Saturday, October 10, 2009

Vertical Jumping Exercise Tips

By Amit Rosman

What is the best way to increase the height of your vertical jumps? Certainly there are probably some exercises that are better and more effective than others, but which are the best ones? Which exercises will get the maximum results without burning you out too fast? Keep reading to find out more about the best exercises to put a little more spring into your vertical jumps.

Do Your Warm Ups. Rather than jumping right into your exercise routine, you should always do some stretches to warm up your legs first. Many of the warm up stretches swimmers do are also perfect for jumpers. You can also run up and down stairs or jump rope for several minutes to get your muscles warmed up. These are also effective for inclusion in your regular training regime.

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.

Looking for some specific, but easy exercises to include in your vertical jumping program? Here are a couple simple but effective ones to try.

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.

Deep knee bends. Start out in a normal standing position with a nice straight back. Slowly bend your knees to lower your body down, maintaining that straight back. Stop short of getting deep far enough to where you would be in a relaxed low position so there is still tension on your leg muscles and then slowly raise your body back up again to resume the original standing position. Go down slowly and come up slowly, counting approximately four seconds on the way down and another four seconds on the way up. Do 15 reps like this each day and gradually increase the number of reps after a week or so of practice. In addition to building power and muscle in your legs, this exercise also tones your thighs.

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