When I think of kicking, for some reason Bruce Lee always comes to mind. I always wondered what kind of damage he could have done to a football or soccer ball. When most people remember Lee, they remember his speed and quickness. I cannot recollect a time when someone said, "Man, Bruce has a huge squat, and he can double his body weight on the bench press." We all know him as an explosive dude.

Being from a powerlifting background, I can honestly say I know several people that squat over 800lbs and bench well over 600 lbs. These are some mean guys that could rip me in half and really hurt me if they wanted to, but I would rather have them kick me than Bruce any day.

The moral to my ramblings is that kicking is a rapidly performed explosive movement, and to get better at doing it, we need to utilize rapid, explosive movements. I am not going to get into the anatomy and physiology behind the some of these exercises, but I will explain them is as much detail as possible. Let us look at some new ways to train the hips. If feel that it is important that you train the entire hip, not just the flexor mechanism. This ensures that the pelvis and hip joints are securely stabilized during such a dynamic activity.

Warming Up

You should always perform a thorough warm-up prior to any type of exercise. You can use the following dynamic warm-up to prep your bodily systems for strenuous activity.

1. Jumping Jacks
2. High Knees
3. Butt Kickers
4. Sumo Squat
5. Good Mornings
6. Lunge and Twist
7. Feet to Hands
8. Tin Soldier
9. Scorpion
10. Iron Cross
11. Elbow to Instep
12. 1 Leg RDL
13. Lateral Lunge
14. Walking Ham Stretch

Bilateral Drills

These are hip training with the speed sled exercises.

Attach a rope to the ring on the sled. On the loose end of the rope, tie a loop. Tie loops at both ends of a second piece of rope, which should be minimally 8-feet long. Feed the double looped rope through the loop on the sled rope. The double looped rope should slide back and forth freely through the sled rope. Place one foot in each end of the double looped rope. Keep the weight light.

1. Bear Crawl - stay on all fours and walk forward focusing on snapping the knee through.
2. Forward Walk - walk forward snapping the leg through.
3. High Knee - walk forward using a high knee step. Explosively drive the knees forward.
4. Lateral slide - Laterally slide using a slower step. Try to keep tension on the rope.

Belt Drills

Attach the sled to a lifting or speed harness belt.

1. Forward Straight Leg Walk - Keep the leg locked straight as you walk forward.
2. Forward Low Walk - Stay low as you walk
3. Backward Low Walk - Stay low as you walk and try to fully extend the knee.
4. Lateral X-Over Walk - Stay Low as you crossover in front. Push through with the trail hip.

Unilateral Drills

Attach the sled to one leg.

1. Forward Walk - Snap the loaded leg through
2. Lateral Push Slide - The sled should be attached to the lead leg. Snap the lead leg over.
3. X-Over - The sled should be attached to the trail leg. Cross the trail leg over in front of the lead leg.
4. Lateral Pull Slide - The sled should be attached to the trail leg. Use a wide step.
5. Backwards Walk - Stay low and drive the leg through.

* All images in this article are property of Progressive Sporting Systems and should not be reproduced or transmitted without our written permission. Copyright 2002 by Progressive Sporting Systems. Tony owns and operates Progressive Sporting Systems in Terre Haute Indiana. He can be contacted by email at: tonyreynolds@pssathletics.com or through his website: PssAthletics.com

Thanks,

Tony Reynolds, CSCS
TonyReynolds@PssAthletics.com