5 Minute Hip Activation Routine for Jumping and Sprinting

Today I’ll be sharing with you the perfect five minute hip activation routine for any of your jumping and sprint training.

I discovered the power of an effective warm-up early in my career. The truth is, taking just five minutes to go through a hip activation routine can add inches to your vertical and improve your speed.

If you watch my videos, you’ve probably seen me warm-up my athletes with a dynamic series that helps them loosen up and get the body warm. After that we’ll go into hip activation drills which are typically dynamic. And recently, I’ve been using a new technique to prepare athletes for jumping and sprint training with some insane results.

A while back, I went to a workshop with Pete Bommarito of Bommarito Performance Systems – he’s one of the best coaches in the business. That day I picked up some incredible isolation drills for hip activation, which I love. They include both a pause, and a reflex component that’s perfect at getting the hips to start firing.

I’ve combined the two styles and come up with the perfect warm-up.

I want to share this 5 minute hip activation routine for jumping and sprinting with you, so you’re able to start adding this onto your training. You can bring this into any program before any kind of lower body workout.

It’s especially helpful for those of you looking to improve your all-out speed or vertical jump.

Let’s get into it:

5 MINUTE HIP ACTIVATION

1. FIRE HYDRANT HIP SERIES

Having strong glutes are the KEY to sprinting fast and jumping high. We begin this hip activation routine by warming up the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus.

Throughout these exercises you’ll incorporate a pause and a reflexive movement. First you’ll perform the reps with a pause at the “top” or concentric portion of the rep. Then you’ll follow that and perform the reps fast, without any pause.

Athlete Performs Hip Activation RoutineAthlete Does Hip Activation Routine

  1. Begin in a table top position
  2. You’ll begin on the right side with a fire hydrant. This is where you keep the knee bent at 90 degrees and the toes flexed, lifting the knee out to the side up to hip level.
  3. Do 3 repetitions with a pause at the top. Follow that with 3 fast reps with a reflex.
  4. Do the same thing on the left side.
  5. Next on the right side again, fully extend and straighten the leg out to the side keeping the toes flexed.

Lift the leg up to hip height for 3 repetitions with a pause at the top. Follow that with 3 fast reps with a reflex.

2. HIP EXTENSION

Sprinting is a combination of hip flexion and hip extension. Drills I use frequently like straight leg bounds and alternating bounds are so effective because they teach how to create powerful hip extension that translates to speed.

We’ll begin to warm up that movement with control through reps with a pause followed by reps with a reflex.

Athlete Performs Glute Strengthening Routine

  1. From table top position, extend the right leg straight back behind you with the foot flexed and the toes on the ground.
  2. Keeping the core tight, lift the leg up to hip height for 3 repetitions with a pause at the top and then 3 fast repetitions with a reflex. Do the same thing on the leg side.

3. GLUTE ACTIVATION

Extension at the hip occurs as the glutes contract together and “pull” you forward or “push” you up in sprinting and jumping. Next, this drill begins to activate even the least responsive of hip muscles for powerful movement.

Coach shows Glute Strengthening Routine

  1. Begin lying down on your left side with the right leg stacked over the left leg and the left arm extending out comfortably.
  2. Flex the right foot. While keeping the toes pointing forward, raise the right leg up, squeezing the glute and pausing at the top for 3 repetitions.
  3. Do 3 fast repetitions with a reflex. Do the same thing on the other side.

4. ADDUCTORS

Often overlooked when it comes to hip activation, the adductor muscles play a big role in jumping and sprinting so we’ll dedicate this drill to a solid adductor warm-up.

These muscles run from the inner hip to the knee joint and are important in creating both strong and stable movement.

  1. Start lying down on your left side again, take the top right left and cross it over the left so that the right knee is on the ground in front of you.
  2. With the left leg fully extended, lift it as high as you can with a pause at the top for 3 repetition.
  3. Follow this with 3 fast repetitions with a reflex. Do the same thing on the other side.

5. SUPINE HIP FLEXION

Finally, we’ll focus on hip flexion. This also activate the abdominal muscles which interact with the hip keeping a neutral pelvis while running or jumping.

Begin adding your pause and reflex warm-up reps in before hitting a vertical or your next time trial to see some major progress right away.

Athlete Performs Hip Activation SeriesAthlete Performs Hip Mobility Routine

  1. Start lying down on your back with the left leg bent so that the left foot is close to your glutes.
  2. Fully extend the right leg so that it’s straight out in front of you. Keeping the right toes flexed, lift the right leg so that it’s pointing straight up.
  3. Do this for 3 repetitions with a pause at the top and 3 fast repetitions with a reflex.
  4. Next straighten the left leg so that it’s straight out in front of you. Using the left glute for support and keeping contact with the ground, lift the right leg up so it’s pointing straight up again.
  5. Do this for 3 repetitions with a pause at the top and 3 fast repetitions with a reflex.
  6. Do the same thing on the other side.

This series takes only 5 minutes. It’s your perfect hip activation routine for jumping and sprinting.

If you haven’t been using a hip activation routine before your jump or sprint training yet, give this a try before your next session and you’ll see the results right away.

JUMP HIGHER, SPRINT FASTER NOW

Above I shared how you can improve your jumping and sprinting with a 5 minute warm-up

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