* Glutes and hamstrings fired EXTREMELY well in one leg exercises, even exercises that would typically be considered "quad" focused
One of the easiest ways to improve glute activity in squatting "type" exercises, is to simply get to the bottom of the exercise, unloaded, and perform an isometric hold, feeling for the glute to turn on. If the glute is not firing, and not firing HARD, here are some things that work well to get them activated.
* Flex the abdominals. Simple, easy, yet works insanely well. The key is to not shorten at the torso, and learn to fire the abdominals while in those positions, to allow the glutes to do their job.
* "Pull" down into the exercise rather than simply allowing the body to drop. This will fire the hip flexors, hip flexors firing, glutes stretching, ready to contract, harder.
* Hip dips. This is one of my favorite exercises, not only for athletes. You stand on a 12-24 inch box, one leg off to the side, one leg on the box. Set it up so you have some type of handles to hang on to, dip handles work well as does the front of a squat rack. Dorsi flex the foot of the non working leg, and lower under control until the heel of the non working leg lightly touches the ground, then stand back up.
The key is to really focus on the GLUTE during the eccentric, sitting back, as well as maintaining a very tight core as to really fire them as much as possible. The concentric done correctly should feel like a hip extension rather than a knee extension. Try and use as little help from the arms as possible, they are for balance only. Once youve mastered bodyweight, you can easily load them in the same manner you would a 1 leg calf raise.
Very high levels of "stiffness" in the hamstrings (the ability of the hamstrings to "lock up" so the glute can work optimally".
bounds are king here, specifically stiff leg bounds, or primetimes. The problem with having someone who is using their hamstrings or quads to do what the glute should be doing here is, they will simply continue the flawed movement pattern. It doesnt take much knee extension to turn that exercise into a quad dominant one, and if you dont do it right, it doesnt correct anything.
The best time to do these for athletes with firing issues is right after an exercise like hip dips or reverse hypers DONE CORRECTLY. Have them start at HALF speed, and pay close attention that the hamstrings stay stiff, and they are feeling the glutes do the work.
Insanely strong lower legs
Typical programming would always include a very high volume lower intensity single and double leg hops, skips, and bounds. This helps a ton, along with the work in the weight room. Single leg eccentric, double leg concentric calf raises done on the standing calf machine are the single fastest way to bring up lower leg strength on the planet imo.
The overload of a controlled eccentric on one leg, with a weight you are raising with two, really does the trick here, but special attention to form must be maintained. I start with a 2 second eccentric on a 15 rm of the 2leg CR, and progress from there. Dont worry about going super low here, from slightly below parallel, to the very, VERY TOP should be the primary focus. This really helps athletes with poor dorsi to plantar flexion a lot.
* Flexible glutes and hamstrings
Dynamic work like leg swings, hurdle skips (swing leg over the hurdle), and having strong hamstrings, especially in the end of the rom. The prime times help here as well, as do hamstring exercises that focus on the hams with the leg close to straight out.
*Strong Lower abdominals, psoas
I have a single leg iso hold on youtube that was probably the most specific exercise done in this area concerning the jumpers. We would load it with bands and with free weight, looping a band around the support leg to the knee of the bent leg, and holding a plate on the bent leg as well. It really teaches the hip flexor/low abs firing of the bent leg, in sync with the glute firing of the support leg.
Different types of loaded leg raises, really focusing on pushing up the resistance, and getting as high as possible with the upper thighs are key as well.
