Speed Bounds — Over Hurdles: A Complete Guide

Quick Intro

Speed Bounds — Over Hurdles is a bounding drill performed by bounding forward while clearing a series of low hurdles, forcing more vertical projection and airtime into the standard bounding pattern than the hurdles’ modest height alone might suggest. It’s a harder step up from the plain Speed Bounds pattern, and it’s dosed by a small number of maximal-effort reps.

Equipment Needed

Speed Bounds — Over Hurdles needs a set of mini hurdles, spaced to match a full, powerful bounding stride rather than the shorter spacing a running drill would use.

Why Speed Bounds — Over Hurdles Matters

Bounding forward off one leg at a time and clearing a hurdle on each stride asks the calf (gastrocnemius) and the deeper calf muscle beneath it (soleus) to produce a fast, forceful push off the ground, while the glutes (gluteus maximus) and back of the thigh (hamstrings, biceps femoris) drive the hip extension that sends the body forward and upward. The front of the thigh (quadriceps, rectus femoris) helps extend the leading knee out over each hurdle. The hip flexor (iliopsoas) cycles the trailing leg through quickly to set up the next bound, and the shin (tibialis anterior) lifts the toes clear on every clearance. The outer hip (gluteus medius) stabilizes the landing leg against the forward momentum, and the lower back (erector spinae) braces the trunk through the whole sequence.

Speed and power are the main demands, in equal measure, since a bounding pattern asks for explosive force production and forward velocity at the same time.

When to Do It

This exercise belongs early in a session, right after a thorough warm-up, since it’s a maximal power effort that depends on completely fresh legs to execute safely and productively. It’s one of the more demanding bounding patterns, better suited to someone already comfortable with plain bounding before the hurdles add an extra clearance demand.

Anyone with a current ankle, knee or hip issue should avoid this exercise until it’s resolved, since both the takeoff and the landing on each bound place a large, repeated force through those joints.

Getting Ready

A general warm-up followed by a few reps of standard bounding without hurdles confirms the legs are ready for the specific power output this exercise demands. A couple of submaximal bounds over a single low hurdle rehearse the added clearance before attempting a full sequence at full effort.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. The setup. Start a few steps back from the first hurdle to build momentum into the sequence.

2. The drive. Push off one leg with full force, driving the trailing knee up and forward while extending the hip completely.

3. The clearance. Extend the leading leg out over the hurdle in flight, keeping the trailing leg tucked and ready to land.

4. The land and repeat. Land on the opposite leg under control and immediately drive into the next bound and hurdle clearance without pausing.

How Many, How Often

Speed Bounds — Over Hurdles is dosed by a small number of high-quality reps, since the power output and hurdle clearance both fall off quickly once fatigue sets in.

Driving full hip extension on every bound matters more here than clearing each hurdle with the least effort possible, since letting stride length collapse just to get over the hurdle undoes the exact quality the hurdles are there to force.

Modifications and Variations

Speed Bounds — Over Hurdles has one easier step: the same bounding pattern without the hurdles.

Speed Bounds removes the hurdles entirely, letting bounding tempo and turnover develop first without an added clearance demand.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Letting stride length collapse to clear the hurdle with minimal effort. Shortening the bound just enough to skim over the hurdle defeats the entire purpose of adding hurdles to the pattern. Committing to full hip extension and full airtime on every bound is what makes the hurdles worth including at all.

Landing flat-footed instead of absorbing through the ball of the foot. A hard, flat landing after each bound wastes the elastic quality the drill depends on and increases joint stress. Landing on the ball of the foot and rolling smoothly into the next push keeps the sequence both safer and more effective.

Rushing into the sequence without enough approach momentum. Starting too close to the first hurdle leaves no room to build the speed a strong first bound needs. A short, purposeful approach before the first hurdle sets up a more powerful entire sequence.

After Your Set

This exercise loads the calves, hips and hamstrings hard through repeated maximal bounds, so a couple of minutes of easy walking is worth taking before stretching. A standing calf stretch, leaning into a wall with the back heel pressed down, releases the calf after the fast, forceful pushes. A standing hamstring stretch, hinging forward from the hips with one heel resting ahead on a slight lift, eases the back of the thigh after driving so much hip extension.

Going Deeper

This exercise works best early in a session, and it pairs naturally with plyometric jump training or heavier lower-body strength work done later, since the explosive hip extension trained here transfers directly into both. It’s also a stepping stone toward the more advanced bounding variations for anyone building toward faster, more reactive ground contact patterns.

Progress here tends to stall on hip extension rather than raw leg speed: many athletes can turn their legs over quickly but never fully extend the hip on each bound, quietly shortening every stride. Deliberately exaggerating the hip drive on a few submaximal bounds tends to fix this faster than simply adding more reps at a compromised range.

Someone new to this exercise generally needs a solid base of plain bounding first, and builds toward a longer, more powerful hurdle sequence over the following several weeks as hip extension strength and landing control both develop.

How to Know You’re Improving

1. Full hip extension is visible on every single bound through the sequence
2. The landing stays quiet and controlled
3. Stride length and airtime stay consistent from the first hurdle to the last
4. A longer sequence can be completed without the power output dropping off late

Full hip extension held through the entire sequence, not just clearing the hurdles, is what marks progress here.

Muscles Worked

• Gastrocnemius (a calf muscle, firing the ankle to launch each bound off the ground)
• Gluteus Maximus (the largest glute muscle, extending the hip fully to send the body up and over)
• Biceps Femoris (a muscle at the back of the thigh, pulling the body over the planted foot on each bound)
• Rectus Femoris (a front thigh muscle that crosses both the hip and knee, absorbing a landing that comes from height)
• Iliopsoas (the deep hip flexor, driving the free knee up to clear the hurdle in flight)
• Soleus (a deeper calf muscle beneath the gastrocnemius, taking the impact of a landing with airtime behind it)
• Tibialis Anterior (a muscle along the front of the shin, keeping the trailing foot clear of the bar)
• Gluteus Medius (a smaller glute muscle at the side of the hip, holding the hip level on a long single-leg landing)
• Erector Spinae (the muscles running along the length of the spine, keeping the trunk upright through repeated hard landings)

FAQ

Why add hurdles to a bounding pattern that already works without them? The hurdles force a minimum amount of vertical projection and hip extension on every stride, preventing the shortcut of a low, skimming bound that a plain bounding pattern can drift toward without that constraint (see Why It Matters above).

Is this appropriate for someone new to bounding in general? No. A solid base of plain bounding, with full hip extension and confident landings, should already be in place before the hurdles add a clearance demand on top of that pattern (see When to Do It above).

How much clearance over each hurdle is needed? Enough to pass over comfortably with full hip extension, not an exaggerated height; the goal is airtime and stride length, not a dramatic jump over each individual hurdle (see Common Mistakes above).

How does this relate to the plain Speed Bounds pattern? It’s a harder step from Speed Bounds, adding hurdles specifically to force more airtime and hip extension into a bounding rhythm that’s otherwise the same movement (see Modifications and Variations above).