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Bonus Exercises

Medicine Ball Exercise 2: Twist Toss

Benefits: The twist toss is useful for people who practice sports that require rotation, such as golf, softball or tennis. It sharpens the rapid cocking countermovement of the torso and trains your core muscles to add power to your swing. It also builds coordination because you must play catch with a partner.

Procedure: Stand a few feet from a partner side-to-side and facing opposite directions. Hold a 9- to 15-pound medicine ball at waist level. Keep your knees slightly bent and feet just wider than shoulder width. Begin by rapidly twisting your torso in the opposite direction that you intend to toss. Abruptly twist toward your partner and throw the ball. Your partner catches the ball and repeats the throw. Begin with gentle throws and gradually work up to more forceful ones. Concentrate on rapid, reactive motions, using your hips to assist your arms. If you don’t have a partner, you can throw the ball against the wall.

Box Exercise 2: Multiple-Response Box Jump

Benefits: This exercise builds upon the skills in the exercise described in the print version of this article, but requires a more coordinated sequence (hence the term “multiple response”).

Procedure: Jump onto the box as you would when doing a single-response box jump, but this time, immediately jump backward to the starting position and repeat the sequence. Concentrate on minimizing contact time with the ground and maintaining good hip projection. “Always land ready to jump again immediately,” says James Radcliffe, head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Oregon in Eugene and coauthor of High-Powered Plyometrics (Human Kinetics, 1999). “This cushions the landing using the natural tension of the muscles.”

Hurdle Exercise 2: Double-Leg Hop

Benefits: This exercise develops proper takeoff and landing mechanisms and requires you to maintain form over several barriers. It also emphasizes a strong, quick knee lift — necessary for developing quickness. Hopping over a cone or hurdle forces you to lift your legs up and over the barrier.

Procedure: Stand with three to five hurdles in front of you, spaced about 3 feet apart. Assume a relaxed position with arms at your sides and knees slightly bent. Squat slightly and then explode into a quick countermovement jump, fully extending the hips to attain maximum height. As soon as you become airborne, tuck your knees and heels toward your torso as you clear the hurdle or cone and drop them back down as you prepare to land with full-foot contact. Pause briefly to reset in the original position and continue over the rest of the hurdles. As you become more adept, you can reduce the pause between landing and jumping until it becomes almost instantaneous.