Increasing my vertical jump.?!?

rileyhall00 · October 2013

Hey MFP's,

I play basketball and looking at increasing my vertical jump. I've read a lot of articles and have taken a routine that I'm going to try out to help me jump higher. I will be doing the following; Squats, calf raises, skipping, box jumps, lunges and a random low level plyometric jump technique to add variety/warm down.

I have two questions;

1) I'm currently eating in a calorie defect, for me to gain muscle I need to eat more then my RDI. However I understand that strength and muscle mass are two different things. Will I gain as much jump eating in defect then if I was eating more to bulk up? Or it doesn't even matter?

2) Are there other people out there that wanted to increase there jump and found something that worked for them that they're willing to share with me? I'd appreciate all advice and success stories.

Cheers and looking forward to replies..!!

koing · October 2013

Depends on how much jumping you are use to doing and how much in the way of squats, deadlifts you are use to doing.

You will probably gain on your vertical due to the jump training (more jumping pratice, squats, deadlifts etc).

You will probably see *some* strength increases to begin with but the longer you are at a deficit the weaker you will become in time. This may be 8, 12 or 16 weeks down the line.

Dieting is not optimal for any real athletic gains at all. The best a person can hope for is small gains. But if you lost a lot of weight that would help you out in your vertical jump a lot. I remember reading somewhere that for every 15lbs a person is over *their* optimal weight they lose an inch off their vertical jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCpA8u2D75E

I compete in olympic weightlifting. I highly recommend finding a coach to work with to learn the lifts properly. The lifts are all about hip power and being explosive with your legs and hips.

Koing

rileyhall00 · October 2013

I remember reading somewhere that for every 15lbs a person is over *their* optimal weight they lose an inch off their vertical jump.

Wow that's interesting to know. So that's 6.8kgs. Begs the question how does one determine what there optimal weight is? Does body fat % come into it as well? I feel the more weight I loose theoretically I should be able to jump higher without that extra weight holding me down. But I played B.Ball against someone bigger then me (fat and muscle) but he could out jump me by 3inches. He looked like a footballer (AFL aussie rules) too and thought maybe he was training for his jump as well. Might ask him one day :P.

Depends on how much jumping you are use to doing and how much in the way of squats, deadlifts you are use to doing.
You will probably gain on your vertical due to the jump training (more jumping pratice, squats, deadlifts etc).

I'm doing more then what i'm used to when I began. I play B.Ball twice a week and gym 3 times. Always trying to work out my legs and core. I do light cardio at the gym but mainly weights. I've got a P.T session coming up so I will ask him if we can build a program together to help me out.

I'm not far off my goal of 90kgs. Once I hit it I'll start maintenance and slowly bulk up. hopefully over time I haven't become weaker like you mentioned and I can build some muscle and strength for it.

happysherri · October 2013

I play volleyball and try and fit in jump training atleast once a week. I play 2 times a week, so a lot of jumping on sports days. Right now I'm liking P90X Plyo dvd and P90 legs and back helps.

davidji · October 2013

You're right in that strength and muscle mass are different, however there is still a correlation between the two. It depends on how long you've been strength training and how much of you're "noob gains" you've milked out of yourself. I would say if you haven't properly strength trained for at-least a year you would still be able to gain strength despite being on a calorie deficit. I'm currently 179centimetres and can touch the hoop, not quite dunk.
The best way to train your vertical jump is just to jump more, aim to do more plyometric stuff and keep box jumps a focus in your training. Remember plyometrics is all about give it your max on each attempt!

rileyhall00 · October 2013

It depends on how long you've been strength training and how much of you're "noob gains" you've milked out of yourself. I would say if you haven't properly strength trained for at-least a year you would still be able to gain strength despite being on a calorie deficit. I'm currently 179centimetres and can touch the hoop, not quite dunk.
The best way to train your vertical jump is just to jump more, aim to do more plyometric stuff and keep box jumps a focus in your training. Remember plyometrics is all about give it your max on each attempt!

Good advice.
It's only been 3months since I started gym'ing and playing basketball again. In the past 80 days I've dropped 14kgs. Still keen on losing a little bit more before doing a bulk.

