Exercises to Increase Vertical Leap

Jumping higher or plunging requires strong muscles. Athletes and basketball players are the people who perform these exercises to increase their vertical leap. Exercises to increase vertical leap include the plyometric exercises. Plyometric exercises are those exercises that are usually performed by athletes and are focused specifically to improve the athletic movements of the body. Volleyball players are also given training in the exercises that increase their vertical leap.

Exercises to Increase Vertical Leap: Warm Up
Warm up is an important step that must not be skipped before you perform any of your exercises. Stretching exercises and techniques must be learned properly to carry out warm up. Light jogging for a few minutes can help to warm up your muscles and thus ease your exercising movements.

Exercises to Increase Vertical Leap: Some Drills
Here are some of the exercises meant to improve your jump and help you jump higher.

Toes Raises
Stand on your legs with equal weight on both the legs. Raise your feet so that you will stand on the tips of your toes. Then come down to the original position. The stretch will be felt at the calf and the thigh muscles greatly. Repeat this for about 20-25 times. After one week or so you can increase the count gradually.

Toe Raises (Weights)
The above specified toe raises can also be performed by holding or wearing weights. Initially, when you start using weights, start with smaller weights and perform the toe raises as mentioned above.

Knee bends
For performing these exercises to increase the vertical leap, stand upright and slowly bend your knees. When you are bending your knees, make sure that your back is straight. Slowly bend your knees and go in a downward direction. Remember, do not bend the knees more than your capacity. If bending hurts after a certain point, stop at that point itself. Do not overdo bending, otherwise, it may lead to serious injuries.

Knee Bend Jumps
The above exercise is again repeated in this exercise, with a slight difference. Bend your knees such that your bottom almost touches the ground. The next step is to plunge in the upward direction as high as you can. The moment you land on the ground, you are supposed to bend your knees as in the first position. This exercise must be started with 10 counts and the counts must be increased weekly.

Stomach Crunches
Crunches and not sit-ups work really great for increasing the vertical leap as it strengthens the back muscles. Simple crunches help to improve the vertical leap. Lie down on the ground and fold your hands below the neck, so as to support your neck. Now lift your shoulders from the ground and again lie down. Perform these simple crunches starting with a count of 30, then increase the count weekly.

Jumping (skipping) Rope
Jumping using a jump rope emphatically increases your vertical leap. Jumping with a rope can be done anywhere. This is one of the most beneficial exercises to increase vertical leap.

Plyometric Exercises
Plyometric exercises are those exercises that are used to strengthen the leg muscles and increase the responsiveness of the body. These exercises involve shortening or contraction of muscles and then relaxing them by performing an explosive movement. A jump squat is a good example of plyometric exercises and can be done using some weights (if possible). In a jump squat, bend down in a squat and then explode by jumping in the air.

Regular workout
Exercises to increase vertical leap include workouts for strengthening the muscles of the lower back, lower abdomen, upper abdomen and obliques. These are those muscles which generate a lot of power when a higher leap is desired.

These are the exercises to increase vertical leap. Increasing the body flexibility is also important for increasing the vertical leap. This is because tight muscles cannot help you jump higher.