The Best Way to Increase Your Vertical Leap
A strong vertical leap can separate a good athlete from the rest. A vertical leap, also known as a vertical jump, is the height you can reach when you jump minus the height you can reach when you are standing. Increasing your vertical leap can help in a number of sports. The vertical leap is an explosive movement, so to increase your leap, you will need to work on both strength and power.
Instructions
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Strength Training
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Begin your workout with some basic exercises to warm up your muscles. Stretch your legs and jog around or run up and down stairs for a 5 to 10 minutes before you begin.
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Make squats part of your regimen to increase your vertical leap. Squats target your lower back, glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves. Place your feet shoulder width apart with your toes pointed out at about 30 degrees. Squat down and place most of your weight on your heels, keeping your abs tight. Use your legs to return your body to a standing position. Keep your back straight throughout the squat. Start with 15 squats and increase it to 20 and even 30 over time.
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Use a box or bench to complete several sets of step-ups. Stand behind a box with feet shoulder width apart. Step one foot up onto the box and squat down into a lunge. Push off the box and jump, keeping your leg that was on the box above the box and your other leg extended behind you. Land back on the box in your original start position. Switch legs and repeat. Make sure your knees do not extend past your toes. The box should be high enough so that when your foot is on the box, your knee is at a 90 degree angle. You can add dumbbells to this exercise as you get stronger. Start with five to eight repetitions and add more as you are able.
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Complete 10 sets of lunges on each leg to increase your strength. Start from a standing position and then step as far forward as possible without leaning your torso forward, placing your front knee at a 90 degree angle. Step back into your original position with one step. After 10 sets on one leg, switch and do 10 on the other.
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Add abdominal exercises to your exercise routine. Start with crunches for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night according to insidehoops.com. As your strength increases, verticaljumpzone.com recommends adding a weight plate and medicine ball to your crunches. To do this, just hold the weight on your chest while performing the crunches on a medicine ball.
Power Training
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Begin any power exercises with a warm-up by stretching and jogging in place, just as with the strength exercises.
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Perform deadlifts to increase your power. Start at a low weight and increase to heavier weights. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, hold your arms just to the side of your body and look forward. Make sure you keep your back flat as you bend over to pick up the bar. With your shoulder blades over the bar, slowly move to a standing position, keeping the bar close to your legs. Hold for a few seconds, then lower the bar back to the floor and repeat.
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Use a box to complete box jumps and build your power. Stand behind a box with your feet shoulder width apart and bent slightly, so that your knees are about halfway over your foot. Swing your arms back, squat down and jump, landing in the middle of the box. You should land on the balls or front part of your foot, keeping your knees bent and feet forward. Hold your landing for a few seconds, then step down and repeat. You can increase the height of the box as you build your power. Director of Fitness at UC Berkeley, Devin Wicks, recommends starting with two sets of five to eight jumps and then building up from there.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are just starting a workout routine, start with just three days a week. Work two to three muscle groups a day, with at lease a day off before you work the same muscle groups. For example, you might do the squats, lunges and deadlifts one day and then your abs and jumping exercises the next day.
If you have any type of injury, consult a doctor before beginning any sort of physical fitness program.
References
- Photo Credit Pile of Weights image by mcab from Fotolia.com
