Introduction To Complete Vertical Jump Training

If you really want to improve your jumping ability, first you need to figure out what type of Jumper you are, a power jumper or a leaper. Next you need to figure out what type of power or strength you are lacking, base strength, transitional power, or explosiveness, they are all different and must be trained in different ways. I know a lot of you are wondering what's the difference between the three. Well in short Base Strength is how much weight you can move, Transitional Power is how fast you can move said weight and explosiveness is the maximum speed and distance you can move said weight with each single movement. A good training routine will include the following exercises:  

Base Strength 1: Traditional Squats and Pistol Squats 

2:Deadlifts 

3:Lunges

4: Core Work

5: Stretching  

Transitional Power: 

1: Box Squats/Tempo Squats 

2: Power Cleans 

3: Push Press  

4: Core Work

5: Stretching

Explosiveness: 

1: Ballistic/jump squats 

2: Traditional and Compound/Hybrid Plyometrics 

3: Sprinting  

4: Core Work

5: Stretching

You'll also want to figure out which individual muscles/muscle groups are working inefficiently You can figure this out by completing a full vertical jump test progression and a baseline fitness test to diagnose any muscle imbalances that you may have. Remember no matter what type of training program you do you must make sure that opposing muscles are strengthened and balanced (e.g. Quads and hamstrings). This part maybe the most important as weak links and imbalances will lead to poor/slow results and raise the risk of injury significantly. Do a routine that combines plyomertic/body weight, free weight and or acceleration routines. In order to gain inches you'll need to tax your central nervous system and force your body to create new motor pathways. If you train correctly you should gain at least an inch a week. If you would like more in-depth information on vertical jump and sports training visit my website at: http://www.program51.com Train hard Jamillian Momon CSCS, BMS