I have been talking to a Russian High Jump coach over the last several months. One question I asked him recently was what he thought the role of barbell skips in a high jump athlete’s training program. His answer was that they were a necessity.
Barbell skips are an important exercise for one leg jumpers for several reasons:
- They provide strength development in the specific positions of a single leg jump
- It allows the athlete a chance to work on the pulling action of the takeoff leg and the parallel knee drive of the jump motion in a slower and more controlled exercise than doing fast skips or jumps
- Barbell skips can be performed with a variety of resistances, and the focus can be on either speed or force development.
- Placing the bar on the back puts the athlete in a position where posture is emphasized as well as an emphasis on what the lower body is doing.
Here is a video of the exercise being performed. I would recommend the bar alone for beginner level athletes and up to 155lbs/70kg for elite athletes.
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