Posts Tagged ‘improve vertical jump’

Drills That Help You Leap Higher

Friday, February 12th, 2010

People involved in sports, especially basketball, football, volleyball, and soccer, are frequently looking for ways to increase their vertical jump. There are many exercises and programs existing that are specially designed for improving a person’s vertical leap. Before proceeding with any of these programs though, you ought to at least be in fair general physical condition. Here we list a few exercises that someone could begin with before undertaking a training program. These will help get you started.

Warm Ups
Prior to starting the exercises, you should warm your muscles up. Try jogging around for ten minutes or run up and down s few sets of stairs. It is also a good idea to stretch your muscles prior to beginning your exercises. Warming up prior to exercising helps you develop muscle fibers that are utilized during the jumping process.

Skipping Rope
Skipping rope is an exercise that should not be overlooked, as it will contribute to improving the strength of your legs. Moreover, it promotes maintaining excellent cardiovascular condition. Perform this exercise for 15 to thirty minutes regularly.

Knee Raises
Hold an overhead bar firmly, with your arms straight overhead. Hang from the overhead bar, with your arms fully extended and knees bent slightly. Hold this position and slowly pull your knees towards your chest. Concentrate on contracting your stomach muscles while doing this. Maintain this position for a few seconds, before lowering your legs towards the floor. Repeat the process 5 times.

Knee Bends
One of the best exercises to increase your leg strength is with knee bends (also know as squats). Stand upright – straight, with chest out and keeping your back tight. Now, bend your knees slowly, keeping the back straight. Squat, in a slow action, as far down as possible. Repeat this process 20 times.

Toe Touches
Stand straight. Bend from the waist while keeping your knees locked. Lower yourself down as far as you can go and try to touch your toes with your fingers. Hold this position for a few seconds. Do this exercise slowly and avoid “bouncing” while trying to reach your toes. Do this 30 times.

Sit-Ups
Sit-ups will help improve your vertical jump. Begin with with your back against the floor, with your knees bent, and your feet flat on the floor. Place you hands behind your head. Now, lift your shoulders off the floor, in a slow movement. Continue to sit up. Try to not “pull” on the back of your head with your hands. Concentrate on your stomach doing the work. Exercises for your midsection are important for all physical activity as your ultimate all around strength and flexibility start here. Repeat this exercise 10-20 times.

To get the most out of your vertical jumping exercises, you must consider a vertical jump training program. Check out these Vertical Jump Program Reviews to see which are rated the best and to get more information on How To Improve Your Vertical.

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Five Things To Look For In A Vertical Jump Program

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

If you’re looking for a way to improve your basketball skills and want to jump higher or even dunk, vertical leap programs can give you the boost you need. Which of the programs in reality deliver the goods though? There are many different ones out there, and several of them make claims that sound outstanding. If adding over 10 inches to your vertical jump was as simple as a few programs lead you to believe, wouldn’t everyone be able to dunk by now? So how can you find a truly first-rate vertical program?

Here are the five things you should look for when reviewing vertical jump programs.

1. Uncomplicated instructions
It’s important that you can take in what the inventor of the program is talking about. It shouldn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a professional, the program should be simple for anybody to start doing without a bunch of difficult words.

2. Plyometrics and weighlifting workout routines
Programs that include plyo and weight workouts are more beneficial. If the product you’re looking at doesn’t have these things, there is no way it can help you get the best outcome. Plyometrics is all about explosive movements, which is something you’ll need when you try and dunk.

3. Customizable workouts
All athletes needs are different, and what may work for one person may not work for someone else. That is why it’s extremely essential that a vertical jump program has enough variation – for beginners, intermediate and advanced ballers. That way, if you are advanced in plyometrics workouts, but you’re a beginner to lifting weights, you can alter you workout to the exact programs that are most needed.

4. Improves overall strength and quickness
The program ought to not only help you jump higher, it should automatically make you stronger and quicker as well. So, if you’re only able to jump an inch or two higher, the program you have is most likely not improving your strength or quickness.

5. Be Reasonably priced
You should not have to spend an arm and a leg just to jump high! (After all, how high can you jump with just one leg (ha ha)? There are some workouts out there that are worth the money, but none of them are worth five times what the others are charging.

