3 EXERCISES FOR BEGINNERS TO BUILD POWER
Many of my articles have a strong emphasis on control, strength, good movement, mobility, etc. But for us BMXers, the one thing that really matters is POWER! Hell yeah!!!
There’s a reason I write about building that other stuff before I write about building power… You need that stuff first. To really maximize power, you need a stable core to transmit energy. There’s a great old saying…
You can’t shoot a cannon from a canoe
Assuming the athlete has a moderate level of stability and the basic movements down, then it’s time to start with some explosive exercises. Now for kids around 11 and under I would use things like jumps and sprinting to build power rather than lifting weights.
11 years old is a fairly generic number since we know kids mature at different ages. Some are very naturally athletic and have a good sense of movement. Others, not so much. Also, girls are usually a year or two ahead of boys in development. All these are factors in when you deem power training to be appropriate.
Around 11 or 12 is when many kids start to hit growth spurts. Just as they start to really grow is thought to be one of the windows of opportunity in building power. It’s when the hormones are optimal for this kind of thing but they haven’t outgrown their strength, control, and coordination. And we have all seen those kids that hit puberty and grow so quickly that they look like a drunk Giraffe.
A quality athletic training program before they get to the Giraffe stage is essential for young athletes. You can’t just rely on them playing their sport of choice, the little free play and shitty PE coaching they get to be enough to overcome these growth spurts.
To build power we want to reinforce good movement such as the Hip Hinge and Squat pattern. If the athlete can’t do these well then adding speed to these will not be beneficial and actually detrimental in the long run.
Single Dumbbell exercises are a great place to start when working on power in the gym. Olympic lifts are quite complicated and can take a lot of time to perfect. These 3 exercises I show you should be easy to pick up and offer rewards right away.
I would start fairly light and keep the movements explosive. You will also want to keep reps low and long rest periods. Power exercises are best performed after a good warm-up but before your strength training.
I’ll shut up now and let you get to the video. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a comment below!