# weight room exercises to improve vertical leap?



## cheesegrater (Sep 5, 2005)

what can i do in the confines of a weight room that'll help my hops?


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## Squaggleboggin (Sep 5, 2005)

Jump squats, one-legged squats, ATG squats.


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## ihateschoolmt (Sep 5, 2005)

Olympic lifting and speed squats in addition to what nick said.


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## The Monkey Man (Sep 5, 2005)

Do some T&F high jump drills


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## CowPimp (Sep 5, 2005)

Search for some information on a plyometrics routine, in addition to what others have said already.


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## P-funk (Sep 5, 2005)

first thing you should do before any of the things mentioned....learn how to jump.  just learning proper jumping biomechanics as well as landing mechanics and force absorbtion will improve your vertical without even picking up a weight.


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## The Monkey Man (Sep 5, 2005)

First can we find out what you are leaping for???

My guess would be Basketball, but what is it?


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## cheesegrater (Sep 5, 2005)

basketball....i used to have a vertical of about 36 inches- i could dunk two handed being 6'2 at my best, started playing again.

for now i think i wanna replace the normal leg routine with one designed to improve vertical leap.

so if yall can put a detailed program down for me, thanx


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## Squaggleboggin (Sep 5, 2005)

Start incorporating the above exercises into your routine. It's that simple.


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## cheesegrater (Sep 5, 2005)

well i cant do all of em......what would a good routine be?


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## Squaggleboggin (Sep 5, 2005)

You're looking for explosion. I'd say do jump squats and olympic training. Like Patrick said before, make sure you know the proper way to jump - it will help you a great deal.


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## The Monkey Man (Sep 5, 2005)

Here is a Pre-season WO routine for NCAA High Jump Athletes

(It happens to contain the exercises the other guys keep mentioning)


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## CowPimp (Sep 5, 2005)

P-funk said:
			
		

> first thing you should do before any of the things mentioned....learn how to jump.  just learning proper jumping biomechanics as well as landing mechanics and force absorbtion will improve your vertical without even picking up a weight.



Well said.  To take this one step further, once you learn the proper way to jump, practice is countless times.  Getting the proper motor patterns for a perfect jump ingrained into your being is going to help you make the most of your training in the long run.


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## P-funk (Sep 6, 2005)

cheesegrater said:
			
		

> well i cant do all of em......what would a good routine be?




video tape yourself jumping and post it.  It would be impossible and foolish of anyone to just write you out a routine without seeing what your jump form looks like.  Also, measure how high your vertical is.


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## ATOMSPLTR (Sep 6, 2005)

P-funk speaks the gospel


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## jaim91 (Sep 6, 2005)

Look up "Air Alert" or "Air Alert 2" on the internet. It's what I use. What are T and F high jump drills, jump squats and


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## themamasan (Sep 6, 2005)

cheesegrater said:
			
		

> well i cant do all of em......what would a good routine be?



In High School I had a 36-inch vertical leap.  Never ever worked legs in the gym, but played basketball 6-7 days a week 3 hours a day.  At 6'6" my game involved dunking, blocking shots, and grabbing rebounds.  So I got plenty of "jump" workouts everyday.  I stopped playing basketball 6 years ago, and now I can't jump for shit.  So, my theory is jump like crazy, high explosion workouts (The SuperCat machine is the best if you can find one).


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## bio-chem (Sep 6, 2005)

jumping jacks work well. vary them


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## The Monkey Man (Sep 6, 2005)

themamasan said:
			
		

> In High School I had a 36-inch vertical leap. Never ever worked legs in the gym, but played basketball 6-7 days a week 3 hours a day. At 6'6" my game involved dunking, blocking shots, and grabbing rebounds. So I got plenty of "jump" workouts everyday. I stopped playing basketball 6 years ago, and now I can't jump for shit. So, my theory is jump like crazy, high explosion workouts (The SuperCat machine is the best if you can find one).


What did you weigh then...
What do you weigh now?


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## themamasan (Sep 6, 2005)

The Monkey Man said:
			
		

> What did you weigh then...
> What do you weigh now?



In High School 180lbs, at 21 years of age I ended up being 200lbs and could still jump as high because I always kept playing basketball.  Now at 240lbs and much weaker legs, my power-weight-ratio has completely reversed itself.

I am about to start playing again a couple of times a week, I am anxious to see how much I get back, but I seriously doubt I will be able to jump that high again.


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## The Monkey Man (Sep 7, 2005)

themamasan said:
			
		

> In High School 180lbs, at 21 years of age I ended up being 200lbs and could still jump as high because I always kept playing basketball. Now at 240lbs and much weaker legs, my power-weight-ratio has completely reversed itself.
> 
> I am about to start playing again a couple of times a week, I am anxious to see how much I get back, but I seriously doubt I will be able to jump that high again




Well no shit you can't jump anymore, you've gained 60lbs - 

When I was 23 @ 165-175 I could run marathons
Now, 34 @ 215, I can barely run a couple miles,
cause it feels like I am carrying a small child on my back

You can train past this though, build up those legs


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## cheesegrater (Sep 7, 2005)

i did jump squats yesterday......not sure i did em right......do you start off as a regular squat then just explode at the top and jump up, then back to a normal squat? how many reps?

and are olympic lifts the clean and jerk or snatch? i figure i don't need the one where the bar is lifted over the head (or do i?), so whats the proper form for the other one?


