Jump Training

[Raleighwood]

I've recently added a variety of jumping exercises in to my training on my off days and have noticed an improvement in my squat and power production.

If you are looking for some stuff to do on your off days, I recommend adding in a little jump training in to the mix.

The important thing to remember is to not over do it... When training your power (ability to produce force rapidly, e.g. jumping, power cleans, explosive work), less is more. Use weights that allow you to perform near perfect technique and never train to failure.

Some jump training ideas:

• Box Jumps
• Box jumps with dumbbells in hand
• single leg jumps
• calf specific jumps (minimize knee bend)
• side to side hops
• depth jumps (jump down from a box then immediately jumping as high as possible)
• broad jumps
• backwards jumps
• bulgarian squat jumps

If you are an athlete, improving jumping ability will translate to increased performance!

Remember: progress incrementally and don't push the limits with this style of training. Jumping has some inherent risk and training for the long term is valuable.

Also important: Practice your landing technique. You want everything to land vertically in-line. Your knees over your toes, your hips over your knees, and your shoulders over your hips... Not straight up in line, but imagine a line shooting straight from your toes, you want all of these body parts bending within that line, not wide of it.