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Milo Bryant is a journalist as well as a performance coach with considerable experience. He’s also in his fifties—and his book called Unstoppable After 40 gives you the tools you need to go beyond simply remaining active as you “grow old.” Milo works hard and recovers swiftly so he can perform whatever he wants whenever he chooses. Prepare to use his strategies to become unstoppable. This isn’t your father’s middle age.
Most of your athletic life is spent on one leg.
When you sprint forward, backpedal, or shuffle from side-to-side, one foot strikes the ground on each stride. When you toss a ball, it only appears as if two feet are touching the ground. There is, however, a weight shift that takes place during the “load up stage” of the throw when all of the body’s weight is carried by the trail leg. When the body shifts all of its weight to the rear leg as it delivers the ball, there is another weight transfer. The same thing occurs when an athlete swings a bat or a golf club.
That is why single-leg hops should be part of your warmup workout. The single-leg hop is a low-intensity plyometric exercise that gets the body ready for more complex athletic activities and sports.
There is a pattern to this motion that might be difficult for some people to follow. However, learning how to achieve the most from the drill is as simple as figuring out the rhythm.
Oh, and to address the aforementioned question about the two-legged stationary activities: powerlifting, with the deadlift and squat. Olympic lifting is also a good choice, with the clean and jerk and snatch.
Yes, the feet technically leave the ground during Olympic lifts, but that jump is a simultaneous one and is seldom done with more power on one leg than the other. So what does this tell you? Unless you are only focused on the bigger weightlifting sports, you should do some unilateral exercises in your workout to ensure that your training will translate to your real-world activities.
How to Do the Single-Leg Hop
Shift your weight to your left foot and begin with a standing posture. Bend your left arm behind you, bringing up your right knee (as if in a running stance).
Hop forward as you bend your left knee. Land on the ball portion of your left foot. Leap ahead again with the same foot in a quick motion. That’s one rep. Do 10 reps on each leg.
Helpful Tip for a Better Single-Leg Hop
●When you move ahead, you must realize that the action leg will perform a single hop. It doesn’t matter how far the jump is—two feet, a foot, or 18 inches—because it is simply transferring from Point A to Point B. The rest of will go from Point A to Point B and back to Point A at roughly the same speed as it takes for your action leg to travel its distance.
