How To Increase Vertical Jump Height
26 Jul 2009Do you desire to increase your vertical jumping today? It does not matter what sport you play, vertical jump training will make you a better athlete. Basketball and volleyball are probably the most popular sport where jumping higher is important. You will have a better jump shot, block shots easier, and get more rebounds or in volleyball, block shots or spike easier, when you improve your vertical. The following article will give you three tips to help you increase your vertical and learn how to jump higher.
1. Weight Lifting and Plyometric Exercises
You can increase vertical explosion with plyometric exercises. Plyometrics helps develop quick muscle fibers needed to improve vertical by training your muscles to explode quickly. Over time, plyometric training increases the amount of force you can produce and therefore plyometrics are effective in making you more explosive. This leads to improved sports performance, a higher vertical jump, and faster sprinting times.
The exercises require quick, strong reactions to weight lifts including dead lifts, pull-push, and overhead military presses for your shoulders. Box jumps involve jumping on top of a 2′ square box with light weights on your ankles or dumbbells. When vertical jumping, it’s important to keep your back straight and move forward with your quadriceps. Working on your jumps with other plyometric exercises is the perfect beginning to managing a vertical program.
2. Sprints, Intervals, and Agility Drills
One example of an exercise you can do is called dynamic step overs. It is simply jumping over a object like a box or a bench. The idea is to go from one side of the box to the other as quickly as possible. Start on the right side of the box and quickly step sideways to the left and on to the box. Jump off of the left foot and over to the left side leaving your right foot on the box. Quickly step up with the right leg and jump to the right side. Repeat side to side for 10 repetitions on each side. You need to quickly jump from one side to the other spending as little time on the ground as possible. As you get better and better, increase the height of the box to make it more intense.
Since working on muscle explosion is vital for increasing your vertical , sprints and interval are good exercises to do. When you sprint or run as fast as you can, your quick fiber muscles between the hamstrings, quads, and calves are stressed but also developing. Those are the same muscles used to jump higher.
3. Lose Excess Weight
Excess weight does put more stress on your ankles and knees. You will improve your vertical jump by simply reducing the overall fat deposit of your body. This means you may have to change your diet, less “junk” food to healthy alternatives. Basketball players are encouraged to have more muscle than fat because it improves one’s speed, reaction time, and agility on the court. Common sense tells us it will also increase your jumping abilities.
