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Vertical Jump Training Prerequisites

Posted by Benjamin J. Mihajlov in Health and fitness on 12 10th, 2009 | no responses

In order to enhance your vertical jump training and learn how to jump higher, you must know what you are doing and do the right exercises. Until you have achieved a certain fitness level, you should not engage into an intense jump training program.

You should have some cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscle endurance, good nutritious diet, along with flexibility. After that, you can now challenge your body with more advanced fitness exercises to improve your vertical. Fitness can only improve if we overload the body. Overloading means pushing your body to do more than it is already doing. However the overload must be appropriate to the person’s fitness level. If you’re reasonably fit, you can overload more than an obese, sedentary person. It all depends on your body. After attaining an adequate fitness level, you will be ready for an intense vertical jump training program.

Training To Improve Your Fitness Level

1) Aerobic (or Cardiovascular) Exercises

Aerobic exercise (which is repetitive movement of large muscle groups over an extended period of time) will produce cardiovascular endurance. Examples of aerobic exercises include swimming, rope jumping, jogging, and playing basketball.

2) Increase Muscle Strength

You can increase muscle strength by applying resistance to a muscle group. Lifting weights is a good way of boosting muscle strength. Squats, calf exercises, lunges, are some examples in increasing strength for jumping higher.

3) Boost Muscle Endurance

Muscle endurance is the ability of the muscle to repeat that movement over a period of time. Muscle endurance improves in conjunction with muscle strength. With regular exercise, your muscles burn energy more efficiently and endure overloading for longer time. Rope jumping, running long distance or for a long time, are some examples for building endurance.

4) Improve Joint Flexibility

Joint flexibility refers to the range of motions, 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 increase your vertical jump dramatically.

5) Proper Nutritious Diet

A good healthy diet promotes faster recovery and is important for your body to repair itself. Avoid eating junk food or sugars, and make sure you diet includes protein, good carbs and fats, along with vitamins. Drinking plenty of water will also enhance your growth and ability to handle an increase load of exercises.

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, these steps is only the beginning for your vertical jump program. After you have reached a good fitness level, you can increase your vertical explosion by doing plyometric exercises. Plyometric training will develop quick twitch muscle fibers needed to increase your vertical. Many athletes omit these exercises, resulting in them not drastically increasing their vertical jump.

Benjamin Mihajlov is a coach and certified personal trainer who loves helping athletes maximizing their quickness and vertical explosion. Jump training is a science and needs to be done correctly for maximum results. Check out these online resources on how to jump higher and increase vertical jump articles.