Build Game-Breaking Speed With This Exercise

I love the Front Squat Position Walking Lunge for any athlete who wants to build game-breaking speed. It reinforces hip explosiveness, strengthens the legs, engages the core and even builds the upper body. Since it requires a combination of mobility, static stability and dynamic stability to perform correctly, it trains the body to work as a whole. And as a “dynamic correspondence exercise,” the Front Squat Position Walking Lunge trains you for your sport by simulating the muscle movements you make on the field.

Whether you want to gain a step on the cornerback, steal more bases or skate down the ice faster, you should add the Front Squat Position Walking Lunge to your training. Learn how to perform the speed-building exercise and how to adjust it to meet your goals.

How To

• Hold the bar across the front of your shoulders with a clean grip, just like you would do for a Front Squat
• Step forward a comfortable distance and lower into a lunge position. Keep your chest up and your lunging knee behind your toes
• Drive up and forward into an even stance and repeat with the opposite leg. Repeat for desired reps

Reps

• For strength-hypertrophy (muscle size), take 16-20 steps (8-10 per side)
• For strength, do 8-12 steps
• For power, do 6-10 steps with a weight that is moderately heavy, while still allowing for speed

If you want to peak just as your season starts, I recommend beginning the off-season with strength-hypertrophy reps, then progressing to strength and finally power. You can vary this exercise with diagonal steps, for example, depending on your training goals.

Reference

<1> Myszka, S. "Hot topic: Dynamic correspondence - the key to strength training transfer." National Strength and Conditioning Association. (Retrieved online on 06/22/13 at http://www.nsca.com/ContentTemplates/PublicationArticleDetail.aspx?id=2147486471 06/22/13.)

This is a guest post from Tammy Kovaluk which originally appears on STACK. 

Tammy Kovaluk is the owner of Kovaluk Sports Conditioning (Victoria, B.C.), where she specializes in athletic development for prospective athletes to "step out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary." She is the strength and speed coach for National Football Academies Canada (www.nfacanada.com), Belmont High School, and the Westshore Rebels Junior Football Club. She enjoys competitive boxing, running, and strength training, and she is currently pursuing her MSc in Human Movement and Sports Conditioning.