Thread: weight room exercises to improve vertical leap?

Jump squats, one-legged squats, ATG squats.

Olympic lifting and speed squats in addition to what nick said.

Do some T&F high jump drills

Search for some information on a plyometrics routine, in addition to what others have said already.

first thing you should do before any of the things mentioned....learn how to jump. just learning proper jumping biomechanics as well as landing mechanics and force absorbtion will improve your vertical without even picking up a weight.

First can we find out what you are leaping for???

My guess would be Basketball, but what is it?

basketball....i used to have a vertical of about 36 inches- i could dunk two handed being 6'2 at my best, started playing again.

for now i think i wanna replace the normal leg routine with one designed to improve vertical leap.

so if yall can put a detailed program down for me, thanx

Start incorporating the above exercises into your routine. It's that simple.

well i cant do all of em......what would a good routine be?

You're looking for explosion. I'd say do jump squats and olympic training. Like Patrick said before, make sure you know the proper way to jump - it will help you a great deal.

Here is a Pre-season WO routine for NCAA High Jump Athletes

(It happens to contain the exercises the other guys keep mentioning)

Originally Posted by P-funk

first thing you should do before any of the things mentioned....learn how to jump. just learning proper jumping biomechanics as well as landing mechanics and force absorbtion will improve your vertical without even picking up a weight.

Well said. To take this one step further, once you learn the proper way to jump, practice is countless times. Getting the proper motor patterns for a perfect jump ingrained into your being is going to help you make the most of your training in the long run.

Originally Posted by cheesegrater

well i cant do all of em......what would a good routine be?

video tape yourself jumping and post it. It would be impossible and foolish of anyone to just write you out a routine without seeing what your jump form looks like. Also, measure how high your vertical is.

P-funk speaks the gospel

Look up "Air Alert" or "Air Alert 2" on the internet. It's what I use. What are T and F high jump drills, jump squats and

Originally Posted by cheesegrater

well i cant do all of em......what would a good routine be?

In High School I had a 36-inch vertical leap. Never ever worked legs in the gym, but played basketball 6-7 days a week 3 hours a day. At 6'6" my game involved dunking, blocking shots, and grabbing rebounds. So I got plenty of "jump" workouts everyday. I stopped playing basketball 6 years ago, and now I can't jump for shit. So, my theory is jump like crazy, high explosion workouts (The SuperCat machine is the best if you can find one).

jumping jacks work well. vary them

Originally Posted by themamasan

In High School I had a 36-inch vertical leap. Never ever worked legs in the gym, but played basketball 6-7 days a week 3 hours a day. At 6'6" my game involved dunking, blocking shots, and grabbing rebounds. So I got plenty of "jump" workouts everyday. I stopped playing basketball 6 years ago, and now I can't jump for shit. So, my theory is jump like crazy, high explosion workouts (The SuperCat machine is the best if you can find one).

What did you weigh then...
What do you weigh now?

Originally Posted by The Monkey Man

What did you weigh then...
What do you weigh now?

In High School 180lbs, at 21 years of age I ended up being 200lbs and could still jump as high because I always kept playing basketball. Now at 240lbs and much weaker legs, my power-weight-ratio has completely reversed itself.

I am about to start playing again a couple of times a week, I am anxious to see how much I get back, but I seriously doubt I will be able to jump that high again.

Originally Posted by themamasan

In High School 180lbs, at 21 years of age I ended up being 200lbs and could still jump as high because I always kept playing basketball. Now at 240lbs and much weaker legs, my power-weight-ratio has completely reversed itself.

I am about to start playing again a couple of times a week, I am anxious to see how much I get back, but I seriously doubt I will be able to jump that high again

Well no shit you can't jump anymore, you've gained 60lbs -

When I was 23 @ 165-175 I could run marathons
Now, 34 @ 215, I can barely run a couple miles,
cause it feels like I am carrying a small child on my back

You can train past this though, build up those legs

i did jump squats yesterday......not sure i did em right......do you start off as a regular squat then just explode at the top and jump up, then back to a normal squat? how many reps?

and are olympic lifts the clean and jerk or snatch? i figure i don't need the one where the bar is lifted over the head (or do i?), so whats the proper form for the other one?

Originally Posted by cheesegrater

i did jump squats yesterday......not sure i did em right......do you start off as a regular squat then just explode at the top and jump up, then back to a normal squat? how many reps?

The idea is also to perform an explosive eccentric in the movement, not just the concentric portion. So, explode as much as possible all the way from the bottom position of the squat, when you land immediately descend down all the way and explode up again. Basically, jump up and down as quickly, and with as much power as possible, while still using a full range of motion.

and are olympic lifts the clean and jerk or snatch? i figure i don't need the one where the bar is lifted over the head (or do i?), so whats the proper form for the other one?

This is going to take a lot of practice. I'm sure P-funk has some links somewhere for you, but the form is damned complicated to get down pat.

Originally Posted by cheesegrater

i did jump squats yesterday......not sure i did em right......do you start off as a regular squat then just explode at the top and jump up, then back to a normal squat? how many reps?

and are olympic lifts the clean and jerk or snatch? i figure i don't need the one where the bar is lifted over the head (or do i?), so whats the proper form for the other one?

don't do the olympic lifts unles you have someone there to teach them to you. The biggest problem with strength and conditioning programs is they have kids do these lifts without proper instruction and then they wonder why they don't benefit from them or why they get hurt.

as far as jumping technique try to land between the ball of your toes and the begning of the arch of your foot. bend your knees to soften the landing as landing knee dominant will destroy you. make sure that know knees are tracking over your toes as letting them dip in will most likely cause an injury (possible acl tear) and it will defenitly screw up your force absorbtion, force application and reactive abilities.

Can you post videos from three sides? Side, front and back?

Hey Funky, do you have a link to that flash based olympic lifting site still? I remember you posted it a while ago, and it has some good pointers on form.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Hey Funky, do you have a link to that flash based olympic lifting site still? I remember you posted it a while ago, and it has some good pointers on form.

I did?

Originally Posted by P-funk

I did?

I think it was you... Maybe not. I'm pretty sure though. I think it was something your gave to Duncan Donuts when he started football training...

Originally Posted by CowPimp

I think it was you... Maybe not. I'm pretty sure though. I think it was something your gave to Duncan Donuts when he started football training...

found it but the page is no longer up. It is down for some reason.

Originally Posted by P-funk

found it but the page is no longer up. It is down for some reason.

Well balls to that. It was an awesome site! Ah well, Google it is. Hehe.