What Can I Do to Jump Higher?

As a basketball or volleyball athlete you may ask this question a lot especially if you are one of those players who are somewhat vertically-challenged. But the good news is that there is a ready answer to this question and the answer is: You can do a lot to make your vertical jump higher than it is right now!

There are readily available training programs that try to address this issue and some of them actually work! You can avail yourself of one these so-called jump higher programs and you could be well on your way to a higher vertical jump.

However, in choosing a good training program, you need to keep in mind a few things:

A good program should cover all the aspects of being an explosive athlete. It should not start and end with training your leg muscles, which, intuitively, are the main component of your body's jumping capability. There's more to it than that. The other aspects that a jump training program should have are:

• Flexibility
• Form
• Core Strength
• Correct Application of Plyometrics
• Correct Execution of Jump Higher Exercises
• Correct Weight Training
• Targeting the Right Muscle Groups
• Discipline and Mental conditioning
• Nutrition
• One-on-one coaching

If you find a program with these aspects clearly outlined, you may adopt that program if you wish.

Further explained below are the facets of a good training program that I enumerated above:

• Flexibility – is important because it helps you create a body that's more resistant to injury. It has been scientifically proven that developing your flexibility will help tone the muscles into such a way that they will not be easily strained during those powerful athletic movements.
• Form – this is a concept that is pretty hard to grasp but form is significant factor in your vertical jumping. Small corrective adjustments in your form could already gain you some 4 inches in your jump height. A program which targets your form is very good program.
• Core Strength – training your core muscles to be stronger translates into more powerful movements of the arms and legs. It also provides stability which factors into your form and hence into your jump height.
• Plyometrics – is a proven method that develops the fast twitch muscle fibers. In vertical jump programs, they target the fast twitch muscle fibers of the legs. These are very stressful exercises as they involve rapid and powerful movements of the legs. A carefully supervised execution of plyometric exercises is advised for athletes that are new to it.
• Weight Training – there are certain muscle groups that you can target with correct weight training. There are actually a number of essential bu often overlooked muscle groups that a good jump higher training should be able to touch upon.
• Targeting the Right Muscle Groups – Like I mentioned above, it is the fast twitch muscle fibers that a jump trainee should target. There are a lot of exercises out there that will feel right when you do them but they may not necessarily be the correct drills to do. The key hint here is that you should train for explosiveness and not for endurance.
• Discipline and Mental Conditioning – a good training program is as good only as your motivation to stick with it. An athlete will encounter hardships in his training but what sees him through is his determination to succeed. Waking up early, sticking to the regimen, getting enough rest, are all difficult to do. But with the right training attitude, all these will become second nature.
• Nutrition – is one of those oft overlooked principles of any sports training program. Putting the right food inside your body will maximize your development and might even speed up your progress. Sound nutrition is must for every athlete who wishes to achieve his/her maximum potential.
• One-on-one Coaching – Every athlete is unique and has different needs. A program that boasts of a one-size-fits all methodology is unlikely to have a high success rate. A good program should have provisions for one-on-one advisory arrangements. For Online jump higher training programs, this can come in the form of one-on-one coaching via email, chat, or forum. This route is entirely feasible and can give your the custom support you need for your unique needs.