Michael Jordan’s Vertical Leap Workout….Improve Your Vertical Leap Today!
Michael Jordan is perhaps the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball. So what made him so great? Well, his 48″ vertical jump didn’t hurt. In fact, Michael Jordan’s vertical leap gave him a significant advantage over his competition. He could easily pull down rebounds, raise up to block shots, and throw down some powerful dunks. I can’t promise you that you will be dunking like Jordan, but if you implement the proper training program you CAN significantly increase your vertical leap.
The quads, hamstrings, and lower back are the three major muscle groups that are involved when a person jumps. Contrary to popular belief the calves do not play a major role in the jumping motion. If you don’t believe me you can try out this quick test to prove it to yourself.
Stand in place with your feet flat on the ground. Do not bend your knees and jump up as high as you can. Alright,….well I’m guessing you didn’t jump very high. That would be because when you try to jump that way your body is only able to use the calves. Ok, repeat the test again but this time take a deep knee bend. Are you done? This time you should have jumped much higher because you are using your large muscle groups in your legs.
Believe it or not, about 80 percent of your jumping power is generated from the quads, hamstrings, and lower back. Therefore, if improving your vertical jump is your goal I would focus most of my attention on increasing the strength and power of these muscles. Here are some of the exercises I would use:
HEAVY Squats – Notice I said the word “HEAVY”. If you are trying to improve your vertical use heavy weight and no more than 8 reps. Squats are hands down the best overall exercise you can do to improve your vertical leap. If you look at the squat motion you can easily see that it closely resembles the motion you use when you are preparing to jump. This exercise hits all the right muscle groups.
Sprints – Running the 50 and 100 yard dash will build your leg muscles, increase your speed, and help your vertical. If sprinting on flat land becomes too easy, change it up with some hill sprints.
Jumping rope – You can use the jump rope pretty much anywhere and it will help your reflexes and improve your cardio. If you haven’t done it for a while you will quickly see that jumping rope is a great workout. Although, if your workouts start to become easy, you can add some ankle weights to make them more difficult.
Box Jumps – Box jumps are a basic plyometric exercise that you can do to improve your vertical leap. You don’t have to have the professional boxes to perform them either. Basically anything will do. Jumping onto and off of a tall bench works well. Just remember to jump up again as soon as your feet hit the ground and EXPLODE UP as high as you can.
Heel and Toe touches – With your feet shoulder width apart, jump as high as you can and lift your heels toward your butt. Now while you are in the air touch your toes. Land, jump again and touch your heels. If you master this and want to mix it up, to increase the difficulty try to touch your toes and then your heels before you land.
Another area that is often neglected is a person’s form when they are jumping. It is very common to receive a 3 or 4 inch immediate increase in your vertical jump by simply implementing the right jumping techniques. So how can I say this? Well, I have seen it in myself.
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