The Vertical Jump Reigns Supreme

I’m borderline obsessed with the vertical jump. Ok, there I said it. It’s out… But seriously, if you are here, you are probably also obsessed with defying gravity, and getting serious air. There is just something transcending about being able to rise up over other mortals in a dominating display of athleticism.

In case you wanted it, here are a couple of reasons to justify your obsession with the vertical jump!

1. The vertical jump is one of, if not the top predictor of athletic ability.

Of course athletic assessments are only of value if they are very sport specific, but a vertical jump tells us many things about an athlete. If an athlete has a strong standing vertical jump, we know his relative strength is high. We know he is strong in comparison to his own body weight, which tells us they he is probably capable in other athletic tests of agility, because he is not “slugged” down by his own bodyweight. A good jumper is not only strong, but he is explosive. This means the athlete is capable of recruiting their strength in short bursts, and is capable of great power output for many movements. Many movements originate with the jumping muscles: punching, javelin, discus, gymnastics, shot put, ice skating, spiking, swinging a bat, playing cricket, pitching. As someone who specialized in vertical jump training I’ve been able to make adjustments for countless sports. Next week I’m rolling out an adaptation for punching power here in India! So reason number one is basically this. If you can jump high, you’re likely to be a bad mofo.

2. Building an effective vertical jump involves all of the main techniques for elite athleticism.

Becoming a powerful leaper… I’m not talking a decent or average jumper… I’m talking the type of jumper that turns heads and drops jaws … this requires development of several different athletic systems.

Plyometrics / reactive ability
Development of limit strength
Rate of force development
Flexibility
Agility and coordination
Body composition
Nutrition
Program design and periodization
Recovery and regeneration

Mastering an understanding of a vertical leap will make other training goals seem simple. Training for pure strength or muscle size will be a fairly straightforward endeavor. Some trainers will have you believe “increasing your vertical leap is simple!” ummm… yeah right. Making a few gains on your vertical leap is simple. An understanding of mastering the art, is not simple. If it was there wouldn’t be hundreds of books written about it, and there’d be 40 inch vertical leaps strutting around in every local court. Of course myself and other trainers are trying to make the mastery of the vertical leaps more accessible to people who haven’t spent half their lives studying it! So reason number two is basically this. If you understand the training systems and principles that go into mastering your vertical leap… your probably a bad mofo you’re properly equipped to attack the pursuit of nearly any athletic goal.