Power: a Must Have in Any Program

We lose power at roughly twice the rate we lose strength yet it is amazing to watch how many Masters power athletes don't do any power training.
Now I am talking about intermittent, power based sports/athletes not endurance athletes like triathletes and marathoners. Thouh a strong case could be made that they need power training as well. Even in an endurance event there is still the element of speed which is based on power.
The key for a Masters athlete is how to intelligently and judiciously add power training to one's training program.
First, let's be clear on what power training is and isn't. Power can be simply defined as: speed x force/distance. In other words how quickly can you move or move something with force over a given distance. True power training is max effort, max speed training with full recovery between bouts to optimize recovery. Whether you are doing plyos, med ball work, or Olympic lifts you have to do the movement explosively and with optimal technique. Fatigue through inadequate recovery will compromise those factors. So Crossfit , for example, is very seldom true power training for this very reason.
You should not feel wiped out after power training but energized and ready to go. If you're wiped out you are confusing conditioning with power training which is a common mistake both coaches and athletes alike make far too frequently.
One of the beautiful things about power training is that it doesn't/shouldn't take a lot of time. 10 minutes twice weekly will get the job done for virtually anyone. Much more than that and you are risking injury and diminishing returns.
Power training should be done early in a training session after your dynamic warmup while your central nervous system is fresh and ready to go. Doing it at the end of the training
session compromises all that you are trying to achieve.