We can make an athlete stronger with squats.
We can improve eccentric strength.
We can increase isometric force.
We can improve jump height.
But at some point, if the athlete needs to run fast, they have to run fast.
There are muscular, tendon and neurological demands during maximal-velocity sprinting that resistance training cannot completely reproduce.
Sprinting Is an Eccentric and Isometric Problem Too
Sprinting actually ties this whole model together.
During late swing, the hamstrings have to control an incredibly fast knee extension while preparing the leg for ground contact.
There is still debate over exactly how much of the muscle-fiber behavior is eccentric versus near-isometric while the musculotendon unit lengthens. What is clear is that the system has to tolerate and redirect enormous forces at extremely high velocities.
Then the foot hits the ground.
Contact times become extremely short.
Reactive strength, eccentric strength and stiffness become increasingly important as sprint velocity increases, and these characteristics are associated with maximal sprint performance.
This is why I don’t want an athlete’s entire speed program occurring inside a gym.
The weight room develops pieces of sprinting.
Sprinting integrates them.
My Version of French Contrast
For a lower-body athlete, I like thinking of the sequence this way:
1. Maximum-force isometric
An overcoming squat, dead lift, split-squat or other sport-relevant position performed for a few seconds with maximum intent.
The objective is neural recruitment and force.
2. Eccentric absorption
A depth drop, depth jump, landing variation or another drill that forces the athlete to accept significant force.
The objective is braking ability, stiffness and rapid stabilization.
3. Loaded ballistic movement
A loaded squat jump, trap-bar jump or appropriate explosive resistance movement.
The objective is to produce force while velocity begins increasing.
4. High-velocity expression
An unloaded jump, assisted jump, bound or sprint.
The objective is speed.
For athletes who need to sprint, I especially like allowing sprinting to become part of that final expression rather than assuming another gym exercise can replace it.
That isn’t the textbook definition of French contrast.
It is applying the principle behind French contrast to what the athlete actually has to do.
Strength Is Only Useful If You Can Access It Fast Enough
The biggest mistake we make in athletic development is assuming that increasing maximal strength automatically makes an athlete explosive.
Sometimes it does.
But eventually the athlete has enough horsepower.
The question becomes whether they can use it.
Can they recruit force quickly?
Can they absorb force?
Can they maintain enough stiffness that energy isn’t lost through unnecessary joint motion?
Can they reverse eccentric force quickly?
Can they express that force at jumping speed?
And finally, can they do it at sprinting speed?
That is where French contrast training becomes more than four exercises performed back-to-back.
It becomes a progression from force to speed.
Isometrics teach the athlete to create force.
Eccentrics teach the athlete to accept force.
Plyometrics teach the athlete to redirect force.
Sprinting teaches the athlete to do all of it at speeds the weight room cannot reproduce.
And for most athletes, that last step should never be optional.
Sources & Further Reading
French Contrast Training
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials found significant improvements in sprint and jump performance following French contrast training. French Contrast Training Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis — Frontiers in Physiology
A 2026 study in female collegiate basketball players found improvements in reactive strength, eccentric utilization, jumping, acceleration and change-of-direction performance following French contrast training. 10-Week French Contrast Training Study — Frontiers in Physiology
Isometrics and PAPE
A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 studies examined isometric contractions as a conditioning activity and found evidence for acute improvements in vertical-jump performance. Isometric Contractions and Post-Activation Performance Enhancement — European Journal of Sport Science
Research directly comparing isometric and isotonic squat conditioning found that both strategies could improve subsequent countermovement-jump performance in trained men. Isometric vs. Isotonic PAPE — PLOS ONE
Eccentric Strength and Force Absorption
Review of eccentric training mechanisms and its role in the stretch-shortening cycle, jumping, sprinting and athletic performance. Eccentric Exercise: Mechanisms and Effects — PubMed
Research examining the relationship among eccentric strength, reactive strength, stiffness regulation and maximum-velocity sprinting. Reactive and Eccentric Strength During Maximum-Velocity Sprinting
Sprinting
A detailed review of hamstring muscle-tendon behavior during sprinting and the interaction between eccentric, spring-like and potentially isometric muscle behavior. Hamstring Muscle-Tendon Function During Sprinting — Sports Medicine
A 2026 study demonstrating that maximal sprinting produced knee-power demands that the resistance-training exercises tested could not reproduce. Maximum Sprints Elicit Higher Peak Knee Joint Power Than Resistance Exercises