Without any training, the athlete who jumps as much as possible will generally be the one who is most athletic. A large proportion of fast-twitch fibers, a well-developed back chain, and an innate ability to move in all directions will help you feel “athletic.” Athletic build or not, with an organized training program you can defy gravity, and increase your vertical jump, with the following 10 training tips.
Improving your vertical jump is one of the easiest ways to become a better athlete, because the ability to jump carries over to many sports. Also, during this improvement process, you will be stronger, faster, and more flexible. There is a correlation between how high you jump, and how fast you can run or move laterally.
The key is to train strength and the central nervous system to develop maximum explosiveness.
The science of jumping
The vertical jump is best trained by alternating cycles of strength and power, as you need to teach the nervous system the concept of acceleration. You need to be fast and able to generate power peaks quickly. First, train to build the strength relative to your body mass, which will improve jumping as a side effect of strength training. If you want to jump higher, you need to do it fast, working the power.
- Tip 1: Strengthen your glutes and hamstrings.
These muscles are the ones that first act on the hip. Investigating the biomechanics of the movement patterns of the best jumpers, it has been found that the glutes contribute 40% and the hamstrings 25% when performing a vertical jump. Train these muscles during the strength phase with squats and deadlifts. Research has shown that both lifts are strongly linked to an improvement in vertical jump. The deadlift requires greater activation of the gastrocnemius muscle, which is also minimally involved in jumping. Training calves or quadriceps in isolation does not produce significant gains in jumping (1 cm on average, after a 6-week training, including isolation exercises for calves and quadriceps).
- Tip 2: Do deep squats.
A study of amateur athletes showed that vertical jump height increased by 8% after training with deep squats for 10 weeks. This shows the importance of the glutes and hamstrings in jumping. If the squats are not deep, we cannot recruit the aforementioned muscles with the same effectiveness.
- Tip 3: Train pulling movements.
Train Olympic movements to improve power.
- Tip 4: Train back chain strength and flexibility.
To be capable of better coordination and transfer of force, you have to train the whole posterior chain. The spinal erectors, glutes, and hamstrings are linked by ligaments in the dorsal and sacral regions, allowing the entire posterior chain to benefit from compound exercises, such as high bench step-ups, reverse hyperextensions, and Olympic lifts.
- Tip 5. Stretch the hip flexors.
Both the hip flexors, as well as the flexibility in the ankles, are very important to achieve depth in the squats, an essential exercise to improve our performance in the jumps.
Having more mobility in the hip flexors will increase the number of motor units used in the hip extensors, resulting in greater contraction.
- Tip 6. Use plyometrics.
To increase vertical jump and power output are essential. Research shows that doing plyometrics is effective in increasing vertical jump height because they train the body in an optimal way using the stretch-shorten cycle to produce power. A dossier from the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows 26 studies testing the effectiveness of plyometrics in vertical jump. The results indicate that the vertical jump can be increased by 7.5-8.7% .
Plyometrics produce improvements, even in professional athletes. A study from the Journal of Sport and Health tests the effect of high intensity plyometric training on a vertical jump program. Athletes increased their vertical jump by 23% on average, and gained 0.30 seconds or 9% in a 20-meter sprint. They also improved agility by 8% and balance by 5%. The gains were due to the improvement in neuromuscular function thanks to better performance in the stretch-shortening cycle, and better muscle coordination, due to the activity of the central nervous system.
To go deeper into plyometrics and plyometrics, you can check out the following article.
- Tip 7. Train plyometrics unilaterally.
Unilateral plyometric training is more effective than bilateral, provided athletes predominantly perform single leg jumps in their sports. Comparing both systems, the unilateral ones produced an increase of 11% with respect to the peak of power after 6 weeks, compared with 6% of the bilateral one.
- Tip 8. Use combination workouts.
It will improve your vertical jump because it takes advantage of the muscle activation advantage that comes from heavy resistance exercise. A load as close to your maximum allows you to quickly generate force (and height in a vertical jump) during a subsequent plyometric movement.
For example, a recent study compares the effect of squatting at 75% of the 1RM, followed by a vertical jump or a hang clean at 60% of the 1RM followed by a vertical jump. The hang clean group increased their vertical jump more, because the rapid force generated in the clean translates to greater muscle activation and power output when jumping. Charles Poliquin cites that another successful combo is to combine the vertical jump, with a hang power snatch (which is done previously).
- Tip 9. Alternate cycles of strength and power. (the tempo varies).
Both phases are necessary. Gain strength in your squats or deadlifts for greater gains in dynamic lifts like the power clean or the snatch, which will translate into a few inches / cm of gain in your vertical jump.
In strength cycles, keep time under tension for 10 to 30 seconds per set, and use a high number of sets (5 to 10 sets per lift). Work with breaks of 4-5 min. Heavy lifting is used to obtain maximum motor unit recruitment.
On power cycles, keep your time under tension below 10 seconds, with 6 or 8 sets per exercise. The rest will be between 3 and 5 minutes, depending on the neuromuscular effect of the exercise. For example, a set of 6 jump squats will be most effective with 3 minute breaks, while a set of 3 repetitions of push jerk will require 5 minutes of rest. Do not vary the tempo within a training session.
- Tip 10. Train the shoulder joint.
Arm swing can increase vertical jump by improving power transfer down the rear chain. A good range of motion of the shoulder will pull the rest of the body for more momentum in the jump. If you are not convinced that swinging your arms, try jumping while keeping your hands on your waist. A study in the Journal of biomechanic has found that arm swing increases jump height by up to 28%, and speed at takeoff by up to 72%.
Source : Charles Poliquin, “Ten tips to help you increase your vertical jump”
