The STACK Exercise of the Week will help you improve your overall sports performance—including strength, speed, conditioning and flexibility. This week, we highlight the Straight-Arm Hang Pull, an exercise that increases explosive power.

Who’s Doing It

• AJ Hawk, Green Bay Packers LB

Muscular Benefits

• Increases explosive lower-body power

Sports Performance Benefits

This is one of the best exercises for developing the explosive power you need to improve your vertical jump, speed off the line or power a sports skill like rebounding. Hawk uses it to improve his ability to get to the QB and make tackles. Unlike other Olympic lifts, it calls for dropping the weight instead of catching the bar at your shoulders or overhead. This allows you to challenge your muscles with more weight while decreasing your chance of injury.

Straight-Arm Hang Pull How To

• Stand holding barbell in front of body with shoulder-width grip
• Stick chest out and pull shoulders back; maintain this position throughout movement
• Push hips back, keeping bar against body
• Slide bar down body until it reaches middle of thighs; shift weight onto heels and position shoulders just in front of bar
• Extend hips, knees and ankles while shrugging to jump in air and propel bar up
• Release bar to ground at peak of movement
• Pick bar up off ground and repeat

Sets/Reps: 4×5

Coaching Points

• Explosively extend hips, knees and ankles
• Jump straight up
• Land with soft knees