3 Critical Exercises To Increase Vertical Jump
Written by Mat Hultquist on February 8, 2010 – 6:55 pm -If you’ve looked online for exercises to increase vertical jump, you’ve probably realized that the advice is plentiful and varied. From my years of experience working with athletes, I have realized there are 3 critical exercises you must do to increase your vertical jump:
1. Squats – more specifically free weight squats. You want to do free weight squats as opposed to squats on a leg press or other machine because free weight squats, when done correctly, will also strengthen your core. This is extremely important as the core is a key area you need to strengthen if you want to increase your vertical jump.
The main reason squatting with free weights is one of the key exercises to increase vertical jump is because they strengthen your quads, hamstrings and glutes. Strong quads, hams and glutes are essential if you want to vertically explode off the ground.
2. Calf raises – Stong calves are essential to building power and explosiveness. This is one of the critical exercises to increase vertical jump because you could have really strong legs, but weak calves, and you won’t come close to reaching your vertical potential. There are so many different ways to do calf raises, but just make sure to pick a calf raise exercise that is both challenging and fun.
3. Leg raises – the type of leg raises I think are one of the critical exercises to increase vertical jump are the kind where you hang from a chin-up bar and raise your knees to your chest. These are important because leg raises not only strengthen your abs (part of your core), but they also have the added benefit of strengthening your hip flexors, which give you additional power and explosiveness.
Bear in mind that additional exercises to increase vertical jump do exist, but these 3 are some of the “building block” exercises you need to master. They strengthen your legs and claves for explosiveness and your abs for core strength. Try them out and you’ll be headed to the rim before you know it.
Want to discover how to actually do these exercises to increase vertical jump, including the right amount of sets and reps? Then check out Mat Hultquist’s blog to discover the tips and techniques to increase your vertical leap to 44 inches in 4 weeks.
Tags: Basketball, exercises to increase vertical, Exercises To Increase Vertical Jump, increase vertical jump, jump higher
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