Welcome back to our plyometric of the week series! This post is regarding one of the most enjoyable integrations of plyometric work into athletic performance, which is that of “integrated hurdle hops”.
Whether an athlete is at an advanced level of training, and requires a more tightly honed means of training coordination and power into existing skills, or is a beginner that simply requires a better knowledge of generating vertical force and stiffness, this integrated hurdle hop is a very powerful tool for improving athleticism.
To perform the integrated hurdle hop, all you need is a few hurdles, and whatever “outcome goal” you want to work on, whether it be acceleration, jumping, or even dunking.
The integrated hurdle hop works on the premise of improving an athlete’s intermuscular coordination regarding producing vertical force, and transferring this coordination over to the second exercise.
Let’s quickly chat on how this concept can work for a variety of exercise modes.
Sprinting and Acceleration
See below for an example of sprinter Linford Christie performing this type of exercise in a jump to accelerate pattern.
Although Christie’s ground contacts over the hurdles are a bit long, in my opinion, his ability to instantly come off the jumps, into an extremely powerful acceleration is very impressive.
Personally, I would try to coach slightly shorter contact times for Christie here, which would feed more into his top end speed. Doing low-contact hops into a series of wicket sprints could be a nice way to build the specific strength behind a higher rate of vertical force development in top end speed.
Jumping (Track and Field or Single Leg)
I work with a lot of athletes who can sprint fairly well, but really lack the vertical stiffness to hit a single leg takeoff with a short enough contact time to really transfer their horizontal energy well (typically under .20 seconds, or under .16 for high level jumpers).
Clearly, this can be done with higher hurdles for more advanced athletes, as well as different outcome goals, such as a holm hurdle, a series of holm hurdles, a single leg dunk, a scissor or flop high jump, etc.
Dunking
I was never able to dunk off of a depth jump in the training periods where dunking was my main objective, but Dan Back can do it. Here is a training video of his I enjoy. The part that relates to what I’m talking about, regarding the linking of coordinative processes is found at :33 seconds in the video below.
Any time you can link your plyometric to what you are actually trying to do (for many athletes this is dunking, this is a big mental and coordinative advantage. Remember to never get too far away from the specific skill you are trying to improve.
General Badassery/Shotput
The hurdle hop can also be integrated into pretty much any explosive exercise, in this case, stair jumps, which works more on a “starting strength” or “co-contraction” basis, which is more relevant to the power position of a shot put vs. a higher eccentric drop.
Many of us know and love Werner Gunthor’s training videos, so I’ll post a popular one here. The vertical jumping section starts at :47 seconds.
In conclusion, integrated hurdle hops are a great way to teach the motor skill of vertical stiffness (jumping and sprinting are skills, and so is pretty much everything we teach athletes, even in the weightroom). You don’t just have to utilize skills in isolation, as there is a strong interplay between them.
If you enjoy this series, and want to see how to put these exercises together in context of a complete program, check out our books and training groups, particularly “Vertical Ignition” and “Legendary Athleticism”. Be a part of the revolutionary training systems that are getting dozens of athletes to lifetime bests in speed, jumping and explosive power!
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