Tip 10: always warm up before you exercise, never overwork your muscles before they are properly warmed up or you can easily cause your self serious injury. Jump rope or jog before lifting any heavy weights

Tip 9: a good exercise to build large amounts of quad muscle is the squat. Start with very little weight and slowly increase your repetitions and weight as you become more advanced. Move slowly as this will build more of the explosive power you want for jumping.

Tip 8: make sure to have separate days on your workout schedule for weight training days and speed/plyo days. Most studies agree that mixing these types of workouts can really hamper your results

Tip7: Jump Rope, even though many people may look down on jumping rope it is a fantastic cardio workout as well as a very basic plyo workout. It will strengthen your legs and get your lungs in great shape too. That’s good for whatever sport you’re playing.

Tip 6: work 100% of the time, while you can’t be in the gym 24/7 you can always be working out a little bit. Walk around on your toes or heels and stand with your legs slightly or half bent when your doing things around the house or at work. All of these little things will strengthen your legs over a long period of time

Tip 5: exercise your calfs, while they are a smaller muscle than your quads they are very important in jumping. Calf raises are the best way to build muscle and you can do that anywhere. If you can put your toes on a ledge this will allow you to bring your heels down below your toes for an even better workout. You can add weight to make this more challenging.

Tip 4: don’t work to hard. Your muscles need some time to rest and if you are constantly working them they don’t have time to heal themselves. You actually tear your muscles just a little bit when you work them really hard. Especially when you are weight training. That light workout or a day of rest gives them time to repair those minute tears so that they are ready to go again and grow even bigger.

Tip 3: focus on your jump and use your entire body. Also make sure you are trying for your maximum height. Just jumping for the sake of jumping won’t get you nearly as good of results as actually focusing on each jump

Tip 2: be patient when you are training. You cont build muscle over night and you wont see 3 inches tacked on to your vertical either. It takes time and effort and the proper workout to put inches on your jump. Don’t give up and don’t let your determination and motivation float away. Keep at it and you can see results faster than you ever thought

Tip 1: Plyometric Exercises are one of the best ways to train your jumping muscles and whip them into shape. They are tough and demanding but that is because they work the largest muscles in your legs and they do it efficiently. Jumping as high as you can and bringing yourself down into a crouching position when you land and then immediately jumping back up is the best way to strain your leg muscles.

Technorati Tags: jump higher workout, steps to jump higher, tips, vertical jump, vertical training

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.

Technorati Tags: excercises for jumping, how to jump higher, jump higher workout, steps to jump higher