How to Increase Your Vertical Leap – Understanding Your Body

People like Michael Jordan give us this “illusion” of flight or extended hang time, is it possible for man to fly? Well no. Is it possible to learn how to increase vertical leap? Certainly! When we want to learn how to increase vertical leap we first need to understand our body. How it operates, what it’s made of and how it works. Your body weight on average consists of 40-50% muscles, and there are 3 muscles groups which are;

  • Skeletal muscles
  • Cadiac muscles and
  • Smooth Muscles

Now there are a couple other muscle groups when you break down even further but they are not important to learn at the moment. The major muscles group we want to focus on when learning how to increase vertical leap is the skeletal muscle as it helps the body move. The skeletal muscles can be defined into 2 distinct groups;

  • Fast-Twitch muscles and
  • Slow-Twitch muscles

Now there is often to much or not enough emphasis placed on these 2 different types of muscles when learning how to increase vertical and honestly that is not your fault, you cannot be helped if you have not been educated properly so I am trying to set the record strait about how fast and slow twitch muscles and how they affect your vertical leap when you are learning how to increase vertical leap.

One of the biggest myth’s that many people believe when they are learning how to increase vertical leap is that genetically African or African American people have a higher ratio of fast-twitch muscles to slow-twitch muscles then anyone else in the world. It is not true that African or African American people have a higher ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch muscles. However it is true that you are born with a certain number of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers and this cannot be change.(To my extent of knowledge, although I am not a sports physician or analyzer.) However it’s not just how many fast-twitch fibers you have in your body that can help you learn how to increase vertical leap, the size of these fast-twitch muscles also has an affect on how high you can jump. You are able to increase the size of your fast-twitch fibers with hardwork, determination and proper gym training.

When learning how to increase vertical leap their is a huge amount of stress placed on the muscles of the athlete as they are often overloaded (which means to push the body to do more than it is already). The most important thing about when overloading a athlete is to avoid injury by ensuring their training program for vertical leap is appropriate to their ability and fitness level. When I refer to fitness for how to increase vertical leap I am talking about 4 distinct areas and they are;

1. Cardiovascular (aerobic) endurance:

This type of fitness is achieved through regular aerobic exercises that requires repetitive movement on large muscles groups over a extended period of time. E.g. jogging, swimming, running, skipping and playing sports such as basketball, soccer / football and rugby.

2) Muscle Strength:

Their are 3 different types of muscles strength that are required when learning how to increase vertical leap they are limit, explosive and reactive strength. These different types of strength help to improve vertical leap in different aspects.

3) Muscle Endurance:

When learning how to increase vertical leap muscle endurance is important to continually be able to keep your vertical to a maximum during game time. Muscle endurance refers to the ability of your muscles to repeat the same movement over a certain period of time. Your muscle endurance level will increase as you continue to exercise them and increase their strength. This is because the muscles learn to burn energy more efficiently thus reducing lactic acid levels, which means you can endure overloading training for longer periods of time.

4) Joint Flexibility:

When learning how to increase vertical leap it is important to ensure that you have a good range of motion. This not only helps you to jump higher but also to prevent injury. The Range Of Motions (ROM) a muscle or joint can undergo is limited by the joint’s structure and surrounding connective tissue (ligaments, tendons and muscle fibers). You know those isolated stretches your basketball coach tells you to do, well they not only decrease your injury rate but it also increase your vertical leap as it allows the muscle to retain more force when you squat before your jump. Bet you don’t think stretching is so stupid after all now.

Author: Joshua Bretag
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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