This kind of stretch is a significant exception. Do this. Execute a vertical leap and keep track of the height. After that, static stretch out your hip flexors -- 2 sets of 30 seconds each leg. Seriously stretching them! Stretch just as if you’re trying to tear that hip flexor off of the bone, baby! Don’t just simply go through the motions! Immediately jump all over again. The chances are you’ll jump ½” - 2” higher, by simply static stretching the hip flexors. Why is this, you say? We’ll tell you. The truth is, a lot of athletes have super-tight hip flexors. If you jump, tight hip flexors cause a lots of rubbing, preventing you from completely stretching at the hip, as well as reaching as high as you possibly can. By static stretching these directly before you jump, you not only stretch them out, but also “put them to sleep” do to the long, slow stretch. This causes significantly less friction within the hip as you jump. This translates into higher jumps. You may be astonished at how well this works. (In addition, the hip flexors would be the only muscles you'd ever want to static stretch prior to jumping.) Additionally it is a good idea for athletes to go into the habit of stretching out their hip flexors daily, not just before jumping. This'll help to extend your stride length when you run, as well as reduce hamstring pulls and low-back pain.

Depth Jumps - A depth jump (often called a "shock jump") is accomplished by stepping off a box thereafter bursting up immediately upon landing on the ground. We will utilize boxes of various heights, depending on the level of individual we’re instructing. Simply by stepping from the box, your muscle tissues are rapidly stretched after landing, which helps them to contract stronger and quicker when exploding up (a lot like what we were writing about with the box squats and the bands). The intention of this specific exercise is actually to spend the smallest length of time on the floor as possible. We like to use .15 seconds for a guide. Should the athlete spends any more on the floor, it is no longer an honest plyometric workout simply because the phase is too long. If performed correctly, we've found this specific work out to be really effective. The problem is that nearly all players and trainers that execute this particular exercise don’t stick to most of these guidelines. If the athlete crumbles like a deck of cards upon striking the floor and then takes Several minutes to jump back into the air; this is either too high or the athlete isn’t skilled enough to be doing the workout.

Trap Bar Deadlifts, from a 4” box - Trap bars are typically diamond-shaped bars where you can carry out deadlifts as well as shrugs simply by positioned inside the bar, as opposed to keeping the bar in front of you. This puts less pressure on your low back/spine. Lots of athletes feel a lot more relaxed making use of these bars instead of straight bars while deadlifting. Because of this, we feel that they're an excellent resource for a lot of players - both new and experienced. We have gotten many athletes who swore they might never deadlift again, to begin deadlifting a result of the trap bar. Something we prefer to due is have our participants trap bar lift when standing up on a 4” box. Once again, by increasing the range, your hamstrings are actually further stimulated. This will substantially improve ones jumping and running capability. An individual can certainly make use of different box heights, but we’ve discovered four inches to be just the thing for boosting your flexibility and not producing a break down in the athlete’s form.

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