Avoiding injury is an important factor that you should look for in your jump training program. After all you want to use your hops on the court right? Not much use if you’re sitting on the bench nursing your legs. Thankfully there are a few things you can do to help prevent your injuries.

ICE: ice any part of your body that starts to get sore… when it gets sore. Don’t wait as playing on sore damaged joints will only make the situation worse. I know since I started icing my knees regularly my workouts and practices feel a whole lot better. At first I shied away from icing since it took so much time out of my day. I mean

45 minutes every day is a lot of time to sit doing nothing. But one thing that really helped me was finding these ice packs that I got a Wal-Mart. They allow me to come home from a practice and just pull it out of the freezer and

strap it to my leg. Since it holds its self there I’m free to do other things. And it doesn’t melt and make a mess either. I would highly suggest getting some if you have troubles with any part of your body after a workout. It can keep you going strong all through the week, which is important if you are going to keep on increasing your vertical

Stay Hydrated: our bodies are more water than anything else. I believe it’s a staggering 95% or so. So that makes sense that you should drink enough water to keep your body happy. A good rule of thumb is if your urine is clear you’re hydrated. So try and keep it that way as much as possible.

Take Your Vitamins: most of us don’t live the healthiest lifestyles. And even though you may be on a nutritional diet for your workouts… which I would strongly recommend. You still might not be getting all your fruits and veggies every single day. For that reason it is a good idea to take a multivitamin every day. That will make sure you get all the crucial ingredients to keep your body nice a strong and make sure it has what it needs to take care of its self. If you’re going to work your body hard you need to give it what it needs so it can keep doing that over and over again.

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So those of us without a gym are stuck doing bodyweight lifts. You might think that this is a disadvantage or that weights are necessary to get extreme vertical hops. Well to tell you the truth they are really not. There are several lifts you can find on here that will help you get the most out of your training even if you don’t have weights.

One thing you can do to increase your workouts intensity is to in fact make your own weights. I know this is kind of around the point of bodyweight training but if you are at the point where you feel like you need some extra resistance to get the results you want then just use some stuff you have around the house to help you improve your vertical.

Doing lunges and one legged squats with two gallons of water in your hands adds a bit of difficulty. Or if you don’t have a medicine ball find an old worn out basketball and cut it open, fill it with sand and glue it back together. If you have anything you can make a sand bag out of then by all means go ahead. Perhaps a old pillow case or any other ruck sack you have laying around.

Just so you know that other people have done it I would like to share a story about myself. My father and myself are automotive enthusiasts and as such seem to always have a ton of parts laying around the garage and stashed away in piles in the back yard. One day I was in the back yard training and I had started to feel my workout was getting a bit to easy for me. So I picked up an old driveshaft from my old truck and held it in my hands while I did squats. Not only was this added weight it made me compensate for my balance and im sure had some benefit in that respect as well. just to go and show you can use anything to improve your vertical.

That just goes to show you can use anything you want to help you train your vertical. Not having weights doesn’t mean you don’t have weights. Go find some! Use some rocks!

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So you want to increase your vertical jump? Well you came to the right place, because I have a few very simple exercises that will show you how to increase vertical height fast. Here is a simple workout program that will get you well on your way to jumping higher and improving your vertical.

1.The first step is to warm-up properly. You have to give your muscles a chance to warm up if you want to see the most return on your effort from your workout. Doing extensive leg stretches and going for a 5-10 minute jog is often the best way to do this.

2.Jumping rope should be part of you workout if it isn’t already. It is excellent for conditioning your lungs and heart and is an important step in how to increase vertical explosiveness.

3.Make sure you are incorporating sprints in your workout sessions. They will strengthen your legs which will add to your vertical jump

4.Running stairs is one of the best workouts you can get for you legs. First fun up a single flight of stairs one step at a time. Then walk back down the same flight and run up skipping a step or going two steps at a time. This may be lengthened to include several flights of steps in one trip up if you are looking for more of a cardio workout as well. Do this as many times as you can manage.

5.Sets of elevated jumps (next section)

6.Sets of Explosive jumps (later section)

7.Sets of Double jumps(later section)

8.You have to rest your muscles for them to grow. If you do this workout every day you wont see the results you are looking for. A good rule of thumb is one day on and one day off. However if you want to do it more than that make sure you take atleast 2 days off per week or you wont get the improvement to your vertical jump your looking for.

Elevated Jumps
1.Start by placing a platform or step bench on the ground, most gyms or fitness centers will have these available to you.

2.Start standing on the platform and jump backward to the ground. Concentrate on making the landing as soft as you can.

3.Immediately jump back up onto the platform with a bouncing motion

4.You should do 10 reps per set and 3-4 sets depending on your fitness level. There is a potential for injury as fatigue sets in so be careful jumping backwards. Ask a trainer to spot you if you feel its necessary.

Explosive Leg Jumps and double Jumps
1.Place your foot up on a secure platform, the higher it is the more difficult this will be so you can tailor the difficulty depending on your level. Just experiment to see what works best for you.

2.Jump and concentrate on exploding off the leg that is raised on the platform. While you are in the air scissor your legs so that you will come down on the opposite leg. Collect your balance and then repeat now that you have switched legs.

3.Once again do 3-4 sets of 10 reps.

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