3 Exercises To Develop Explosive Power In Athletes

Explosive power is one of the main fitness components important for success in many sports such as football, basketball, baseball, etc.

So what is power?

Power is recruiting as many motor units as possible in a short amount of time.

It’s the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movements. The two components of power are strength and speed. (e.g. jumping or a sprint start).

Having your athlete participate in a customized sports performance training program can help immensely in developing the explosive power they need to be successful in their sport.

Here at BIM Fitness & performance, our sports performance programs can do just that.

In this article, we are going to demonstrate three simple exercises your athlete can do to improve and increase their POWER giving them a step up in the game.

1. Squat-Push-Throw

Sets: 5–6

Reps: 3–5

How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hold the ball at chest level, with your elbows underneath it.

Squat as low as you can while keeping your back flat.

Explode upward, throwing the ball as high as you can.

Allow the ball to hit the floor, pick it up, and reset.

2. Side Scoop Throw

Sets: 3–4

Reps: 3–5 (each side)

How to do it: Stand with legs staggered and your left foot forward.

Bend your hips and knees slightly and hold the ball at arm’s length.

Twist your torso to the left, shifting your weight to your left foot, then throw the ball across your body to the right as if you were throwing something heavy into the back of a truck.

3. Box Jump

Reps: 1-3

How to do it: Stand in front of the box with your feet shoulder-width apart.

Bend into a quarter squat and swing your arms back, then swing them forward and explode up off the ground.

Land on the box as softly as possible. You’re aiming to mimic your take-off position on landing – feet flat and knees slightly bent (don’t let them collapse inwards).

Land nice and light on my toes and stick that landing. It’s really important for athletes to really practice sticking the landing.

So that way when they’re changing direction in sport, they have the ankle stability to do so and they don’t injure themselves.