How To Improve A Vertical Jump

Jumping is very helpful for athletes especially for basketball players. Are you looking for ways to jump higher? Perhaps you are looking for ways to jump higher so you can do a slam dunk in a basketball game. It is true that genetics play an important role in jumping. There are athletes who can jump higher than the others without even training for it. When you check on their background, you will be surprised to hear that their parents and family can do the same. What about those people who aren’t genetically gifted to jump high?

There are several ways on how to improve a vertical jump.  One can improve his vertical leap by doing a structured, progressive and safe training program that focuses on strength, power and flexibility.

Jumping alone and improving muscles won’t give an athlete his full potential in vertical jumping. There are certain vertical jump programs that an athlete can get and train with it. The program would focus on training the proper muscles that are key for increasing his vertical jump. Constantly training the key muscles for jumping will not only increase the height of an athlete’s leap but also increase the endurance of the muscles. The strength of the muscles of the legs will highly improve vertical jumps.  There are several exercises that can be done to build strength of the muscles of the legs. The top of the list would be squat exercise which builds muscles on the calves and quads. Other leg exercises that mirror a jumping movement can also be done like box jumps, lunges, step ups and toe raises.

Flexibility can also improve vertical jumps. Stretch the muscles of the body especially in legs area. It is recommended to do a daily stretching of the ACL tendon. One has to make sure that before doing exercises, proper stretching must be done especially when doing power exercises later on. Having a flexible muscle will greatly increase vertical leap and avoid getting injuries.

Increasing the power can greatly help an athlete gain vertical leaps. Power is the principle fitness component for vertical for vertical jumping. Power is a combination of strength and power. Therefore, a weight training program that improves maximal strength can improve power and increase vertical jump ability. It is best to improve the power of the body as a whole. Weight training is one way to increase power. When doing weight training, it is best not to over build the muscles of the body which aren’t too helpful in vertical leaps. It is best to do concentrated weight training on certain body parts.

Watching the body weight will greatly help in improving vertical jumps too. It is difficult to jump when the body weight is heavy. Although an athlete might have built a lot of muscles especially in the lower body but this would be useless if the weight of the body as a whole becomes too heavy for the legs to carry.

Perhaps the most neglected part on improving vertical jump is nutrition. There are very few programs that cover nutrition as part of their training program. It is true that muscle strength and power are the most important keys to increasing vertical leaps; however, in doing weight training the body consumes proteins and carbohydrates. Proper nutrition is important to make sure that there is sufficient protein and carbohydrates available for the body’s consumption when needed.