Increasing your vertical leap is an important factor in competitive sports like basketball, football and volleyball, but it can also help you increase your overall fitness level. There are many ways to improve your vertical leap and some of the exercises are relatively simple.
Step 1
Jump rope for 15 minutes at a time. Most of the power and explosiveness that is needed when jumping is provided by the calf muscles. These muscles are big and powerful, so the way to make them more productive is to work them hard. Jumping rope will push your calf muscles, especially in the last five minutes of the exercise. If you can work through the burn of the lactic acid going through your muscles, you can increase your vertical leap.
Step 2
Find a wooden board that is about a 1/2 inch thick. Place your toes on the board and your heels on the floor. Lift your heels up so that you are standing on your toes. Return your heels to their original position. Repeat this exercise 15 times, take a 30-second break and do the set again.
Step 3
Ride a bicycle for 30 minutes.This will not only build the muscles that control how high you leap, it will also help you shape and contour the larger muscles in your upper legs and your gluteus maximus. By building these muscles and getting rid of excess fat, you will increase your ability to jump.
Step 4
Ask a partner or a coach to throw a basketball off the backboard and then try to tip it into the basket by jumping up and touching it at its highest point. The instant you come down, jump back up and touch the back board at its highest point. When you come down again, your coach will toss the ball off the backboard again and you will try to tip it again. Keep this up for 15 tips of the ball and 15 touches of the backboard.
Step 5
Run every day. Alternate your workouts so that you are sprinting one day and running distances the next. This will build up the condition and strength of your legs. If you are running at a track, running 8 to 12 laps (2 to 3 miles) would suffice for distance training. When running sprints, you can run six 60-yard dashes. Run your sprint, jog back to the starting line and run another sprint. Take a one-minute break and repeat the set. Take another minute break and do it again.
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