Jumping Higher - Inborn or Cultivated


by Vita V. - Date: 2006-12-04 - Word Count: 527 Share This!

No matter which sport an athlete pursues, jumping higher is very important to all athletes. Sports like volleyball, basketball or martial arts need the athletes to jump higher. Also, this skill adds to the basic performance parameters of any athlete. Many exercises are available to boost the jump of athletes. At this juncture it is important to understand that jumping is not an inborn skill and can only be improved through consistent training and practice. Improving the flexibility and strength of muscles and body parts that control the vertical jump is the only way to improve performance. This article aims at answering a few basic questions that are prevalent amongst most athletes:

The role of weightlifting in improving a vertical jump? How does jumping help in improving vertical jump? Should both weightlifting and jumping be pursued in the same exercise cycle or differently?

Weightlifting can be beneficial in a variety of ways to vertical jumping. Jumping is purely a power movement. It requires a great amount of strength. Weightlifting contributes to strength building, especially in the areas of hips, calves, glutes and quads. Several weightlifting exercises are available to strengthen these parts of the body. Exercises like ballistic lifts that include power clean or snatch and calf raises, hack squat and leg presses can contribute immensely to improve strength required for vertical jumping. For certain sports, hang clean is recommended since it is safer and can be performed from the power position - the position for vertical jump.

Like weightlifting, normal jumping exercise, in itself can improve a vertical jump immensely. Lower body plyometrics can help immensely in this area. Once a proper strength base is built plyometrics like depth jumps, resisted jumps and assisted jumps can be used to improve vertical jumping performance. Since plyometrics work on the foundation of quickness, speed and power, these can work wonders to add to a vertical jump. However, it is most important to do these exercises under the guidance of a coach or an instructor to achieve the best vertical jump your body may allow.

Coming to scheduling the exercise routine, it is always important to perform warm up before embarking on any exercises. Warming up and stretching is as important as the exercise itself. If you are going to perform plyometrics, it is advised that you perform them on fresh legs, right after stretching and before weightlifting. Since the body gets worn out at the end of an exercise schedule, it is advised that you do plyometrics on the same day you do weightlifting to strengthen your lower body. This will help in a faster recovery process. For the rest of the weightlifting you could do them on alternate days as plyometrics. Also, to make sure that you use all your muscle fibres, you can also integrate light plyometrics into your weightlifting schedule or later.

Training the rest of your body is also as important as your lower body. This will make sure that the transfer of power is even and will streamline your vertical jump. Again, just to remind, a vertical jump is purely an outcome of your efforts and is not a natural move or inborn skill. Practice will prevail.


Related Tags: vertical jump, jump higher

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