6 Best Leg Exercises to Train Your Muscles for Long Jump

Your success in sports like track and field, volleyball and basketball can get boosted if you can jump higher. Additionally, you'll develop power, balance and agility, which will help with all your motions, both athletic and functional.

For long jump, you need to combine strength training with power exercises.

You may increase the efficiency of your long jump by performing a variety of activities. Read on to find out more.

How to Improve your Long Jump with Exercises

Jumping is most effective when lower body muscles like quads and hamstrings are engaged.

Slower strength exercises like leg presses or bodyweight exercises like squats and lunges can be used to train these muscles and others that support them. However, explosive plyometric activities must be incorporated if you want to increase your leaping ability.

Here’s a list of six exercises you must incorporate into your routine to improve your ability to do long jump:

1) Jumping Jack

By strengthening your lower body, plyometric exercises like jumping jacks can help you enhance your long jump. They also cause your heart rate to increase while forcing your body out of its natural motion.

Here’s how to do it:

Your arms should be by your side while you stand with your feet hip-width apart.
Jump up, and distance your feet.
Raise your hands overhead so that your palms are almost touching.
Return to the starting position by jumping.
Perform two to five sets of 10-20 repetitions.

2) Box Jump

A simple box jump can boost your ability to do long jump and keep your heart rate up. If you want to make things more difficult, you can adjust the height of the box.

Here’s how to do it:

Put your feet shoulder-width apart, and begin by standing in front of the platform.
Moving your arms behind you after sinking without arching your back, almost into a squatting position
As you rocket upward and forward, swing your arms forward to help you balance and gain velocity.
With both feet, gently touch the box. Both before and after the jump, your knees must be slightly bent.
Reverse the movement to return to the starting position.

3) Jump Rope

The fundamental jump rope movement consists of several vertical hops. Additionally, lateral jumps can be used to increase your ability to jump in various directions, which is crucial if you want to enhance your long jump and overall performance.

Here’s how to do it:

Start by standing with the middle of the jump rope on the floor behind your heels.
Hold the handles of the rope on either side at an equal distance from your midline.
Swing the rope over your head, and dive off the edge just before it touches your feet.

4) Burpee

Burpees mix the arm and chest exercises of a push-up with the lower body workout of a squat.

Here’s how to do it:

Your feet should be shoulder-width apart; body should be facing forward with your back straight, and knees should be flexed so that your thighs are parallel to the ground.
Put your hands inside your feet in front of you.
Kick your legs out behind you into a push-up posture while leaning forward till your weight is on your hands.
While performing a push-up, keep your butt down andback straight.
Once your feet are essentially back to the starting position by lifting and kicking them forward, get ready to stand up.
Get up to your feet, and raise your arms in the air before launching up into a jump.
Return to a sitting position by softly landing and lowering yourself.

5) Bulgarian Split Squat

The Bulgarian split squat is a terrific workout for targeting unequal muscle development or depleting your muscles before you finish your practice. It's performed solely on one leg from the outset and is a great exercise to improve your muscle strength and enhance your ability to do long jump.

Here’s how to do it:

Put one leg behind you, with the foot resting on the elevated platform of your choice, as you stand in front of it.
Your forward leg should now be in charge of bearing your entire body weight.
As you would in a standard squat, bring your butt down till the thigh of your lead leg is parallel to the ground.
Recover to the starting position by driving through the leading foot.
To maintain equivalence in strength, make sure to perform the same number of reps on each leg.

6) Tuck Jump

If you don't have access to any other equipment, this bodyweight exercise is fabulous for developing lower body strength required for long jump.

Here’s how to do it:

Step out, and stand with your feet roughly hip-width apart.
To prepare for the jump, extend your arms in front of you at shoulder height with your elbows flexed and palms facing the ground.
Burst upwards, and raise your knees till they make contact with your hands just before you squat as low as you would do normally.
Without arching your back or adjusting your hand level, let your legs fall.
Gently land to complete one rep.

Takeaway

Jumping power is useful for spiking and dunking, but it also has many benefits that aren't related to sports. For starters, walking, running, lifting and pivoting all use the same muscles that are utilised for long jump. An appropriate distribution of plyometric and strength training exercises is the way to developing jump strength.

Edited by Bhargav