5 Keys To Increaseing Your Vertical Jump

With basketball and volleyball right around the corner many athletes are looking to increase their vertical. Many factors lead to top end verticals; flexibility, proper training, proper jump training, jump technique and enough rest is needed to optimally increase the vertical. What we’re going to do is give you the 5 keys or exercises that we use at Athletic Edge that have helped a dozen d1 volleyball players reach their top verticals in camp this year. Over the summer we get a group of volleyball players that have to attain certain goals most of which have to do with jumping and conditioning. We are going to give some of our keys that have helped them reach their personal bests this year. These are in no specific order and should always be done with a certified sports performance coach to ensure proper technique and coaching ques.

1. Flexibility- Flexibility is key in any program for strength and conditioning. This is because the hip flexors are so important for explosion upward. If we are tight in the hips it is very hard to explode through what is called triple extension (ankles, knees and hip alignment). This triple extension is the power behind the vertical. So we need to be properly warmed up using some various methods: foam rolling, active warm up, muscle activation and cns activation. These four concepts will help improve your vertical immensely.

2. Depth jump landing to depth jumps- learning how to properly land is also key to understanding how to jump. To work on depth jump landing simply stand on a box and step down and land. Making sure your feet are shoulder width and you’re in an athletic position. This is important because volleyball and basketball players all use repetitive jumping and making sure you can land and jump again with the same power is important. We must always learn to land before we learn to jump. Depth jumps are simple and one of the most important exercises to do because of the quick response the body needs and how the cns reacts to this type of training. You start off the same on the box, step down, and then jump up as quickly as possible. This is very intensive on the cns and has been used for many years as a training method to increase verts. To make this even more challenging put some hurdles in front of the box and do depth jumps that way.

3. Resisted jumps- there are many ways to do resisted jumping and some of them are; the Vertimax, resisted cords and vests. These are the basis of resisted methods we use at Athletic Edge. The Vertimax is by far one of the best pieces of equipment you can get. It is one of the few if not only piece that resists the athlete from the waist down. This is important again because of the cns intensive training and triple extension. This resistance makes the body work extremely hard to overcome the interia the weight is putting the body through. Repeated use of resistant training gives the body muscle memory thus increasing the vertical.

4. Strength training specifically squats and posterior chain- squatting, whatever type it may be (back squats, front squats, box squats, safety squats and sumo squats) are one of the best things to do for increasing power in the lower body. Depending on your training history and age you can do anything from bodyweight squatting to heavy band squatting the point is you’re squatting. The muscles used to squat are the same muscles used to jump and explode upward. Again we are talking about overcoming inertia and driving the hips, butt and torso upward. The posterior chain, which is the glutes and the hamstrings, are very important not only in jumping but also acl prevention. This is especially true in women as there is a 5x more likely hood that acl tears will happen compared to men. This is due to poor activation of the posterior chain. Some exercises we do are: bridge series, RDL’s and SL RDL’s.

5. Single Leg training- While duel leg training like squatting and jumping are extremely important we must realize one leg is always stronger than the other. Single leg training (SL) is important to do because we need the most power out of each leg possible. Training in this fashion ensures proper acceleration and power when doing 2 legged jumping. Some exercises we do are lunge walks; rear leg elevated squats, pistol squats and SL RDL’s. These exercises are extremely vital to the athlete and give the athlete not only strength but most importantly power through the whole lower body. These types of exercises also help with prevention of ACL problems as many females suffer from over compensation. We also incorporate SL work into all keys of warm up including SL jump roping, agility ladder drills, mini SL jumps forward and lateral and over objects. We also incorporate SL jumps to double leg landing and Double leg jumps to SL landings.

These 5 keys are very important to incorporate into your training. Remember to always warm up properly and consult with a certified strength and conditioning coach to ensure proper program design and conditioning. Here at Athletic Edge Sports Performance, inc. we make sure that all of our athletes are doing some sort of these 5 keys to jumping. Remember there are many variations we use because of how many different age groups we have. If you have any questions or need descriptions of exercise don’t hesitate to ask. We also do offer on line training now at the Edge in speed, agility, strength training and jump training. Again don’t hesitate to ask. We hope this helps and gives description to how important these 5 keys are to increasing your vertical but also helping secure your ACL.

Coach Brad is a certified strength and conditioning coach under the CSCS with a degree in Exercise Science and owner of Athletic Edge Sports Performance, Inc.

He has been training all types of athletes for 7 years including many division 1 baseball, football, volleyball and basketball players. Coach Brad also deals a lot with youth athletes and athletes coming off of injury. Coach Troy is also CSCS certified and has a degree in Physical Education. He has been in the field for 15 years training athletes from grammar school to professional.

Contact Coach Brad or Troy at 773-610-FAST (3278) or email at llmb@prodigy.net check out the website at www.athleticedgesports.net and stay tuned for prevention of ACL and Jump Training videos.

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Speed Training Workout Design

How to Program Your Speed Training

By Coach Brad Leshinske CSCS

In the first article-How to run a faster 40 yard dash!, we focused on technique and applying principles on how to start and create a fast 10 yards thus creating a faster 40. In this article, we are going to re-visit key terminology and a sample program to help you increase your speed. As we all know, programming is a big key to any sports performance program.

