This technique can be employed with most steps in the chain. The second you land, allow yourself to “bounce” back up, rhythmically. Learning to exploit this skill is easy, in the case of jumping: don’t pause in between jumps. This phenomenon also involves the nervous system making the stretched muscles contract at just the right time to support the elastic effect, and this is called the myotatic reflex-it is the myotatic reflex which is at the heart of modern “plyometric” training (which is not the same as explosive training-see: Utilize the Plyometric Edge! On page 315). We see this turned up to the max in the huge leg tendons of a kangaroo these beasts leap, and on landing the elasticity in their legs makes the next jump easier. One of the reasons that our tendons possess some strong elasticity is to allow them to absorb and redirect forces. Beginning slowly with small jumps (and hops) will also condition the soft tissues well. As with launching, the keys are symmetry, a hip-led squat bend, and the absorption of force with the entire leg and body, not just the feet and ankles. You can learn to be a truly great jumper despite these factors you just have to teach your body how to land. It’s ironic because so many athletes-especially newbies, the overweight, older athletes or those with joint injuries-find landing the most difficult and intimidating aspect of the exercise. It’s ironic that landing is something many coaches give little or no thought to-they only see the jump as the “up” part. In real-life, tucking is an essential part of functional jumping-imagine jumping on, or over something-you need to bring your knees up, right? This is difficult without powerful hip flexors, but the steps in the power jump chain will get you there gradually. The best way to acquire these qualities are by lots and lots of thoughtful reps on the basic jumps.Ī correct jumping course must teach the athlete how to tuck correctly-that is, to pull the knees up (and, ultimately, into the chest). The keys are body symmetry, leading with the hips (as if sitting down, rather than bowing down) and exploding up using total-leg and hip power. Most athletes don’t know the optimal way to squat down (you have been performing your bodyweight squats, haven’t you?), let alone how to explode up for height. As well as gradually building linear power-in the form of jump height-all jump training should include drills which develop the following four basic skills: (You don’t need a box-or anything at all-to jump, but people do love their equipment, don’t they?) As a second point, I would add that correct bodyweight jump training is about more than just gaining height over time. First up, athletes and coaches should understand that simply jumping up and down on a box must not become the be-all end-all of this kind of training. Whatever the source, I think it’s mostly a good thing that athletes are jumping again. Some of it has been to do with the dominance of CrossFit as a training method. A lot of this has happened as the “functional” movement has invaded gyms, previously monopolized with slow, un-natural looking movements on machines. These days, it’s tough to go into a commercial gym without seeing someone jumping up and down onto some kind of over-priced box. Jump training has seen an interesting resurgence in the last ten or twenty years. It’s also just more realistic to stick to bodyweight-can you think of any sports when you need to jump while carrying hundreds of pounds? For maximum power, bodyweight is the only way to go. True power is strength x speed, and adding a load like a big barbell effectively kills the athlete’s ability to move at faster-than-normal levels. Basketball, football, hurdling, soccer, martial arts, parkour-it’s pretty tough to name a sport which doesn’t hugely depend on having springy legs.Ī lot of guys talk about gaining leg “power” through exercises like heavy squats, or even deadlifts, but this is a fallacy. High power acrobatic movements-flips, rotations, dives-all depend on getting height, which can only happen through optimal leg power. Without explosive power in the legs, running is impossible. The Ancients believed that the leg “spring” was the source of a man’s youth and athleticism, and-as ever-they were right. There are some real compelling reasons why so many coaches make jump training central to any explosiveness program: powerful, fast legs are pretty much useful for everything sports or movement related. bounds)-using the body’s own weight as resistance. If you speak to most coaches and athletes about true power training-moving force at the highest possible speeds, as opposed to the heavy-load work of weight-lifting-then most of them will immediately think about jumps: those explosive leaps-upwards or horizontal (a.k.a. Explosive Calisthenics, Superhuman Power, Maximum Speed and Agility, Plus Combat-Ready Reflexes-Using Bodyweight-Only Methods (2015)
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