5 Great Tips That Will Help You Increase Your Vertical Jump

Would you like to jump higher than you currently do? Well, it’s time to learn how to improve this part of your physical performance, by following a couple of simpler yet effective tips. Even if you thought that jumping higher is an impossible task, with the right kind of training you can make it happen. How can it be possible to achieve a higher vertical jump? Jumping higher is closely connected to the power you have in your lower body and the explosive energy you can trigger in a short period. If you don’t have these two, you should not worry, as they can be trained and developed.

Why is it worth taking a look at the following 5 tips? After all, you may be already training at the gym, so developing muscles is not an issue for you. However, if you truly want to jump like a real athlete, you need to know how to correctly train like one. So, no, your regular gym workout routine will not help you out in this matter. Thus, to end up performing a higher jump, you may want to take the following tips into account. They will allow you, without a doubt, to improve your jumping performances.

  1. Include full-range squats in your training routine

Squats are one of the best exercises to perform if you’re looking to increase strength in your lower body area. They are highly accessible because they don’t necessarily need special equipment and you can do them anywhere you want. However, if you want to jump higher, the recommendation is to perform full-range squats, instead of quarter squats.

The effectiveness of full-range squats is not just a mere impression, as studies among athletes discovered that a vertical jump can indeed be improved by this type of exercise. More precisely, after performing full-range squats for 10 weeks, the athletes were able to jump with 8% higher than before. So, if you start using squat machines as part of your weekly training routine, you will soon manage to jump higher than you normally could.

  1. Work out your posterior chain

When it comes to jumps, the body’s posterior chain can make a huge difference. In other words, if it is not trained well and the power transfers in an improper manner down to this chain, your jumping performances will be affected in a negative manner. So, if you want to improve and increase your vertical chain, you need to take good care of your posterior chain. What does this mean? It means that you will have to train a series of muscle groups located in your lower body area. The hamstrings, glutes, and erector spinae are the ones that will lead to a stronger posterior chain.

In case you’re wondering how to work out a posterior chain, several compound exercises will help you strengthen this area well. Reverse hypers, step-ups on the high bench, and different variations of the Olympic pulls will take good care of your posterior chain. Are you short on time? If you want to improve your vertical jump as soon as possible, it’s better to focus on multi-joints lifts instead of performing isolation exercises. Of course, this is just a temporary solution, as a long-time training is much more recommended for optimum results.

  1. Train by using pulling movements

It was discovered that pulling movements, even the classical ones, can help you improve your explosive power fast and effectively. Deadlifts, vertical jumps, back squats should be part of your training routine if you want to increase your vertical jump. Even if these exercises target different groups of muscles, all of these together will contribute to achieving a higher jump through increased power.

Also, even if calf training is recommended, training this group of muscles in an isolated manner won’t get you the desired results. Thus, exercises that particularly target the quads and calves are not the best choice to make if you want to jump higher. Instead, spend your time and energy on combined exercises that can do more for you.

  1. Perform stretches in your hip flexors

Many people disregard the importance of stretches and often do not have them in their training routine. But besides helping your muscles relax after a hard and strenuous workout session, stretches can also help your muscles train better and deliver better performances. In this case, your hip flexors are in the center of attention. Because inflexible hip flexors can translate into poorly performed movements, it is easy to see why stretching them is so important. Believe it or not, hip flexors that do not have a proper level of flexibility will keep you on the ground, not allowing you to jump too high.

More than this, you need a good level of flexibility to perform squats well, which are one of the most important types of exercises when it comes to jumping higher. Also, poor flexibility can lead to injuries in time, as you’re constantly at the risk of performing a movement in the wrong way.

  1. Train your hamstrings and glutes

Besides strengthening the muscles of your legs, you should also focus on training the muscles that activate your hip. The hamstrings and glutes are responsible for this part, which is why they are on the list. Researches unrolled on athletes and their ability to jump higher than the average led to the discovery that both the hamstrings and glutes play an important role. More precisely, the hamstrings will contribute to a proportion of 25% to one’s performances during a vertical jump, while the glutes will contribute to a proportion of 40%. So, as you can see, training them will help you increase your vertical jump in a great deal.

What are the best exercises to train hamstrings and glutes? Ground-based strength training is probably the most recommended strategy. In other words, deadlifts and squats are ideal for training these muscles and increasing their strength. And, implicit, these exercises will help you jump higher in time, as you continue training.