Increase Vertical Jump For Free

By Ben J. Mihajlov

What can you expect by increasing your vertical jump ? The answer lies in the sport you play and if it's required to outperform other players. In basketball, your capabilities of strong vertical jumping is everything in relation to your jump shots, blocks, and rebounds. You can be an underdog if you cannot reach up and above competitors for rebounds because rebounds determine the success of a game. Defensive players must block out opponents when creating a solid position; point guards must have a straight vertical in order to get shots over taller players. The world of basketball depends on your vertical jumping; in this article, you're going to learn three tips to help increase vertical jumps today.

1. Weight Lifting and Plyometric Exercises

Plyometrics are categorized by their amazing ability to increase reactive strength and jumping skill and coordination. Plyometric exercises are able to increase the number of fast-twitch muscle fibers in a certain muscle group. Consistent plyometric training will result in enhanced sports performance, improved vertical jumping abilities, and faster sprinting times.

The plyometric exercises typically are quick reactions to resistance like gravity or weights. It could be simply jumping as high as you can until you can not reach your maximum jump any more. Some exercises may include jumping over or on top of boxes, then jumping down off them. With plyometric exercises, it is important that each rep attempt is quick and attempt to achieve the maximum every time. Along with strength training, plyometrics provides a perfect complement to increase your vertical jump quickly.

2. Sprints, Intervals, and Agility Drills

Strong jumps require stability, flexibility, and frequency in monitoring the twitch fibers of your legs and core. The core muscles (upper abdominal, lower back, and lower abs) experience a crunch when you have to move into the air. If you've ever paid attention to great jumpers, their core muscles are quite tight. They are able to move in a flexible motion by increasing vertical reaction times to jumps.

Sprints and intervals are perfect supplements to increase vertical because they improve the reaction time of muscles. Your legs build a quick fiber muscle between the hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves that are pulled during jumps. Seems interesting? Strong jumpers are also fast runners because they integrate timed sprints (100 yards, suicides, and agility drills) that create a scheduled reaction to their reflexes.

3. Lose Excess Weight

Weight can stress the muscles of your ankles, knees, and core. Reducing the overall fat deposit of your core muscles can improve your vertical jumping abilities. Basketball players are encouraged to have more muscle than fat because it improves one's speed, reaction time, and agility on the court. In order to increase vertical power from your core, analyze your eating habits to see how it can change for weight purposes. Another issue to consider is your position; forwards and centers may need to build muscle in order to control physical contact during rebounds. Centers and Forwards require a very diligent jump ability to keep up with competition in the paint. Short shots tend to cause rebounds to reflect into the middle of the paint, which causes a lot of physical contact with players. Your vertical jumping exercises should be strong and controlled in order to produce results in monitoring the paint. - 31494

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