Speed and Jumping Drills Used by NFL Football Players
The #1 Exercise to Build Your Jump and Speed
How much you can squat is one of the top predictors of vertical jump, speed, and overall athleticism for any sport.
Here are 5 ways you can increase this ability.
1. Deadlift
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a loaded barbell on the floor in front of you. Bend
at the knees and grab the bar with an overhand grip, just outside your legs. Keeping your back straight, stand up with the bar, driving your hips and glutes forward. Now lower the bar to the floor and stand up without it. Then repeat the move so that for each rep, you start with the bar on the floor.
2. Diagonal Chop
Hold a 6- to 8-pound medicine ball or plate in front of your chest and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Pivot on your right foot and rotate 90 degrees to the right, while raising the ball up and to the right. Make sure to keep your left knee aligned with your toes to prevent it from twisting. Next, pivot on your left foot and bring the ball down toward that foot. That’s one repetition.
Do 10 reps, then switch sides.
3. Vertical Chop
Raise a 6- to 8-pound medicine ball straight above your head and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Chop down between your legs with the medicine ball, but don’t let it touch the floor. Keep your hips, knees, and feet aligned as you would for a squat. Do 10 to 12 repetitions.
4. Reaching Lunge Chop To Overhead Reach
Stand holding a medicine ball over your head with your arms straight. Lunge forward and bring the ball to the instep of your front foot. Pause when your back knee is about an inch off the floor, then
push back to the starting position. Do a set of 10 reps with one leg before lunging with the other.
5. Swiss-Ball Russian Twist
Lie with your shoulder blades and head on a Swiss ball and your feet flat on the floor. Hold your arms straight above you and clasp your hands together. Slowly rotate your shoulders to the left until your arms are roughly parallel to the floor. Pause, then rotate to the right. Do two sets of 15 repetitions.