Ancient Greece was a highly developed civilization that gave the world many useful discoveries and inventions. According to ancient Greek historians and artifacts that have survived to this day, the Greeks were able to achieve a lot in the field of sports. Ancient athletes performed the long jump with special stone or metal dumbbells in their hands, called halteres, weighing from 1.5 to 4.6 kg each. Accurate information about the jumping technique and the effectiveness of halteres has not been preserved, however, a number of experts, based on research, believe that the use of weights can increase the range of a standing long jump to 15-20 cm. In order to test the effectiveness of using weights of different weights when performing a standing long jump, the authors conducted a small pedagogical experiment, the participants of which were 27 male and 12 female first-year students of the St. Petersburg University of Aerospace Instrumentation. Participants in the experiment performed 3 standing jumps without dumbbells, then after a little preliminary technical training they made alternate jumps with dumbbells weighing 0.5 kg, 1 kg, 1.5 kg and 2 kg in each hand, 3 jumps with each weight. The average result of a jump with dumbbells weighing 0.5 kg among young men practically did not change compared to a regular jump, and when using dumbbells of 1 kg and 1.5 kg, an average improvement in the result was observed, respectively, by 1.63 cm and 3.04 cm, heavier dumbbells of 2 kg reduced the result by 5.11 cm relative to 1.5 kg dumbbells and by 2.07 cm relative to a no-load jump. In girls, an improvement in the average result relative to a jump without weights was noted only when using dumbbells weighing 0.5 kg by 1.83 cm. However, further, with an increase in the weight of dumbbells, a slight decrease in results was found below the level of a regular jump without weights, with a weight of 1 kg by 0.28 cm, with a weight of 1.5 kg by 1.92 cm. But then, when performing a jump with dumbbells of 2 kg, the result slightly increased compared to a jump with a weight of 1.5 kg by 1.04 cm. At the same time, some male students were able to improve the result of the jump by 17 cm with dumbbells of 1.5 kg, and girls 10 cm with dumbbells of 1 kg. The halteres used by ancient athletes during a jump, according to the laws of biomechanics, contribute to increasing the distance of the jump only if accurate and competent technique is observed in combination with a sufficient basic level of general physical fitness. The use of light weight dumbbells during training sessions for university students will help students more effectively master the correct standing long jump technique, because weights will allow the jumper to make more competent directed movements of the upper shoulder girdle to move the center of mass of the body in all phases of the jump.
