Bench Sprint

intermediate · jump

Setup

Pick a flat bench or a solid box that will not slide, with a dry, grippy top, 20-30 cm tall while you are learning and never above knee height. Stand about one foot-length away, set your whole left foot on the top with the heel clear of the edge, right foot on the floor, wear shoes that grip and keep the floor around the bench dry.

Execution

Shift your weight onto the foot on the bench and drive through the whole foot until the hip and knee open fully and you leave the floor.
Swap the feet while you are in the air: the foot that just pushed comes back to the floor and the other takes its place on the top.
Land on the whole foot with the knee and hip giving a little to absorb the force, rather than on the toes or on a stiff, locked leg.
Keep the torso leaning slightly forward, eyes on the bench top, arms swinging forward and back in time with the feet.
Work in short bursts of 8-12 swaps, then rest 60-90 seconds, because this trains speed rather than conditioning.
End the set as soon as the landings get louder, the rhythm goes uneven or a foot lands short of the edge, because that is fatigue talking and not a place to push on.
Finish by stepping down to the floor and walking around until the heart rate settles, instead of standing still up on the bench.

Breathing

Breathe out sharply on each push off the bench and let the air back in between contacts; do not hold your breath to go faster, because every landing needs you sharp. If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or you are pregnant, keeping the breath steady matters even more, and being too breathless to speak a full sentence ends the set.

Quick cues

Quiet landings, no thud.
Eyes stay on the bench.
Swing the arms like running.
Faster, not higher.
Rhythm goes, set is over.

Common faults

Fault: The bench or box creeping and sliding with every push
Fix: Switch to a rubber box with a grippy top, set it against a wall or a corner and shove it hard before each set to see if it still moves.
Fault: A bench so tall that the knee has to tuck to the chest to swap feet
Fix: Drop to 20-30 cm so the hips keep travelling with the rhythm and the whole foot fits on the top.
Fault: Landing on the toes, so each swap makes one loud thud
Fix: Slow down and drill whole-foot contacts for 10 swaps before building the speed back up.
Fault: The foot landing short with the heel hanging off the edge
Fix: Stand half a foot-length closer and aim for the middle of the bench top on every contact.
Fault: Running 30 swaps non-stop like one long conditioning drill
Fix: Cut back to 8-12 swaps a set with 60-90 seconds of rest, so every set keeps the top speed.

Equipment

bench, box

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, calves