Posted on Wednesday, 3rd June 2009 by Benjamin Mihajlov




Is it really possible to increase vertical jumping quickly? Is jumping higher really that important? If you desire to have the competitors edge, learning how to jump higher is vital. In basketball, when you increase your vertical jump, your jump shot will be better, along with rebounding the basketball. As a defensive player, you will be more effective if you are able to jump higher in order to block your competitors shot. In many sports, including basketball, vertical jumping will provide you an advantage, making you a better athlete. In this article, you will learn three ways to help increase vertical jumping now.

1. Plyometrics and Weight Lifting

You can increase vertical power with plyometrics. Plyometrics is a form of weight lifting that requires quick-fiber punches within your body. Our bodies are built on fiber tissues that determine our reflexes by the snap of the fibers. In jumping, the tissues in your body must work in unison to provide a strong spring. Plyometrics improves the stability and power of your vertical jumping by building those twitch fibers within your legs.

To clear a myth up, plyometric exercises are not made for improving conditioning or endurance. They are specifically designed for improving reactive and explosive strength. Plyometric training offer a wide array of benefits ranging from improve vertical jump, improved sprinting speed, better explosiveness, improved ability to absorb force, and better agility. Plyometrics are meant to be performed very fast, attempting to reach maximum and with long rest periods in between sets. Too often you see athletes trying to do 5 sets of 10 depth jumps with 1 minute of rest in between. This may help develop endurance, but not explosiveness, which is needed to increase vertical or jump higher.

2. Intervals, Sprints, and Agility Drills

Strong jumps require stability, flexibility, and frequency in monitoring the twitch fibers of your legs and core. The core muscles (upper abdominal, lower back, and lower abs) experience a crunch when you have to move into the air. If you’ve ever paid attention to great jumpers, their core muscles are quite tight. They are able to move in a flexible motion by increasing vertical reaction times to jumps.

Sprints and intervals are perfect supplements to increase vertical because they improve the reaction time of muscles. Your legs build a quick fiber muscle between the hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves that are pulled during jumps. Seems interesting? Strong jumpers are also fast runners because they integrate timed sprints (100 yards, suicides, and agility drills) that create a scheduled reaction to their reflexes.

3. Lose Excess Weight

Weight can stress the muscles of your ankles, knees, and core. Reducing the overall fat deposit of your core muscles can improve your vertical jumping abilities. Basketball players are encouraged to have more muscle than fat because it improves one’s speed, reaction time, and agility on the court. In order to increase vertical power from your core, analyze your eating habits to see how it can change for weight purposes. Another issue to consider is your position; forwards and centers may need to build muscle in order to control physical contact during rebounds. Centers and Forwards require a very diligent jump ability to keep up with competition in the paint. Short shots tend to cause rebounds to reflect into the middle of the paint, which causes a lot of physical contact with players. Your vertical jumping exercises should be strong and controlled in order to produce results in monitoring the paint.

About the Author:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in soccer | Comments (0)

Leave a Reply