I'm 195cm tall and can grab the ring. But feel for my height I should be able to dunk it and just dominate the rebounds and whenever we do a jump ball. With training and the game I get good practice in and then I do my gym stuff focusing on it.

I just discovered box jumps and plan to look into plyometrics more and use that to help me gain more jump.

So, sounds like for me Q. 1) I can have gains still so its not wasted time :P but it'd be better whilst bulking. which I'm only ~4weeks off anyways

KristinNicole82 · October 2013

You want to work on your explosive energy. To build my box jump I was doing weighted jump squats. I used dumbbells, once the dumbbells hit the floor I would explode up. I would only rest in a standing position.

hananah89 · October 2013

My brother played basketball in high school and would wear weights around his ankles when he would workout and do things so when he played without them he could do more.

rileyhall00 · October 2013

You want to work on your explosive energy. To build my box jump I was doing weighted jump squats. I used dumbbells, once the dumbbells hit the floor I would explode up. I would only rest in a standing position.

That sounds good. I think that would be a great idea. Also would add variety to my workouts.

My brother played basketball in high school and would wear weights around his ankles when he would workout and do things so when he played without them he could do more.

That's also a good idea. I have seen these bands you can get where you wear a belt and attach them to your ankles to add resistance. The weights would be the same idea. I didn't know how good they helped or if it was just a good way to blow $80.

rileyhall00 · October 2013

bump

koing · October 2013

Get STRONG in the gym, get your squats, deadlifts and learn to do olympic lifts. Or learn to at least power snatch. This will help you use your legs and get your hips to open up fast.

JUMP PRACTICE on the court.

Diet down properly. You should get small gains in strength, but I guarantee if you drop 30lbs you will lose more strength or it will be very slow going in terms of getting your squats and deadlifts up.

Optimal weight would be about 12-14%. The bigger guy doesn't matter if he is fatter than you if he is stronger lb for lb he will jump higher than you. Being strong does not make you explosive. It helps though. Otherwise powerlifters would have crazy vertical jumps as they are strong. The fatter guy if he lost more of his excess fat, whilst retaining more of his strength would jump HIGHER than he did. It's all about a balance.

My bro is 5'5 and he can grab the rim. He can Clean and Jerk over 2x bodyweight. Front squats 190kg at 77kg. He is explosive and has a 38inch standing vert.

Weights on ankles? It's a gimmick. Ignore that.

I compete at a national standard in weightlifting. I know how to get people strong, fast and explosive. Most PT's are rubbish at anything other than getting people to lose weight. If you want athletic performance you go see a real weightlifting coach.

Koing

prostyle92 · October 2013

try youtube there are tons of videos showing you how

check this out i think its legit, i am still trying to figure out what the name of the song is, i want to add it to my workout playlist haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EV7bq4khzs

CoachDreesTraining · October 2013

Hey MFP's,

I play basketball and looking at increasing my vertical jump. I've read a lot of articles and have taken a routine that I'm going to try out to help me jump higher. I will be doing the following; Squats, calf raises, skipping, box jumps, lunges and a random low level plyometric jump technique to add variety/warm down.

I have two questions;

1) I'm currently eating in a calorie defect, for me to gain muscle I need to eat more then my RDI. However I understand that strength and muscle mass are two different things. Will I gain as much jump eating in defect then if I was eating more to bulk up? Or it doesn't even matter?

2) Are there other people out there that wanted to increase there jump and found something that worked for them that they're willing to share with me? I'd appreciate all advice and success stories.

Cheers and looking forward to replies..!!

1. You're right strength and muscle mass are two different things, but they are highly correlated. Your vertical jump is going to depend on your strength/force to weight ratio. In other words, if you can maintain or slightly improve your force, while decreasing your weight you'll jump higher.

2. I'm not sure where you are at training-wise, but the limiting factor for most people is their strength, more specifically, the amount of power they can produce. I would focus primary on squatting heavy, while mixing in some explosive squats in the 70-80% range. Plyos are good, but only after a good level of strength is developed first.

petey512 · January 2016

trying to increase vertical!!! any suggestions?

Increasing my vertical jump.?!?

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