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## CowPimp (Sep 7, 2005)

cheesegrater said:
			
		

> i did jump squats yesterday......not sure i did em right......do you start off as a regular squat then just explode at the top and jump up, then back to a normal squat? how many reps?



The idea is also to perform an explosive eccentric in the movement, not just the concentric portion.  So, explode as much as possible all the way from the bottom position of the squat, when you land immediately descend down all the way and explode up again.  Basically, jump up and down as quickly, and with as much power as possible, while still using a full range of motion.




> and are olympic lifts the clean and jerk or snatch? i figure i don't need the one where the bar is lifted over the head (or do i?), so whats the proper form for the other one?



This is going to take a lot of practice.  I'm sure P-funk has some links somewhere for you, but the form is damned complicated to get down pat.


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## P-funk (Sep 7, 2005)

cheesegrater said:
			
		

> i did jump squats yesterday......not sure i did em right......do you start off as a regular squat then just explode at the top and jump up, then back to a normal squat? how many reps?
> 
> and are olympic lifts the clean and jerk or snatch? i figure i don't need the one where the bar is lifted over the head (or do i?), so whats the proper form for the other one?




don't do the olympic lifts unles you have someone there to teach them to you.  The biggest problem with strength and conditioning programs is they have kids do these lifts without proper instruction and then they wonder why they don't benefit from them or why they get hurt.

as far as jumping technique try to land between the ball of your toes and the begning of the arch of your foot.  bend your knees to soften the landing as landing knee dominant will destroy you.  make sure that know knees are tracking over your toes as letting them dip in will most likely cause an injury (possible acl tear) and it will defenitly screw up your force absorbtion, force application and reactive abilities.

Can you post videos from three sides?  Side, front and back?


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## CowPimp (Sep 7, 2005)

Hey Funky, do you have a link to that flash based olympic lifting site still?  I remember you posted it a while ago, and it has some good pointers on form.


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## P-funk (Sep 7, 2005)

CowPimp said:
			
		

> Hey Funky, do you have a link to that flash based olympic lifting site still?  I remember you posted it a while ago, and it has some good pointers on form.




I did?


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## CowPimp (Sep 7, 2005)

P-funk said:
			
		

> I did?



I think it was you...  Maybe not.  I'm pretty sure though.  I think it was something your gave to Duncan Donuts when he started football training...


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## P-funk (Sep 7, 2005)

CowPimp said:
			
		

> I think it was you...  Maybe not.  I'm pretty sure though.  I think it was something your gave to Duncan Donuts when he started football training...




found it but the page is no longer up.  It is down for some reason.


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## CowPimp (Sep 7, 2005)

P-funk said:
			
		

> found it but the page is no longer up.  It is down for some reason.



Well balls to that.  It was an awesome site!  Ah well, Google it is.  Hehe.


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## cheesegrater (Sep 7, 2005)

CowPimp said:
			
		

> The idea is also to perform an explosive eccentric in the movement, not just the concentric portion.  So, explode as much as possible all the way from the bottom position of the squat, when you land immediately descend down all the way and explode up again.  Basically, jump up and down as quickly, and with as much power as possible, while still using a full range of motion.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



okay, i get exploding on the upward portion, but are you saying i should be going down into the squat quickly, as i would a jump, or do i go down as i would a normal squat?


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## cheesegrater (Sep 7, 2005)

P-funk said:
			
		

> don't do the olympic lifts unles you have someone there to teach them to you.  The biggest problem with strength and conditioning programs is they have kids do these lifts without proper instruction and then they wonder why they don't benefit from them or why they get hurt.
> 
> as far as jumping technique try to land between the ball of your toes and the begning of the arch of your foot.  bend your knees to soften the landing as landing knee dominant will destroy you.  make sure that know knees are tracking over your toes as letting them dip in will most likely cause an injury (possible acl tear) and it will defenitly screw up your force absorbtion, force application and reactive abilities.
> 
> Can you post videos from three sides?  Side, front and back?



video of me jump squatting? uhh, doubt it.....

i think my knee position is fine on the downward movement, but i sometimes notice them leaning in on the upward movement...


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## CowPimp (Sep 7, 2005)

cheesegrater said:
			
		

> okay, i get exploding on the upward portion, but are you saying i should be going down into the squat quickly, as i would a jump, or do i go down as i would a normal squat?



Go down quickly.  Like I said, jump up *and* down as quickly as possible, but use a full range of motion.


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## Dale Mabry (Sep 7, 2005)

cheesegrater said:
			
		

> i think my knee position is fine on the downward movement, but i sometimes notice them leaning in on the upward movement...



When on the upward movement and in as in closer together, or falling forward?


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## cheesegrater (Sep 7, 2005)

they get closer together


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