Strength Shoes are designed to increase lower body strength, especially in your calves. With a built-up forefoot, Strength Shoes place your calf muscles in a stretched position, which according to the manufacturers, increases the demand and therefore the productivity of running and jumping exercises. Wearing Strength Shoes may increase your jumping and sprinting ability, and, thus, these shoes are popular with basketball and volleyball players.
Some athletic and fitness experts believe that Strength Shoes and similar products expose your calf muscles and Achilles tendons to unnaturally high degrees of stretching, which may cause injury. If you do use Strength Shoes, build up the intensity and duration of your workouts gradually.
Depth Jumps
A depth jump is a plyometric exercise that is designed to increase explosive leg power for vertical jumps. Place two sturdy plyometric boxes around 48 inches apart. Start off using boxes that are 12 to 18 inches high.
Stand on top of one box with your feet together and hands by your sides. Jump down off of the first box to land on the floor. Immediately spring up and land on the second box.
Try to minimize ground contact time and make the jump as powerful as possible. Turn around and repeat the exercise, performing as many reps as desired. To make this exercise more demanding, increase the height of the plyo boxes.
Stadium Stair Sprints
Sprinting up long flights of stairs is a traditional lower body-conditioning exercise used by many athletes including football and soccer players. When performed wearing Strength Shoes, stair sprints become even more demanding. When performing stair sprints, you can either take one step at a time or drive up two or three steps per stride, depending on your leg strength and fitness level.
Make sure you drive powerfully with your arms and use your legs maximally by pumping your knees. Once you reach the top, descend carefully to avoid falling and repeat.
Hurdle Jumps
Hurdle jumps will increase your jumping power and endurance. Place five or more athletic hurdles in a row spaced 36 inches apart. Stand in front of the first hurdle. Perform a series of double-footed jumps over the hurdles.
Make sure you "touch and go" in between each hurdle, that is to say, do not perform any steps or preparatory jumps between hurdles but upon landing, explode immediately into the next jump. Increase the height and number of hurdles to make this exercise more demanding.
Standing Triple Jump
This exercise will develop explosive strength in both legs and also improve coordination. Place a marker cone on the floor and stand next to it. Stand on your left leg.
Using your arms for balance and to provide extra momentum, hop forwards to land on your left foot. On landing, swing your arms again and jump out as far as possible to land on your right foot. Finally, springing off of your right foot, jump as far as possible to land with both feet together. Rest for a moment and return to your starting position before repeating this same/other/together series but lead with your right leg instead.
References
- "Speed & Agility Revolution"; Jim Kielbaso; 2005
- "High-Performance Sports Conditioning"; Bill Faran; 2001
- "Ultimate Stair Exercises for Fitness & Weight Loss"; Virgil Aponte; 2006
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