If you can find all 5 of these items in the program you are considering, it is most likely a good one, and one that should be worth it.

To get the most out of your vertical jumping exercises, you ought to consider a vertical jump training program. Check out these Vertical Jump Program Reviews to see which are rated the best and to find more information on How To Improve Your Vertical.

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Do Less To Jump Higher

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Are you serious about your vertical jump training?

Correct training to improve your vertical jump is very COUNTER INTUITIVE.

The vertical jump is an explosion caused by the intense contraction of fast twitch muscle fibers.  Because of this, vertical jump training should be “anaerobic.”  All too often athletes are training in a way that that is mostly “aerobic”.

How is training different for the two?

Athletes looking to improve have been told that running cross country would increase their vertical. This is huge misconception. Running long distances like that can cause your vertical leap to plummet.

Sprinting, like jumping is a much less aerobic event.  Do you see [a sprinter running the 2 mile run to train for sprinting? NEVER! Then why so often do vertical leap programs have us PACING ourselves during our vertical jump training workouts?

NEVER NEVER NEVER PACE YOURSELF FOR] TRAINING YOUR VERTICAL JUMP!

Maybe you have also seen these before. Athletes “running the stairs” or out of breath from doing speed ladder drills. Or perhaps you jump rope for 20 minutes and you are worn out.. you are going to say to yourself, “Now that was tough, surely that will help my vertical.”

This is not explosive training, so they are NOT going to see results in explosive moves. I assure you, they will be disappointed. You must train explosively and not endurance to increase your jumping ability.

“Explosion” training will feel awkward at first.  You don’t end up with the same burn as training for endurance.  In some ways training explosion is easier, although it requires much more focus and short term energy.

99% of all athletes [that follow these suggestions incredibly soley by decreasing repetition and increasing intensity.

Doesn’t exercising less to get more outcome sound like a winning combination?

To get the most out of your vertical jumping exercises, you should think about a vertical jump training program. Check out these Vertical Jump Program Reviews to check which are rated the best and to get more information on How To Jump Higher.

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Three Movements To Begin With For Vertical Leap Training

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Are you looking for some basic exercises to improve your vertical leap? There are many to select from. These will offer you a good foundation to start from. Make sure that you follow the exercises correctly. Numerous people perform the right exercises, but they don’t do them correctly. Add these three exercises to your vertical training and you will be well on your way to adding major inches to your vertical.

While most people may believe that just the leg muscles require improvement to help you jump higher, this is not correct. Your lower back and erector muscles need to be strong too. Many of the back muscles are heavily involved and require strengthening as well. Vertical jumping exercises should include working on this area. Which brings us to our first exercise.

Dead Lifts

A first-rate exercise to begin with is the dead lift. Arch your back, bend your knees while holding the weighted bar. Bring the barbell up until you are standing upright with the barbell hanging across your thighs. Gradually lower the weight back down. Execute three sets of 6-8 repetitions. To steer clear of injury, do not yank the bar, but execute the exercise quickly and steadily. Take a brief rest after these first 3 sets. Then do the next set, but this time take your time and feel the full range of your muscles.

Leg Presses

One more high-quality exercise is leg presses. Choose a weight on the leg press machine that is toward the upper end of your range, but not the highest you can lift. Spread your feet apart. Lower the weight until your thighs almost contact your chest. Then thrust the weight back up in an explosive manner. It’s not about the slow and steady here. You need to practice the explosive move to get the most out of the muscles you will use when jumping. Repeat this exercise six times – and do five sets. Permit muscles to relax between sets.

Medicine Ball

Lastly, use a heavy medicine ball in place of a basketball. Acting like you are trying to dunk the ball, jump with the medicine ball toward the rim. Embellish the movements and reach for the rim. Doing this exercise will enhance all the muscles that you will use when you really are able to dunk. Doing this exercise as hard as you can will have a big influence on your vertical jump.

These three exercises are just three of many that can help improve your vertical jump and learn how to jump higher. Mix these with additional jumping exercises. Don’t forget to use the proper form while performing these exercises. It can help you steer clear of injury.

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