Plyometric Tuck Jump

Plyometric Tuck Jump

In this lesson you will learn how to do plyometric tuck jumps. The tuck jump is a plyometric body weight exercise, where you from the balls of your feet, tuck and grab your shins in the middle of the air. (like if you were doing a front flip) Then land on the balls of your feet and bounce off the floor without letting the heels touch the ground. This exercise is good for the reactive strength of your calf muscles and the abs. Find more plyometric exercises at track & field main.

Description: Plyometric Tuck Jump

  • Start standing with your feet at less than shoulder width, keep your upper body vertical and look straight forward. The arms are relaxed and the abdominals are slightly contracted. Don't squeeze your abs, but maintain your back straight. (the only way to do this is keeping the abs tight) Inhale before you first jump and bend your knees less than 30 degrees.
  • Jump straight up and swing your arms a little. Extend your entire body and then tuck, shortly before you reach the highest point of the jump. Bring your knees to your chest and touch your shins with both hands. The back must not be hollowed. Try to keep your upper body as upright as possible (slightly rounded) and raise your knees as high as possible. However, only raise your knees until you reach the highest point of the jump. If you can only lift your knees a few inches, that's ok too. Keep in mind that you will need the same amount of time to extend yourself, before you land and bounce off again. Look straight forward or 45° down.
  • Extend yourself again and align your upper body, your knees and your feet vertically. Especially when you land, you should keep your abs tight. Hollowing the back is very bad and can lead to injury. Don't lean forward, don't lean back. Bounce off from the balls of your feet, without bending the knees too much. The heels don't touch the floor.

Trainer advice: Plyometric Tuck Jump

  • Keep the contact to the floor as short as possible.
  • Do 2 or 3 sets of 5 to 15 repetitions per workout.
  • Keep your abs tight and your back straight. Don't hollow.
  • Warm up sufficient and stretch a little between sets and exercises.
  • Don't do too many repetitions. Don't do too many sets. Rest sufficient between sets.
  • Stop immediately if you feel discomfort in your knees or your ankles.
  • Little variations are ok.
    • For example, if you are a gymnast, you can jump with the arms extended overhead, Bring your knees and your hands together, and extend your arms overhead again, before you land on the floor. (a good exercise to improve your front flip)
    • I have also seen people doing combined squat and tuck jumps. The difference between squat and tuck jump is that when you do a squat jump, you jump from a squat position and extend your body when you jump. (rest 2 seconds between the jumps - in the squat position) When you do tuck jumps, you bounce off the floor without going down into the squat position, but bend your legs in the air and bring your knees to your chest. A combination would be jumping from a squat position, bending the legs, and landing in a squat position. Of course you would pause 2 seconds before you do another jump.

Videos: Plyometric Tuck Jump

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