Long Jump Club

Learn how to long jump beyond 7m!

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How important is the penultimate step in the long jump?

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The penultimate step in the long jump is important, but it shouldn’t be overemphasized. The goal of the long jump event is to jump the furthest distance from the take-off board In order to accomplish that, you must maximise your top speed at the take-off point and maintain that speed throughout the jump.

The mistake many athletes make when they incorporate the penultimate step is that they do it in a way that causes them to decelerate.

This deceleration can cost them several centimetres when doing the long jump.

Secondly, athletes use the penultimate step to get extra height for when they do the long jump.

This ensures that they jump in an arc instead of jumping flat. However, if the athlete pops up too high, they will simply jump high in the air and won’t get the distance.

If the penultimate step is too low, the athlete will simply pop up and down when doing the jump.

The penultimate step is important. However, it needs to be incorporated with speed. And generally, the athlete will need to have a high speed on the runway to incorporate it in a way so that the benefits will be seen.

For example.

If an athlete runs 10 or 11 seconds over the 100m, a penultimate step will be beneficial as it will give the athlete enough height to carry the speed throughout the arc of the jump.

The video below shares very good tips from former Olympic medallist Dwight Phillips.

One of the best examples ever is the penultimate step of Bob Beamon, who jumped 8.90m, which is a former world record.

You can see a snippet of his penultimate step below.

Would you like to advance your long jump performance?

Buy our long jump training program that will help you become more powerful and explosive, so you can run faster and jump further in the long jump.

We expect you to improve your long jump performance by at least 30cm.

Click here to buy the long jump program.

How quick should your 100m time be if you are a long jumper?

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When it comes to long jumping, speed is critical. You do need to master the other aspects of the jump. However, if you want to give yourself the best chance of jumping far, you need to reach your top speed by the time you get to the board.

To give you an idea about how fast you need to be, we have shared some of the details in the table below with long jumpers best 100m times and their furthest distance.

Mike Powell

100m – 10.45 seconds

Long Jump – 8.95m (world record). Also 8.99m wind assisted.

Carl Lewis

100m – 9.86 seconds

Long Jump – 8.87m (8.91 wind assisted)

Bob Beamon

100m – No official record.

Long Jump – 8.90m

Ivan Pedroso

100m – Unavailable

Long Jump – 8.71m (official) 8.96m (Unofficial with a 1.6m reading)

Dwight Phillips

100m – 10.06 seconds

Long Jump – 8.74m

60m – 6.47 seconds

200m – 20.68 seconds

50m – 5.70 seconds

Greg Rutherford

100m – 10.26 seconds

Long Jump – 8.51m

60m – 6.68 seconds

You can use these as benchmarks for the type of speed that you need to have and the jumping distance that you want to achieve.

Dynamic Stretching tips with long jumper Greg Rutherford

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Greg Rutherford won the Olympic long jump title in London in 2012 and has also won gold at the world championships. He is a world class long jumper and shares a few stretching tips in the video below.

Long Jump tips with Ivan Pedroso.

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If you ever wanted training inspiration, you can’t go past the legendary Ivan Pedroso. He won the Long Jump in the Olympics in the year 2000 and also won 8 World Championships in the same event.

In the video below, he discussed his tips for executing the perfect long jump.

How important is it to improve the strength in your hip flexors for long jump?

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It’s actually very important. Your hip flexors are needed to improve the acceleration, leg turnover and drive when you take-off in the long jump. Even when you land, you need your hip flexors to kick your legs in front of you. Without the strength and power in your hip flexors, your long jump performance is going to suffer.

So you need to boost the strength and power in your hip flexors if you want to be a better long jumper.

How can you improve the strength in your hip flexors?

Leg extensions

You can go to the gym and do the leg extension exercise. You can build up the amount of weight that you use. The exercise will target your quadriceps and will strengthen the muscle. You will need to increase the strength in your quadriceps so you can also improve the strength in your hip flexors.

Leg raises

This will specifically target the hip flexors and the lower abs. Your quadriceps will need to be strong as well to keep your legs straight. Aim to do hanging leg raises with a reverse grip and avoid rocking your body. Conduct at least 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

Knee raises

Do the same movement, but instead of raising your legs, raise your knees and try to get them as close to your chest as possible. Conduct at least 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

Single leg raises

You can choose to do this lying on the floor or hanging. Raise your leg in a straight motion for 15 reps. Repeat on each side for 3 reps.

How can you improve the power in your hip flexors?

To improve the power, you need to incorporate plyometric movements. You can do the following.

  • Tuck jumps
  • Knee jumps where you land on your feet.
  • Conduct these exercises once every 2 or 3 days.

What benefits should you notice after training your hip flexors?

You will have a longer stride pattern.

This means you will cover more distance with each stride that you take. This can lead to you gaining more speed.

You will improve your turnover.

This is important for speed and acceleration, as well as the take-off. You should be able to get more air when jumping off the board.

You will improve your long jump landing.

You will be able to get your feet in front of you to maximise your jumping distance.