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Skip, Hop, Jump Your Way to Greater Strength

These movements are designed to improve the power of muscles, which is more important than brute strength when it comes to getting from point A to point B. They should be performed after you have been doing strength training for at least six to eight weeks.

For: All Athletes.
Time: Variable, 40 minutes.
Description: These movements are designed to improve the power of muscles, which is more important than brute strength when it comes to getting from point A to point B. They should be performed after you have been doing strength training for at least six to eight weeks.
Equipment needed: None.

You gotta have power to move. Strength is nice but it is power, the ability to produce muscle force rapidly, that counts. After six to eight weeks of general strength training, you’re ready to up the ante and try some of these plyometric movements. Plyometric training means “exercises characterized by powerful muscle contractions in response to rapid, dynamic loading or stretching of the involved muscles” (Radcliffe and Farentinos, Human Kinetics, 1985). The end result is an improvement in your cycling, running and walking, and more spring in your step.

Here's the Plyometric Routine:
  1. Warm up with easy to moderate walking or jogging for 10 minutes.
  2. Find a grassy field, about half the size of a football field.
  3. Do three sets of eight double-leg bounds.
  4. Rest two minutes between each set and after last set.
  5. Do four sets of 10 knee-tuck jumps.
  6. Rest two minutes between each set and after last set.
  7. Do four sets of five split jumps, two with the right leg forward and two with the left leg forward.
  8. Rest two minutes between each set and after last set.
  9. Cool down with 5 to 10 minutes of walking.


The Exercises:
  • Double leg bounds: Begin in a half squat stance, arms at your sides, jump outward and upward, “reach for the sky,” and try to straighten your body in mid-flight. Land, assume the starting position, and fire away for next bound.
  • Knee-tuck jumps: Begin in a comfortable upright stance, dip down quickly to a quarter squat stance, explode upward, driving your knees toward your chest. Hold you hands, palms down, at about collar bone height and try to touch your palms with your knees. Land and repeat, minimizing your time on the ground (think of the ground as being very hot).
  • Split jumps: Begin with one leg extended forward and the other behind your body’s midline, as if your were doing a long step. The forward leg should be bent 90 degrees at the knee. Jump as high as possible, keeping your body straight, and land with the same leg forward. Steady yourself, resume the starting position and jump again.