When it comes to sports like football, volleyball, soccer, baseball and basketball, the ability to leap is paramount. This is evident by all the blocking, spiking, jumping and rebounding that goes on multiple times in every game. If you play any of these sports--or even if you do not play sports at all--you can benefit from doing some specific exercises that revolve around the vertical leap.
Step 1
Start out with a good warm up. Doing exercises with cold, tight muscles can predispose you to injury. Perform 5 to 10 minutes of light running or stair climbing before you begin. This will warm up the muscles and make them more pliable.
Step 2
Do some leg exercises. In order to have good leaping ability, you need to have strong legs. They can be worked by doing weight training exercises like squats, lunges, leg presses, hamstring curls and deep knee bends.
Step 3
Use a jump rope. Plyometric exercises are characterized by a lengthening of a muscle followed by a fast shortening in as little time as possible. This results in an explosive movement. Rope jumping is a plyometric exercise that also builds endurance. To make it more beneficial to vertical leap, instead of jumping normally, slow down your pace and jump as high in the air as you can with each revolution.
Step 4
Do some squat jumps. This is a common plyometric exercise that is specific to volleyball. To perform a squat jump, lower your body down into a squat position, explode up forcefully and extend your arms straight up in the air.
Step 5
Kick you own behind. These are done in similar fashion to squat jumps. Come down into a semi squat, jump up in the air and try to get your heels to touch your behind. When you land, gain your balance and spring back up as quickly as possible.
Step 6
Work the calf muscles. The calves are an important muscle group for vertical leaping. They are muscles that give you the last bit of liftoff when you are jumping. To strengthen them, do toe raises on the ground or on an elevated object like a step or box. To make them more challenging, stand on one foot. Another way to train the calves is by walking on your toes.
Step 7
Hop up the stairs. Stair hops can be done with both feet together or one foot at a time. Start at the bottom of the stairs, then leap your way up the steps instead of walking. Aim for two at a time, then work your way up to three, and then as many as you can. If you do one foot at a time, you will not be able to jump as many steps.
Things You'll Need
- Jump rope
Member Comments