Jump Training for Olympic Weightlifting
If you need to improve your explosiveness for weightlifting, here are my favorite jumping exercises.
Back squat jumps are great for leg power through the squat recovery, but also for power in the snatch and clean.
Concentric quarter squat jumps will focus more on explosiveness in the finish of the pulls and the jerk drive.
Finally, pause vertical jumps, especially with no arm swing, are a good general exercise that’s also effective pre-training or in supersets with squats or the competition lifts.
Throw in one of these exercises in a session 1-3 days/week. Generally I prefer to program jump work on the heavier days with squatting.
All of these can be done for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps
For back squat jumps, load 20-25% of back squat.
For concentric quarter squat jumps, load 50-80% of back squat. Don’t exceed weight that allows you to actually jump—remember, we want power.
You can find more jump exercises—and full length videos with more info on these—in my free library at catalystathletics.com.
Back squat jumps are great for leg power through the squat recovery, but also for power in the snatch and clean.
Concentric quarter squat jumps will focus more on explosiveness in the finish of the pulls and the jerk drive.
Finally, pause vertical jumps, especially with no arm swing, are a good general exercise that’s also effective pre-training or in supersets with squats or the competition lifts.
Throw in one of these exercises in a session 1-3 days/week. Generally I prefer to program jump work on the heavier days with squatting.
All of these can be done for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps
For back squat jumps, load 20-25% of back squat.
For concentric quarter squat jumps, load 50-80% of back squat. Don’t exceed weight that allows you to actually jump—remember, we want power.
You can find more jump exercises—and full length videos with more info on these—in my free library at catalystathletics.com.
