Dwyane Wade is one of the fastest and most explosive players in the NBA because of his focus on single-leg strength and power. In basketball—or any sport, really—sprinting and jumping require an athlete to absorb and then generate massive amounts of force with one leg. Very rarely does an athlete push off both legs at the same time.
Knowing this, Dwyane Wade’s off-season strength coach Tim Grover prescribes an explosive, single-leg variation of a Leg Press. “I want him to generate as much force as possible, not only from a single-leg jump, but also from a running standpoint,” Grover says. “Our workout is geared toward a lot firing of the hamstrings and glutes, and by bringing the leg all the way back, that’s what he was doing.”

If you don’t have access to an Alternate Leg Press machine, perform sets of Single-Leg Presses on a standard Leg Press machine. Superset this exercise with Dwyane’s Slideboard Jackknife and Abduction.
Check out Dwyane’s entire workout here.
Alternate Explosive Leg Press
• Assume position on Alternate Leg Press machine with knees bent at a 90-degree angle
• In alternating fashion, explosively extend each leg completely, making sure to achieve 90-degree knee bend with opposite leg
• Continue in alternating fashion and aim for target reps within specified duration

Sets/Reps: 3×15 each leg within 20 seconds
Coaching Points: Bring knee to minimum of a 90-degree angle each rep