The low box hip switch is one of my favorite hidden gems when it comes to sprinting faster… keep reading for how and why to add this into your next workout routine.
WHY DO THE LOW BOX HIP SWITCH?
Sprint specific drills are essential for helping you build more power and speed with each step. Any any athlete knows that your first step counts most…
One of the most important aspects of training your sprint is pelvic stability. There’s a number of reasons why your hips could be off centered whether it be lack of mobility, injury, or favoring one side. If your hips are imbalanced however, this translates to your feet hitting the ground at different times and disturbing the speed of your turnover. Which each step down, you absorb force through the foot that hits the ground.
By training with a drill like the low box hip switch, you’re forcing the feet and hips to overcome the imbalance which helps to translate that work into top speed while in a game setting.
How to do pike crunches?
Before starting your sprint work try this 5 minute hip activation routine.
Use a small box or platform on the ground to lift you up about 4 inches or so off the floor. Begin standing with just one foot on top of the box, bringing the opposite knee up to hip height. Get into a sprinter stance by bringing the appropriate hands into sprint position (one by the face and the other by the hip with bent elbows).
Moving quickly, step the floating foot to touch down onto the floor switching the arms as if you were sprinting, then immediately returning to your original position. These should be fast with a short pause in between to stabilize and re-establish the starting stance and level out the hips.
Common Mistakes
Avoid dropping the bottom hip too low. The goal of performing this drill is to maintain stability and balance throughout the pelvis. Imagine if for example you had a straight line through both hip points. Think about maintaining that line so it doesn’t fall either way and remains parallel to the floor.
Programming
Add the low box hip switch into your sprint work towards the beginning of your workout. I like to include these after a solid warm-up so that the nervous system is prepared but the musculature doesn’t become fatigued if hitting a full workout afterward. Hit 3-4 rounds of 10 repetitions on each leg.
Finish up your sprint work session with a few more drills from here:
SPRINT FASTER NOW
Above I shared how the low box hip switch can help stabilize your pelvis and clean up your sprint form.
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