The Importance of Bounding

What purpose does bounding have, and where does it fit into my training? How does it fit with my end goal (Speed, Strength, Size, Mobility, Agility, ESD/Conditioning, etc.)? These are questions you should always ask yourself before throwing a new exercise into the mix. Develop a plan to measure/evaluate if it is bringing you closer to or further from your goal.

To answer the question above, we use bounding to develop speed. Bounding is a staple in our program, and the reason why?…. it is highly effective. I find myself getting lost in the minutiae of all the methods and exercises from time to time. For me, its my passion to find the optimal training tools to enhance my athlete’s preparedness, so I sift through the minutiae. This is what I do everyday. It can be overwhelming and confusing at times to realize the more I learn, the less I know but in the end I find it’s always exciting & challenging!

To simplify our process we will train speed according to the force-velocity curve. To cover our spectrum of training for speed, we break the parts into the start (Instantaneous power), acceleration (stride length/ speed tempo), & maximum velocity.

In the weight room, we are working at slower velocities with our goal to enhance the size of our engine (increase lean muscle mass) based on biological age, somatotype, sport and position. This has the greatest impact on Instantaneous power. This is also a topic that deserves to be discussed in further detail in a later post.

In the speed tempo phase we are still looking at ground contacts that are longer and with the longer ground contacts we are trying to deliver as much force as possible.

In research they have found that Incline running shows greater EMG amplitude of the gastrocnemius, soleus, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis and gluteus maximus during the stance phase compared to flat ground running.

Based on our Anecdotal evidence, we have seen that the incline bounding has the most profound effect on the ability to create optimal speed tempo. We believe that the longer ground contacts and the muscular loading of the key muscles is why bounding is effective in improving acceleration.

In the video, we have a hill (front side) that has an approximate incline of 10 degrees over 30 yards long and a hill (backside) that has an approximate incline of 25 degrees, and it is 17 yards long. Depending on the day, we might bound before our main training emphasis or after or main training emphasis. In my opinion, bounding is one of the most intense forms of plyometrics, so we need to discern how much and where it is placed in our training day, week and overall plan.