Building Power with Band-Resisted Broad Jump

When you think of power development you often think of movements such as the clean and snatch. These are fantastic movements that will increase your power, but if your athlete(s) are not at the developmental level to perform those movements or you are looking for some variations that will produce results, then a band-resisted broad jump may just fit the need.

We are all familiar with the broad jump and the vertical jump. Most have been doing forms of this for much of their lives. They both are a great way to measure power in an individual, but particularly the broad jump can be a bit unrelenting on the hip and knee joints. Adding a resistance band decelerates the body, taking some of the pressure off the joints.

4 reasons to love band-resisted jumps:

  1. They allow us to train power with a bit more external loading in planes of motion.
  2. The pull of the band teaches athletes to use their hips. You’ll often find that athletes don’t know how to pre-stretch the glutes prior to power work in these planes. When a band is added, they have to get back into the hips.
  3. Perhaps most importantly, the reduced impact nature of these drills makes them a useful action plan as an athlete recovers from an injury. It is also a useful application for older clients who want to safely train power while sprinting.
  4. With our players, they are great for the early off-season when we want to get back to training power, but don’t want to beat up on the body with vast amounts of stressful deceleration work.

Much like the vertical jump, the broad jump starts from a standing position and essentially tests how far an individual can jump. It may be the best standardized test for pure power, and it’s relatively easy to perform.

How to perform a band-resisted broad jump

  1. Take a light or medium resistance band and wrap it around a peg, pole or have a partner hold the band at waist height. 
  2. Placing the band around your waist, assume an athletic position (chest out, knees slightly bent, feet hip-width apart).
  3. Throw your hands down as quickly as you can and leap forward. 
  4. Be careful when you land, because the band will immediately pull back. Do your best to stick the landing to avoid falling backward.
  5. Try to land in an athletic position with chest high, knees bent, and shoulders back.

Resistance Bands are one of the best “take-it-anywhere” pieces of training equipment one can have, and new uses for them are emerging on a regular basis. The resistance band broad jump is just one such example. I encourage you to play around with these variations and see how they can improve your athletes.

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