Contrary to what some people may believe, there is a right and a wrong way to jump. Ignoring this fact and approaching a jump training program without understanding what mistakes you could make can cause injury and can hold you back from maximizing your jumping potential.

Five of the most common jump training mistakes are as follows:

• Failing to use your arms for momentum
• Jumping or landing unevenly
• Being too tense
• Failing to stretch before and after exercise
• Ignoring core strength training

While they may seem to go without saying, it is paramount to your success that you take heed and avoid making a costly and – unfortunately – sometimes debilitating mistake in your jump training endeavors.

1. Failing to Use Your Arms For Momentum

Imagine, for a moment, a bird sitting on the ground eating a worm. A dog barks nearby, and the startled bird reacts by leaping into the air, flapping its wings, and taking flight. Now imagine what would have happened if the bird’s wings were duct taped to its sides.

I am willing to bet that the dog would have had an easy time chasing the bird down, since the bird’s legs alone would not be enough to propel it safely into the sky.

The same goes for an athlete. There is a limit to what the body can do based on leg muscles alone. Some propulsion and momentum is required if maximum jump height is to be reached. This is where the arms come in.

By focusing energy into an efficient swinging of both arms at the same time the bent legs explode up into the jump, you can dramatically increase your jump height.

If you don’t believe this, try this at home or at the gym: stand next to a wall with your hands at your side. Bend your legs and jump as high as you can, having a friend measure the height of your jump. Next, jump again but this time use your arms as pendulum-like momentum.

Hands down, you will find that the increase from the first jump to the second will be absolutely dramatic.

2. Jumping or Landing Unevenly

Without balance, the power you generate while taking off in a jump and the solidness of your landing will be greatly compromised.

As most athletes have heard since they were young, having a good athletic stance (knees bent, feet approximately shoulder-width apart, etc.) is paramount to maximizing body control and capitalizing on the efficiency of your muscle movement.

If your limbs are all over the place, flailing as you jump, the inefficiency of that motion will detract from your upward movement.

Likewise, an unbalanced landing could result in injury, such as a rolled ankle.

To combat this, be sure to take off from a stance that is evenly balanced, with your weight dispersed equally onto both legs. Keep your body aligned, and focus on not adding extra motions to the jump.

Upon landing, focus again on body alignment, as well as on both feet hitting the ground at the same time. Also work to land on the balls of your feet, rather than your heels, as this will add to your balance and control.

3. Being too Tense

If your body is tense, your muscles will be working from an already-flexed state. This will keep them from being able to fully expand and contract, thus limiting the height of your jump.

Fight this tendency by taking a deep breath and making a conscious effort to relax prior to jumping. If an area of the body seems especially tight – common areas include the neck and shoulders – focus on relaxing those muscles individually.

It may also be a good idea to quickly squeeze those muscles to help aid in the relaxation process.

Another beneficial way to ward off unwanted muscle tension is to stay hydrated. As you exercise, your muscles develop small tears, and it is important to hydrate and keep vital nutrients and proteins in your system to help your muscles rebuild as quickly as possible.

4. Failing to Stretch Before and After Exercise

Just as water and nutrients help your muscled rebuild after exercise, stretching enables your muscles to maintain their flexibility and suppleness – a huge part of how effective your jumping will be.

If you fail to stretch, your muscles will remain in a perpetually tense and contracted state, and the next time you work out you will have to work just a little bit harder to overcome that “tight” feeling.”

To avoid making things harder on yourself and your muscles, take the time to properly stretch before and after you exercise.

There is typically no need for a drawn-out stretching regimen; usually a few focused minutes before working out is enough to “wake up” your body and prepare your muscles for activity, and a few minutes following your workout will help cool your body down nicely.

“Kinetic stretching,” or stretching while in motion, is a great way to quickly wake your body up while not risking over-stretching and possibly straining your muscles.

Professional sports teams, such as the Seattle Seahawks, have adopted routines that employ stretches like walking calf raises, walking lunges, and more.

Either way, bookending your jump program with simple stretches will go a long way toward helping you reach your jump training goals.

5. Ignoring Core Strength Training

Many people think that the body is made up of separate muscle groups, so that is how they train – by focusing solely on the area that they want to improve.

This narrow mindset does not take into account, though, how the body was made to function together as a whole, with each part helping the others function optimally.

The arm cannot move without back and shoulder muscles supporting it, and the leg cannot bend without help from its friends, the knee, the hip, and the back.

The “core,” which is the area of the body that encompasses the lower back, the abdominals, and everything in between, plays a huge role in the total body’s ability to function as a compact and efficient whole.

By focusing on this key area of the body, you will not only get stronger, but you will also enable your jumping to be more powerful, more stable, and more efficient.

If you want to bypass the mistakes that most people make when it comes to jump training and skip straight to guaranteed results, then the unique program set forth in The Jump Manual is all you need to find success.

