Increasing vertical leap

Since I don't have a gymnasium to go to (gymnastic facility) I have to resort to grass and sometimes sand. I seem to be REALLY lacking height in my jumps.

I do get a lot of height when I roundoff but not as much as I should. I am wondering what types of exercises I could do to increase my vertical jump.

I prefer if I could incorporate/change it to my full body workout because I seem to take time to recover (I seem to be a 3-day-a-week person).

I have access to bodybuilding facilities (University gym). I don't mind how hard or killer the workout is.

Right now I only have access to pull up bars and such primitive utilities so I can't do much but here's my routine. I am going for strength mainly and trying to eat a bit of a surplus so that the size increase is slow but efficient.

Monday/Friday:

Push ups (different variations on Mondays and Fridays) 5 sets of 12

Pull ups 5 sets of 6-12

Dips 4 sets max reps (I don't get much on this, hence the max reps)

Bulgarian row 5 sets of 10

 

-Abdominal workout- I usually randomise this depending on my mood. 3 of these exercises. 5 sets of 12-16 5 Dragon Flag/Plank/V-ups/Straddle Hollow body rock/Leg raises/Plank

 

Leg:

Jump squats 5 sets 20-30 reps

Horse Stance 5 sets max minutes

Box Jumps/Tuck jumps 5 sets 30 reps

 

Wednesday:

Planch leans/Assisted planche/tuck planche 5 sets of 30-40 seconds

Handstand or Handstand push ups 5 sets of 60s or 5 sets of 6-12

Muscle ups 3 sets max reps (I don't get much on this, hence the max reps)

 

Abdominals

 

Same leg routine

I am working on mobility/flexibility as well since I am pretty stiff.

Tumbling height (e.g. rebounding from a roundoff) and vertical jump (i.e. jumping from a stand or a run) are entirely unrelated. Which one are you trying to improve, and why? 

I really am not sure. I want to be able to do standing somersaults (Standing side flip, front flip, backflip, raiz, etc) but I also want to do floor routines (even though I am not a gymnast, I am really fascinated by them).

At the very least, you need to master the single leg squat and the natural leg curl.  Single leg skipping is also a great way to improve jump height.

Barbell squats (back, front, overhead, doesn't matter) and deadlifts also both correlate strongly with vertical jump height.  Power cleans are supposed to be fantastic, but are rather skill intensive and I wouldn't recommend them if you don't have a coach to show you what to do.

Power Cleans are not all that difficult to figure out. But if you want to keep it simple, basic front and back squats and perhaps some squat jumps ( these are a bit iffy but can be appropriate ).

Personally I think a Clean or Snatch Pull would suffice vs a Pwr Sn/Cn. I prefer the Chinese style but they do take some specific work. Of course Deadlift variants are fine ( though I wouldn't bother with a Sumo DL for these purposes ).

Reactive strength such as tumbling and training for a Vertical Jump from a standstill are a bit different though.

Dancers get more height because they use their toes as they jump.

GoldenEagle said:

Dancers get more height because they use their toes as they jump.

Yeah I've heard of people adding 3 inches to their vertical jump instantly, just by applying this technique.

Thank you everyone!

How should I approach these? Should I split them into Monday/Wednesday/Friday or add them to my current leg workout?

Have you ever thought about taking a really simple, yet obvious approach and measuring your max height, cut it by 70% and then wear a weight vest or weight belt with 7.5kg. Aim for 5 x 5 reps.

e.g your max jump is 30 inches. 75% of 30inches = 22.5inches. Then make up the difference with added weight.

Do that for 2 months and then take the weight off and re-measure your maximum jump height.

it's an idea at least...;P

I spent some time reading some of the research on vertical jump training. Pub Med and the local library are awesome!

The short answer seem to be make your legs stronger and practice jumping. The groups who did both always improved more than groups who only did one or the other. If you're only going to do 1 exercise, weighted jump squats are usually the winner.

Take it easy on the weighted jumps  and plyometrics in general though. Jumpers knee, just saying.

Ensure you're stretching your hip flexors and lats too.  Otherwise they will just be acting as brakes and not allowing for full hip extension and shoulder flexion.  These are actually two of the 'tricks' used before combines to help athletes achieve better results in the vertical leap testing.

Also could be worth checking out some of Kelly Baggett's articles as he has some good info about how to assess and address your own specific weaknesses.

CraigR said:

Ensure you're stretching your hip flexors and lats too.  Otherwise they will just be acting as brakes and not allowing for full hip extension and shoulder flexion.  These are actually two of the 'tricks' used before combines to help athletes achieve better results in the vertical leap testing.

 

Also could be worth checking out some of Kelly Baggett's articles as he has some good info about how to assess and address your own specific weaknesses.

pretty cool tip!

I have been training high jump for two years, when i was younger. Main goal was obviously increasing the vertical jump. I have been experimenting a lot, i tried all kinds of routines, changed three coaches...

