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Exercises To Jump Higher
Most of the amateur athletes I knows spend most of their time either improving skills or working on fitness exercises. For example, the basketball players seem to do a lot of dribbling and shooting drills, as well as a lot of jogging, squats, weight lifting, and things like that. The number one area usually neglected by amateurs, and even some professionals, is sport specific exercises. As a basketball player, I've seen my game improved dramatically since I stopped spending all my time dribbling and shooting, and started working on exercises to jump higher.
The funny thing is, I actually got the idea from a friend of mine who was involved in fencing. In that particular sport, the lunge is key. The ability to effectively parry an attack counts for quite a bit, but the most important thing is to be able to close the distance with your opponent so quickly that he can't detect you. That way, you can score a clean hit.
Anyway, when I saw him practicing, I was surprised by how much time he spent with his legs straight, jumping with his feet alone. This is not used as an exercise to jump higher – the ability to jump vertically is of no use in foil fencing – but it did get me thinking. If he could use that exercise to lunge faster by strengthening his lower legs, I could use it to improve my vertical game.
I did a little bit of research and I was surprised by how many exercises to jump higher there are. That was just one of dozens that I found that I could use to strengthen my performance on the court. Basically, there are two ways to do it. About half of the exercises to jump higher work on the whole jump at one time. Basically, you learn to get higher vertical jumps by jumping repeatedly. There are several different variations of this designed to work the muscles in different ways, but they are all pretty similar.
The other exercises to jump higher work by isolating one particular muscle group. You need to get that explosive power in your quadriceps, your calves, and your shins. By working just one muscle at a time, you can maximize the contribution that it makes to your vertical jump, resulting in big air time. You can develop the hang time the professionals have, allowing you to improve your jump shots, your blocks, and your dunks. You don't have to do it for hours at a time to get the effects either. I found that just 10 minutes a day has made a big difference in my game.
Summary
Basically, there are two ways to do it. About half of the exercises to jump higher work on the whole jump at one time. Basically, you learn to get higher vertical jumps by jumping repeatedly. There are several different variations of this designed to work the muscles in different ways, but they are all pretty similar. The other exercises to jump higher work by isolating one particular muscle group.
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