Good morning Docs!
I wanted to get your thoughts as to if the power clean or the squat/weighted jump squat is a better way to improve vertical jump performance. I’ve read the “force matters article” and from my understanding of power or explosiveness, one needs to do lifts explosively in order to develop explosiveness.
I have also read the paper by Marian et al. (2016) which discussed the improvements made in vertical jump after 8 weeks of loaded squat jumps. I could not argue that weighted squats would improve vertical jump performance compared to non-weighted or no training at all. However, as the topic title suggests I wanted to know how it compared to power cleans.
Mackenzie (2014) compared the jump squat, vertical jump, and power clean bio-mechanically and based on the authors conclusion “while both the jump squat and power clean stimulate maximum strength more than vertical jumping, the power clean seems to be better suited for stimulating explosive power.” my criticism of this (if you would call it criticism) is familiarity with the movements. First, it is more likely that the participants were more familiar with the power clean over the weighted squat jump. I infer this based on the background of the individuals (10 football players 10 volleyball players). Where as I am hard pressed to believe that the participants have any where near the same exposure to a weighted jump squat and as such might have performed the weighted jump squat a little more cautiously.
Based on what I have read and experienced working with various athletes, I am more for weighted jump squats performed in the same explosive manner as a vertical jump for improvements in vertical jump. My logic behind this is the similarity to the vertical jump as well as simplicity of training someone to jump with a weight on their back over the technical requirements of a power clean.
Thanks for the discussion!