Monday, August 17, 2009

Tips on Increasing Your Vertical Jump

By Bart Icles

There are lots of athletes who ask help from their coaches regarding increasing their vertical jump. These athletes would want to know everything they can about how they can quickly and easily increase the height of their jump. But before you can start working on different exercises and workouts that can help you achieve your goal, it is important that you understand what vertical jump really means.

Your vertical jump is what we refer to as the difference between your standing reach and the height that you can reach while jumping. You can determine your standing reach by standing flat on the ground with both of your feet together. You then simply extend your arms as high as you can above your head. It is important that you are able to determine your initial vertical jump so you can better assess where you are now and where you want to be. This will enable you to have a clearer idea of your goal. Once you know the jump height that you would want to achieve, it is time for you to start working on those jumping muscles.

There is no single exercise that will make you jump higher - it is always a combination of exercises and a well balanced diet. One kind of exercise that you would want to perform is a set of strength exercises. You can do lunges, step ups, and squats. These are compound exercises that are effective in developing the strength of your muscles given that you perform them regularly and properly.

You would also need to perform power exercises so you can achieve faster and more explosive upward movements. These power exercises include power cleans, plyometrics, and weighted box jumps. You will not need to go the gym everyday to do power exercises. You can invest on having weights at home or you can devise common household materials as weights. There are lots of online resources that can give more information on how you can do power exercises at home without spending too much money.

There are also countless vertical jump programs available and they come in the forms of books and videos. Each of them will claim that it is the best jumping instructional book or video but the truth is, none of them will work if you are not determined to increase the height of your jump. An effective vertical jump workout will always include properly and regularly performed exercised and well balanced and nutritious diet.

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