So you want to jump higher?
Not sure if you’ve noticed but there’s over 740,000 websites teaching vertical jump exercises:
How in the world do you know what works without spending 3 lifetimes trying them all??!
Good news for you is…
I’ve spent over 10 years researching the science of vertical jump improvement… so you don’t have to. 😃
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ‘BORN’ WITH HOPS… I’M LIVING PROOF
Growing up I tried anything I could get my hands on to jump higher.
Air Alert, jumping around in goofy shoes, plyo’s, squats, stair running… everything.
After all that work, my senior year in High School I posted a measly 19” max vertical leap.
That’s when I decided to stop listening to everyone else and do the research myself.
That research eventually took my max vertical to 44”:
Since then I’ve been sought out by ESPN, Men’s Health, Sports Illustrated, NBA Trainers, Professional Dunkers and others to learn my methods…
I’ve trained amateur, Pro and even Olympic level athletes in over 65 different countries with this.
Thousands of athletes have used my research to add significant height to their vertical, many getting to a 40″ vertical as well.
You can check out a few of their stories here if you like.
I don’t tell you all that to brag…
It’s to show you that science has revealed what works.
And because I would have given my left arm to have this information when I was younger, I want to share it with you so you don’t have to waste your time with stuff that doesn’t work.
THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT THAT SHOWED ME WHAT WORKS
I’m the type of guy that wants FACTS… not opinions.
So I used specialized medical devices like the two you see here to show me what the body does when jumping, and how to stimulate an improvement:
First thing I learned was that there’s a TON of of techniques that will give you “beginner gains”…
Especially if you’ve never trained before.
Meaning you might add a couple inches at first but those gains won’t continue.
If all you want is a couple inch gain… have at it…
The internet is FULL of those kinds of techniques.
But if you want to add height to your vertical consistently, week after week, until you’re a beast…
You have to do something different.
For example…
THE STRENGTH MYTH
Pretty much anyone teaching how to jump higher is going to tell you to do squats.
Yes doing squats will increase your strength…
And adding strength will add to your vertical.
But theres a point when it stops helping.
What most people don’t know is that squats can make you SLOWER over time.
Think about it…
If you could just jump higher every time you do squats…then why don’t powerlifters (who can squat 1,000 lbs) have 40” verticals?
It’s because training strength is a SLOW movement…
Over time your body adapts and you start becoming slower and slower.
There’s a very specific way to use squats that make you explosive…
Unfortunately most have no clue how to do it.
I wouldn’t have known either if I wouldn’t have hooked myself and others up to this:
It’s called an EMG machine.
This showed me which muscles fire when you jump…
But more importantly, it showed me the muscle activation “patterns” when you jump….
I tested 100’s of exercises hooked up to that device.
Turns out…
The most popular exercises out there aren’t as effective as you’d think because they don’t match the same “patterns” you use when you jump.
In fact just 2 simple changes to the way we do squats nearly doubled the results we get over just doing random squat variations.
(I go into more detail on this in another training here)
But the important thing to understand is…
Just doing squats alone and the way most tell you to do them might give you a few beginner gains…
But over time will make you slower and make you jump lower.
HOW YOU DO IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT YOU DO
When I learned this I added around 10″ to my vertical in about a 3 month time period.
Let’s say you’re a sprinter training for the 100M dash…
Would you get any faster on your 100M time if all you did was run marathons?
Of course not. In fact your speed would decrease like crazy and your 100M time would get worse.
Why?
You’re still doing the same exercise of RUNNING…
But running long distance tells your body to build up endurance so you can run even farther next time.
So your body adapts itself to that goal.
It’s the exact same exercise… but the WRONG INTENSITY.
In college I actually tried this.
I joined the cross country team and figured if I could run marathon distance my legs would be so strong I was sure to be jumping higher.
Nope. When I got back to basketball practice after the off-season, my vertical had dropped significantly.
So, you can do all the “right” exercises but if you do them with the wrong intensity, you won’t become more explosive.
To jump higher and become explosive you need to focus on few reps at a very high intensity.
THE WEIRD LITTLE DEVICE THAT GUARANTEED MY IMPROVEMENT
This device here (that I spent over $1000 to get) actually showed me if I was hitting the right intensity levels in my workout to gain explosiveness:
I know if I hit those indicators (training in what I call the “Explosive Improvement Zone”) I’m going to make increases.
It’s how I can guarantee progress each week for myself and athletes I train.
Unfortunately that device was expensive and usually only high end trainers knew about them…
And in fact the company that made them went out of business so you can’t even get one anymore.
But there are ways to tell if you’re getting it right without it…
And with the way technology has advanced lately there’s actually a way to get the same indications using your smart phone.
Which is really a game changer.
We actually developed an app for our athletes to use that does the same calculations as the device I used.
You can check it out more about it here if you like.
SO WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?
There’s so much more that couldn’t possibly fit into a simple blog post here…
But just those simple changes to the way you train…
Building strength the right way… and training your explosiveness instead of endurance… can completely change your athleticism.
If you want to start implementing those changes I have a few resources you can start using today…
First, from all my research I’ve developed a complete step-by-step blueprint to follow that outlines the most effective exercises, in the most effective sequences, and how to ensure you’re doing them with the right intensity.
You just log in, and it tells you what to do each day, how to recover properly, how to prevent injury, and more, with video demonstrations, etc all in one.
Over 100,000 athletes have used that to add as much as 20 inches to their vertical leap… seriously 20 inches (the majority are putting on 8-12 inches, but a few keep using it well past that).
You can see their stories and learn more about the program here.
If you’re not ready invest into the full program just yet, you’ll want to check out my free workbook that outlines one exercise from that program that will get you started in just a few minutes a week.
Lots of athletes are getting some great results just from that one exercise…
You can check it out here.
I hope this has opened your eyes to what is possible with the right training.
And as always let me know your results…
I love seeing the transformations athletes go through from using proper training.
If you liked this go ahead and share it with someone else who might benefit from it.
