Jump Higher To Improve Your Athletic Performance


by Thomas Haney - Date: 2007-02-22 - Word Count: 394 Share This!

One powerful way to improve your athletic performance in any sport is by learning to jump higher. There's no doubt that high school athletes to college intramural players to city recreational league players to professional athletes all want to jump higher to be more successful at their sport. This article will provide a basic understanding of how to jump higher as well as some effective techniques.

When people say that they want to jump higher, they are basically saying they want to increase vertical jump. Professional and collegiate athletes generally have a vertical jump in the 26-36 inch range. Although some of these athletes have a genetically bestowed ability to jump high, most of them--and generally all non-professional athletes--can use certain exercises to increase vertical leap to new levels. Roughly speaking, we can divide these exercises into strength and power training portions.

Strength training involves hitting the gym and working on lower body exercises such as squats, lunges and leg presses. Make sure that you are putting in 3-4 days a week at the gym to build that strength foundation necessary to increase your jumping ability. Nobody said it would be easy to train to jump higher!

Power training involves working on certain explosive power exercises to increase your vertical leap. One great exercise is jump roping. Although it may seem very basic, jump roping for about twenty minutes a day can increase your vertical leap by 2 inches or more. An alternative exercise is running up stadium stairs. Visit your local high school or community college football stadium and there will likely be stairs you can run. One more effective exercise is box jumping. You can buy "jump boxes" from your local sporting goods store or you can use stairs instead. To jump higher over time, do exercises where you repeatedly jump on and off these boxes, slowly increasing the height to maintain a challenging level.

Combining strength and power training is an essential aspect of learning how to jump higher. Make sure that you are in good shape and always consult a doctor before starting any exercise regimen. Also, be careful that you don't overexert yourself because these exercises tend to be very stressful on your lower legs, especially your knee and ankle joints. Stay motivated and commit yourself to these basic exercises and you will soon find that you can jump higher than ever before!


Related Tags: vertical jump, jump higher, vertical leap, how to jump higher, increase vertical, improve vertical

Columnist Thomas Haney is a writer who covers issues relevant to athletic training. Check out jump-higher-now.com to read indepth reviews of the top jump training programs that teach you to increase your vertical jump. You are allowed to use this article for your own website provided you leave all links working.

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