Posts Tagged ‘jumping exercises’

Movements to Increase Your Vertical Jump

Friday, February 12th, 2010

People involved in athletics, especially basketball, volleyball, soccer, and football, are frequently interested in finding a way to increase their vertical leap. There are many exercises and programs available that are specially intended for improving a person’s vertical leap. Before proceeding with any of these programs though, an athlete should at least be in good general physical condition. Here we list a few exercises that you could begin with before starting a vertical leap program. These will help get you started.

Warm Ups
Before starting any exercises, you should warm up your muscles. Try jogging around for ten minutes or run up and down s few sets of stairs. It is also a sound idea to stretch your muscles prior to exercising. Warming up before doing exercises helps you develop muscle fibers that are used for jumping.

Skipping Rope
Jumping rope is an exercise that is often overlooked, and shouldn’t be, as it can contribute to improving the strength of your legs. It also promotes maintaining excellent overall physical condition. Do this exercise for fifteen to 30 minutes regularly.

Knee Raises
Hold an overhead bar firmly, with your arms about shoulder-width apart. Hang from the overhead bar, with your arms fully extended and knees slightly bent. Hold this position and slowly pull your knees up to your chest. Concentrate on contracting your stomach muscles during this process. Hold this position for a few seconds, before lowering your legs back down. Repeat this 5 times.

Knee Bends
One of the best ways to improve your leg strength is with knee bends (also called squats). Stand in an upright position – straight, with chest out and keeping your back tight. Proceed to bend your knees slowly, keeping the back straight. Crouch, in a slow movement, to the maximum possible extent. Repeat this exercise 20 times.

Toe Touches
Stand upright. Bend at the waist while keeping your legs straight. Continue bending down as far as you can go while trying to touch your toes with your fingers. Sustain this stance for a few seconds. Do this exercise slowly and do not “bounce” while trying to touch your toes. Do this 30 times.

Sit-Ups
Sit-ups can help improve your vertical leap. Begin with with your back flat on the floor, with your knees bent, and your feet flat on the floor. Place you hands behind your head. Now, curl your shoulders off the floor, in a slow motion. Continue to sit up. Try to not “pull” on the back of your head with your hands. Concentrate on making your stomach do the work. Exercises for your waist are crucial for all physical activity as it is the “core” area of your body. Repeat this 10-20 times.

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 Improve Your Vertical.

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Improve Your Vertical Jump By Working out Less

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Are you serious about your vertical leap training?

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

Vertical jumping is an explosive act caused by the intense contraction of fast twitch muscle fibers.  Because of this, training to improve jumping should be “anaerobic.”  All too often athletes train in a way that [develops.

What is the difference in training?

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 shrink.

Sprinting, like jumping is a more anerobic event.  Do you see [a sprinter distance running as part of their training for sprinting? NEVER! Then why so often do vertical leap programs make us PACING ourselves during our vertical leap training workouts?

NEVER NEVER NEVER PACE YOURSELF [WHILE!

You have seen it before. Athletes “running the stairs” or dog tired from doing speed ladder drills. Or maybe you jump rope for 20 minutes and your legs are so tired.. you are going to say to yourself, “Now that was tough, certainly that will increase my vertical.”

These are not examples of training explosively, so they are NOT going to see results in explosive moves. I guarantee you, they will be disappointed. You have to train explosively and not endurance to increase your jumping ability.

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

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

Doesn’t working out less to get better results sound like the best of both worlds?

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 see which are rated the best and to find more information on How To Improve Your Vertical.

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5 Things To Look For In A Vertical Jump Program

Friday, February 12th, 2010

If you’re wanting to improve your basketball skills and want to jump higher or even dunk, vertical jump programs can help you out. Which of the programs really deliver the goods though? There are many different products available, and some of them make claims that they can’t back up. If adding big increases to your vertical jump was as simple as a few programs lead you to believe, wouldn’t everyone be dunking by now? So how can you find a genuinely first-rate vertical program?

Here are the 5 things to look for when reviewing vertical jump programs.

1. Uncomplicated information
It’s imperative that you can comprehend what the inventor of the program is talking about. It shouldn’t matter if you’re just starting or are an accomplished athlete, the program ought to be easy for anyone to use without a bunch of difficult terms.

2. Plyometrics and weighlifting workout routines
Programs that include plyo and weight workouts produce better results. If the product you’re looking at doesn’t have these things, there is no way it can help you get the optimal results. Plyometrics involves explosive exercises, which is something you’ll need when you try and dunk.

3. Workouts you can customize
All athletes needs are different, and what might work for you might not work for somebody else. That is the reason it’s very important that a vertical jump program has enough variation – for beginners, intermediate and advanced ballers. That way, if you are advanced in plyometrics workouts, but in your life], you can create a special workout made up of the precise programs that are most needed.

4. Increases overall strength and speed
The program should not only help you increase your ability to jump, it ought to 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 helping you get stronger or faster.

5. Be Affordable
You shouldn’t 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 should cost five times what the others charge.

If you can find all five 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 must think about a vertical jump training program. Check out these Vertical Jump Program Reviews to check which are rated the best and to find more information on How To Jump Higher.

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Some Basic Exercises to Help You Leap Higher

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Do you want to know which exercises to start with that will help your vertical leap? Since there are several, we’ll help you reduce the list a little. These will give you a good basis to start from. You must make sure that you follow them precisely. You can carry out the correct exercises, but if you don’t do them in the proper manner, you won’t get the results you want. Add these three exercises to your vertical training and you will be well on your way to adding major inches to your vertical.

Whereas most people may think 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. So let’s get started with our first exercise.

Dead Lifts

Dead lifts are great. Arch your back, bend your knees while holding the weighted bar. Bring the barbell up until you are standing erect with the barbell hanging across your thighs. Gradually return the barbell back to the starting location on the floor. The first 3 sets of 6-8 reps should be done quickly but steadily to avoid injury. Take a brief rest after these first 3 sets. Perform one more set taking your time and being more deliberate.

Leg Presses

Another high-quality exercise is leg presses. Select a weight on the leg press machine that is near the higher end of your range, but not the most you can lift. Place your feet high and away from you. Allow the weight to come down as far as you can and then, pretending like you are jumping, push the weight back up quickly. 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. Do 5 sets of 6 reps. Permit muscles to rest between sets.

Medicine Ball

Lastly, use a heavy medicine ball in place of a basketball. Pretend you are going to slam dunk, but don’t really throw the ball! Make sure to extend your reach and try to get the ball as high as you can. This will help strengthen all the muscles you will be using when you slam dunk for real. Doing this exercise as hard as you can will have a big impact on your vertical jump.

While these are merely three exercises, they can be a good beginning to increasing your vertical jump. As you develop, include further exercises to your routine. Keep in mind that correct form is just as critical as the weight and the number of reps.

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