Training - Improving Your Vertical Leap

Here is an 8-week program for improving your vertical leap!

Use the calendar to find when you will be training and a what intensity. Refer to the Drills Chart to find what drills you will need to do. Always do drills at maximal speed! Always warm-up before doing drills.

Warning! Plyometrics can be very stressful on joints and ligaments

Use a padded surface like carpet or use padded insoles in your shoes to help absorb stress on body

Training Calendar

Drill Intensity

The Drills

No Arm Hops

A very intense series of hops. No arm hops help to increase explosiveness within calf and hip flexor muscles.

Description:

Place hands on head

Begin by jumping up and lifting legs upward

Lift legs up until they touch chest, explode legs downwards until legs touch the ground.



Laundry Jump

Enhances the explosiveness of lateral movements, especially cutting ability and high velocity change of directions.

Description:

Begin by using a cone, paper bag, or some other break-away object at and elevated level 8 to 24 inches high

Jump laterally over object

Strive to jump as high and far as you can back and forth over object



Split Leg Hop

Helps to improve single leg explosiveness. Split leg hops use an exaggerated jumping / running motion in order to work most of the lower body's muscles explosively.

Description:

Split leg hop is a simple bounding exercise that uses an exaggerated motion

When landing have leg in near 90 degree angle

Strive for maximum distance and height

Double Leg Hop

Similar to single leg hop but less stress is placed upon body.

Description:

Use illustrations for reference on how to do double leg hop

Strive for maximum distance when doing this exercise

Single-Leg Bounding

Somewhat similar to the split leg hop, but emphasizes horizontal jumping / acceleration to a greater extent.

Description:

Simply an exercise that consists of multiple long jumps

Strive for maximum distance and explosiveness

Power Skip

Good low impact introductory plyo. Works hip flexor and calf muscles explosively. Similar to a single leg take off needed to dunk on the run.
Description:

To power skip use an exaggerated skipping motion

Bring leg up to chest when skipping

Both arms swing upwards when leg is brought up

Alternate legs



Rim Jump

Introductory low intensity plyo. Works the muscles needed for vertical jumping explosively.

Description:

Rim jump is a simple jumping exercise utilizing a backboard or other high object

Begin by jumping up in a maximal static jump reaching for the highest point with one hand

Alternate hands



Ankle Hop

Perhaps the simplest and safest of all plyometric exercises. Ankle hops emphasize the calf muscles exclusively.

Description: Jump upwards using calf muscles only

Use full upward range of motion



Accelerations

Accelerations consist of running at ¾ of maximum sprint speed then accelerating to max speed and then back to ¾ speed

Description: Begin by sprinting at ¾ maximum speed, accelerate to full speed

As soon as full speed is hit slow to ¾ speed and repeat

Each time full speed is hit equals 1 rep



Backward Throw

Emphasizes explosiveness in deltoids. Backward throw helps to improve upward arm speed that is turned to thrust when jumping.

Description: Grasp plyo ball, fill old basketball with water(5lbs) or use sandbag (5lbs), grasp with both hands

Begin by squatting over, use a short counter movement before initiating throw

Throw ball upwards and or backwards



References

[1] VerticalJump.com
http://www.verticaljump.com/html/trial.html