Increase Your Vertical

The vertical jump. How important is it, really?

Obviously you can have game without having a vertical jump, but if you wish to get to that next level, a higher jump can help you get there. While a lot of people train for a higher vertical jump, many are not training correctly, or are using programs which are damaging them in the long run.

A higher Vertical jump can help with Rebounding, turn the tide of a game with an electrifying dunk or help you come up with a huge defensive blocked shot to save the game. Rebounding may not be the most impressive thing in the world, we all know it isn’t exciting like scoring… But guaranteed you will get more minutes if you up your rebound numbers.

While many programs promise you will “double your vertical jump”, no program will ever really give you that much improvement in the 12 week programs they set out. Many programs will tell you to go outside, do some bodyweight jumping and that will improve your vertical jump. While it may to a certain extent, what they don’t tell you is the damage you are causing to your knees.

From personal experience, I can tell you that programs like Air Alert will not give you the benefits and results that you would get if you were to train multiple body parts, as opposed to just legs. Too many people are adamant that legs are all you need in vertical jump… But boy are they wrong!

Here are the most important factors I have discovered, in increasing vertical jump.

- Shoulders!
- Core
- Lower Back
- Legs
- Confidence

While you may think that I’m talking crazy, I can promise you I’m not. Shoulders are a huge bonus to the vertical jump, because as you leap you use your momentum to help you gain extra height, and this is where your shoulders come in. Strong shoulders, add extra momentum.

The lower back and core are a part of the posterior chain, and while they may seem like they aren’t very relevant, the core is potentially the most important thing in this list to help develop the vertical jump.

Also, confidence. What is the point in having a high vertical jump if you aren’t confident enough to use it? You have to WANT to dunk on people, you have to want to out rebound people, and you have to want to block somebody’s shot in to the stands.

As a rule, I stuck to certain exercises to help increase my vertical jump. Many people will tell you different things, but I went from being a skinny little kid with no athletic ability or speed, to being known as somebody who will either pin your shot of the backboard, or just dunk you.

The exercises are as follows

- Hang Cleans
- Power Cleans
- Squats
- Deadlifts

All of the above exercises should be performed with a heavy weight, for approximately 4-6 reps, this will be the most effective range as it allows for power development.
The following exercises are exercises that should be performed with more repetitions, perhaps 8-12, but also with maximum effort! No slacking!

- Front Raises (Dumbbell)
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Plank Variations (As long as you can possibly hold it for!)
- Leg Raises

These are the most important exercises I have found. I put more of an emphasis on to my shoulders, and have found that I achieved dramatic results, in a short period of time.

Hopefully I have been able to help people in their quest to jump higher. It’s a nice reputation to have. But remember to not let it go to your head. Stay humble!

Happy Jumping!