Lateral Bound

A sideways push off one leg to a stuck landing on the other, also called a skater jump. Trains lateral hip power and the frontal-plane landing that change of direction depends on.

DIFFICULTY
Intermediate
EQUIPMENT
Bodyweight
PRIMARY MUSCLES
Glutes · Quads
ALSO WORKS
Adductors · Gluteus Medius · Calves
HOW TO DO IT
  1. 01Stand on one leg with a slight bend at the hip and knee, chest up.
  2. 02Push laterally off that leg, driving the hip away from the direction you are travelling.
  3. 03Land on the outside leg on the forefoot with the knee bent and over the toes.
  4. 04Stick the landing for a full second, balanced, before bounding back the other way.
  5. 05Do 4 to 6 bounds per side early in the session, resting between sets.
COACHING CUES
  1. 01Push away sideways, do not step across.
  2. 02Stick it, then go.
  3. 03Knee over the toe, hip stays level.
COMMON MISTAKES
  1. 01Landing and immediately rebounding before you can hold the position — you learn to fall sideways rather than to control the landing.
  2. 02Letting the landing knee collapse inward — that is the exact mechanism that hurts people on a cut.
  3. 03Bounding for distance with a soft trunk — the torso whips sideways and the hip never gets loaded.

Note: Reference material, not a prescription. Load, volume and whether this movement suits you at all depends on your assessment — if something hurts, stop and get it looked at.

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