Maximal strength and explosive strength exercises for legs

[Eloan]

Hi guys

At first I want to thank you all for the great forum and all the information it provides.

I guess I’m a little bit confused because of all the contradicting information out there and so I’m looking for some clarification here.

I’m doing Parkour/Free Running and because of this my goals are to be able to jump high and long(from standing and running) and to sprint very fast.

Question 1

To reach these goals for my posterior chain this site http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/jumphigher.html suggests to train strength exercises(for example squats, deadlifts), because the explosiveness in movements like jumping and sprinting depends on the maximal force your body can generate and explosive exercises(for example sprints, plyometrics), because the body has to learn to apply his strength in a very short time.

So is this correct? Should I train strength AND explosive exercises to be able to jump high and to sprint very fast?

Because many people seem to train and increase their jumps and sprints… well, just by doing jumps and sprints.

Question 2

If I should do some maximal strength training for my legs to reach my goals, are there BWEs that are as good as or even better than squats or deadlifts, such as the pistol or shrimp progressions? Are they sufficient for my posterior chain if I also train my back with a lot of ring/bar work? Because I don’t want to spend a lot of money for a gym membership just to do some squats and deadlifts once a week.

(Note that I’m too weak to do pistols or shrimps in their hardest variations or in higher repetitions, so they’d definitely work on my max strength)

greetings, Eloan

PS: I’m sorry if some sentences sound a little bit odd. English isn’t my first language, but I’m trying my best.

[David Picó García]

You have to train both. If you can't do squats (because of the lack of the equipement) just follow the WOD. You'll find there is a day of plyometric training (depth jumps, senders....) and another day focused on strength (pistols, GHR...).

[Chris Hansen]

I've read some studies on vertical jumping and it seems that almost anything can give some benefit but the people who included both strength training and some form of jumping or plyometrics always get better results than the people who only did one or the other.

[Eloan]

Thank you for your responses.

@The Hansenator

Nice! Could you probably show me the studies? Because I’m very interested in reading them.

@serotonin

Ok, so I’ll look at the strength exercises of the WOD and probably I'll do pistols and shrimps once or twice a week. I’m not so interested in doing any extra plyometric exercises, since my skill work consists of lots of plyometrics anyway.

What should I do when I’m able to do more than 10 pistols or shrimps? How should I train the maximal strength of my posterior chain then?

So are squats and deadlifts more effective in terms of building maximal strength in my posterior chain?

greetings, Eloan

[Neal Winkler]

So are squats and deadlifts more effective in terms of building maximal strength in my posterior chain?

Specificity.

If you are jumping off one leg then unilateral exercises will be the best. If you are are jumping off two legs, then bilateral exercises will be best.

[Joshua Naterman]

Agreed. He should train both, since it is very rare for someone to only jump one way unless they are a high jumper (two leg take offs are against the rules) or other track athlete with similar rules to follow. In life , parkour, and basketball you need both.

There are a few main elements in building your explosive ability.

1) Rate of force development, influenced by:

A) Maximal strength

B) Speed of total recruitment

2)Starting strength. This means strength in the bottom position (or starting position, like when you begin to jump), starting with little to no tension. You must develop this in order to have a powerful start, hence the name. Box squats, bottom position squats in a rack, explosive deadlifts, and takeoffs from blocks are all ways to train this, but box squats are your #1 standby. They are the most strength oriented. This is more strength oriented than speed oriented, but you do want to perform these as explosively as you safely can. This enhances #1A more than 1B, but I like to perform a portion of this work in an explosive fashion to work on 1B as well.

3) Explosive strength (power): This is the ability to "instantly" turn on all your muscle fibers. This type of training reduces the time it takes to recruit the motor units. This also starts from a standstill, like starting strength. Starting strength, however, is not time related. This is. This is the number 1 most important thing to develop, and it DOES depend on maximal strength. The weight you use for this work should be 50-60% of your 1RM. You should be able to move at nearly maximum speed. That is what you are trying to train here.

4) Progressive Acceleration. The purpose here is to teach your body to keep developing maximal power all the way until the moment you leave the ground. Most people are unintentionally trained to do the opposite, because we instinctively know that if we are pushing up as hard as we can in that heavy squat all the way to the top we are going to jump slightly, and we instinctively realize that we probably can NOT handle the landing safely. Properly executed, power cleans and power snatches are the best weighted exercises for this, followed by jumps with weighted vests and then heavy strong range partial squats (preferably with chains or bands). The best bodyweight variations are pool jumps (jumping as high as you can while in a pool) and deck squats. You must consciously push harder and harder, faster and faster as your legs straighten. You will also want to learn the triple extension. Google search for those and also for the studies you want to find.

If you want more info than that you will need to pay for it. Don't waste your money on Adam Linkenauger's program, it's pretty crappy. I bought it because it was 39 bucks and I wanted to see what he said to do since he was a decent high jumper, and the only part of that program worth looking at is the jumping drills. You can find those for free, too. What a waste that was...Luke Lowrey, while I personally despise the way he markets his products, has the best program currently on the market by miles, but it is very expensive, around 300 dollars right now. If you are on a budget you should probably get Kelly Baggett's Vertical Jump Bible. It is a solid product. It can be improved a lot, but it will still give you great results and you will learn a lot. It is the most instructional of the programs that I own but is simply not in the same league as Lowrey's product when it comes to the workout program itself.

I will not have the time to put a truly exceptional program together for at least a year, which is a shame, but when I do that will be the most complete thing on the market.

Please do not ask me to, I will not. I would absolutely buy Luke's program if you have the money, you will not be disappointed. If you can't, get Kelly Baggett's program. That won't disappoint you either.

[Eloan]

Thank you!