Based in science and tested countless times, the program can help you reach your goals in record time, and find the road to maximizing your jumping ability.

You have been following all of the rules. The experts say you must eat a balanced, protein and nutrient rich diet to get the super vertical jump you always want.

Now you almost dream about treating yourself to a special meal that would spoil your healthy diet and you do not know what to do.

Chances are you have assumed the worst. You believe that your craving of a hearty steak with a loaded potato or a rich, sugary piece of chocolate cake is a sign of your failure.

You wonder if it means that you cannot keep up the healthy diet you have maintained. If you cannot eat right you will not stay trim enough to increase your jump.

Perhaps you wonder if it is some kind of subliminal message of your mind telling your body that it cannot complete the training.

The truth is that none of these beliefs are true. You are not failing yourself nor are you failing at your program. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

This is a sign that your body is getting used to a new healthy lifestyle instead of just dieting. Sometimes, it is not a bad thing to treat yourself.

Punishing yourself for something you believe is a backslide is not how to jump higher. It is the way to lose motivation and quit. Your body is going through changes.

You are working hard. Rewarding yourself for your hard work is essential to keeping up your persistence and commitment.

Re-Feeding

Cheating your diet occasionally is a normal, healthy action that can actually improve your diet success. This is the habit of re-feeding. When you have a cheat meal, you boost the leptin in your body.

Leptin is also referred to as the starvation hormone. This is the hormone that tells your body to start consuming body fat in order to stay fueled.

Additionally, an occasional reefed will boost growth hormone levels to help build the muscles needed for your vertical jump.

It will increase your glycogen levels which helps to produce the proteins needed for new muscle tissue developed during jumping workouts. Building new muscle tissue takes fuel.

Therefore, your body will further consume body fat for energy. Your thyroid hormone levels will be renewed to increase metabolism.

If you are losing at least 2 pounds of body fat each week, you are safe to re-feed. It will increase your fat loss.

It is best if you break it out into two separate meals. You will be adding 100 additional calories of carbohydrates each to two meals. You should do this one day per week.

Since you are treating yourself, practically any source of carbohydrates will do. It may be cereals, ice cream, or your favorite candy. It can be for breakfast or supper, as long as it is any two meals in one day.

Preferably, they should be consecutive meals. It is important that you minimize the fat and meat during these meals because it will negatively impact your digestion and metabolism, counteracting the goal of re-feeding.

Always remember to get back on track after your re-feeding meals. It is perfectly acceptable to reward yourself. However, if you stay slack on your diet for the rest of the day or week your vertical jump is going to suffer because you will gain weight.

People will do better if they allow themselves to cheat their diets from time to time. Rewarding yourself for a job will help you stay motivated. It is okay to cheat.

Do not worry, you can still enjoy an occasional sweet treat and still get the phenomenal vertical jump you have always desired.

If you have paid attention to any sports media outlet, you are bound to have noticed that women’s basketball is taking up more and more of the spotlight.

At the Olympics, the stands are just as full for the women’s finals as the men’s.

Colleges worldwide are expanding their athletic programs to include women’s basketball and groom future professional players.

Female players everywhere train to perfect their game, which includes training for an amazing vertical jump.

A fundamental law of how to jump higher in basketball is that all people were created equal. While men generally have more muscle than women, a woman’s muscle is just as efficient.

Women have the same ability to build muscle as a man. They can train to make the same height gains as men.

Training Is Universal

The key to having an amazing vertical jump is to increase the right kind of muscle training. Muscles are essentially composed of fast and slow twitch muscle fibers.

It is the fast twitch muscle fibers that let an athlete get the explosive jump that is essential to excel at basketball and plenty of other sports such as volleyball and softball.

No matter what your gender, you must improve your fast twitch muscles to get the vertical jump you want.

Plyometrics are generally the best way to train and increase fast twitch muscle fibers. The philosophy of a plyometric program is that you can make your muscles more efficient to achieve explosive strength.

Plyometric based jump workouts increase the quantity, strength, and agility of the fast twitch muscle fibers. Additionally, the goal is to retrain the slow twitch fibers to act more quickly like fast twitch fibers.

Typically, this training is accompanied by general fitness and nutrition improvement that support muscle strength.

Woman-Specific Training Tips

Plyometrics can be as effective for women as for men. Both genders can achieve the same proportional gains. However, there may be certain part of the training program which should to be adapted for women.

First, the natural build of a female tends to put excess weight around the abdominal area. It is very natural and healthy for women to have a slightly higher body fat percentage than men. However, this abdominal weight is literally weighing you down.

Your abdominal muscles are an essential part of getting an explosive vertical jump. They help you pull and propel your body upward.

