Front Cone Hops (or hurdle hops)
Also works: Abductors · Adductors · Calves · Glutes · Hamstrings
A row of low cones or hurdles jumped two-footed, one after another, with no pause between them. The obstacle forces height, and the short gap forces you to rebound off the floor rather than resettle — it trains the fast bounce a single standing jump never asks for.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Space the cones roughly 60-90 cm apart — close enough that you rebound, far enough that you are not landing on the next one.
- Keep barrier height ankle to mid-shin. If you have to tuck your knees to clear one, it is too tall.
- Use 4-8 cones. Longer rows become conditioning, and quality has already gone by cone ten.
- Stand a foot behind the first cone, feet hip-width, weight over the mid-foot and arms free at your sides.
- Check the surface: a sprung floor, track or grass forgives; concrete does not.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — One breath for the whole pass — inhale before the first hop, short sharp exhales as you leave the floor, reset between passes. Ground contact should be as brief as you can make it; there is no eccentric tempo to prescribe.
Before you load it
- Use collapsible cones or foam hurdles rather than anything rigid. Catching a toe on a fixed barrier at speed is how ankles and faces get broken.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Bodyweight only — never hold dumbbells for these, as the extra mass lands on the same Achilles that has to return it. Progress by shortening ground contact, then by adding one cone, then by raising barrier height a few centimetres. Total foot contacts per session: 40-60 when you are new to jumping, 80-120 once you have a few months of it behind you.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Drop the barrier height until you can clear it with your legs mostly straight underneath you. Height of the cone is not the metric — ground contact time is.
Cap the dip at a quarter squat and think 'stiff spring' through the ankle. If you cannot bounce out that shallow, the cones are too far apart.
Cut the row to 4-8 and rest 60-90 seconds between passes. Conditioning belongs at the end of a session with something that does not load the Achilles at ten times bodyweight.
Land forefoot-first and let the heel settle under load. If every landing is loud, stop the set — you are absorbing force rather than returning it.
Why bother
A standing jump gives you as long as you like to gather. Cone hops do not. You land from one hop already loaded for the next, and your calves and Achilles have roughly 0.2 seconds to absorb and return that force. That short-contact rebound is a separate quality from vertical jump height, and it is the one that shows up in sprinting and change of direction.
The cones are a target, not the obstacle they look like. Knee-height barriers get cleared with hip flexion — tucking — which teaches you to fold rather than extend. Keep them low, ankle to shin height, and the hop stays honest: full ankle and hip extension, minimal knee tuck, feet down under you.
Where it fits
Straight after the warm-up, before any leg lifting, one or two days a week. A set is one pass down 4-8 cones and takes about three seconds; the rest between passes should be 60-90 seconds, which feels absurd until you notice how much slower pass four is without it. Do not use these as a finisher — a fatigued athlete lands with stiff ankles and picks up shin pain.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
When this gets easy
Asked and answered
Will cone hops make me jump higher?
Only indirectly. Cone hops train short ground contacts and repeated rebounds; a vertical jump test measures one maximal effort from a standstill, and those are different qualities. If your goal is a bigger single jump, squat heavy and practise maximal standing jumps. Cone hops pay off in the fifth stride of a sprint and in the plant before a change of direction — which is what most field sports actually ask for.
Should I use hurdles instead of cones?
Only collapsible or foam ones, and only at a height you clear without tucking. Rigid hurdles add nothing to the training effect and add a real chance of catching a foot. Cones are the safer default and let you focus on ground contact rather than on clearance.
Can I do these every day?
No. Short-contact hopping loads the Achilles and shins hard, and that tissue recovers slower than muscle. One or two sessions a week, always fresh, with at least 48 hours between them. If your calves are still sore from the last session, skip it rather than push through.
Are cone hops better than box jumps?
They train different things. Box jumps train a single maximal effort from a standstill with a protected landing; cone hops train repeated fast rebounds and land you on the floor every time. If you sprint or play a field sport, cone hops are closer to what you actually do. If your joints are cranky, box jumps are the gentler choice.