After you have built your muscles with heavy weightlifting, you'll want to train them for explosive and quick movements if you're an athlete. Improving explosiveness and jumping ability will help you perform better in sports such as football, tennis, soccer, volleyball and basketball. Begin explosive and reactive strength training during your preseason to prepare for competition.
Explosive Strength
Explosive power is your ability to make a powerful movement in one direction. Examples of explosive power include a power lift; a lineman coming off the line during a football game; a runner leaving the blocks at the start of a race; a swimmer diving into a pool; or a tennis, basketball or volleyball player making the first move to a ball.
Reactive Strength
You create reactive strength when you coordinate two or more movements to create a single, larger one. Examples of reactive strength, also called plyometric power, include moving down and then up to slam dunk a basketball, spike a volleyball, serve a tennis ball; or the back-and-forth movement of a baseball, tennis, hockey or golf swing. When you do lower body reactive power exercises, you try to keep your feet in contact with the ground for as little time as possible.
Explosive Strength Exercises
A classic explosive strength exercise is the box squat. You begin seated on a box with weights on your shoulder, then stand straight up, lifting the weights with your legs. Experiment without weights before you do this exercise to make sure your position on the box will not cause a back injury.
The deadlift is another explosive strength exercise. Stand in front of a barbell and lower yourself, keeping your eyes straight ahead and your torso straight, and moving your buttocks backwards as you bend your knees. Lift the weights using your legs, keeping your torso straight as you raise yourself to prevent a back injury. Breath out as you raise the weight to knee height.
Box jumps involve jumping onto a platform of knee height or higher. Vary this drill by starting with one foot on the platform, then pushing yourself into the air as high as you can.
Reactive Strength Exercises
Reactive strength exercises often mirror sport movements such as running and jumping. Reverse box jumps by jumping off a platform equal to your best standing vertical leap. As soon as your feet touch the floor, bend your knees and jump up as high as you can.
Perform reactive squats from a standing position using about 15 percent to 50 percent of your maximum weight. Lower yourself about halfway as far as you would for a regular squat, then jump off the ground.
Perform high knee skipping or butt kicks.
Ankle jumps involve hopping on the balls of your feet without letting your heels touch the ground.
Shock jumps involve jumping off a platform and landing on the balls of your feet without letting your heels touch the ground as you maintain your balance.
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