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What I Should Add (but Haven’t)

Blog| ByChris Korfist

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Box Jump

When SimpliFaster asked me to contribute to their new “What I’ve added/What I’ve dropped” series, I was very interested. I know the clickbait these days is to take an “expert” (someone who has been correct three times in a row) and ask where they were wrong or what has stayed with them over a period of time. But I am going to put my own twist on this and discuss an exercise that I know is good…one that I don’t use often enough but should.

The Jerk Jump

Tony Holler always asks, “What are some exercises that good sprinters are good at, and slow sprinters are not good at performing?” So simply, an exercise that can indicate if someone is fast.

Single-leg isometric strength is always a start, but another one is what I call a jerk jump. A jerk jump is where an athlete pushes their butt backward while keeping a rigid spine and quickly explodes their hips forward, resulting in propulsion in the air. Ideally, the hamstrings are the muscle group that creates that propulsion. An athlete who lacks spinal co-contraction strength (or rigidity) will allow the spine to curve or even extend the body.

The funny thing about watching people exercise for 30 years is you start to notice the smaller things. For example, you start to recognize compensation patterns.

In most cases, an athlete who cannot control their spine will often use the spine to drive because that is the first extensor in the chain. And if that gets the job done, we never really get to the power muscles of the hip and thigh. This lack of stiffness will come out in their gait pattern as well: they will have a bob to their gait and, again, can never stabilize. This is why I am overly cautious about using a back squat as a general strength developer for my younger athletes. Far too often, I see athletes who  are uncomfortable with a bar on their back use their spine to initiate the movement of the bar.

The jerk jump is a great basic exercise where we can teach spinal stabilization, says @korfist. Share on X

Anyway, the jerk jump is a great basic exercise where we can teach that spinal stabilization. A good starting point would be:

  • Have your athlete stand one foot length away from a wall.
  • Grab a PVC pipe to hold along their spine so they can feel how much their spine curves when they push their butt back to the wall.


Video 1. PVC Stabilization

Video 2. PVC Overhead

It is easy to coach, because the spine will look like the St. Louis Arch under the pipe when they reach back. They will feel the abs doing much of the work once they get the movement down. Really focus on the thoracic and cervical areas. The next stage would be arms crossed and then arms straight overhead. Then, increase the velocity at which the movement happens.


Video 3. Arms Crossed Stabilization

Video 4. Arms Crossed Short Jerk Jump

Once at a good speed, put one foot on the wall. Or steal from John Pryor’s SPP app or Frans Bosch’s FBS app—add a water bag and a twist. (Quick hint for the older coaches out there: Life gets better with improved thoracic mobility. Add in some mid trap work with some RPR and feel 20 again.)

After you can control and stabilize the spine, you can add the jump aspect to the exercise. Once loaded in the back position, athletes should thrust their hips far forward and use that thrust to propel their body up at a 45-degree angle. The better an athlete gets at the exercise, the faster they can push back and snap up.

It is the fast pre-stretch of the hamstrings that I am looking for to develop that snap. The exercise will eventually lead to a single-leg jerk jump (although I’ve never felt my athletes were ready for that move). My really fast guys, sub 10.7, were jumping up to a 36-inch box. My slow guys couldn’t even keep their spine in place.


Video 5. Jerk Jump

Why did I get away from the exercise? Good question.

For one, it is hard for me to measure: I can’t do straight Just Jump mat testing for height, and for distance it becomes more of a broad jump. I get leery when we start chasing numbers and throw form out the window. Anyway, I hope some of you can give me some good ideas on how I can do a better job with this great exercise.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF


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Chris Korfist

Chris Korfist has been a high school coach in track and football for almost 30 years, with more than 80 All-State athletes. He has also been a strength coach at the college and high school levels, working with many sports. Korfist owns a private facility called Slow Guy Speed School that helps develop athletes ranging from World Champion to middle school. He has consulted with professional sports teams all over the world, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Rugby League.

Korfist has published research on sprint training and is an advisor for Auckland University of Technology’s SPRINZ. Additionally, he co-owns Track Football Consortium (@TFConsortium), is co-founder of Reflexive Performance Reset, and has discussed training in countless blogs and podcasts.

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