Therefore, it is essential that you add abdominal muscle training to your plyometric workouts. This will help you counteract your body’s natural tendency to store fat in your abdomen.

Secondly, women have a higher probability of suffering a knee injury. The natural bone placement and wider hips of a woman puts the knees at a slight angle when planting the feet before a jump.

Also, the monthly hormone fluxuation that occurs leaves joints weaker at certain times. Finally, women’s shoes, especially high heels, often keep the knee at a slightly hyper-extended angle and the knee must be allowed to rest before attempting training.

It is important that you do all you can to support your knees while you are training and playing. Using knee supportive braces are a start, but they are not the only ways to keep your knees healthy.

Eat a diet that is rich in joint-health nutrients like calcium. Try to limit how often you wear heel elevated shoes. Furthermore, always made sure you have thoroughly warmed up your knees before beginning your training.

Next Steps

These tips will help any woman train more efficiently and safely. Since the principles of plyometrics works the same for both genders, a quality program should deliver the results you want.

Avoid any “miracle” program promising unrealistic gains because it could be safe. Under the advice of a plyometric program you can trust, you will start to see real results.

The vertical jump is perhaps the single most important attribute of any athlete. In the world of sports, from basketball, to track, and even to wrestling, this is the quintessential test of athletic ability.

No matter the sport, the vertical jump is used to measure the athlete’s ability to efficiently and explosively use strength.

This essential skill makes most athletes desperate to improve their ability. This has led to a rise in the popularity of programs and products promising to deliver amazing results.

There are many different options out there, some offering almost “miracle” results that you will never actually see.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult for the average person to determine which vertical jump program is best. Before you waste months or even years on the wrong program, you must learn how to evaluate your progress.

This will help you change and adapt, or even start all over, quickly and efficiently until you find the program that is right for you.

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Is

There is too much misinformation out there about what will deliver results and what will not. It is easy to fall for a gimmick, spending hundreds of dollars, and never seeing the results you want.

The best way to steer clear of this pitfall, always make sure you trust your instincts and use common sense.

First, do not fall for a product that claims you only have to use the product, and make no other changes, to increase vertical jump. You know this is not realistic.

If you did not have to change anything, just take a pill or try a new shoe, then everyone would have an amazing vertical leap.

Next, avoid anything that sounds unsafe. If it does not make sense to you, do not do it. The vertical jump puts a lot of strain on your joints and tendons.

If you are doing it wrong or compromising your body in any other way, you could be risking permanent damage.

Finally, do not fall for the exception and ask around. There is always going to be one person with unique genes or ability that will see some amazing results that no one else does.

This is the exception and not the rule. This is why you need to talk to a lot of real people who have used that method.

If something worked for more than 75% of the people you talk to, you may have the same results. Otherwise, try something else.

Measure Your Results

The only true test of your progress is to measure your results. You should always know what your current vertical jump ability is and how well you are progressing.

While there are a lot of different techniques to do this, the simplest is actually the best.

Stand next to a wall that you will be able to reuse for marking. Stretch your arm and hand as high as you can up the wall while staying flat footed.

Do this several times and use tape to mark the highest point on the wall you were able to touch.

Next, cover your fingertips lightly with a colored chalk. Stand in the same place as before. This time, however, jump as high as you can to touch the wall.

You should see a mark on the wall where your chalk-covered fingers touched. You should repeat the jump several times.

Once you have determined the highest reach, mark that with another piece of tape. The distance between the two marks is your current vertical jump.

Using Your Results

Chances are you have been making some changes to improve your health and fitness. By doing this, you will probably see a gain of a half or whole inch. This happened because you gained strength, not because a miracle product worked.

A quality program to get a higher vertical jump should deliver more than an extra inch. Plyometrics, the most effective training technique, can deliver results of more than four inches.

If you do not see these kinds of results with your current program, it is time to move on to something more effective.

You know that your vertical jump is one of the ultimate tests of your athletic performance. It is what takes your game to a whole new level. This is why you have been training so hard.

However, if you are not fully recovering from your training you could be losing inches of jump height.

The best vertical jump bible is going to teach you how to recover fully. However, it is still easy to over train and not give your body a long enough recovery period.

It may be that you have not seen the results you wanted and are working double-time to improve. Perhaps you have seen results and are over-eager to see more. Either way, you are doing yourself a disservice.

What Happens When You Don’t Recover Fully

When you are training and playing, both your body and your nervous system are taxed. Weight training and high-speed training is an excellent way to improve your strength and subsequently your vertical jump. However, this training does cause damage.

Usually, your body will repair this damage. In fact, the damage itself is what forces your body to build stronger, healthier tissue. These repairs do not happen while you train, they happen while you rest.

If you are not getting enough rest and recovery you will not be able to make the necessary repairs. Furthermore, when you do train you will be causing more damage than the body can repair.

