How to Improve Your Vertical Leap

The vertical jump is an element involved in most sports, including basketball, baseball, football, volleyball, tennis, track, and so on. Your ability to explode dictates how high you can jump, and that is dependent on your level of strength, flexibility, conditioning, and power. Having all these characteristics is essential in order to maximize your vertical leap.
 
So if you are serious about improving your vertical leap, then you must be committed to being in the best physical condition possible. Certainly, you can increase your vertical jump by using proper technique as well. But the biggest gains come from making physical changes to your body.
 
Flexibility
 
Flexibility is an important element of conditioning for any sport, and enhancing it is a way to increase your vertical leap. The areas to focus on include the hip flexors, hamstrings, calves, shoulders, and low back. The hips produces the most force in a vertical leap, so having good range of motion in this area is essential. Having good flexibility is a must before doing plyometrics as well.
 
Improving flexibility to increase your vertical leap needs to be done through dynamic stretching. Examples of exercises include carioca, butt kicks, high knees, back pedaling, low lunges, and marching drills. Static stretching is best for after your workout.
 
Strength
 
Strengthening the legs and hips will help you jump higher, but it's important to have good upper body strength also. The arms play a role in how high you can jump, so improving the strength in these areas should be a part of your jump training program.
 
Your strength program then should be designed for the entire body so you can achieve a good balance. If you are first starting out in your program, build a foundation of strength by doing a higher number of repetitions (6-12). Overtime, you can lower repetitions and also begin doing plyometrics.
 
Core strength (abs, hip flexors, low back) is not commonly associated with vertical jumping, but it does play a significant role. The core is at the center of not only jumping, but all types of athletic movement. Working your core from a number of angles and motions is necessary. Simply doing crunches or situps is not enough.
 
Plyometrics
 
If you want to improve your vertical, then you will need to practice jumping as high as possible. The objective of plyometrics is to increase your power and explosiveness by doing explosive movements such as jumping, bounding, or hopping. This is one of the best ways to improve your vertical jump, if done properly. The emphasis here should be on doing it the right way, otherwise you could easily injure yourself. This involves choosing the right exercises and the number of repetitions. Recovery between repetitions and sets is important. Plyos are not designed to increase aerobic capacity.
 
Tips For Improving Your Vertical Jump Immediately
 
The above outlines some concepts that will increase your vertical leap, but not necessarily right away. Here are a few tips that will help right away.
 
First, properly warm up your body before jumping. Increasing the blood flow to the quads, hamstrings, and calves will allow them to contract at full capacity. This is best done through dynamic movements outlined earlier such as high knees.
 
Second, exaggerate your last step before jumping. Doing so will keep your body low so it can explode.
 
Third, use your whole body by using proper vertical jump technique. Allow the arms and low back to be a part of the jump. Point your toes towards the knees for greater range of motion.
 
Lastly, clear your mind and visualize what you want the body to do. Mental blocks can hinder you ability to jump higher.
 
 
Cameron Dennard