Increasing your jump takes time and dedication. You can improve your ability to shoot up vertically through targeted strength training that focuses on your legs, back and core. Plyometric exercises and and repetition will help, too. By combining the three in a regular routine, you can maximize your results. Because your body's glucose levels typically are the highest for your first hour of working out, and your muscles need at least two recovery days a week, most fitness professionals do not recommend more than one hour of jump training five days a week.
Repetition
Muscle develops memory. In the same way that your mind has an easier time performing a tasks once you have done them repeatedly, your muscles create a long-term memory once they repeat a task. When you jump repeatedly, the effort requires less attention and effort. Practice the same type of jump that you would perform in the sport for which you are training. According to the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, this will result in a higher jump over time.
Plyometrics
Plyometric training involves loading and stretching your muscles, and then creating a forceful contraction, causing stimulation in the muscles' receptors. Any exercise in which you move from a standing position to an explosive motion and then back to a standing position can be considered plyometric. Plyometric training can assist you to develop a more powerful jump because it helps improve communication between your muscles and your nerves.
Two common plyometric exercises that can help you to improve your jump are hurdle jumps or box jumps. To perform hurdle jumps, set up two or three short obstacles in front of you about two feet apart. Jump over each of them in a quick set. Do do a box jump, place a stable box about one foot in front of you. Carefully and lightly jump onto the box and then back to the floor.
For the best, most safe results, the National Strength aand Conditioning Association recommends that you begin with only a few repetitions of each plyometric exercise and perform all plyometrics before, not after, weight training. If you practice them excessively, or do them too often after weight training, you can increase your chance of injury. While you can train your jump in other ways five days per week, according to the NSCA, you should only do plyometrics every other day--or less often, if you are not a conditioned athlete.
Strength Training
Having more strength in your muscles will help you to jump higher. When you jump, you utilize all of your leg muscles, particularly your hamstrings. You also use your abdominals and back to assist in the movement.
To best strengthen your hamstrings for explosive actions like jumps, and also target your abdominals and back, California State University's Thomas Fahey, author of "Basic Weight Training for Men and Women," recommends squats. To perform a squat, stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and lift your chest and shoulders up toward the ceiling without arching your back. Bending at the knee, lower your seat as if you were about to sit in a chair and then return to standing position, maintaining good posture throughout. To modify the squat and make it harder, you can add free weights, a barbell or a jump at the end.
References
- "Fitness Theory and Practice"; Peg Jordan, R.N.; 1997
- "Basic Weight Training for Men and Women"; Thomas D. Fahey; 2000
- National Strength and Conditioning Association: Position Statement on Plyometrics
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