You know you need to exercise and practice to increase your vertical jumping. But do you know which exercises make a difference? Do you know how to exercise smarter so that you actually see results? Do you know how not to get burned out, or at least not too soon? Read on for some helpful tips on how to do vertical jumping exercises correctly.
Don’t forget to warm up. Before you begin jumping or exercising, you need to stretch to warm up your legs. Many of the routines created for swimmers to stretch out are ideal for jumpers, as well. It’s also a good idea to spend several minutes jumping rope or running stairs. This may also be included as a part of your exercise routine, but you should always begin with exercises like this to get warmed up before moving on to other more intense exercises.
Do some leg strength training. Some exercises need to be done slowly, each rep taking about nine counts. Deep knee bends, jumps and toe raises with and without weights definitely have more effect on your vertical jumping if done slowly. This helps build muscles, too.
Beef Up Those Muscles. While you don’t necessarily have to have a sculpted Mr. America body to be a great jumper, you do need strong, toned muscles. Having a toned body that is in overall great shape also improves your metabolism, lowers body fat, strengthens muscles and bones, and helps your muscles and body burn calories even more effectively. And burning calories results in energy to power your jumps. So focus on exercises that will shape and tone your muscles.
There are a few rather routine exercises that can really increase your vertical jumping height. These are perfect additions to your vertical jumping training program. Many are quite simple and you can do them each day to build your strength and endurance in addition to training for higher jumps.
Jump rope. Jumping rope with a simple inexpensive jump rope is a very effective exercise to improve vertical jump heights. Get a rope that is easy to swing comfortably and start out jumping on both feet, then alternating jumping on each foot individually. This is a great exercise to do while watching television. Start out by jumping rope for 10-minute bursts of time and gradually increase the level of intensity of your jump roping workout. Remember, though, speed is not the goal here-higher jumps is-so make sure you are focusing on that.
Bend Those Knees-Go Deep. Deep knee bends are a very effective exercise for vertical jumpers-when they are performed correctly. It is important to keep a straight back at all times and bend only at the knees. Lower yourself down almost-but not quite-as far as you can go toward the floor (maintaining that straight back) for a count of four and then slowly rise for another count of four. Do 15 repetitions of this exercise. After a couple of weeks, start to increase the number of reps. This exercise is great for overall legs and thighs, too.
