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In the past, squat jumps, depth jumps, maximum height jumps and power cleans have all vied for the title of the best exercise to jump higher.
Experts now know that increasing your vertical isn't all about just finding the best and dumping the rest. At the same time a successful jumping program thrives beyond just a myriad of exercises. It should organize them in a concise, well-laid out manner aimed at one important thing: turning you into a dunking demon.
In this article, we'll discuss four essential traits that spice up every jumping program in order to get you that optimal vert.
1) The program should be comprehensive yet simple. It's great to be fed the farm, but only if it's easy to swallow. It's not uncommon to get your hands on a program that delivers the goods, but haphazardly. The program should easily tell you where to start and what you need to do next, etc. in a simple, step-by-step fashion.
2) The program should also not be limited to two exercises or even one claimed to be the best exercise to jump higher. Not only are there many muscles that play a role in jumping (both lower and upper body muscles), but there are many phases in the jump itself to be trained with exercises that target each phase. These phases include:
- Starting before you move
- Acceleration moving up progressively
- Release air time and height from the moment of takeoff to landing
- landing/ deceleration what good is a 50-inch vertical if you can't land?
- Repeat how well and how fast can you spontaneously repeat the process?
3) The program should not involve extraneous stuff. Extraneous methods consist of:
- most plyometrics. The only plyometric exercises that will pack the punch are ones performed at near maximum effort
- non-power exercises such as endurance exercises. Sets of 50 toe-raises will kill your quest to jump like Jordan. This is so not the best exercise to jump higher. These exercises train the wrong system and muscle fibers to make those explosive movements.
4) There needs to be focus on factors outside of exercise. After all, a successful program should be holistic. So other than weight lifting and jumping around in the gym include the following in your plan: nutrition and diet, proper oxygen metabolism, flexibility, positive thinking and proper rest. You can at best exercise to jump higher with these principles. In fact, applying them properly for 15 weeks without exercising could alone result in a 6-inch increase on your vertical.
To summarize, finding the best exercise to jump higher is not as embraced as a well-organized program with many exercises. Each exercise should be matched with each phase of the jump. Extraneous stuff needs to go, as this will eat up your jumping gains. Finally, an exercise program is not complete without non-exercise components soaring your program into overdrive.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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