Your body is going to become overly fatigues. This fatigue will manifest itself first in your high-speed physical performance. Put simply, you are deteriorating your muscle’s ability to jump explosively.

How to Know If You Are Overtraining

You probably already have a method of tracking your progress during your workouts to jump higher. If not, you should get one.

You should repeat your test every two weeks because your vertical jump test is the best barometer of the effectiveness of your training program. If the vertical jump is improving, so are your speed, agility, and strength.

If you are not getting enough recovery, you will see a decrease in your vertical jump. You may not even notice the fatigue, but your vertical jump will be impacted quickly.

If you see as little as a 10% decrease in your vertical jump, this is a sign that you should cut back your volume or intensity.

Optimize Recovery

You do not want to cut back your training too much, or you will lose out on the progress you had been making. Therefore, do not stop training altogether.

If you have seen a 10% decrease in your vertical jump, simply decrease the volume of your training in half and the intensity by 10% for the rest of the training week.

For example, if you have been doing 18 sets of weight lifts with a load of 60%, change that to 9 sets with a load of 50%. Also, make sure you do not train to failure.

Once you see your height go up 10% or more, you will be ready to increase the training. You should up your volume by 20% and the intensity of your training by 5%.

Of course, soreness is also a sign of poor recovery. If you increase your volume and intensity too much, you may begin to feel sore.

If you are sore at anytime, you should decrease your intensity to protect your body and make the most progress.

If you train your body hard and give yourself enough rest, you will reap the reward of a higher vertical jump.

Remember to monitor your progress so you can quickly recognize overtraining and fatigue. As long as you give yourself enough recovery, your training will pay off.

Use this guide to help you design your very own plyometric workout routine designed to increase vertical jump. Use all of this advice, but remember that you can change the routine around as much as you need to fit your specific needs.

Remember, that you can do more than just one routine per workout and these routines are supposed to be combined with other routines to fit your needs.

Plyometric exercises are designed to connect force and explosive power. In other words, increasing the ability of your muscles to become stronger and move faster. Plyometrics are simple exercises that almost never require extra equipment. Athletes around the world use them because of their simple yet extremely effective methods to increase vertical jump.

Having routines for your workout is what makes the workout unique for you. There are a few major types of routines you can perform. Determine what type of routine you want to do, and do exercises in that type of routine. Here is a list of the major routines, their purposes, and their exercises:

1) Low Intensity Plyometrics - These exercises are less intense than other plyometric training drills and are usually performed as warm-ups. They are great exercises to start off with as a beginner, but should still be done by anyone regardless of experience. You should not become very fatigued after this exercise routine because it is supposed to be harder than a normal warm-up, but it still is not supposed to be very intense. An example of a low intensity plyometric exercise is the box drill (also known as “4 star drill) where you jump around in a square shape. Here are some other low intensity exercises:

• Ankle Bounce
• Slalom Jumps
• Box or “4-star” drill

2) General Jump Plyometrics - These exercises are moderate intensity and consist of average exercises without many major changes. The exercises classified in this routine are usually supposed to be performed with a high amount of repetitions. Everyone should do these exercises, but they should be the hardest routine that a beginner performs. Once you have become experienced at these plyometric routines first, then you can move on. An example of a general jump plyometric exercise is squat jumps where you squat down and jump as high as you can. It is a generic exercise that can be mixed up into many different forms. Here are some other general jump exercises:

• Squat Jumps
• Paused Squat Jumps
• Consecutive Broad Jumps
• Leapfrog Jumps

3) Power Development Plyometrics - These workouts usually involve using a lot of power when going from a paused or stopped position into movement. Power development plyometric exercises are designed to use as much power as possible and transfer into motion as quickly as possible. These drills are usually very intense and you should be fatigued afterwards. Only people that are experienced at plyometrics should start this routine or any routine below. An example is the standing broad jump where you go from a crouched position to exploding forwards. Here are some other power development exercises:

• Standing Broad Jump
• On-box jump
• Box Squat Jump

4) Full Extension Plyometrics - These exercises usually include full range movement with your muscles extending as far as they can. Full range strength is important for athletes. These exercises are great for improving acceleration and agility as well as improving your vertical leap because they usually strengthen your hips and hamstrings. An example of full extension exercises is rhythmic squat jump because it requires you to extend your body to its full range. Here are some other full extension exercises:

• Rhythmic jump squat
• Low squat ankle jump
• any other exercise where you fully extend your muscles

5) Short Range Plyometrics - These exercises are the opposite of full extension except that you are supposed to perform both with full intensity. These exercises involve as little ground contact as possible. Short-range exercises focus mainly on speed and less muscle extension. A great example of short-range exercises is sprinting because it requires speed and less contact with the ground. Here are some other short range exercises:

