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HERE'S A QUESTION I GOT ASKED VIA MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL - REFERENCING DROP JUMPS AND THE VIDEO LINKED IN THIS POST. I have a question. If an athlete has a vertical of say 80cm what is the purpose of doing drop jump from a height substantially lower than its max since i can easily match those height by just jumping? But can the athlete with a counter-movement and very quickly with little knee bend? Drop jumps are primarily designed to improve rate of force development. Although the athlete may be able to jump 80m vertically quickly ... it's unlikely to be as quick as the time taken to take-off for the long jump 1100ms or from a lower height drop jump... drop jumps were designed to optimally develop that capacity by the former Soviets and they came up with designated jump heights for speed v strength (if I recall it was 70cm for speed and 1.10m for strength). Also, even with a good vertical jump a person might have trouble running from a 10 step approach and doing two hops and a jump, for example. The rate of force development and the single leg nature of the activity would likely be the issue. I hope my answer helps explain the rationale. Having a good vertical would provide a useful foundation for more specific long jump plyometric work, for example.
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You may be wondering what all the fuss about forefoot striking is and why Muscle Runners can make you a faster more powerful athlete. Let me explain why. Some of the fastest runners in the world are Kenyan – and in particular those from the Kalenjin tribe. These guys and girls can shift - whether at the Olympic Games or when running miles daily as their young people do to get to school. What all these Kalenjins tend to have in common is a forefoot running action – and of course a great CV engine! Research shows that at speeds of 4.32min/mile pace that only 9% of Kalenjins use a rear-foot strike. And to further showcase how these guys like to be on the forefoot these Kenyans preferred a forefoot strike even at slower speeds. When analysed their forefoot running speed ranged from 4.28min to 11.11min mile pace. Forefoot running should be a must for us all Forefoot striking is natural for these very talented runners, it makes them faster, and it will do this for all of us. Forefoot running turns our legs into natural springs The foot and in particular the arch are better able to return impact forces from foot-strike and turn these into propulsive forces. You’ll get what the sports scientist call: better triple extension and develop greater leg stiffness. And regarding the latter it’s not the stiffness you might feel after a tough weights workout but the stiffness that creates greater reactivity. Your legs will produce and develop over time more “ping”. You will additionally improve your performance economy. And this is where Muscle Runners come in. With their negative heel drop (8mm-10mm dependent on size) they will guide your foot naturally into making forefoot strike after forefoot strike. The dual density carbon plate will increase energy return and energise toe-off. We really are all forefoot strikers Really, yes really! We are human engineered to prefer a forefoot strike. It’s just that for the last couple of hundred years modern shoe designs by protecting our feet have literally put us on the back-foot and unprotected our feet in many ways. Heels are built up and the sole is thin – the reverse of the Muscle Runners. Most contemporary running shoes are well-cushioned and for many years their stacked heel cushioning encouraged not unnaturally (well, actually unnaturally!) a heel-led foot strike. Runners felt protected and could drop back onto their heels. The jog would be a plod and often backs and knees would begin to complain. Greater impact forces would need to be dealt with. A Simple test Take your shoes off - and as long as the underfoot conditions are safe to do so – run 20-30m. You should find that you run on your forefeet and don’t want to let your heels touch the ground. Now, and I don’t suggest you try it - but if you did let your heels strike first – you’d not like it! You’d get a shock wave running through your legs radiating into your spine. Forefoot running help to keep more momentum going forwards. It also helps convert the inevitable vertical impact running forces into horizontal ones with a much more controlled conversion. And this is where Muscle Runners add that extra push. They’ll keep you moving forwards from forefoot toe-off to forefoot toe-off and those carbon plates will give you that extra energy. In future posts I’ll show you among others topics; how to develop greater power, improved running form, and become a sprinter with your trusted Muscle Runner. SEE MY REVIEW BELOW: Lockdown ushered in many new ways of working, one of them was a move to on-line video communication. Love it or hate it Zoom meetings were the order of the day for many of us. Now, virtual face to face contact is normal. Last week I coached jumpers in Serbia, Hungary, Switzerland and Australia on-line! I’m often asked how this works - can you really coach on-line? Is is possible to do technical sessions and gauge speed, see movement with clarity?? Well. It does work pretty well with some caveats. Here’s what I’ve learnt. It’s best to have either another person doing the filming or use one of the tracking gimbles such as xBotgo. This means that the jumper is tracked which makes it easier to gauge speed and actually “follow” what’s going on. Failing that the jumper wants a tripod. It’s not the best idea to prop your phone up on a water bottle. Where possible you want the camera to be near to the viewing angle you’d have if you were actually there coaching Ie. near eye-level. That connects with your coaching brain even if you are hundreds of miles away. The other contribution to an improved coaching set-up is immediate vocal feedback. We have experimented with the jumper wearing headphones and this has also been a boon as you can really communicate in real-time. Having said that I have been surprised by the ability to hear the jumper via the phone’s inbuilt microphone and speaker. The latest models have really great audio, so even if you have to wait for the jumper to get close enough to the phone’s microphone it’s not as much as a problem as you might think. What however can be a problem is intermittent internet … Experimentation I’ve experimented with Facebook messenger and WhatsApp video calling … although it’s really the quality of the 4G or 5G network that matters I’ve found the latter to work the best. Yes, you do get the occasional blurring but I’d say 90% of the time video quality is good enough. What I often do is film my desktop screen as this makes it much easier to analyse a jump. Other tips: it’s a lot easier if you have also physically coached the jumper as you will have much more of a 3D picture of them