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Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:35 pm

 
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Master Masters Athlete
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:24 am
Posts: 202
Location: Utrecht (Netherlands)

Interesting stuff Dave! Can you give an impression of the weights you use yourself with these exercises?

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regards, Weia



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Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:34 pm

 
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Junior Masters Athlete
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:14 pm
Posts: 2
Location: Bakersfield, CA

Weia,

To give you an idea of my size, I am 5'10" tall and weight 165lbs (75kg).

I always start the one leg squats with just the bar (an Olympic bar - 45 lbs) when I begin training for the season. It helps me to get used to balancing and perfecting my form on one leg as I go up and down. A common mistake is to keep your feet in a line during the one leg squat, rather than keeping the same shoulder width distance that you use in normal squats.

After the first week, I begin using 95lbs for 1 set of 9 reps. I then do a set of 7 reps with 105lbs. I finish with 4 or 5 sets of 5 reps with 115lbs.

I usually add 10 lbs a week to the weights I was using the previous week.
So for the second week, the poundage for the sets would be 105lbs, 115lbs, and 125lbs.

I usually stop adding weight when I reach my body weight for the intial set of 9 reps. That makes the 7 rep set with 175lbs and the 5 rep set with 185lbs.

I always follow the one leg squats with the one leg vertical jumps (usually five sets of 10 jumps). I have read where the arm thrust is responsible for up to 40% of the vertical height achieved in normal double leg jumps, so I emphasize an explosive double arm thrust. Sometimes I even wear wrist weights during this exercise.

When I do some two leg squats later in the season, I might use 225lbs. I descend slowly and explode upward - rising and extending to the balls of my feet at the top. Maurice Greene, the former world record holder in the 100m, used this exercise for explosive starts and leg strength - but he would pause for several seconds at the bottom before he rose. To condition fast-fast twitch muscle fiber that is needed in jumping, you must condition the fibers with the faster/more explosive movements in your strength training.

I basically consider myself a horizontal jumper. Back in the M45-49 age group, my performances had hit a plateau until I tried this type of training. A couple of months after trying this type of training, I improved about 18" in the TJ and broke the M45 world record for the TJ (Willie Banks broke it shortly thereafter, though!). This training has worked for me, hope it can help you too. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Good luck,
Dave Quick



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Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:28 am

 
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Senior Masters Athlete
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:24 am
Posts: 18

notre_dave wrote:
When I jumped in college, I used heavy free weights to strengthen my legs. Since my lower back was fused about 12 years ago, I can't put heavy weight on my shoulders. When I tried to use machines to strengthen my legs (to save my back), my hamstrings became weak - while my quads got strong. The machine leg presses had given me a muscle imbalance and I had some hamstring pulls for the first time in my life. Free weights make all of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons of your legs and knees synergistically balance the weight as you move up and down. So, I went back to using free weights - but used lighter weights and had great results.

I do lots of single leg strength training because it more closely simulates the actual single leg jumping actions during the vertical and horizontal jumps. After all, we jump off one leg at a time. You don't have to use heavier weights which might compromise the back. Two of the single leg exercises I do are:

One leg squats. After putting the bar on my shoulders, I step forward ~ 24-30 inches from my bench with one foot - and put the other foot back on top of the bench for balance. I go up and down in the typical two leg squat motion. Start out very light (maybe only using the bar) because it is hard to balance - until you get used to doing this lift. Make sure that your knee is not going past your toes when you are going down - so you don't strain the patellar tendon below your knee.

One leg vertical jumps - Step forward with one foot - put the ball of the other foot back on top of the bench. Lower yourself down and explode upward (I use a double arm action). You land on that same foot and immediately explode back up again. I do 10 jumps in one set. Again, make sure that your knee is not going out past you toes as you descend on each jump.

Since all the muscles, ligaments, and tendons are more engaged (than in the two-legged squat, leg presses, etc.) in single leg movements, your legs become sore in areas that wouldn't normally get sore. Physical therapists usually work joints independently to engage and strengthen all of the ligaments and tendons that support the joint.

I also do some explosive two leg squats with a lighter weight - using no more than 2/3 of the weight I would use on heavier full squats. I descend slowly and rise rapidly in an explosive manner.

Dave Quick
M51 jumps


You are right. The single leg excercises you describe or single leg box or depth jumps are very effective, but tend to be too difficult for most of the people. You need a fairly solid strength base before you can do them safely and efficiently. However, if you can do them - go for it. Milan



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Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:27 am

 
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Master Masters Athlete
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:27 pm
Posts: 105

Those one legged squats are sometimes called Bulgarian split squats.
Google that and there is a lot of video to see how they are done.



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