Terminology you should be familiar with is start, acceleration, maximum velocity, speed, endurance, and lateral speed and agility.

The start is one of, if not, the most important thing you can do to increase your speed, as mentioned in the previous article. A short reminder for those who haven’t read the article; the start is overcoming inertia-we have to start at a dead stop and explode forward. Some key indicators are the stance, proper shin, angle, and leg drive. We want to drive our leg up and over, propelling ourselves forward, and breaking that inertia.

Acceleration is the point at which you try and reach your top speed. Top speed occurs around 30 meters or so. So acceleration occurs after the start to the point max velocity comes in. Mechanics wise, the emphasis is on the backside, which is everything behind our center of gravity. We need our ankle, hip, and knees in alignment and in extension to overcome that initial inertia. This takes place around the first 8-10 steps or the first 10 yards. We want to do this effortlessly, and if you watch a good 40 yard dash, the athlete looks relaxed and doesn’t seem to be exerting much effort. You must stay relaxed. In this phase, there is no bending at the waist and the head is in line with the torso and the legs.

Maximum velocity is when the athlete is running at their highest velocity. This phase is the most demanding on the body; also, this is the phase that is rarely achieved. Here you want to be in a more upright position and your head on the target looking straight. You also want to tell yourself not to run hard, you want to glide in the air. Think of it this way, you want to slow down the slowest. As we are in maximum velocity, we can only sustain this for about 1-2 seconds.

Speed endurance is not running for a long time as you might think. It is the ability to maintain your speed even though your body is fatiguing. You want to maintain your speed while tired and you don’t want to decelerate fast. With this, comes good conditioning. When athletes get tired, they lose mechanics; it is important that we train these principles so we can maintain a high level of competitiveness, even though we are fatigued.

Lateral speed and agility is as simple as change of direction and starting and stopping quickly. For this, athletes must maintain good balance and structure, keeping the center of gravity in control and your hips underneath you.

Provided below is an easy-to-use plan focused on speed:

1. Remember to always warm up in a dynamic fashion getting the blood moving. Your warm up should be 15 minutes of activity.

2. Week 1 and 2 should focus on basic techniques: starting position, arm swing work and the first step to 10-20 yards, always maintain good ford.

3. Weeks 3 and 4, keeping refining your technique, but start fixing your technique problems; whether it is not stepping over properly or not in triple extension (knee, hip, and ankle alignment), or simply raising your body up too fast.

4. Weeks 5 through 7, start adding new drills to help with starts and acceleration specifically. For instance, fall to sprints, hill runs, single leg starts, and 3 point starts.

5. Weeks 7 though 10 work purely on acceleration. Raise your volume of sprints and really focus on stride length and frequency.

6. Weeks 10 through 13, start adding in resisted sprinting for an increase in acceleration. Remember to add this only when mechanics are perfected. Another method is using sleds for resistance.

7. Weeks 13 through 17, you can start to increase the intensity and decrease the volume to prepare for your sport or game; the athlete should be at the peak of their training.

Remember this is just a template; everyone is different. How I train athletes is I like to rotate my days of emphasis. For example, I rotate lateral speed and agility, starts and acceleration, and then finally max speed and speed endurance. Remember, you have to take your rest periods when working on max speed, acceleration, and starts. When training speed endurance, your rest periods are shorter, thus your speed percentage is lower. I like to use speed endurance at the end of class, as the body is already fatigued. We will revisit speed and make them sprint when tired, thus increasing work capacity. Finally, here are some examples of drills:

Starts

1. Fall to sprint
2. Split stance to sprint
3. Kneel to sprint
4. Jump back to sprint
5. Jump forward to sprint

Acceleration Work

1. Jog to sprints
2. 30 yard dash work
3. Hill sprints
4. Resisted runs cords/sleds

Quickness Work

1. Tennis ball drop
2. Ball reaction drills (I throw the ball, they sprint on my movement)
3. Push up to sprint
4. Chasers

Speed Work

1. Flying 20’s
2. Flying 30’s
3. Sprint, jog, sprint, jog

Speed Endurance Work

1. 2 sets of 40 yard runs 5x with a 90% run with a minute rest
2. 100 yard dash
3. 10 sprints of 30 yards each sprint under 5 sec., walk back and repeat

Lateral Speed and Agility Work

1. Hurdle work
2. Ladder work
3. Cone drills
4. T drill
5. Suicide work with recovery

Resisted methods to use; sleds, cords, sand and weight vest. Remember this works on stride length and acceleration.

Assisted or over speed methods: pulling your partner, downhill sprinting, tailwind. Remember this works on stride frequency.

Mechanical drills: wall sprints, arm swings, standing leg strides, marching, skipping high knees to sprint.

Remember to always consult a physician prior to working out and always properly warm up the body prior to exercise.

About Coach Brad: Coach Brad owns and operates Athletic Edge Sports Performance Inc. in Chicago, IL. He trains athletes from grade school to college level in speed/agility, jumping power, and strength and conditioning. You can reach him at llmd@prodigy.net or his new blog at www.theedgesports.wordpress.com or call him at 773-610-FAST.

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Hey Slow Poke… Wanna Get Faster?

Then check this out next: The Complete Speed Training System