So I just realized today that my vertical leap has decreased beyond description in recent months. I used to be able to dunk on a 9.5 foot rim when I was 3 inches shorter. After venturing to a basketball court for the first time in a while today, I could BARELY throw down a dunk on an 8 foot hoop (feel free to add joke about how pathetic that is).

I was wondering what sort of exercises would be useful for regaining my vertical leap and quickness. I’ve always done a lot of box jumps and GHD extensions, but I was wondering if something like running or sprinting would help as well. I was also curious as to what other weightlifting exercises would help.

Obviously, I’m aware that you need to develop quickness and power…so any exercises that would help with this would be warmly accepted. Thanks for all of your help!

-Paul

Can you start posting your workout results here please?
We need to know what you’ve been doing and how well you’ve been doing before we can recommend changes to that.

Also, out of curiosity:

You were three inches shorter? When?  How old are you?

If there are growth factors at work, we’d want to know…

TP

Ah yeah I will start posting. Sorry about that. I have been keeping track of WODs I’ve been doing at my local box in my journal, so I’ll be sure to post them on here as well from now on.

Also, yes I was three inches shorter a few years ago…which is when I was able to jump much higher than I can now. Currently, I’m 24 years old and about 5’10…when I was a senior in high school and freshman in college, I was shorter and able to jump much higher…it’s quite depressing

thebeut - 02 February 2012 02:06 PM

Ah yeah I will start posting. Sorry about that. I have been keeping track of WODs I’ve been doing at my local box in my journal, so I’ll be sure to post them on here as well from now on.

Also, yes I was three inches shorter a few years ago…which is when I was able to jump much higher than I can now. Currently, I’m 24 years old and about 5’10…when I was a senior in high school and freshman in college, I was shorter and able to jump much higher…it’s quite depressing

Hmm, have you discussed this with your trainer at the local affiliate? They need to know that their programming is not giving you what you want and degrading your performance and should at least have the chance to address it.

Yes I have…they recommended doing some Olympic power lifts such as cleans and the like…as well as uphill sprints.

I’ve been trying to incorporate more of these into my workouts, but there has not been much improvement. Would jumping rope for 20 minutes help out, do you think?

thebeut - 02 February 2012 05:49 PM

Yes I have…they recommended doing some Olympic power lifts such as cleans and the like…as well as uphill sprints.

I’ve been trying to incorporate more of these into my workouts, but there has not been much improvement. Would jumping rope for 20 minutes help out, do you think?

GD’s commented several times that back squats and deadlifts are the key to improving a vertical jump, basically getting more power from your posterior chain. He’s had a great deal of success with that, exemplified by his son Keegan. http://www.crossfitkids.com/images/uploads/Assets/Keegan_jump.mov
Both GD and his wife assure me that genetics do not in any way contribute to Keegan’s jumping ability. And GD says that Keegan doesn’t practise jumping often, he gives it a try every few months and keeps setting new records.

The Brand X programming is heavy on deadlifts and squats and they go heavy often. They also use the olympic lifts in their WODs, but deadlifts and back squats are programmed as individual lifts.

Keegan has a 380 back squat and 400+ deadlift.

I have a bit of experience with frustration in vertical leap improvement.

I have been working with BrandX personal trainers remote with workouts and progress monitored through email and this site.  My specific goal is to improve vertical.  I’m 6’1” tall and 40 with about 18 months of crossfit under my belt.  In a collegiate era I was able to dunk and played setter in volleyball.  Last fall on a USAV men’s BB team (middle level volleyball 6 man indoor) I found I was having trouble playing middle blocker and then realized I could barely grab the rim of a normal 10 foot basketball goal. 

I have been on five weeks of the BrandX programming and the project to improve vertical is very work intensive.  In past life exercise, I tended to rely on oversized calf muscles and springy legs with little hip drive for vertical and as my body fell apart it was clear this wasn’t going to work anymore.  My goal is to get back to dunking and the five weeks of training has focused very intensively on:

1) Improving form through hip and hamstring flexibility so that the full range of motion is utilized in the workouts that are presented

2) Improving strength in Deadlift, Squat, and the combination lifts from the ground overhead (clean, snatch and versions of press including Jerk and different presses).  This is the really intense work function of the exercise and it is a daily grind that would be easy to “just not do or do later” if I didn’t feel committed and have someone checking the progress.

3)  Incorporating WOD programming right along with the strength that stresses the quick firing.

One would think that there would be a lot of the typical “running stairs, step ups, box jumps and calf raises” and there are plenty of jumping parts to the metabolic conditioning.  There are also loads of short burst sprints, small set high box jumps, broad jumps, kettlebell swings, and simple double under practice and these never replace the strength nor does the strength work replace the explosive fitness work; I have to do them both.

I know the metric for vertical will be how high can I jump but I can tell you that the change from struggling at 95-120 lb deadlifts to 3 rep max of 160 lbs at the end of a hard workout and similar improvements in squat and clean have me able to simply stand under a basketball goal and with a casual bend and good hip drive get my wrist at the rim.  Volleyball starts up again in March so I feel well prepared for the game.

It is interesting to me that the improvement actually came not with a bunch of added jumping and agonizing over vertical leap but with a dedicated series of challenging grind workouts day in and day out for five weeks.  But I would not have been able to focus this kind of change without some review of weaknesses and the guidance.

Paul,
Heavy Squats and Deadlifts! Hill sprints and box jumps, if vertical is important for you then keep track and jump!

Wow, awesome advice…Thanks a ton. I have been doing a lot of deadlifts and squats recently as well. As a matter of fact, I even did some DL today, along with box jumps. I decided to add a weighted sandbag to my box jumps while lowering the height of the box as well…do you think this would be beneficial to developing some explosiveness?

Box jumps and double unders are both frequent exercises in my routine as well…I can’t understand why I still can’t jump too high…it’s pretty frustrating. I feel it may have to do with the concept of explosiveness and quickness. When it comes to running, I can run long distances with ease, but when it comes to doing short sprints, specifically sprints that involve sharp cuts, I’m pretty miserable.

I’m considering doing some ladder type drills and other exercises that may help me develop quicker feet and strengthen my ability to make sharper cuts and turns…any recommendations for these?!

I’d say heavy squats like everyone else. Just throwing this out there, maybe working towards a middle split could help. Take that or leave it. Jump rope all the time helps footwork enormously.