How to Improve My Times & My Long Jumping Lengths

Improving your times and your long jumping lengths are products of three training factors: practice, technique and strength. Practice creates muscle memory and develops endurance. Endurance is as critical for sprinters as it is for endurance runners. Technique improves acceleration and balance, both critical for success sprinting and long jumping. Strength determines the maximum potential of an athlete.

Instructions

  1. Improving Your Times

    • 1
      Stretching and working out with weights increases speed.

      Stretch and lift weights. This will make you stronger and more flexible, both of which will increase your speed and decrease your times. Focus on explosive lifts like squats and dead lifts in order to exercise and strengthen your fast twitch muscles. Stretch both before and after you workout.

    • 2
      Though it sounds intuative, you must practice running to run faster.

      Practice running faster. There is a misconception that you can only run as fast as you can run and that you cannot practice running faster, but you can. Beginners can only run at their maximum rate of speed for a few steps, then they slow and fight to keep their balance. Practice running your fastest for longer distances. Make your sprint more consistent.

    • 3
      Dividing your workout allows you to exercise longer every day.

      Divide your workouts into different aspects of a race. Coming out of the blocks, acceleration, maintaining your speed and finishing through the line is one way you might divide a race into a workout regimen. However, that regimen should also include complete distances. Make certain you practice running entire races as well.

    • 4
      Your diet determines your body's ability to recover from training.

      Rest and eat. Over-training not only stagnates your progress, often it can reverse it. A poor diet or under-nourishing your body slows improvement or puts it out of reach. Rest and diet are equal in importance to training and may be more important, depending on the rigor of your workouts.

    Long Jumping

    • 5
      Velocity is a product of speed and long jump distances are a product of velocity.

      Increase your sprint speed. Long jumping distances are a combination of velocity and elevation. Unlike a vertical jump, the distance of a long jump is greatly determined by your speed. The faster you are moving, the farther you will travel in the air after you make your jump.

    • 6
      The higher you can jump vertically off one leg, the farther you can long jump.

      Increase your one-leg vertical leap. While speed is a huge factor in a long jump, elevation is equally important. The higher you jump, the more time your velocity has to carry you. Exercises that will improve your one-leg vertical leap are isometrics and plyometrics and weight training that increases your fast twitch muscle response.

    • 7
      Practice, practice, practice.

      Practice long jumping. A solid diet, exercise and weight training are critical requirements for improving your distances but nothing can substitute practice. Use the proper technique on every jump and critique each jump individually.