Body Weight Vertical Jump Training Exercises – 1 leg squats

Body weight vertical jump training – The one leg squat.

The one leg squat is an excellent alternative to traditional squatting. It is an excellent way to increase general strength, and can be done with no additional loading to the spine.

Another excellent advantage of the one leg squat is that variations can be done that involve no deceleration, which is one downfall of traditional squats! Deceleration is simply the slowing down at the top of the movement, which can be risky with the traditional squat because of the load of the spine. With the one leg squat you can actually explode out of the movement, which is better CNS (central nervous system) conditioning.

A correct squat will mainly target nearly the entire leg, which an main focus on the quads, and glutes when done correctly. Quads and glutes are highly made up of fast twitch fibers, and will greatly increase your ability to contract at very high speeds.

A 1 leg squat can be extremely difficult. In fact most of you will have to begin with variations, and increase your strength levels until you can perform a full one leg squat. Here is how to do a full 1 leg pistol squat:

Tips for properly executing the one leg pistol squat:

1. If you are not strong enough to do this yet (likely) you can start by sitting down in a chair with one leg. Be sure and keep the hip movement and thrust involved in the movement as much as possible to involve the glutes. Gradually lower the height of the chair until you can perform the full movement.

2. Practice only the lowering or negative portion, then stand backup and repeat the lowering again.

3. The focus is not on fatigue, it is on muscle tension. Thus alternating legs to give the other a rest and completing the movement as explosively as possible is recommended.

4. Eliminate the deceleration. Jump out of the one leg squat and land on 2 feet, then switch and repeat. Eventually, you should try exploding from one leg to another and repeating the exercise. This transfers best to the actual vertical jump.

5. Once you can complete step (4) for 8 reps each leg you can start by adding light dumbbells or a backpack full of items; water bottles, canned goods, little brothers …

A few words of caution:

If you have a history of knee problems you will want to ease into this at best. With only one leg supporting your weight too much wobble can be rough on the knee joint. Start by using a pole, couch, friend to steady yourself. As you build more strength, you should be able to complete the lift with greater stability.

Conclusion:

The one leg lift is an excellent variation of the squat. Properly executed you can involve the glutes and hams, eliminate deceleration, and with a little creativity (backpack etc..) build the strength needed to maximize your vertical jump (in cooperation with other exercises).

Category: vertical-jump-training-exercises
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