The 3 Steps for Building Explosive Speed and Power in Gymnastics -

Explosive speed and power are what many gymnastics coaches are looking to achieve when they train in the gym.

Whether it’s through improving technique by working drills, improving strength by doing physical preparation, or improving speed with cardio circuits, typically ‘getting faster’ is what people are interested in.

When you look at the latest research, it turns out that there are a lot of factors that go into building explosive bodyweight power.

As this fantastic article series, Developing Powerful Athletes explains (find Part 1 here and Part 2 here), it’s not as easy as telling someone “set higher” or “run faster”.

To truly increase power, we have to not only understand some underlying physiology, but we also have to understand how to program in a way that funnels athlete’s towards the end goal of using their muscles faster.

In today’s highly requested podcast, I chat with Diwesh Poudyal, our Director of Strength and Conditioning at Champion Physical Therapy and Performance.

Diwesh has been in charge of the weight room programming for all the high school, NCAA, and elite gymnasts that come train with us.

Together, we have worked with a TON of gymnasts looking to improve their power, speed, and gymnastics performance.

We dive into exactly what gymnastics coaches and strength coaches need to know if they want to build explosive power with gymnasts. Some topics include

What exercises Diwesh loves to use for increasing sprinting and jumping power in gymnasts
The best leg strength exercises to use for increasing speed & power
Exactly how many sets, reps, and times per week to do these exercises
The common mistakes people make when trying to improve power?
What running mechanics should be taught to young gymnasts for floor and vault
How to quickly get to maximum sprint speed for vault
How this is different than floor sprint speed for tumbling
Tips for transferring general strength to specific gymnastics strength

If you are a gymnastics coach or strength coach, you are going to absolutely love this podcast episode!

Check it out below on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher