I don't mean to discourage anyone........but I would rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. In my experience, it is unusual, but not impossible, for people to realize a big increase (i.e. more than four or five inches) in their vertical leap. I just didn't want him to expect to increase his leaping ability by six inches or more just because he did some exercises. If he does increase it by that much, it would be great and I would be happy for him, but he would be in the minority. Everyones body is built differently......some people respond better to weights and exercises. I started college at about 180lbs. I lifted my ass off for four years and left at 185 and not noticably bigger. (And I lifted with a full time trainer scheduling every work out, so I know it was all done correctly). I got a lot stronger, but no bigger. My point is that no matter how hard I lifted, my body would not really respond to "getting big" This is the case with some people and their jumping.......eventually everyone hits a plateau and they cannot go any higher.

wushu_civic makes a good point...........whatever exercise program you decide to get into (especially if it is plyos) make sure you either read about it or talk to a trainer or someone who know what they are talking about, or you will do more harm than good - with a good chance to hurt yourself........specifically your joints, ankles, knees, etc.

 

getting big isn't just weights, it's a combination of weights, cardio and the right foods.

 

I am well aware of what it takes to stay in shape, as well as what it takes to try to increase mass. I was constantly under the watch of a trainer who watched what we ate, watched what our body fat was, what we kind of weights were were lifting - changed during the season and the off season, when and how we were running, etc. In other words, I appologize for oversimplifying it before..........at the end of the day........I got no bigger it just wasn't going to happen for me at the point in my life because of my metabolism.

 

I hate to tell yout his, but calf raises wont do anything for you when it comes to your vertical jump.

I used to run track for division I college U of A tobe exact, and i was a high jumper and long jumper by heart. I was a decathlete for them though. all-SEC at that ;-) Icould dunk like mad and im 5'10" ihighjumped 6'8" when iw as a junior in HS and i long jumped 24 feet in college. just to give youa background of my jumping abilities. oh yeah, im white too.

some of you are right though you may not have the right muscles for it. to be able to jump high youneed fast twitch muscles. and what a lot of people dont understand that when you are jumping for a vertical jump your calves do the least work out of your entire leg. your thighs and hip flexors are the absolute most important muscles when it comes to a high vertical jump. I recommend squats, explosive squats. not deep mass amounts of weight squats.

what youwant to do is set up a bench behind you and put a bumper on the bench so that your thighs dont go parallel to the ground, you only want a little less than parallel. Use a weight that is about 50-65% your max, and when you do your squats barely let yourself toucht he bumper and explode upward
emphasizing the forward thrusting motion of your hips.

I did some research once on increasing the vertical jump and came across someinformation that said that in a study among olympic athletes the throwers had a higher vertical jump on average than the jumpers did. and I KNOW that throwers work like CRAZY on squats and jerks and cleans. the hips and thighs are the most important part of getting a good high vertical jump. your arms as well. Its hard to explain how to use your arms, but it can give you an inch or two. What i used to do was sit withmy feet flat ont he ground, and id thrust my arms in a way that wouldmake my body actually come up off the ground. jsut from the force of my arms moving upward. sort ofl ike into a praying pose. LOL iknow it sounds dumb. but it works. anyways that all ihave for now.

 

I bought Air Alert...I havent started it yet, but I'm 5 3 and if I get like 6 more inches I'll be able to grab the rim

 

i bought some 10 lb ankle weights. i wore them to school everyday under my jeans. this is because i didnt have enough time to workout like i wanted too. i also worked on my sprint starts. the combo of those two made my vertical go up about 6-7 inches in the course of about 6 weeks. but, i am one of those people who responds very well to working out.

 

pnthr30, while i understand your point about not getting bigger, you yourself mentioned that you did get stronger right. the way i am understanding what you said is that you basically got toned right. if you think about it you did get results, granted not exactly what you wanted but good results none the less. am i correct in assuming that you gained endurence and an overall improvement in performance? i think this is basically what will happen with people who train the legs, they won't jump like the NBA, but i think it is within reason that they will see results that are not insignificant. i guess what i am trying to say is that it won't hurt to try, and it is always better to set a higher goal than to just accept that you can only do so much.

 

wushu, I think we are basically in the same ballpark with our thoughts.........

Yes, I did get stronger and toned, but I did plateau.......for instance........after a couple of months I could bench about 240.....after a few years I could do about 250.........my body would not respond to much more. That is all I am saying - everyone plateaus out. Most people play basketball and are active enought to give their legs a pretty good workout on a daily basis. Sure, if you work out correctly and concentrate on it you will definitely say gains there is no question about that. However, most, not all, but most, people will not see dramatic gains (i.e. more than 5 or 6 inches). I will be the first to admit that it is possible, but not that common. Another element that hasn't been mentioned is age. Everyones body matures and grows at different times........thereby increasing or decreasing the probablility of large, or nominal gains. I am a big proponent of working out and setting lofty goals.......but I am also a realist. There were many times that I have played against much better players.......of course I REALLY want to win and get the best of them, but part of being a complete athlete is recognizing your strengths and weakensses. For example, although I lifted a lot and got stronger there were still guys were much stronger than me, and as such I did not try to bang with them. Likewise, not many people are going to jump like Vince Carter, or have a 40 inch vert, no matter how much work they put in. That is not setting your goals to low, that is being realistic.