Develop Explosiveness With Jacob Harman
Explosive power is a key trait that is needed in all power sports and wrestling is no exception. The ability to explode into a takedown, either from space, in the clinch or in a scramble can be the difference between you getting a takedown or you being taken down. Being explosive can also help you explode out of a bad position if you ever find yourself in one.
It’s important to have the ability to be explosive in both your upper and lower body so you can push off and explode from anywhere. If you, for whatever reason, need to focus on being more explosive in one part of the body, it is overall more important to have an explosive lower body. For the most part when you think of an explosive movement, all the power comes from the legs.
Whether it’s shooting for takedowns or putting your hips in position for a hip toss, the legs are where you explode from. That’s why you need to train the explosiveness in your legs and luckily there are plenty of ways to do this, even without equipment like weights. One of the best ways to train your explosiveness only using your own body weight is simply by jumping.
In this video, Coach Jacob Harman goes over a set of jump progression that he uses with his athletes to develop their lower body strength and explosiveness. These progressions are all very simple and easy to do, even without having a coach.
The first jumping exercise that Coach Harman goes over starts with the athlete in a kneeling position. From this position on the floor, Coach Harman has his athlete explode to their feet and then immediately go into a broad jump. After completing the broad jump the athlete will return to the beginning kneeling position and then go into another rep.
The second jumping exercise that Coach Harman has his athlete displays starts with the athlete on their feet in a deep squat. From there the athlete will hop forward without much height, what Harman calls a duck jump. This exercise is also known as a frog jump. The athlete will duck jump for two hops. When the athlete hits the ground on the second hop, they will explode upwards reaching as high up above them as they can. After reaching as high as they can, the athlete will return to the starting position and proceed into another full rep.
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The third and final exercise that is shown in this video is the simplest of all. This exercise is a very simple stand broad or long jump, whichever you prefer to call it. Just make sure after you land that you immediately go into the next rep. This doesn’t mean rush, as you should complete a landing and have a solid base under your before you start the next rep. You just want to make sure you regain your footing as fast as possible.
Make sure that when you are doing any of these exercises that you aren’t rushing through them. Explosive exercises like jumps are great for building explosive power but also carry a high risk of danger. If you rush through the reps you increase the risk of injuries like rolling your ankle of superficial damage like cuts. For this reason it’s best to stick to a padded area like a gym floor or mats when doing these exercises.
Also keep in mind that these exercises are meant to build explosiveness and strength both on the jump and on the landing. For this reason you should keep the reps you do of each exercise low and have plenty of rest between sets. If you do too many reps or don't have enough of a break between sets you will start to train your endurance more than your explosiveness, which is not the point of these exercises.
If you liked this set of exercises and want to learn more from coach Jacob Harman, then you should check out his complete video series “The Basic Building Blocks of Wrestling” available exclusively on Fanatic Wrestling!