Jump Around!
We believe that just about everyone who comes through our doors should have some type of jumping in their training with us. Yes, everyone.
And sometimes we get a little creative - plate hops, jumping rope, broad jumps, lateral hops - with how we can encourage you to jump and land on two feet.
As we age, jumping is something many of us stop doing. Maybe it’s out of fear of injury. Maybe it’s a loss of confidence. Maybe it’s simply not knowing how to progress it safely. But unless we intentionally train it… we lose it.
Why is it so important?
✅ Builds Bone Density
Jumping loads the bones in a way that stimulates bone-building cells. This is especially important for women as estrogen declines and bone loss accelerates with age.
✅ Improves Joint & Cartilage Health
Controlled, progressive impact helps maintain cartilage health and keeps joints mobile, resilient, and strong.
✅ Increases Power & Reaction Time
Explosive movement trains fast-twitch muscle fibers — essential for agility, fall prevention, and staying quick on your feet.
✅ Enhances Balance & Coordination
Jumping challenges your nervous system and stabilizing muscles, improving your ability to react, adapt, and stay upright.
For some, this might look like starting with building lower body strength and stability while others might be ready to "jump" right into some hops in place, side to side, or over a line on the floor.
Jumping is a skill - and like any skill, it can and needs to be practiced and progressed!
There may be times - pregnancy, returning from injury, etc - when jumping needs to be modified. When choosing the right modification for you, a coach can help you consider the purpose and the goal.
If the goal is continue to work on explosiveness and hip power, a slam ball works well because it trains triple-extension, core-to-limb force transfer, and fast, full-body movement - just like a jump would.
If you need to focus on pressure management or need a more controlled movement as you return from injury, then exercises like a lateral step-up, mountain climber, or squat to plate hop, might make more sense.
The good news here is that you don’t have to figure those things out on your own - that’s where your coaches and trusted PT’s come in!