• Sprinting
• Power skipping
• 3 steps + jump as high as possible

To design your own plyometric workouts you need to decide what aspect of your vertical that you want to improve. For example, you can jump really high but you are a slow jumper and take too long to get that high. This should be your workout routine:

1. Low intensity plyometrics workout to warm up
2. Short Range plyometrics to improve jumping speed
3. Low intensity plyometrics workouts or general jump plyometrics to cool down

If you are quick to jump up, but cannot jump very high, then this should be your workout routine:

1. Low intensity plyometrics to warm up
2. Power Development Plyometrics to improve jump height
3. Low intensity plyometrics or general jump plyometrics to cool down

Maybe you are average at both jumping speed and height. Then follow this workout:

1. Low intensity to warm up
2. General jump to work everything
3. Full extension to improve jumping ability and also agility
4. Low intensity to cool down

You can do more than the suggested routines in a workout, or you could do less. It depends on you. If you have just done the three from an example and still are not tired, then add another one. Or if you are too tired after the second exercise, then you can stop there. It all depends on how you feel after each exercise. Always work your hardest though, or else you will never be able to increase vertical jump.

Make sure that you do not do the same combination of routines every day because then you will become weak in other areas. You can do a certain combination more frequently than others because that is where you need work, but you still need to mix things up a little bit.

Also, plyometric workouts fatigue the nervous system quite a bit. The nervous system usually takes five times longer to recover than your muscles. So, make sure to never use plyometrics as endurance training.

The e-book Jump Manual is the place to find more plyometric exercises that you can fit into your routine.

The author is a trainer of countless professional basketball players and has helped increase their vertical by huge amounts. He has trained professional and Olympic basketball players.

If you really want to increase your vertical then you need to read the Jump Manual.

Plyometrics are probably the most popular exercise among athletes and trainers who are looking to improve vertical jump.

They are uniquely simple exercises and usually do not require equipment.

It would be hard to find a successful vertical jump trainer who does not use plyometric training. There is simply nothing like it.

Ask any basketball player who has ever trained to increase their vertical and succeeded. Nine times out of ten they increased their vertical using plyometric exercises.

Origins - The term plyometrics come from an American track and field coach named Fred Wilt. It is based on Latin with “plyo” and “metrics” meaning “measurable increases”. The original plyometrics was basically just two types of jumps: depth jumps and shock jumps.

Depth jumps are stepping or jumping off of a raised bench or platform and jumping as high as possible after landing. Shock jumps involve stepping or jumping off of a raised surface as well, but you jump from much higher than depth jumps. Instead of jumping up when you land, you bend your knees and absorb the impact.

As plyometrics became more popular, people started adding more and more similar exercises to the list and calling them plyometrics.

Purpose - Plyometrics are exercises that enable a muscle to reach maximum strength in as short of a time as possible. The combination of speed and maximum strength is referred to as power.

Power = Speed x Strength

Power is needed to perform almost every movement and skill in sports. It is the ability to perform maximum strength rapidly. Power is the key in plyometrics training. It is what helps you jump high. Without power in your legs, you would never be able to jump high for basketball.

Plyometrics revolve around jumping and then quickly pushing off. Plyometric exercises focus on two aspects of speed strength: foundation strength and explosive strength.

Foundation strength is the ability to have as many muscle fibers as possible work for you in an instant. Explosive strength is the ability to keep a motion going against opposing forces.

Both speed strengths are used in jumping. When you bend down and start to push off to jump you are using foundation strength because your muscle fibers are instantly working for you to jump. As you push into the air you are using explosive strength because you were able to transfer the foundation strength into motion by jumping against the force of gravity.

Reactive strength is a big part of plyometric exercises. Reactive strength is basically “spring-loaded” strength. It requires one movement followed instantly by another. Transitioning from one movement to another instantly adds extra force to the second movement.

Reactive strength can be used in a lot of activities. But, if you hear the term plyometric activities do not confuse it with plyometric training. Plyometric activities are things like walking, where plyometric training is intense drills and exercises.

A key to plyometric trainings effectiveness is reducing the amount of time that you are on the ground while training. The time between when you are on the ground and able to jump up again is referred to as the “amortization” phase. Plyometrics are great for reducing the amount of time you spend in the “amortization” phase.

Plyometrics training exercises have many benefits. Here is a list of just some of them:

• Develop explosive power
• Teach nervous system to react quickly and forcefully with muscles
• Increased muscle speed
• And much more

Other training tips - Everyone’s body is different, which is why everyone should have a different plyometric training program. You should determine what aspect of your vertical needs the most work, and execute drills and exercises designed specifically for improving the muscles involved with that aspect.

Your nervous system is just as important as your physical strength in plyometrics. Plyometrics are basically a combination of reflexes and muscle movement to jump higher.

