A high leap can make all the difference in competitive sports like basketball and football, where jumping in the air can be the margin between victory and loss.
Here are some tips on how to get some extra inches out of your jumps.
The first thing to concentrate on is your form. Fitting form in jumping is like anything else in sports; if you’re not doing the movement correctly, you’ll never do justice to your highest potential. One of the most significant areas where many people fail is when they load their legs in readiness to jump. The key to placing your legs is that you’re storing up the strength that you’ll use to pop upwards.
Many people will run in and stomp down vigorously right before they bounce. All that does is reduce all your energy in the spot before you’re ready to push off into your jump. The way you want to do it is to run in without stomping your feet, get down quiet, and assign the energy from your motion down into your legs. This way, all the power is stored and ready to be cleared, like a compressed spring.
Apart from saving the energy in your legs, training is another area a lot of people overlook. If you want to jump higher, you need to practice well to correct that when you go to the gym. Focus on the large muscle groups in your legs, which do majority of the work when you take off. The two most potent exercises to work the muscles you use when jumping are squats and calf raises, so make sure to include these exercises into your practice.
While squats and calf raises will assist you in improving, they aren’t everything. There are many other activities, as well as modifications to your jumping form, that will help you reach your unlimited potential. If you want to maximize your upward leap, get a useful vertical leap training guide, or discuss your goals with a sport-specific trainer. Whatever you do, though, remember, you can develop your jump height through exercise, so don’t restrict yourself to your prevailing vertical leap.
