5 Best Exercises to Increase Your Vertical Jump & Power

A foam roller is one solution that can be used to provide relief to a cluster of knotty muscles as can be seen in the video above.

Apply the foam roller deliberately over the affected areas to alleviate spasms. Press the roller along your outer thigh to elongate the muscle fibers. Also, make sure to massage and stretch out calves, quads, IT band, and other lower extremities.

When using a foam roller, form is the key. You need to be in the correct starting position to get the best elongation possible. With better muscle elongation and strength, you'll be able to get high off the ground for your jumps.

Here are a few quick drills you can do with a foam roller:

• Calves: Put the roller under your calf and rest your other foot on the floor (or cross it over the top of your shin for more pressure). Roll from your ankle to your knee.
• IT Band: Lie on your side with the roller near your hip and rest your other foot on the floor. Move the roller along your outer thigh. Add more pressure pressure by stacking your legs on top of one another.
• Quads: Lie on your stomach with the roller placed under the front of your thigh. Roll up and down from the bottom of your hip to the top of your knee.

If you’re like most people, you have tight hip flexors because of the way our hips naturally bend and due to all the stationary and sedentary activity we partake in majority of the time.

Because of this, you aren’t able to get the full hip extension that inhibits the prospects of your vertical jumping power.

The remedy is simple.

You need to strengthen your hip flexors by stretching them out for 30 seconds, 2 reps on each side, for a total of 60 seconds stretch. Afterward, attempt to jump as high as possible. For better results, try to jump higher each time.

cIf you compare your pre-streth leap to your post-stretch vertical leap, you should notice a substantial improvement on your vertical jump. Stretching works to strengthening and improving your explosive power, too.

A flexible hip flexor allows for more power storage and explosiveness in your core areas, thus results to higher jumps.

Also Read: Lying Hip Flexor Stretches

In a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, research scientist Goran Markovich states that, “The overall results of this study suggest that the [plyometric] significantly improves vertical jump height.” [1]

That improvement is measured while jumping with the arms overhead in a five percent to 10 percent increase (or 2-3 inches) depending on the vertical jump training made.

Plyometric training could well be recommended for healthy individuals aiming to improve not only their vertical jumping ability but also other athletic performance.

- Goran Markovich, Research Scientist

At the outset of plyometrics, your body has a tendency to create more slow-twitch muscle fibers in response to the new training stimulus. However, plyometrics gradually increase the number of fast-twitch muscle fibers in a certain muscle group.

Be patient because the effects might take time and the improvement on your vertical jumps won’t be instantaneous.

Once you decide to decrease the volume of your vertical leap practice to fewer reps or decelerate after a couple of weeks, your improved vertical jump results will be more noticeable as more and more fibers will have transformed into fast-twitch.

In concert with this scientific support, these explosive exercises are often used to train an athlete or highly fit individuals in jumping and other power performances.

Because the sheer force required is high and the intense pressure they can exert on the lower-extremity joints (especially the knees), plyometrics are not recommended for novice exercisers without proper supervision or coaching.

All plyometric exercises require strong ligaments and tendons and therefore should be accompanied by a proven strength routine.

Athletes of all levels of workout experience can work their way up through a progression of plyometric exercises.

Here is a list of various drills you can try relative to your experience:

• Beginner: Lateral bounds or hops, bunny hops (with or without a kettlebell), power skips, jump roping, jumping jacks
• Intermediate: Standing broad jumps, squat jacks and jumps, low on-box jump, speed ladder (lateral and linear)
• Advanced: Prone to box jump, knee tuck jump, depth drop, box drop crossover step, plyometric push-ups, plank walkouts, power cleans

B) Box Squats

The Bulgarian split as can be seen in the video above is a subclass squatting exercise that incorporates more challenging joint movement.[4]

The body position during the Bulgarian version shifts your weight forward, increasing the range of motion and the degree of difficulty for balancing.

During this exercise, you will naturally shift more of your weight forward to the front leg. The quadriceps in your front leg serve as the primary movers, while your glutes and inner thigh muscles provide an assist.

The hamstrings and calf muscles act as stabilizers. These groups of muscles are the same ones that work during explosive jumps.

A 2014 article in the International Journal of Exercise Science concluded that the Bulgarian split squat produced similar activity and production as the back squat while putting the participants at far less risk of injury.

The bottom line is if you’re looking to increase your lower body strength as a means to improving your vertical jumping but aims to limit your risk of injury, the rear foot elevated split squat, aka the Bulgarian squat, is a worthy addition to your workout routine.

Finally, inject some form of downhill sprint exercises like in the video above into your program.

On the surface, downhill running may seem pretty simplistic. However, proper mechanics are crucial to downhill running so that you can avoid the common mistakes of braking on your heels and overstriding.

Downhill running includes eccentric muscle contractions, during which muscle fibers lengthen under tension, which can help increase muscle power and make you faster since eccentric contractions are our strongest type of contraction.

- Jason Karp, Physiologist

The increased power, speed, and agility gained from these sprinting exercises over time will also be instrumental in your journey to maximize your vertical jump.

If your aim is to improve vertical jump, take advantage of the five above exercises above and over time, you’ll surely rise to the occasion.

But if you’re looking for an expert program, we recommend Vert Shock's 3-step jump program. It features the same techniques that made basketball player Justin "Jus Fly" Darlington the world's best dunker. Darlington is able to touch the rim effortlessly in every dunk he makes.

For those who are serious in improving those vertical jumps and possibly making a good basketball dunking career out of them, then you should consider checking the program out.

You might not be able to jump as high as Darlington, but it may improve your vertical leap significantly as most of their students have achieved.