Before every workout it is extremely crucial that you warm-up, and after every workout it is extremely crucial that you cool-down. Warm-ups are important because they develop movement skills and warm up your muscles to really work during the plyometric training exercises. Cool-downs are important to help your muscles relax and reduce soreness for later. It also helps to keep your legs trained in the motions used in plyometrics.

While most plyometric drills do not require equipment, there is always different equipment that you can use to make drills easier or harder to perform. Here is a list of some equipment that can be very helpful for you to use:

Cones - Cones are a great way to mark a goal for a certain distance you that want to go. They can also be used as obstacles that you have to move around, enhancing the exercise.

Plyo Boxes - Plyo boxes are sturdy boxes that are as low a six inches and as high as thirty inches. Plyo boxes are great because they are sturdy enough to hold your weight and can be used in any exercise where you need an elevated surface.

Body Weights - Body weights are any type of equipment that you can wear to increase the weight that you have to carry when exercising. You can use a body vest, which will add extra weight to toughen a jumping exercise. Ankle weights are also great for jumping exercises.

Whatever you use the body weights for, make sure that you do not use too much weight because you might get hurt.

If executed correctly, plyometric exercises can be a vertical jump trainer’s best friend. Make sure you do not overwork yourself, but also do not under-work. If you really want to jump higher, then you should commit yourself to doing plyometric exercises and developing a routine of your own.

The ebook Jump Manual is a great book that provides an in-depth explanation of plyometric training for basketball.

The book’s author is a professional basketball trainer and has worked with plyometrics for years. He has helped athletes around the world increase their verticals exponentially. He has also trained Olympic and NBA basketball players.

If you really want to increase your vertical using plyometrics then Jump Manual is one of the best training guides you can refer.

Plyometric exercises are one of the most effective types of exercises you can perform to increase vertical leap. Plyometric exercises are designed to increase your reactive strength. Reactive strength is sort of like a spring. The more reactive strength you have, the faster you can react from one motion and do another motion.

The reason so many athletes use plyometric exercises is that they are a great way to connect force and explosive power. Essentially the drills are designed to tune and strengthen your leg muscles to be able to jump higher faster. They are relatively simple exercises and usually do not require any equipment, but they can give incredible results.

These are three plyometrics exercises that you should work on to increase your vertical leap. Make sure that you do all of these plyometric training exercises correctly.

1) Slalom Jumps - Start by standing with both feet on the same side of a line. Keep your feet together and jump to the other side of the line without touching it. Keep jumping back and forth for as long as you can.

Make sure that you jump as fast as you can while doing this plyometric exercise because you will see the most results in your vertical. You can measure the exercise by the amount of times you have jumped over the line, or you could keep jumping over a certain period of time. Either way works.

If you want to mix up this plyometrics exercise, then imagine that you are jumping over a basketball from side to side. Do not actually try to jump over a basketball because your legs might get tired and you could accidentally slip on the ball.

Another variation you could perform is jumping with one foot. Make sure you jump and land with the same foot on both sides of the line. So, if you jump with your right foot on one side of the line land on that same foot on the other side. Do this as fast as you can.

2) Squat-Thrust (Burpee) - This exercise is one of the most effective plyometric exercises. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Squat down low enough so your hands can touch the floor on both sides of your legs.

Once you have gotten into that position kick your legs out behind you like a push-up. Then, bring your legs back in and jump as high as you can. Continue to repeat this exercise for as long as possible.

Make sure that you keep a good form throughout the exercise. When you are in push-up position make sure that your back is straight. When you bring your legs in and jump make sure you are jumping straight up with your arms swinging into the air.

This exercise increases the ability of your legs to react and jump sooner. It is great for basketball players who want to win more jump balls or grab more rebounds.

Move through all of the motions as fast as you can to increase your agility. Moving slowly will hardly help at all.

There is a great variation of the exercise that you can do. When you are in push-up position you might as well do a push-up. Not only are you strengthening your leg muscles, but you are also building some upper-body strength. Every little bit counts in basketball, so you should do everything you can to gain the upper edge over your opponents.

3) Low Box Depth Jump - All you need for this exercise is a box or platform that is around a foot off of the ground. Start by standing on the box with either your entire foot on the box or just your heels with your toes hanging off.

Step off of the box and immediately when you land jump as high as you can. If you want you can jump in front of a raised object like a basketball goal and try and reach for that whenever you jump.

If you have more than one box that is the same height as the first one you can try a variation of the exercise. Place one box and then place the next one between three and four feet ahead of the first box. Start the same as before and step off, but when you land and jump off of the ground, jump onto the next box. Turn around quickly and do the same thing to the first box.

If you are lucky enough to have more than just two boxes or raised platforms that are the same height then you can just continue the drill without having to turn around. Make sure you move quickly because this drill is a great way to build normal and reactive leg strength and tune your legs for speed.

