jump training

[FunnyCide]

I've been trying to find ways to gain vertical. There are a lot of programs out there but I wantted to know if anyone here has tried anyone of them that worked? or does anyone know any excercises that could help? Thanks

 

[Spike_the_Dragon]

Skipping rope helps, just remember to stay on your toes. I skip rope for about one hour every night. It's one of the very best cardiovascular workouts around and will improve your footwork, balance, and stamina simultaneously. Squats, frog hopping and wall kicks also help alot.

 

[7 Virtues]

I'm no expert so I'll just regurgitat what advice I remember:

1) Single leg work outs

2) Plyometrics

3) Shoulder and uppery body workouts. Try jumping with your hands kept at your sides, no where near your max.

 

[FunnyCide]

I'm starting a 12 week plyometrics jump training program next week. Has anyone tried this?

Skipping is in this program and so is a upperbody work out. I hope this means I'll be dunking in 12 weeks

 

[madgame]

Skipping rope didnt help me increase my vertical at all, its pretty much only good for stamina. I read an article about increasing your vert the other day and it confirmed what I had already known: jumping rope wont help u increase your vertical, because you're training for stamina. Think about it you're not practicing how to jump high or far or anything, but just to jump often. It's a good cardio vascular workout though.

Gaining upper-body muscle THOUGH neglecting my leg muscles completely (and not losing any bodyfat or anything like that) helped me gian a few inches on my vertical and increased my sprint time, too. I had always wondered why until i read that core stability and arm muscles did indeed play a considerable role in your vertical.

Ever since I started working out my legs I've gained about another 2 inches and I hope I'll be able to gain some more (I'm still far from having great strength in my leg muscles).

When I'm done with working out my legs I'll start a plyometric program, too. BUT don't do plyometric workouts if you havent grea leg muscles yet, otherwise you might really risk taking serious damage to your knees and joints...thats why i havent started doing that either.

 

[Omega]

Pylos, a good weight training program (powerlifting or oly lifting), along with a good diet.

 

[Spike_the_Dragon]

If you stay on your toes like I do, then it will build up your legs and help your jumping ability... but there are more specific methods that will help you: Plyometrics, weight training, Dynamic Strength training, or even simply jumping around like a madman will make you a better jumper. Just remember to avoid hard surfaces or you'll get shin splints.


I use alot of bungee cords while I'm working on my punches and kicks too. Just strap one end to your leg and the other end to something sturdy. This will not only make your strikes faster than lightning, but will improve your jumping ability as well because it makes the leg muscles build strength and power while working in all directions.

 

[FunnyCide]

I started the plyometrics program and it is intense. I get a intense burn through out my whole legs and I'm not even lifting heavy wieghts through the program. (hoopmadness.cjb.net follow the vertical link is my program if anyone wants to check it out)

Spike, I don't quite get what you mean by the bungee cord maybe you can explain it a little more. What exercises do you do with it? Do you just strap one end on your ankle and one to some stationary object?

thanks again everyone

 

[Spike_the_Dragon]

Originally posted by FunnyCide
Spike, What exercises do you do with it? Do you just strap one end on your ankle and one to some stationary object?

Yes, just strap one end to your leg and the other to some stationary object (I use the base of my Wavemaster punching bag most of the time). I do back kicks, side kicks, thrust kicks, snap kicks, roundhouse kicks, crescent kicks, hook kicks, axe kicks, etc. Spinning back kicks are almost impossible due to the fact that you have a bungee cord attached to your leg, and can't really perform spinning techniques without tripping.

For examle, while doing crescent kicks I have the cord tied in a position in front of me. For an axe kick, I have the cord tied in a position above my head, etc.

Just go down to your local hardware store, buy some bungee cables and tie them together. Century (the martial arts supply company) sells this thing called a "ripcord" which does the same thing:http://www.centuryfitness.com/webap...ductId=64584&langId=-1&categoryId=13501&top=y

 

[madgame]

I started the plyometrics program and it is intense. I get a intense burn through out my whole legs and I'm not even lifting heavy wieghts through the program. (hoopmadness.cjb.net follow the vertical link is my program if anyone wants to check it out)

Let us know how it goes, please...cause Im really wondering how big the effect is that plyometrics have on your jumping ability.
(I hope your legs are already strong enough so you dont get injured or anything...be careful)

 

[madgame]

youve had 8 days now, so hows it goin?

 

[Oni]

funnycide, what is this plyometric program that you are on? I have to tell you, a lot of plyometric programs that are created is not good. They involve too much intensity and will injure someone. If you want to increase vert, i can help you. But first let me see if your plyo program is applicable. If it's one of those "Air Alert" program, i suggest dropping it. It's nothing more than a bunch of useless jumping.

 

[Oni]

Nvm i just saw the link and it's totally BS. I suggest not doing it. It's too mcuh work for a day. You will burn out your CNS like that. What this program is having you do is kinda like habitual jumping. A theorythat says if you jump a lot, then that means you can improve on that. while that may be true, their approach isnt correct. Jumping is an explosive movement. To develop explosive movement, you do explosive exercises, and this is where the training is wrong. It's having you do explosive exercises in reps of 10. Repetitions should be kept under 5 for an explosive movement because you dont want to induce fatigue. I also thought you might want to know that exercises such as lunge, squat will develop leg strenght, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it will increase your vert. Look at your toes velocity as you are squating (zero) vs your toe velocity when you are vertical jumping. The velocity is higher as more force is put into it.

I am still a novice in sports training, but i know enough to say that what you have there is not a good program.

 

[madgame]

I also thought you might want to know that exercises such as lunge, squat will develop leg strenght, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it will increase your vert.

If you approach it in a scientifical way I think it either DOES or it DOESNT (assuming hes a relatively untrained person)..but I think saying "it doesnt necessarily" doesnt really express anything at all.

