Muscles used in jumps...?

[Liz66]

Hi Cathe,

I want to be a little 'lighter' on my feet when doing things like jumping with both feet onto the step (as in Drill Max). I sound like a herd of elephants!!! Do I need to work on core strength? Leg strength? It just seems a bit of a struggle to do jumps like that (even though it was easy as a kid!) and I'd like to learn how to improve.

Thank you!
Liz

 

[chefkate]

I would love to know this one too!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Liz! Don't be TOO hard on yourself. We are all born with our own genetic blueprint that contains a mix of slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers. These are the muscle fibers that are mainly responsible for how high we can jump, how fast we can run (fast twitch), or how long and far we can go (slow twitch). So as you can see slow twitch is more endurance based while fast twitch is more explosive and sprinter based. While we all have a compatable mix of these fibers, it is also quite common for us to have a little more of one that the other. If you find yourself naturally excelling in long distance running vs a 50 yard dash, chances are you have more slow twitch fiber in your blueprint.

It sounds as if you may lean toward having more slow twitch muscle fiber which simply means that you will probably have to work a little harder than someone who naturally has more fast twitch to do those jumps. Not to worry, this doesn't make you any more or less fit, just needing to train with a little more focus and determination when it comes to fast twitch demanding activities.

To get better at jumping movements, try applying the concept of specificity training. All that means is in order to become better at a particular exercise or skill, you must perform that specific exercise or skill on a regular basis for adaptation and greater ease to follow.

Good luck and keep it fun!

 

[Liz66]

Thank you for this wonderful information! You're right - I definitely lean towards slow twitch. I could run forever, just not very fast! =]

So, my new goal is to jump more! (I have lots of joy, so I have something to jump about!)

Thanks again, Cathe!

Best,
Liz

 

[kathryn]

Hi, Liz!
I'm a lots-of-slow-twitch-muscle gal myself. There's no way I can do a tuck jump that looks much like what Cathe does! But I have found that it's not necessary to do so to get a good benefit from plyometric moves. Just be sure to bend your knees well when you land, so that your muscles absorb the impact rather than the joints. Women athletes statistically have more knee injuries than male athletes, primarily because of the way they land (with a straighter leg). So while you're practicing those jumps, be sure to keep that in mind.

Also, I sometimes break down moves that I can't do 'as-is' into their components and work on one or two of them instead of all of them. For example, plyo lunges work on foot switching for lunging, depth and speed of movement. You can take out speed and do them 1/2 time at the same depth. Or take out depth and do the move more shallow. Or take out the foot switching and keep one foot forward for 1/2 of way through before switching.