50% of vertical jump comes from weight training, high intensity and low volume, your goal is to increase power, not to gain too much leg muscles. Make sure to do squats when you hit the gym. And try to switch routines( A and B). For example:

A: full squats 3x6, power cleans 3x6, weighted lunges, calf raises etc...

B: half squats with a box 3x6 (you can add 50% more weight on these), power snatch 3x6, barbell step ups (step with one leg on box), .... Make sure to run 1-2 miles after these workouts, to relax your legs a little bit, and stretch a lot.

This will make sure you have strong legs and power cl/sn will increase your explosiveness. I would advice you to do this not more then one-two times a week.

Other 50% comes from explosive jump training or plyometrics. This is your plyometrcis workout:

Jump squats 5 sets 20-30 reps

Horse Stance 5 sets max minutes

Yuri Verkhoshansky  created a training planification model so as to reach high levels of performance with jumpers.

According to Yuri, the training is splitted in two kind of blocks: Special Conditioning Block and Technical Block. The duration of each Block is the duration of a mesocycle, so it is the time that you need to get adaptations. For example, if you are doing a maximal strength block, you will need 6 weeks so as to adapt to the training stimulus.

After the special conditioning block, you can transfer the strength gains to the specific technique that you want to reach, so you could train strength here, like a neural reminder, but the biggest percent of training should be technical skills that you want to improve. The duration of a technical block should depend on the time you need to transfer the strength and improve your technique.

If it is a back flip from standing, you would need to develop the elastic-explosive strength, so the logical order to improve that would be:

- Consider the needed for training strength hypertrophy or anatomical adaptations.
- Improve your maximal neurologic strength.
- Improve your explosive strength.
- Improve your elastic-explosive strength.

GoldenEagle said:

Dancers get more height because they use their toes as they jump.

the dancers jump is a quad dominante one. this is absolutly inappropriate for any athletic purposes. learn those mechanics, go for the power clean or from my view even better a low hang power clean and practice jumping with perfect form.

Pretty bold statement. Dancers jump pretty well appropriate or not.

Piatsch said:

the dancers jump is a quad dominante one. this is absolutly inappropriate for any athletic purposes. learn those mechanics, go for the power clean or from my view even better a low hang power clean and practice jumping with perfect form.

Sure it is quad dominate. Jumping in general is quad dominate. The quadricep is like the tricep of the arm and the hamstring is like the bicep.

The thing about using your toes during a jumping sequence is pushing all of the available power into the ground and or floor surface. 

Piatsch said:

the dancers jump is a quad dominante one. this is absolutly inappropriate for any athletic purposes ...

I disagree. Please justify your statement.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Piatsch said:

the dancers jump is a quad dominante one. this is absolutly inappropriate for any athletic purposes. learn those mechanics, go for the power clean or from my view even better a low hang power clean and practice jumping with perfect form.

GoldenEagle said:

Sure it is quad dominate. Jumping in general is quad dominate. The quadricep is like the tricep of the arm and the hamstring is like the bicep.

 

The thing about using your toes during a jumping sequence is pushing all of the available power into the ground and or floor surface. 

If I remember correctly, Poliquin discussed that the vertical jump as tested in athletes was 40% glute, 25% hamstring, %5 quad.

It is even a matter of testing it yourself. If you try a series of maximum vertical jump tests, how you can assert that jumping is quad dominant is beyond me. The posterior chain and the shoulder girdle reign supreme

Micawberian said:

If I remember correctly, Poliquin discussed that the vertical jump as tested in athletes was 40% glute, 25% hamstring, %5 quad.

 

It is even a matter of testing it yourself. If you try a series of maximum vertical jump tests, how you can assert that jumping is quad dominant is beyond me. The posterior chain and the shoulder girdle reign supreme

I can understand the glute and hamstring being used as part of the jumping sequences since an individual needs to create an instance where coiled energy is released into the ground through the action of the quadriceps extension followed by a strong extension of the foot and finally a strong push with the toes. 

The idea that a jump in general is quad dominate lays in the moments coiled energy is released to create vertical propulsion. The idea doesn't take the hamstrings and glutes into account.

However new  and more accurate information will always trump outdated and incorrect information.

Please understand part of my sports history includes competitive spring board diving, and recreational aggressive in-line skating.

Actually, I also read somewhere (I can't remember where), that the calves contribute to 20%, rest of posterior chain (lower back, glutes, hamstrings) 40%, and quads 40%.

Edit: Vertical Jump Bible by Kelly Baggett

alan tseng said:

Actually, I also read somewhere (I can't remember where), that the calves contribute to 20%, rest of posterior chain (lower back, glutes, hamstrings) 40%, and quads 40%.

Edit: Vertical Jump Bible by Kelly Baggett

If you purely consider the lower body, then sure, but upper body mechanics (arm swing etc) are also important for a good jump.

Aadil Siddiqi said:

If you purely consider the lower body, then sure, but upper body mechanics (arm swing etc) are also important for a good jump.

When I re-read the statement in the book, I made another mistake, the 20% isn't just calves, it's calves+ rest of upper body muscles that make up the rest of the 20%

Apparently absolute strength contributes the most to vertical jumps.