Get a Jump on Fitness

Want to ride faster? Jump higher? Hit the gym, dude

If you’re like most MUSCLE & FITNESS readers, you don’t exercise just to look good. Your gym time also transfers over into your other activities, such as pickup basketball, flag football, softball or mountain hiking. It’s likely that you notice the edge you have over your buddies who participate in the same activities as you but don’t hit the gym regularly. And while routine strength training gives you a distinct advantage, throwing in some exercises you don’t usually see performed in your local gym can up that advantage even more. New research from the U.S. Olympic Training Center (Colorado Springs, Colorado) shows that while typical strength moves like the squat are associated with better athletic performance measures, Olympic weightlifting movements – the clean and jerk and the snatch – have an even higher correlation.

Gold-Medal Science

The U.S. Olympic scientists tested 64 national-level Olympic weightlifters for their ability to jump vertically. The higher an athlete can jump, the better his or her athletic performance tends to be in most sports. The researchers then compared the athletes’ jumping ability to their maximal strength in the squat, the clean and jerk and the snatch. The study found that while the athletes’ squat strength was closely related to their jumping ability, their strength in the snatch and the clean and jerk – two explosive movements – reflected their jumping ability even more accurately.

JUMP STREET

BY TIM SCHEETT, PHD

Copyright Weider Publications Feb 2005