The Value of Triple(or Quadruple) Extension

While general strength from exercises like the squat is important, it is not going to be the perfect indicator of a person's jumping ability. A person's jumping efficiency is going to really be the difference between a strong person with a good vertical and a strong person with a great vertical. Jumping efficiency is basically how fluent one can execute the movement. The two footed vertical jump in essence is a triple extension of three joints: the hips, the knees, and the ankles. By efficiently using all three of these joints, a person will noticed added power and hang time in their jump. The extension of the big toe joint is kind of an underground secret to that extra inch or 2. This quadruple extension can be noticed is almost all great jumpers. Check it out next time you watch a basketball game.

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Importance of Glutes

Importance of Glute Activation

In recent years, the posterior chain of the body has come into focus as the primary determining factor of athletic performance. While this is partially true, many trainers spend too much time on the posterior chain while neglecting the anterior chain's importance. As stated previously, their is a direct relationship between squatting power and vertical jump. Many times trainers neglect the primary movement of the vertical jump. The vertical jump is a knee dominant exercise, and many people commit to posterior chain exercises with mixed results. Posterior chain exercises will translate more directly to speed enhancement than vertical jump.

However, this is not to say that the posterior chain is important. A strong posterior chain is vital in avoiding injury, gaining those extra inches on your vert, and maintaining physical balance. For every knee dominant lower body exercise that is used during a workout, a hip dominant exercise should also be employed. This is important to make sure the glutes and hamstring are balanced with the quadricep. Athletes should also make sure they save their central nervous system for knee dominant exercise. They should always perform a knee dominant exercise first because knee dominant movement is more relevant to vertical jump.

Athletic Propulsion Labs

Is it for Real?

Athletic Propulsion Labs is a company that has recently come into existence making very bold claims. They have a shoe promising to increase your vertical by a significant and noticeable amount. They claim the average user will experience and increase of about 3-4 inches just by putting them on. This is a huge statement, and if it is legitimate these shoes will absolutely turn the shoe industry upside down, with implications in major sporting leagues instantly. So are they legit?

The answer is:

Potentially, but probably not to the point they are promising. There are a few reasons why. First of all, there is 0 video evidence anywhere showing that these shoes work. You would think that there would be some sort of demo video to stir up hype. Secondly, there is no way the shoe could make everyone's vertical increase. Anatomical differences and jumping styles will surely limit the effects of it. The shoe will probably work better for bi-lateral jumpers than single leg jumpers, but we still do not know. Fortunately, the shoe is made by some seemingly trustworthy individuals, but the truth on the validity of this shoe is still up in the air.

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Single Leg Strength

The New Fad

Single leg strength is quickly becoming one of the most popular aspects of athletic training. For many years improving single leg strength through unilateral exercise was simply considered"functional exercise", an exercise that worked on stabilizing the core, maintaining flexibility, and improving sport specific on the field motions. However, more recently, single leg exercises have taken center stage in the performance enhancement community.

Can Single Leg Exercises completely replace Bi-lateral exercises?

Absolutely not. While recently world renowned Mike Boyle has claimed that he no longer performs squats in his program, I am not ready to jump to that conclusion. There is a reason that the parallel squat has been considered the king of all exercises for decades. While Boyle's modification of the squat to a rear foot elevated single leg version is certainly effective. It does not replace some of the benefits of a two leg squat. First of all the body does not recruit as many muscle fibers because the weights are not heavy. Secondly, the back is not put under the same load even though the legs are, so the posterior chain is not stimulated as greatly as it should be. Finally, the exercise is very difficult to perform without proper flexibility coordination and a good spotter. Overall, there still is no replacement for the two legged squat. Yet.

Training Program Review: Vertical Jump Project

There are hundreds of vertical jumping programs available for purchase on the web, but none really get the hype that Vertical Jump Project receives. It is Luke Lowrey's creation, a 25 year old guy who claims to know all of the secrets of vertical jumping. The most amazing promise in the entire program is that people can legitimately double their vertical jump if they put their mind to it. With a varying price that at minimum sits at 200, you would think this probably is the most advanced and effective program out there. However, this could not be further than the truth. This program is an absolute fluke that will leave you with little improvement after a ton of work. There are many reasons why this is true.

