Prerequisites For Any Vertical Jump Training Program
Before you engage in any vertical jump training program, it is recommended for athletes to achieve a basic fitness level. You can increase your vertical jump drastically only if you do the right exercises and know what you are doing.
An athlete with adequate muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, good nutritious diet, muscle endurance, along with flexibility will be ready for starting some intense vertical jump training exercises. You will increase your fitness level by overloading your body with more intense exercises, but the overloading must be appropriate to your current fitness condition.
Training To Improve Your Fitness Level
1) Cardiovascular (or Aerobic) Exercises
Cardiovascular endurance is an achieved thorough regular aerobic exercise, which is a repetitive movement of large muscle groups over an extended period of time. Examples of aerobic exercises include jogging, swimming, rope jumping, and… of course playing basketball.
2) Improve Muscle Strength
Muscle strength is improved by applying resistance to a muscle group. Lifting weights is a good way of improving muscle strength. Calf exercises, squats, lunges, are some examples in increasing strength for jumping higher.
3) Increase Muscle Endurance
Muscle endurance improves in conjunction with muscle strength. Muscle endurance is the ability of the muscle to repeat that movement over a period of time. With regular exercise, your muscles burn energy more efficiently and endure overloading for longer time. Rope jumping, and long distance running, are some examples for building endurance
4) Increase Joint Flexibility
Joint flexibility refers to how much the joint can undergo as limited by the joint’s structure and surrounding connective tissues. Warming up and then stretching your calves, hamstring and quad muscles are important activity in preventing injuries and increasing your fitness level. Joint flexibility can also give dramatic increases in vertical jump.
5) Proper Nutritious Diet
First, you need to have a good diet and avoid junk food. Get plenty of protein; whey protein drinks are my favorite. Chicken or turkey is a good substitute. Also, get plenty of water and don’t cut out carbohydrates. They’re good for energy. Take a multivitamins and a supplement to protect your joints. A healthy diet means faster recovery time. Your body needs a chance to repair itself after going through the workouts.
6) Remove Body Fat
If you are overweight, you should concentrate on building muscle and reducing that extra fat. Limiting your caloric intake, eating healthier foods and doing vigorous exercises will assist you in losing that excess weight.
Remember, obtaining a good fitness level is the start of your jumping higher program. After that, you can begin to do exercises to increase your vertical explosion. Plyometric exercises, along with the previous steps, will help you jump higher. Plyometric training develop quick twitch muscle fibers needed to increase your vertical. Many athletes omit these exercises, resulting in them not drastically increasing their vertical jump.