Standing on one leg is often thought to be a vulnerable position. It challenges your balance and generally makes athletic tasks more difficult. However, being comfortable and powerful from a single-leg position is essential to athletic success. Heck, the simple motion of running depends upon your ability to drive off of one leg!

Single-Leg Mini Hurdle Jumps are a great drill to work on single-leg strength, power and stability. Requiring you you to jump over a number of hurdles while standing on one leg, they not only increases the strength of major muscles like the quads and hamstrings, they also target small stabilizing muscles in your lower body, which can improve your performance and prevent injury. After you clear the final hurdle, you must sprint a short distance. This works on your ability to accelerate from a position that might not be ideal—a skill that comes in handy for almost all athletes.

How to Perform Single-Leg Mini-Hurdle Jumps

• Set up 6-8 mini-hurdles in a straight line roughly a yard apart.
• Begin in front of the first hurdle, standing on either your left or right leg.
• Launch yourself over the first hurdle.
• As soon as you land, launch yourself over the second hurdle. Spend as little time as possible on the ground.
• Once you clear the final hurdle, immediately sprint for approximately 10 yards.
• Walk back to the first hurdle to perform another rep.

Sets/Reps: 4 total reps each leg