I for my part could jump quite a bit higher and run faster after working out my upperbody shoulder arms and so on for some years. You might say thats because Ive gotten older and stuff, but at 18 for example I had a hard time dunking on baskets that were like 4 inches or so lower than a regulation rim and now I have a hard time dunking on a regulation rim but I do dunk like 1 out of 2.

Now ive been wokring out my legs and back also (I should of started doing that way earlier tho....) for about a year and Ive been able to add about another 2 inches to my vert.

Btw my bf percentage is actually a little bit higher than when i was 18 and i only started playing basketball more often than once a week a few months ago, so I dont think thatd be the reason why my vert increased.

I cant really explain why I can jump higher now other than saying it must be because of my increase in (mostly upperbody and arm)strength. I mean the best sprinters in the world are pretty muscular too (also upperbodywise), but high jumpers arent, so I thought almost every pound more in upperbody muscle should be a disadvantage but it doesnt seem like it is...

Maybe I just got to jump higher for whateva reason because I got olderm though?! (doesnt sound likely though)

 

[Oni]

Sorry i should've made myself more clear back there.

Weightlifting wil increase your vert, but not by a lot. I was at 35" vert before i started doing pure weight lifting with no plyos or anything. It's mainly squat, lunges, deadlift, and benching. After a month of that, my vert went down. I dont know why but im thinkings its probably cuz there's nothing explosive in my workout.

As for your case, an increased in shoulder and arm strenght might be able to make you reach a bit higher when u jump, maybe thats where you get ur 2" vert from.

 

[FunnyCide]

Updated...

Alright so I took a couple weeks to learn the exercises and get my legs ready for the program so I won't get injured. Now it's been about 2 and half weeks. I believe that it's still too early to have any results and when I was playing ball yesterday and tried to dunk I was still missing by the same amount. What I did feel was that my legs were less tried during my bball workout.

Madgame: It right what you're saying that upperbody strength is important for your vert and that is part of this and my wieght training program. Your arm propell you up and give you that extra momentum. I've been wieght training for about a year and a half and continue to train but just added this jump program on top of that. So far I'm not feeling any injuries creeping up on me and I feel lighter on my feet (maybe just psychologial effects but I'll take it for now.) I'm going to keep this program up and see how it goes.

Oni: I see your point but I've taken every precaution to warm up and stretch before the jump program to lower the chances of getting injured. I'm sticking with the program cause it's only 12 weeks to see if it works I feel like I have nothing to lose. Besides it's a great cardio workout if anything. As far as the intensity goes, I don't have a problem with that. I feel like you get what you put into a workout. Anyways, what are your credentials on sports training to know that this program won't work?

That's it for now but thanks for the suggestions everyone

 

[Phoenix_of_the_ashes]

Do Burpees.

 

[FunnyCide]

Originally posted by Phoenix_of_the_ashes
Do Burpees.

huh?

 

[Phoenix_of_the_ashes]

Go in pushup postion, pull your legs to your chest so your in a squat, vertical jump, back to pushup position, do the pushup and repeat.

 

[madgame]

Sorry i should've made myself more clear back there.

Weightlifting wil increase your vert, but not by a lot. I was at 35" vert before i started doing pure weight lifting with no plyos or anything. It's mainly squat, lunges, deadlift, and benching. After a month of that, my vert went down. I dont know why but im thinkings its probably cuz there's nothing explosive in my workout.

As for your case, an increased in shoulder and arm strenght might be able to make you reach a bit higher when u jump, maybe thats where you get ur 2" vert from.

Never mind. You got me wrong though.. I was trying to say that my vert increased by 1 or 2 inches ever since I started working out my LEGS. When I was like between 16 and 18 I was almost as tall as Im now (I was 6'2 and now Im 6'3) and had just started to lift weights. My 100m sprint time and my vertical were rather average. Ever since Im 19 or 20 though Ive improved a lot at leaping and running (though in that period of time I never practiced that unless than when I played bball like once a week; really not more often..and thats how often I had played bball during the years before too).

So I thought it might have really been my arms shoulders and other muscles ("core stability" is important too).I mean if u google for it ull read a lot of pages saying u need to train ur arms and abs etc. too for jumping higher. So i figured this was indeed true, but if I think about it its bull****. I mean running ok...almost all the top sprinters in the world are PRETTY muscular (talking upperbody too) and if they could be just a split second faster by not being that muscular they sure wouldnt work out for that bgi amounts of upperbody muscle.... but I think its actually not logical to assume it helps u in leaping, because high jumpers are really skinny dudes Ive never seen a professional high jumper who was anywhere close to being muscular let alone bulky.

So anyways..maybe it just remains a mystery to me why my athletic performances increased but its cool with me lol.

Just wondering though. How did you calculate your vert? Are you talking standing vert? And did you calculate by measuring the distance between your fingertips and how high u can touch the backboard/rim or something? Cause if I jump flatfooded without any running start at all I can touch the rim with my knuckles (those which are closest to the wrists) or well in otherwords i can "punch" the rim ..that would be an 28 standing vertical but if I measure it on a wall by jumping and touching the wall as high as I can its only a 25 vertical...and my running vertical is like 32 inches.

If u got a standing vertical (measured at a wall) of 35 inches, your vertical is as high as the one of dwyane wade..your running vert would be about 42 inches and you would only be 4 inches short of being able to touch the rim with your head.

Dont mean to diss ya, but I think most ppl probably measure their running verticals (or measure wrong or whateva) when they say they have verticals high in the 30s when in the NCAA I for example most players verticals are between 27 and 31 inches.
(Most NBA Players are between 28 and 34 if what i read is right).

So just wondering, maybe your hops are really that crazy but u were probably talking running vert right?