Many athletics love doing jump training exercises because they are vital in improving stamina and speed. Known as plyometrics, jump training involves the process of teaching muscles the ability to contract and expand quickly and explosively. This ability helps athletes move faster and be able to endure muscle stress for longer. When it comes to helping your kids keep fit, jump training can also benefit them in a variety of ways especially as they play on their play gyms. Jump training helps keep the kids fit and provides them with a way to burn excessive energy. Jump training also helps the children to build the stamina that they need to be able to participate in other sports.

The downside to jump training is that it requires knowledge on how to land properly. Here is everything you need to know about doing jumps safely.

Dangers of Wrong Landing

Unless one has mastered the art of jumping, there is a chance that the person will injure themselves. This is because the wrong landing techniques lead to a situation where the shock of the impact is transferred to sensitive areas of the body. Good landing techniques involve aligning hips, knees, and ankles in such a way that most of the force is absorbed and not transferred to other parts of the body.

When making vertical jumps, for example, many people make the mistake of landing with stiff ankles. This creates extra stress on the joints in the ankles as well as the knees. Here are some of the techniques that can make jump training easier.

Pre-Exercise

Before you start jump training, it is important to warm up your muscles first. Ensure that you bend and touch your toes as well as rolling back on your heels. You can also do some light jumping jacks to ensure that your muscles are flexible enough to absorb the shock of jump training.

How to Land Safely

When you start jump training, ensure that on landing, your knee is not flexed more than 30 degrees in relation to the rest of the body. At the point of contact, the body should also be extended (or vertical) on the hip.  It is also critical that when landing, the foot of the test leg hits the ground toe to heel and not the other way around.

It is important to remember that landing force increases if your child is doing jump training while holding anything heavy (such as weights). For this reason, it is important to ensure that any weights (if desired) are gradually introduced. Another important factor to note is that footwear makes a big difference when it comes to absorbing impact. Ensure that when children are doing jump training, they have proper sports footwear with extra absorbent heels. These help to take in a significant amount of the impact.

Lastly, it is important to ease into jump training. Start small and build up the intensity over time. The idea is to condition the muscles over time and without incurring any injuries. Choose Fitness Kid as your indoor playground partner. Contact us to learn more about our products and the services that we offer.