Week 6: Landing And Stride-Outs

Week Six checkpoint

For week six we will be introducing the movement skill component of the program.

All movements should start at an easy intensity and only increase very gradually. Pay close attention to the video demonstrations and instructions below.

Tasks for this week

The daily routine is still to be done every day:

Foam rolling, 10 rolls each position
The Crouching Three stretches, 30 seconds per position each leg
Glute activation routine, five reps each leg for each variation

The workout needs to be done three times per week, with at least 48 hours rest between each one:

Knee isometrics, four sets of 30 seconds each leg
Postage stamp jumps. See workbook for sets and reps
High hip skip. See workbook for sets and reps
Shallow squats, four sets. See workbook for reps
Calf raises, three sets. See workbook for reps

Remember to keep logging your pain levels before and after the days program.

NB. Don’t panic if you have the occasional moment of soreness, that is totally normal. If your pain stays elevated for more than a day, it might be worth revisiting your acute to chronic workload ratio to see if your training load has jumped up suddenly.

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Landing and stride-outs

Great movement skill is a key foundational quality that many junior athletes lack. Fundamentals such as running, jumping and efficient cutting mechanics are inadequately taught to a generation that spends less time in free play than any before.

For week six we will be introducing our two favourite drills to help you land like a ninja and run with lightness and elasticity. With only two weeks to go, your knees should be feeling consistently much better, potentially even achieving 0/10 pain score.

Exercise: Jumping and landing

Every athlete wants to learn to jump as high as possible. But before you can fly you need to be able to land properly! Soft, stable landings are a crucial part of deloading the knees and reducing the grounding reaction force loading of sport.

A soft, glute dominant landing pattern will take advantage of your newly activated glutes, helping redistribute ground reaction forces away from the knees and spreading them evenly through the lower body.

A good landing should look very similar to the squat pattern you have been practicing. Be sure to land with the midfoot hitting the ground first, then stick the landing with the entire foot. You should finish in a stacked, stable and glutey shape.

Instruction video for jumping and landing

Start small with tiny little jumps over an imaginary postage stamp on the ground, if you feel confident, gradually jump higher each workout to test your skill and control.

Exercise: Stride outs

Correct running technique is a critical competency for many team sport athletes. Learning how to execute a smooth coordinated stride-out pattern is the first step to faster, more efficient sprinting.

Think of the stride-out as being like running in slow motion, giving you the time to consciously make the shapes and reach the positions your body needs as you move through the gait cycle.

Some key points to focus on:

Drive the knee high with the foot sprung into dorsiflexion (toes up)
Push off the ground with the calf and glute as you take each stride
Swing your arms. The left elbow drives back as the left knee drives forward and vice versa
The heel should not touch the ground. The midfoot should be the main point of contact on both the landing and push off.

Instruction video for stride outs

Watch the video for James’ demonstration on how to perform stride outs.

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Closing Week Six

You’re nearly there!

Only one more week to go. Hopefully, by now your knees are feeling great and you may even notice you are moving better. See you next week for the final week of the program.

Up Next

After successfully completing a full week of stride outs and landing practice with low or no pain, you should be ready to move on.

Go to Week Seven here →

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