and their qualities. I have often had to ask how tall an athlete is for example when I’ve not met them in person. However, you pick it up and usually I can see if the jumper is running faster or moving better - as you would in person. Some of it also comes down to coaching feel and intuition - as would be the case when also coaching in person. So, yes you can coach on-line and it opens up huge opportunities for coaches and athletes. I travel the world to coach from my office chair. I travel the world to coach from my office chair. If you love the sport then it’s wonderful to be in different places and see and hear and work with jumpers who in the past you’d have never had the chance to. In my squad I’ve jumpers from Hungary, Switzerland, Turkey and the US. I find that quite amazing. I travel the world to coach from my office chair. If you love the sport then it’s wonderful to be in different places and see and hear and work with jumpers who in the past you’d have never had the chance to. In a future post I’ll talk about how you actually gain on-line athletes to coach and also other ways to coach on-line. In the video below you'll see some recent on-line coaching examples. Quality does vary but consider that this is 1: via the 4/5G network, sent to WhatsApp and then filmed by my phone from my computer. THOUGHTS ON HURDLE JUMPING & BLOCKING JUMPS If you want to sprint faster or jump further then you need to do plyometrics. Here are two jump exercises (the blocking version is not strictly speaking a plyo - as it only emphasises the braking part of a jump. This is the element which includes the isometric and eccentric part of the plyometric "stretch” before the concentric “reflex"). Hurdle Jumps I only use hurdle jump occasionally in our training. This does not mean that they don't have a value. What is important is to focus on - as with all plyometrics (within reason) - is speed of contact. The jumper does not want to spend too much time on the ground. This can be an issue with prolonged use of hurdle jumping. You may want to lower the height of the hurdles so that the ground contact speed increases. A combination of lower to higher hurdles can help with this - but potentially higher to lower in sequence could be a better option. There are also other options, for example, including a drop jump take-off between each hurdle (more in another post). Or just using lower hurdles and really monitoring contact time… Periodisation and Ground Contact Time It's possible to periodise hurdle jumping. This is something that the elite Chinese jumpers do, for example. So, despite being 8m and 17m male long and triple jumpers respectively as examples, they may jump over much lower hurdles than expected. They also start the training year with higher hurdles and slower contacts and reduce hurdle height and speed the contacts up as the competition season approach, The contact time on the long jump board for the take-off is around 1100 milliseconds. Ground contact time for a hurdle jump can be much quicker 1300ms-1600ms. Also hurdle jumps can be doubled-footed and of course the long jump take-off requires a single contact. It is important to try to be as specific as possible with your jump and sprints training - within reason. Occasional sessions of less specific work won't do harm i.e. impair performance in the long-term. I'm referring here to the main body of your training - as of course there will be other activities that can be included in a training programme which are not directly related to jump performance - weight training, for example, being another. It's the core drivers of your training programme which matter. Blocking Jumps The key with blocking jumps (as shown in the video) is to stop the downward movement (acceleration) as quickly as possible. Also with minimised knee-bend. In the video Bora is bending her knees a little too much and cushioning the impact. Much research has shown that improvements in eccentric ability improve take-off/take-offs and energy return for the long and the triple jump. 
In this video from my YouTube channel I discuss peaking i.e. when an athlete will have their best years - not a seasonal performance peak or peaks.
There's also a focus on Jonathan Edwards the current world triple jump record holder whose record was set over well two decades ago. Edwards was very much a late developer breaking the world record when he was 29 years of age, for example, and still jumping close to 18m at 35. I provide much information on him and to this extent I must reference the excellent book Triple Jump Trail Blazers The book tells the story of the triple jump from the first Olympic Games and focusses on all the key players male and female in the development of the event including the world record holders. It really is a great read and one which lovers of track and field and the jumps will appreciate. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BOOK CLICK HERE Video Timeline: 0.00min Intro When will you be at your peak for long and triple jump? The majority of the world's best will be in their mid-late twenties - but of course there will be exceptions 0.23min Research indicates that it is possible to jump big at young ages Jumps have more outstanding performers 0.42sec For the majority it takes time You have to work on the talent you have"Very few elite u17 and u20 athletes will go onto win World/Olympic medals" 0.55min The coming together of factors that will enable you to reach peak performance Training environment, coach, training group, facility, family support. I say to my young athletes it's a developmental journey. You won't (normally) jump really far until you are in your mid twenties 1.40min Doing the training which is right for you I have a proven training method with young (and older athletes). Data shows that jumpers who show speedy progress in their latter teenage years will often develop into really talented jumpers 2.40min Jonathan Edwards focus Went from 16.01m at 23 to 18.29 at 29. He jumped 17.92m at 35! Checkout Triple Jump TrailBlazers book 4.28min Jumping well into the late twenties and beyond A focus on Paul - one of my squad members - who now 35 has jumped over 7.50m nearly every year since the age of 23. He is a great example of how to train diligently and "professionally" I talk about using a "less is more" approach and of not thinking that doing more will actually help. Tap into all those years of prior training and be smart with your choices and ensure optimum rest and recovery to minimise injury. Checkout the recentTrack & Field Performance podcast by Colm Bourke featuring Boo Schexnayder Which talks about training approach and more for older athletes too 5.44min Summing up Please subscribe to the channel   In this video I provide you with some information on how to best condition jumping with jumps! There is a focus on the triple jump but the info will be applicable to the long jump and to sprinting.
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