Training
Marisa HeinzeApril 17, 2020
Tutorial: Jumping lunge with arms overhead
The jumping lunge with arms overhead is an explosive whole-body movement that demands high levels of power and control. These are the steps to perform this demanding exercise correctly and improve your sports performance.
WHAT
- The jumping lunge with arms overhead is an explosive whole-body movement that demands high levels of power and control.
- The exercise is a progression of the jumping lunge, which in itself is a progression of the classic lunge. Be sure to master the technique of these two movements first before you dwell into this progression.
HOW
- In a standing position, raise arms straight overhead in line with the body. Engage the core and set the shoulders to stabilise your torso.
- Keeping the arms in this position, quickly jump the legs into a lunge, dropping the back knee as close to the floor as possible.
- Stabilise the body before jumping back up and switching legs to drop into the opposite side lunge.
- Repeat alternately for time or reps. The arms should remain straight overhead throughout.
WHY
- Proper control of hip extension is an integral part of hip/low back health, as well as for efficient exercise/sports performance. The jumping lunge requires you have rapid hip extension while the arms are overhead – both of these demands need a higher contribution from the core and shoulder girdle to maintain balance.
- If you are new to this exercise, it is common to experience small losses of balance when landing; or a forward movement of the arms during the jump. Both of these observations may indicate a loss of core/shoulder control. While further engaging the core and setting the shoulders may provide temporary stability, a better strategy is to reduce the size of the jump and keep the arms out to the side. This will allow you to focus on maintaining a strong core with right balance – as you gain stability, start to take the arms further overhead and increase the range of your jump.
- Finally, don’t forget that the more aligned you are vertically (with gravity) the more efficient you will be. This means arms straight overhead, dropping the hips vertically down and not over-striding with the lunge. This will result in lower fatigue, reduced risk of injury, higher reps/duration, and better exercise performance.