Lack of Squats
As stated in previous posts, the ability to have a good body weight to squat ratio is absolutely crucial. However, in this program, you squat about once every three weeks for 3 sets. This is not going to provide much training benefit. Luke claims that squats are not really that effective when it comes to vertical jump training, however this could not be more false. Time and time again people have shown that squatting is the most important determining factor of a vertical jump. There are other squatting movements in the workouts, but none actually utilize heavy weights and therefore improvements in one rep max are not going to happen.
Workload
I have personally tried to complete this program before. However I found that the actual time it takes to complete the daily schedule is absurd. Without any stretching or warming up, the program still takes at minimum 2 hours. Luke actual claims that you should not stretch pre workout at all? Really? Just about every trainer in the country believes in at least a dynamic warmup, but Lowrey doesn't mention anything.

There are quite a few other reasons for concern regarding this program. But overall, you can trust me that there are better ways to spend your time.

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5 Things You Can Do Today To Jump Higher

1.) Drink as much water as possible. Drinking a lot of water keeps your metabolism going and helps you avoid unnessscesary calories from sugary drinks that will only slow you down. Water will help you avoid quick fatigue when jumping.
2.) Eat your weight in protein every day. In order to keep your body in an anabolic muscle building state, you need to be eating one gram of protein for every pound you weigh. Some of the best sources of high quality protein are egg whites, grilled chicken, lean meats, and protein shakes.
3.) Walk around on your toes. The calf plays a key role in ones ability to really explode off the ground. Get used to loading your calves with weight by walking around on your toes and you wil notices how difficult and exhausting this is.
4.) Activate your glutes. If you are spending your day walking without utilizing your glutes, you are not getting much out of it. Before you do anything in the morning do 10 glute bridges to really get some blood flow into your glutes.
5.) Set a goal. If you do not know where you want to be, you wont get there. Set a goal in the improvements you want to make and it will be a lot easier to acheive success.

What type of jumper am I?

Everybody is physically different. Due to natural genetics and upbringing, everyone has a different anatomical composition. Understanding weaknesses is where your vertical jump can increase its most. If an athlete has very small legs but is pretty quick, doing footwork exercises would not bring about as much benefit as strengthening the lower body. There are usually two distinct types of vertical jumpers.

Strength athletes

These people rely on their squatting ability to generate the power for their vertical jump. They usually can squat at least 1.5 times their body weight and jump off of 2 feet. Once an athlete can squat 2 times their body weight, there strength is usually satisfactory enough that they would serve more benefit by working their reactive ability. Strength athletes almost always feel more comfortable jumping off of two feet rather than one.

Reactive athletes

A reactive athlete usually utilizes a strong CNS, good quickness, and high speeds of movement to generate their vertical jump. To make up for the fact that they do not have the same strength as other athletes, they dip into their jump much quicker to generate more force. Often times these athletes jump off of one foot because utilizing their squatting ability is not necessary.

Strength to weight ratio
If you do not have strong legs, you probably will not be able to jump high. Lower body strength is vital in producing a good vertical leap. The squat to 90 degrees has shown to be the most accurate figure in determining an athletes ability to jump. The ratio between an athletes maximum deep squat and their body weight has been shown to be an excellent indicator of an athlete's vertical jump.

Flexibilty
If you are not flexible, you are only limiting your ability to jump. If you muscles cannot move in a ideal range of motion, your power output is going to be limited and jumping technique will be distorted. It is absolutely vital to make a commitment to stretching if you plan on jumping higher.

Central Nervous System
Coordination and quickness and efficiency of movement are very important in jumping higher. The faster you can apply the strength you have, the more power you generate. Greater power output=Greater vertical jump

To be Continued

What factors come into the vertical jump equation?

Millions of athletes make the goal to improve their vertical jump. Vertical leaping ability is vital in many major sports, especially basketball and football. It is often one of the major two measuring tools in determining an individuals athleticism. ( the other is speed, usually through the 40 yard dash) In basketball, there is no more impressive play than a game changing dunk. Unfortunately, lots of people are born without the size to be able to dunk without some serious training. So what factors come into vertical jump?

Height and Length
This is the most obvious one. Tall people can usually dunk without much effort. This is simply because they require less of a vertical to reach the rim. Long arms also can aid lessening the need for a vertical. However, taller people are often anatomically less coordinated that average or shorter athletes, and this significantly lowers jumping ability. So while a 6 foot 7 athlete may be able to dunk and a 5 11 athlete may not, the shorter athlete could have a vertical jump that is much greater

To Be Continued...