Why Weight Training Hasn't Increased Your Vertical Jump, Yet!

I was looking for some info to post today and ran across this article on what sounds like a pretty tough leg workout. I think this might be something good to really shock the muscles for somebody that's into squatting and wants to see if they can increase their jump. I'll try it tonight and if I can't walk tomorrow I'll be sure and let you all know what happened.

Why Weight Training Hasn't Increased Your Vertical Jump, Yet!
 

  If you are like most athletes out there trying to improve your vertical jumping ability chances are you have been in the weight room doing heavy squats and deadlifts. As I'm sure you already know these are some of the best exercises for improving lower body strength and are recommended by every jump trainer alive as the best way to train your vertical. One problem with this approach is that strength isn't the main component in getting your body high into the air, power is.

What's the difference?

Power is the combination of strength AND speed at the point of takeoff. Have you ever wondered why the guy that squats 800lbs can't really jump that high and at the same time we all know that skinny guy, Kadour Zianni (53" vert) for example that looks like he couldn't lift his own wallet but seems to effortlessly rise so far into the air that the FAA wants him to file a flight plan? A guy like that has explosive power. The ability to convert his strength into force very quickly. Does the slow motion of lifting heavy weight near your max produce power? Not really, it produces strength. It actually makes you stronger AND SLOWER. That's right. You will have to do some plyometric work to retrain your muscle fibers and central nervous system to apply your strength quickly enough to get you airborne.

If you feel like you are gaining strength but not gaining vertical here is one way to change up your lifting routine to start converting some of that strength into explosive power.

The next time you do squats go through the normal warm up and when you get to the heavy lift stage ie... 85% of your 1 rep max do one set only. Next you will lower the weight to a level where you can do about 1 rep per second. Try to get as many reps as possible in a 30 second period. After 2 to 3 sets of these go back to the heavy set and start over.

A good time to stop is when your power output (reps per 30 seconds) drops off by 10% or more.

Work hard, train hard.

Peace!

Scott Bias

BallinUSA.com

Scott Bias

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Bias 



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