HOW TO JUMP HIGHER

I recently came across this question on msn’s LIVE Q&A

How do athletes like basketball players learn to jump higher?
http://qna.live.com/ShowQuestion.aspx?qid=69731D0A537F415690A76F4A793DE62B

I quickly typed up a response, but unfortunately once so many days pass, the question closes. Here’s my response nevertheless..

Jumping higher and increasing vertical leap is one of the hardest things one can train for, hence the confusion & misconceptions all over the place. The learning aspect is true in some sense, as once you learn what is needed your set to start training your way to the stars.

Occasionally something will randomly help a kid jump higher, so he starts bragging about it and the testimonials come rolling in. But why do some things work for others and don’t do anything at all? To understand this let’s take a look at what exactly determines how high one can jump….

Vertical leap, like everything on earth, boils down to some simple physics. The greater force you can apply downwards onto the ground, the higher you will jump. The good things about this is, that force can always be increased! Wether you’re changing your workout, altering your recovery program, getting more rest, eating better…there is always room for improvement and you can always manage to jump higher.

So now we know basically what determines how high an athlete can jump, lets disect some more. There are two major components of the vertical leap. Strength power and Reactive power. Most times a player will have one or the other, but to have an outstanding vertical leap, you must focus on both aspects.

To explain things better, it’s a good idea to imagine our muscles as rubber bands. The strength aspect we must work on relates to the thickness of the rubber band, where the reactive (or plyometric) side of things has to do with the amount of stretch & return that can be put into the rubber band.

These two aspects is exactly the reason why some kids get random gains, and others don’t gain at all. To continually improve your vertical leap and avoid plateaus it is vital to focus on what aspect your body is lacking! Only by finding your weakest link, and training for that can your gains be guaranteed. Training any other way is just training blind.

Yes, there are tests you can undertake to determine what your vertical leap is lacking, and I’ll talk about where you can go to find out a tad later. Measuring your vertical leap and recording your gains is also an important factor of training. This way when you do come across something that is working great, you can look back on what was working and replicate exactly what you did in order to get the maximum possible gains from it.

Let’s take a quick look at the answers to the jumping higher question thus far.

Joel says:

“to jump higher you must bend you legs and then push up” ….was anyone attempting to jump higher without bending there legs? :s

Joels on the right track with doing weights which can help your vertical leap….if done currectly!! The majority of people will get in the weights room, 3 sets of 10…and blow there chances of increasing there vertical leap. Remember vertical leap is a power movement, executed in just seconds, and we must train accordingly. Low reps!

Scone says: “i put sand weights on my leg’s”

I’d highly suggest against doing this, as if it’s anything similar to wearing ankle weights, they have been proven to do more harm than good. They pull on your tendons and can do some major damage.

Finally, Bart says: “Remember that the higher you jump, the most difficult to get it even higher”

This is true on two levels, the second has to do with some complex physics (complex for me anyway) so we’ll just look at the first reason why this is true. When it comes to training we have what I like to call ‘noob gains’, where kids can initially gain well from virtually any training program, as it’s a vast change to their normal routine of sitting on the couch. These gains of course come to a staggering halt, so it is important to get yourself on a sound vertical leap program to keep the gains coming.

Note: Most programs out there won’t train both aspects of vertical leap, and they surely won’t customize themselves to focus on your individual needs and the areas your lacking. To be honest, the vast majority of programs out there will wage war with your knees, create muscle imbalances and simply do more damage than good.

There are however two programs (Vertical Bible & Vertical Project) which stand above the rest. People are having great results from them, and I’m hearing some awesome feedback everyday. The difference with these programs is, they are written by two of the greatest vertical leap trainers of all time, who actually understand what is needed to keep those gains coming. Like I talked about above, they have inbuilt systems of measuring your skills, determining your weak points and customizing/moulding the workouts to the individual.

To find out more about these programs or to simply read more about the ‘How do athletes like basketball players learn to jump higher?’ question I’ve tried to answer today, i’d suggest you check out: http://jumphigherguide.com

Good luck, I hope this helped

Today we’re taking a look at the most popular piece of vertical leap equipment ever released, Jumpsoles. Why are people still rushing out and buying strengthshoes and jumpsoles in an attempt to jump higher, do they really work?

