Plyometrics
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Plyometric exercises for increasing lower body power
- Rhythm Hop Jog. Basically, a slow jog, except that every time a foot contacts the ground, you leap off it as quickly as possible.
- Power Hop Jog. Start from a very slow jog. After three or four steps, hop off the right foot as high as possible. When the left foot contacts the ground, reduce the amount of time that it is in contact with the ground as much as you can. Spring off the left foot explosively, attaining as much height as you can. Continue until each leg has made eight to ten hops. The two important factors are height and the length of time that the foot is in contact with the ground.
- Speed Hop Jog. Speed hop jog are the same as the power hop jog exercise described above except that it has only one emphasis, speed, height is not important. The length of time that the foot is in contact with the ground is of utmost importance. Should feel more like a skip than a hop. Since hopping up slows the muscular contractions too much, it is necessary to hop forward. If the right foot is driving off the ground, the left leg swings forward, almost straight. When the left leg contacts the ground, it drives forward with a strong pulling action of the hamstring muscles. In this method, the foot is in contact with the ground for only a small fraction of a second.
- Two-Legged Speed Hops. The basic movement of the two-legged hops is the broad jump, performed repeatedly. Movement is the same as the standard broad jump except that all movements are kept short and quick. The knees do not bend much and the arms do not have time to swing fully. Hop forward ten times, each time making sure that the feet are in contact with the ground for as little time as possible. Each hop should be about two feet.
- Two-Legged Power Hops. Two-legged power hops require that you drive up as much as possible, only moving forward about 18 to 24 inches. Compared to two-legged speed hops, the knees bend considerably more, the arms drive up much more, to get more height.