Mastering Pogos For Speed Development – No Gear Plyos
Looking to boost your speed without all the fancy gear? Pogos are your answer. No hurdles, agility ladders, or kit—just you and the floor. This powerful plyometric move taps into the fast stretch-shortening cycle of your calves and Achilles tendon, building explosive, elastic speed.
In this video, we’ll guide you through pogos step by step, showing you how to refine your form for maximum rebound. Whether you’re chasing faster footwork or overall speed, pogos deliver—all without a single piece of equipment.
by Don Heatrick
@donheatrick
Video Summary
Pogos: No Gear Plyos
Pogos develop the plyometric, fast stretch shortening cycle in the calf and Achilles tendon, promoting reactive, elastic speed.
How To Perform Pogos
Start by standing with your feet at hip width and your hands resting on your hips. Bracing with a tight core (as if you’re going to take a punch in the stomach), remain upright as you simultaneously flex your hips, knees, and ankles to preload your first jump from the balls of your feet.
Jump into the air, simultaneously extending your hips and knees (being careful not to hyperextend them if you’re hypermobile). Try to minimise pointing your toes as you leave the ground, instead try pulling the top of your foot toward your shin, pre-stretching your calf and Achilles tendon as much as possible.
Elastically rebound from the floor predominantly from long and stiff calf and Achilles tendon, with minimal movement at the ankle, or pointing the foot.
The objective isn’t to jump as high as possible, it’s to rebound from the floor with a stiff-legged action as if the floor is a trampoline.
Strike the floor with a sharp tapping action, as if the floor is red hot. And feel your body weight load from hips directly to the balls of your feet through stiff knees and ankles.
The less “jumping” action you feel, and the more “bouncing” action you feel from the calves instead, the better.
Pogos Mistakes
Common mistakes are jumping from the hips and knees (with prolonged contact with the floor instead of a sharp tapping action), pointing the toes and “calf raising”, shortening the calf as you jump instead of pulling the top of the foot toward the shin and keeping the calves as long as possible. Also beware of losing your core bracing too, that’ll kill your bounce!
Making Pogos Easy & Harder
To make the exercise easier, make smaller rebound movements with a faster frequency. To make it more challenging, bounce higher with more “hang time” but be sure to maintain a short, sharp, slapping ground contact time.
