Learn to Jump Higher in Basketball and Be Like Mike
By admin | February 6, 2010
One of the most exciting parts of a basketball game are those when players make those reel highlight slam dunks. It is usually a good way to accentuate an ongoing rally and further push on a scoring momentum. Or inversely, if you are on the other team, it is a good way to put a psychological stop to the other team’s rally and perhaps change it in your favor.
Dunking, by no means is a necessity in any basketball game but it sure does provide some welcome excitement on the part of the players and the spectators who might have paid good money to watch the game.
But how do you achieve that impressive vertical jump height of about 40 to 50 inches which is considered the true potential of the human athlete’s physique? How exactly do you jump higher and dunk?
You can do it through the right training regimen. But before you start any such endeavors you should first set your goals and be ready to work hard, with discipline and motivation, to reach it.
The basic principle of jump higher exercises is to workout all the muscles used in making the vertical jump. This means you have to target, among other things, the leg muscles and the voluntary nerve responses to activate the very fast muscle contractions needed.
The following exercises are some of the most commonly used exercises to improve vertical leaps:
1. Leg Exercises
These are aimed at working out the leg muscles such that it will be able to do its thing to propel those explosively high jumps to dunk. The following are some leg exercises that you can do to help you in your basketball vertical jumping:
Jump Rope. It is recommended that you spend about 30 minutes about three times a week doing the jump rope. This will help improve overall leg strength which directly contributes into your ability to reach a certain jump height. It will also help your legs withstand the stresses that most exercises to jump higher (such as plyometric jumping exercises), entail.
Jogging. A 20 minute jog for 3 times a week helps improve your cardiovacular endurance. Although plyometric workouts, by nature, does not train for endurance but speed and power for very short periods of time, jogging will also help in making your legs improve its overall strength much like the jump rope exercise does.
Toe Raises. This works by standing firmly on the ground. Then raise up on your toes and then come back down. Repeat for about 40 times per session. This exercise strengthens the calf muscles which should put more power in your legs.
2. Jumping Exercises
The best way to learn how to jump higher is, well, to jump! And you need to jump to your maximum height. At first, you need to take note of your baseline jump height. Have someone to help you determine this by marking your jump against a wall. Jump to your maximum for about 3 to 5 times and record your baseline. Then execute your adopted regimen and do the jump exercises regularly. Always aim for maximum.
If you do things right, you should be noticing an increase in your vertical jumps which should encourage you push on and try to achieve your maximum potential.
Jumping higher to be like Michael Jordan is possible through hard work and determination. The key here is to choose the best training regimen and to stick to it like glue. Within weeks, you should be able to see an improvement that you will be happy with.
Topics: exercises to jump higher | No Comments »
Plyometric Box Jumping: A Great Way To Exercise to Jump Higher
By admin | December 14, 2009
It is a well-accepted rule that if you wish to increase your vertical jumping ability, you need to simulate the act of jumping itself and do it at the highest intensity that you are capable of (because this stimulates and work out the fast twitch muscle fibers).
What this does is it trains the body in such a way that your body learns to create muscles that can generate more speed and power that you can translate into a vertical explosion.
This also promotes the teamwork of the different muscles so they can work together more efficiently to achieve a common goal. For a basketball athlete, that goal would be to become a better player by being able to jump higher than the opponents.
Exercises that work on speed and strength in high intensity drills are referred to as plyometrics. For vertical jump training, one such exercise found to be very effective is called the plyometric box jumping exercise.
This exercise perfectly simulate the vertical jumping needed not just for basketball but also for volleyball, cheerleading and American football.
Here’s how it works:
For a simple setup, prepare two sturdy boxes that measure around 20 inches in height. Be sure that you have plenty of space on the top where you can land on when you jump on it and that it can support your weight. Put them on the ground with an appropriate space between them. Not too close but not too far (3 to 4 ft. distance should be alright but adjust accordingly).
Go stand on top of one box, face the other box then hop onto the ground. When your feet touches the ground, jump onto the other box. Turn around and do it again. Do 10 repetitions per exercise session. Do this regularly so your muscles remember the movements and produce more muscles to execute the jumps more efficiently.
Remember to always gun for the maximum jump height when you jump. When outgrow the boxes, you can move up to bigger and higher boxes. Add weights to increase difficulty level.
Learning how to jump higher to dunk is a process that involves some very high intensity systems like plyometrics and weight training. There is no other way of doing this if you really wish to improve your vertical jump.
But you need to remember that there’s more to jump higher training than plyometrics and weight training. If you wish to do it more effectively and within the parameters of safety and injury prevention, you need to consult a professional jump trainer or make sure that the program you adopt also promotes development of your core muscles, your nutritional habits and your training psychology.
Topics: plyometrics and plyometric exercises | 1 Comment »