Plyometric exercises have proven time and time again that it is possible to increase your vertical jump. Doing plyometric exercises is a must for anyone who is looking to dunk the basketball that cannot at the moment. Your workouts should always include some form of plyometrics. Plyometric leg exercises are supposed to be performed fast, so that means training slowly will get you nowhere.

It is recommended that you heavily integrate plyometrics into your daily workouts. All of the athletes that need to increase their vertical do plyometrics, so why wouldn’t you? You will never be able to reach your full jumping potential without doing plyometrics training exercises. Plyometrics and other types of exercises combined into the same workout can be an incredible combination and it is highly recommended that you use that combination.

The e-book Jump Manual is a great reference to find more plyometric training exercises that you can perform.

The author has helped basketball players increase their vertical by over 15 inches and trains professional and Olympic basketball players.

If you really want to increase your vertical leap then you need to do plyometric exercises and the best way to find the right ones to do is to read the Jump Manual.

A persons’ vertical is measured by how high they jump. So, it only makes sense that in order to increase your vertical you need to work on exercises to jump higher. Not all jump higher exercises are alike, but they all have the same purpose: Increasing your vertical.

Follow these three effective exercises to jump higher carefully. If you do not then your time will be wasted. Don’t be afraid if you mess up because it only shows that you are giving the exercise effort.

1) Low Squat Ankle Jump - This is one of the unique basketball workouts to jump higher. Squat down low and stay on your toes. Make sure you do not rest on your heels because this takes away the effectiveness of the drill.

Stay in the squat position and bounce up and down on the balls of your feet. Do not get high enough so that your legs are straight. Try and keep your legs as close to your chest as possible.

Make sure that you use as much force as possible when you are bouncing. The harder you push, the stronger your leg muscles will be. Try and get into a consistent rhythm and focus on keeping that rhythm. This will move your focus from the strain on your legs to the rhythm of the exercise to jump higher.

Do the exercise for a certain amount of repetitions, take a rest and then do it again with more repetitions than the first time. The more you do, the stronger you will get. Keep reminding yourself whenever you do the workout.

If you really want to reap the benefits of this exercise go as low as you can. It will most likely strain your muscles a lot more, but it will be worth it later on the basketball court.

2) Power Skipping - This jump higher exercise is just like skipping as a child, except that you use a lot more effort and speed. Use a flat surface like a basketball court that you can skip down.

Start at one end and push off as hard as you possibly can with one foot while shooting the other leg into the air. Try and touch your knee to your chest. Alternate all the way down the court and repeat the other way down.

This point of this drill is not to see how fast you can get to the other end. You want to jump as far up as you can and not as far forward as you can.

One of the techniques to jump higher when power skipping is to get into a rhythm.

1. Start by jumping off of your right foot with your left leg in the air
2. Land back on your right foot
3. Step forward with your left foot and jump off of your left foot with your right leg in the air
4. Continue this all the way down the court

Make sure you push as hard as you can off of your foot.

3) Box or “4-star” drill - In this drill all you will need is enough room to make a box with each point spaced about two feet from each other. This is one of a few great ways to jump higher.

To start, imagine four different points on the ground in front of you that form a square and are about 2 feet apart. Number those four points one through four.

Stand on number one and jump with both feet to number two. Make sure to keep your feet together. Stepping forward with one foot completely ruins the drill and will not help you at all in your quest for a better vertical.

Next, jump to the side and land third spot doing everything the same. When jumping from the second spot, do not turn towards the third spot and jump forwards. You should have to jump sideways to get to spot three. Then you want to jump backwards to spot four, and to the left and back on spot one.

Instead of jumping clock-wise like you just did, jump counter-clockwise this time. Once you get back to spot jumping counter-clockwise you have done one repetition. Do as many as you can, and remember to keep your feet together.

If you want some variations of this exercise, then you can jump on one foot. But if you only jump with one foot, then you have to stay on that same foot throughout the workout. Once you have done your set amount of repetitions, switch feet and do the same thing.

These are just a few of the jumping higher exercises and leg workouts to jump higher that you can perform. Make sure you follow instructions and execute all of the drills properly. Always push your limits. If your muscles are not feeling any strain, then you are not doing enough repetitions. Try doing double the amount of repetitions that you did or at least work until you feel some strain.

If you really want to maximize your training be sure to check out some of our other guides. The best way to increase your vertical leap is to mix up the exercises you work on in order to tune your leg muscles for anything.

The e-book Jump Manual is perfect for finding more effective exercises to jump higher.

The book  was written by a professional basketball trainer who has helped a number of professional and amateur athletes to increase their vertical.

If you really want to jump higher than you ever thought you could and reach heights you never thought were possible, then you definitely need to check out the Jump Manual.

