Creating an Explosive Lower Body

[Andystal03]

Right now I'm sitting here with a bum ankle and shin looking to clean up my workout. I've gotten a little sloppy lately, not particularly paying attention to reps but waiting for the burn.

Height: 6'1
Weight: 205lbs
Max Bench: 200-210lbs
Max Squat: 250-260

What I'm looking for is a way to be more explosive on my feet for quick moving and jumping. With doing so, my vertical should obviously increase as well.

Currently, I'm fairly clueless as to what workouts I should look at to help build this. I have heard of Jump Squats, Box Squats but am unfamiliar with how they work or any other workouts.

Lately I have been doing something similar for my workout:

Squat: 3x6 - 175, 185, 195
Sled Calf Raises: 3x25 - 405lbs
Step Ups: 3x10 - Holding 20lbs

I cut Leg Press out of there cus it was hurting my knees. Also, I realize no Deadlifts in there. Never had anyone show me how to do them, nor do I usually see anyone doing them

My cardio has been either jogging, bike, some cardio machine or just basketball in general.

 

[ExtraMile]

Alot of olympic lifts will give you explosive power from the floor if your interested.

And deadlifts? Watch these:

Deadlift and stiff-legged deadlift
YouTube - Strength Training & Workout Tips : Dead Lift Fitness Exercises

 

[Jocques Straap]

to become explosive, one must train explosive. A start would be to concentrate on lifting as quickly as possible during the explosive(concentric) phase of any exercise.

Why do you want to become more explosive?
What sports do you play?
Are you in season, off season? How much time to you have before your season starts?
age?


You numbers show that you are right around the point where you will see great gains from including speed work, and plyos in your program. However since you say you are nursing an ankle,shin and possible knee injury, you probably don't want to get into a intense explosive program now.

If I were in your position, I would concentrate on improving functionally first. Giving your body some time to recover from the injuries you have, as well as working on correcting the muscle/flexibility imbalances that you have. Yes, you do have imbalances, everyone does.

If sprint speed, and vertical leap are important, I would look at my form/technique as well. Very few people/athletes have an ideal gate, taking the time now to fix the big problems in your stride will allow you to continue to progress and not have to back track, or get hurt in the future.

 

[Andystal03]

Well it's for basketball so the reason would be for getting high up and fast. It will also help moving around with and without the ball and being overall quicker.

The ankle is a sprain from a 8-10 weeks ago, maybe longer, that is still slightly swollen. I occasionally have some pain in it but then it goes away within a few minutes. As for the shin, it's just shin splints I believe. I hadn't run for a little over a week, started running in game and took a little kick there I believe. It's no biggy. The knee is okay and has been for awhile. It use to give me problems and still sounds nasty but doesn't hurt.

What do you mean by improving muscle/flexibility imbalances? And how can I go about doing so?

As for the technique, commonly I am told I run flat footed and I know I do. I'm not necessarily looking to improve my raw vertical leap rather than my ability to get off of my feet and high up quickly.

 

[needtogetaas]

to become explosive, one must train explosive. A start would be to concentrate on lifting as quickly as possible during the explosive(concentric) phase of any exercise.

Why do you want to become more explosive?
What sports do you play?
Are you in season, off season? How much time to you have before your season starts?
age?


You numbers show that you are right around the point where you will see great gains from including speed work, and plyos in your program. However since you say you are nursing an ankle,shin and possible knee injury, you probably don't want to get into a intense explosive program now.

If I were in your position, I would concentrate on improving functionally first. Giving your body some time to recover from the injuries you have, as well as working on correcting the muscle/flexibility imbalances that you have. Yes, you do have imbalances, everyone does.

If sprint speed, and vertical leap are important, I would look at my form/technique as well. Very few people/athletes have an ideal gate, taking the time now to fix the big problems in your stride will allow you to continue to progress and not have to back track, or get hurt in the future.

well I like this guy.

 

[[CinnamonBuns]]

plyometrics, olympic lifting, heavy squat work and dynamic squat work all play a roll in getting you some hops

 

[Jocques Straap]

Thanks Needtoo, funny thing is, up until earlier today, I've always read your name as NeedtogetASS. I'm almost half convinced that you just recently changed it to aas.

Sounds to me like you have weak dorsiflexors and most likely tight calves. You probably have a heavy "foot slap" meaning when your running/jogging and you heel comes back down to contact the ground, your lack of flexibility in your ankle and your weak dorsiflexors can't hold your foot up, and your mid foot comes "slapping" down to the ground. People that run like this, typically get shin splints. And are often told that they run flat footed. (your probably also quad dominant and have weak inactive glutes, more reasons to deadlift.)

In basketball, ankle mobility is very important. So start stretching those calves and start strengthening your dorsiflexors.

For your sprint technique, check out this drill here This should help a lot with your technique, plus the girl instructing is cute, and does and awesome job. When running, try to mimic the action seen in this video. Heel stays off the ground, you are slightly leaning forward and driving with your legs, not pulling.

Check out the "Agile 8" thread on this forum. It should be on the first page. It has some good hip mobility exercises and warm up/stretching ideas that are very good for everyone. Although some of them may or may not apply to you, so try them all and drop the ones you find easy and continue to work on the painful/difficult ones.


As far weight training, along with the other exercises mentioned in this thread, step ups, lunge variations, split squats are critical. You spend a lot of time on one leg in basketball, you need to make sure your legs are balanced, and capable of performing on their own, as well as in a pair. Unilateral exercises. - If you aren't comfortable working on one leg, then this should be a priority.


There are tons of videos on youtube demonstrating plyometrics and speed training exercises( I would search for some good ones, but my internet is taking a crap today). Check some of them out, and pick some that have you moving forward, backwards, side to side(laterally), and jumping. Spend your first few sessions working slowly, so you know that your getting the form correct. It's not even worth doing if you aren't doing it right. Then work on building up your speed and moving as quickly as possible.

As far as managing rest and sets, the priority with plyo's is making sure speed doesn't fall. If you are working and you feel your feet slow down, or you aren't jumping as high, then take a minute break or 2, and then start again.


good luck, feel free to ask any more questions you have.

 

[Andystal03]

Dead on with the tight calves and weak dorsiflexion. ESPECIALLY tight calves. Would stretching help that out long term, or would I need to stretch a lot before often to prevent it?

I'll definitely mix in the main heavy lifts with plyo and other lifts. Should I do them on same days, or how should I work my Upper/Core/Lower? I have Mon-Friday to workout so 5 days is plenty of time. I was looking for Plyometrics on youtube, but there are so many random videos with such different things.

Found these: http://www.basketballdailyworld.com/practice/jumping/basketball-plyometrics-free-jumps-and-hops/

I've got what I have used along with a few I wouldn't mind using workouts. I'm just not sure how to incorporate plyometrics in there.

 

[fortunatesun]

The most important thing at this point is to improve your squat to 1.5x body weight. This provides the foundation that will allow you to most efficiently take advantage of explosive lifts and other specific exercises. It will also show you faster immediate results. It's what provides the horsepower that moves your wheels in the first place.

Like JS said, doing exercises that imitate what you want to get good at will be more effective. Running jumps, standing jumps, jumps to a box, depth jumps off a box, standing broad jumps, etc. are all good besides the ones already mentioned. Of course you've got to hold off on high impact because of your ankle.

For deadlift, go to the powerlifting forum and read called article 'The Deadlift'. It will be time well spent.



Here's a

 

[skyflyer231]

This is a good thread.