To determine this we take a look at what goes into developing an outstanding vertical leap. Firstly, jumpsoles are aimed at targeting the calves. So do the calves play a big role in vertical leap? Absolutely not! Your calf muscles play such a small aspect in your overall vertical leap, that you shouldn’t be isolating them. They get more than enough workout from your compound exercises in all sound vertical leap programs.

Yes you can throw calf raises out the window too! Here’s a quick test you can do right now, to get an idea of how important your calves are.

1. Stand flat footed on the floor, and jump up as high as you can by just flicking your feet, and not bending your legs at all. Didn’t get high at all hey?

Now by following big companies who are behind on the times, not only can your gains be hindered, injury can onset pretty quickly. I’m not so much talking about joint injury here, I’ll keep that for another post, but muscle imbalances. By isolating and focusing your efforts on ONE muscle, your setting yourself up for major muscle imbalances. Which of course lead to injury…

“Hangon then, well why are people gaining with Jumpsoles? I’m sure people are…i’ve read their testimonials!”

When people buy Jumpsoles, they are given a program called ‘phi slamma jamma’ to do. This Jumpsole workout is a one sheet program which incorporates such things as lunges, squats etc. Thus gains are obviously going to come from doing the strength and plyometric exercises, especially for noobs who have never gotten off the couch before. Are those gains a direct result of wearing Jumpsoles? Of course not! For a few exercises I’d actually go far enough to say, gains could have been increased if the jumpsoles weren’t worn. For example:

1. How are you supposed to perform proper squats, driving through your heels, if you can’t lean back onto your heels without falling over?
2. You could do the squats with alot more weight without them on…

Nevertheless, the testimonials pile in. “Hey I gained 4 inches” “Hey I can touch the ring now” etc. Now when I did vertical project throughout last summer I also ate chocolate occasionally. So when I gained 8 inches (considering I’m not new to training it was pretty damn good) did I send testimonials into the chocolate company saying “thanks your chocolate gained me 8 inches” of course not. People have to start smartening up! Have a think about why people may be gaining, and don’t be consumed by testimonials, especially ones on their own site!

If you’re about to get up & head over to the trash can, hold on! There are some very good uses for Jumpsoles. The proceiptor balance work is excellent, and if you own vertical project, you’ll know exactly what to do with them. I think Luke refers to is as “the Super Secret Instant Vertical Exercise” and it truely makes them worth every penny.

So summing up, using jumpsoles as originally intended may not be the best idea. However using them for the newer alternative training concepts is great!

There have been few sports trainers along the years that have decided to fully dedicate themselves to training for vertical leap. Paving the way for vertical leap trainers was Gil ‘Rise’ Thomas which through much hard work ended up with a recorded 44″ standing vertical leap! He went on to help successfully trained Reggie Thompson, which is now claimed to have a 56″ vert!

You used to be able to sign up and have Gil come visit for the day. He’d set you on the right path, help you with some exercise routines, nutrition and get yourself on a customized training program. At $400, this was the ultimate when it came to vert training.

Since Air Alerts release over 10 years ago, a number of vertical leap programs have popped up. An incredible amount actually. The advantage of these being normally the cost is reduced and you can begin training with them straight away.

Current big names in vertical leap training:

Luke Lowrey

Creator of Vertical Project
Vert 41″, played in Australia’s top basketball league

While playing for professional basketball for the Titans, Luke Lowrey developed his vertical leap to an outstanding 41 inches. Unfortunetly injury shot him down and has prevented him reaching his goal of 50 inches. He has since gone on to personally help top professionals jump higher through his advanced vertical leap training. On top of this he bought out his own program, The Vertical Project and recently ran a training session for athletes over the telephone. If anyone here took part in this, we’d love to hear about it!

Kelly Bagget

Creator of Vertical Bible
Vert 42″, certified trainer specializing in athletic performance

Mark Sias

Creator of Bionic Plyometrics
Vert 37″, professional trainer, specializes martial arts and plyometrics