Why do you want to increase your jumping ability? To get more rebounds, blocks, or be able to dunk? Whatever your reason, you have come to the right place.

Here we will teach you how to increase your jumping ability using three different exercises. These exercises WILL increase your jumping ability if you do them right. The three vertical jump exercises are:

• Rhythmic Squat Jumps
• Box Jumps
• Standing Broad Jumps

These exercises for jumping are only for players who are willing to work hard to be able to jump higher. Only giving 50% effort in these exercises will not help AT ALL.

1) Rhythmic Squat Jumps – (also referred to as “leap-ups”) involve (you guessed it) jumping rhythmically. If you do not jump with a rhythm, then you are doing the exercise wrong.

First, you need to squat down to almost as low as you can go. Make sure you keep your balance though, because neither of us wants you to fall and hurt yourself (injury for you and bad publicity for us). ALWAYS be on the balls of your feet. Never jump or land on your heels.

Next, you must jump as high as you can from that squatting position. Use your arms as momentum to propel you. Your arms should start low and swing into the air as you jump. Try and compare yourself jumping to a cannonball exploding out of a cannon.

Pretend that you are trying to grab a basketball in the air every time you jump. Visualize yourself catching the ball. This is good to help focus.

Land on the balls of your feet and in one fluid motion squat down and explode back up using everything that you have just read. Keep doing this for a set amount of time. Make sure you keep a rhythm going.

If you lose your balance or mess up in any way, don’t worry. Just get back into position and keep going. Soon enough you will become an expert at it.

Always remember to be fluid, explode, and stay on the balls of your feet.

Also, you do not have to do it exactly like we say. You can mix things up and try the exercise with just one foot. As long as you follow the proper form you should be just fine.

Whatever variation you do, you can be certain that these jumping higher exercises will increase your jumping ability.

2) Box Jumps – Just because this exercise for jumping is called a box jump does not mean that you have to use a box. You can use stairs, a chair, or any other elevated (but sturdy) platform with a flat surface.

Make sure you start off with a low platform and work your way up. Start with both feet together flat on the ground with a box, or elevated surface, in front of you. Squat down just like the Rhythmic Squat Jump and explode up onto the platform. Then, you want to step off and repeat the process again.

There are other ways to do box jumps. You could do the jump with one foot, but make sure you start pretty low because it is usually harder to jump with only one foot. You could also try doing the jump rhythmically like the squat jump.

Squat down on the balls of your feet, explode up onto the box landing on the balls of your feet. Then, come down and repeat. Still keep in mind that you need to stay fluid throughout the jump. Just like the squat jump you need to remember to be fluid, explode, and stay on the balls of your feet.

This exercise is best done with a partner behind you, because if you fall backwards you will need someone to catch you to avoid injury. If you are doing a lower height, then a partner probably is not necessary, but it is extremely important to have a partner when you are doing a higher box.

3) Standing Broad Jumps – The Standing Broad Jump is a very explosive jump that really works your legs. All you need is a long, flat surface where you can jump (a Basketball Court is perfect). This drill is kind of like the childhood leapfrog where you jump forward instead of up.

In this drill you need to go as low as you can (on the balls of your feet, of course). Use all the same techniques as the Rhythmic Squat Jumps except that instead of jumping up, you jump forward as far as you can using both feet.

This drill does not need to be as fluid as the other two, just explode forward, keep your balance, and then explode forward again.

Try not to fall, but it is bound to happen as this is a very hard drill and takes a lot out of you. If you do just get back up like always and try again.

After you have jumped the length of the court a few times with two feet try using one foot. One-foot broad jumps are really, really hard, so it is expected that you will fall down. If you don’t fall, then you are almost always not trying hard enough or you are not jumping as far as you can.

Just like the others you need to explode and stay on the balls of your feet. Fluidness is not so much of a concern because it is a really hard exercise.

If you do the Standing Broad Jumps right, then your legs should be really sore the next day (and usually a few more days). If you are not, then you are not doing the exercise correctly.

These three exercises for jumping higher are designed to increase your jumping ability with little to no equipment required. When properly executed, these drills are designed to help increase your vertical drastically.

Always remember to stay on the balls of your feet and explode for each drill. Explosion in drills is crucial because it builds up your quickness. If you are jumping for a rebound in a game but do not explode up, then you WILL lose the rebound to your opponent, and you WILL look like an amateur.

Also note: you must continue these exercises over time. You cannot just do them once and expect to jump 5 inches higher. Try to make a schedule and work on certain exercises on certain days to maximize your muscle gain.

The e-book Jump Manual is the perfect reference for all types of workouts designed to increase your vertical leap.

The author has helped increase the vertical of basketball players like professional dunkers, NBA players, and Olympic athletes.

He consistently helps athletes work to over 40 inch verticals. The Jump Manual is a great place to start or continue your journey to an amazing vertical.