Here are the keys to success:

1. Measure and track performance.
2. Train healthy.
3. Participate in each workout session.
4. Give each rep of each exercise of each workout your absolute best effort.
5. Perfect form.

Measure and Track Performance

Measure how much weight, how many sets and reps are done for each athlete for each exercise.  Accountability and confidence can be bolstered in the athletes when they see positive results.  To achieve results, their performance must be recorded from day 1 to the last workout of the season. 

I have observed athletes who trained without recording performance.  The athletes who just cruised through the workouts without giving their best effort went unnoticed.  They could not see improvement in their physical performance and did not improve as quickly as they could have.  Their jump height did not increase because they were not giving their best effort and, because we had no visibility of their performance.  I learned the hard way to track performance.  You can spot someone just cruising along and make an adjustment with them. 

When the athletes see improvements in their workouts, they will see improvements in their jump height performance.  Seeing the results reinforces their hard work and ultimately builds their confidence.

Train Healthy

One time I was training an athlete who became injured in her sport.  I told her she would not see positive gains in her vertical jump height until she was 100% healthy again.  She wanted to train anyway, so we did.  She was unable to do some of the exercises due to her injury and, no big shock, she did not gain inches in her vertical jump height.  You have to be healthy to have the best shot at experiencing gains in your vertical jump height training.

Participate

Each workout targets a specific body area and element for improving your vertical jump height.  Missing even one day can slow down your progress.  When I was first jump training a team we were to train 3 days a week for legs and 3 days a week for upper body.  A group of the players said they only wanted to train on legs days (3 days a week) and asked if that was alright.  I didn’t know any better so I said any training you can do is acceptable.  We trained 16 weeks total, both groups.  I tracked progress and by the end of training the group that trained both upper and lower body had double the increases of the legs only athletes.  I was surprised that the amount of gains related to the upper body were so substantial.  Turns out that it wasn’t that the upper body was the difference, but that the group that gained twice as much had trained their whole body, not just legs.  When you jump, your whole body jumps.  Everyone should train their entire body.  This means attending every workout.

Best Effort

Earlier I mentioned athletes that just cruised through workouts.  They only lift what they are comfortable lifting without pushing themselves to lift more.  These athletes do not push themselves to max out on how many sets and reps they do for the personalized training.  These athletes are wasting their time and money, unless they are not aware.  You see, sometimes athletes, especially young athletes, do not realize their potential.  They believe they are training hard…but they are not.  In my experience most athletes operate nowhere near their true potential.  This is why I see athletes who are young, experienced, super athletic, and not so athletic, all achieve gains in their vertical jump height.  For all of these types to be achieving gains indicates that overall, we humans in this day and age are operating well below our true potential.

Give your best effort for each rep and set.  Use perfect technique at all times.  Push yourself and not only will your performance in the weight room improve, but your vertical jump height will increase faster.  How much do you want to improve your vertical jump height?  Do you want it enough to give your absolute best 100% of the time?

Perfect Form

Technique in the weight room often ties to the sport.  It should, right?  It takes time to achieve perfect form.  When you achieve perfect form, you will a) suffer a lot fewer injuries during training and b) get much more out of each exercise. 

Exercises target muscle groups.  Using improper form means using less of the targeted muscle group(s).  Injuries can occur in the weight room.  If your form is not correct, then you are at risk to injure yourself.  If you are injured, you will not see gains in achieving your jump height goals.

Guidelines for In-Season Training

This program is designed with two elements of application.  Some workouts may be done on game day (as well as non-game days).  The rest of the workouts should be done on non-game days.  These workouts, if followed (see the rules above), will increase the average vertical jump of your entire team in-season.  Included in the training are low impact sessions to provide muscle confusion for sustained development.  Coaches want their team playing at their very best at season end, rather than physically beaten down.  The low impact sessions also allow the joints and tendons of athletes an opportunity to mend and thicken, while still developing muscle and the central nervous system.

Strength, explosiveness and technique are the three elements targeted for development by jump training.  The strength component is targeted with a healthy dose of static contraction.  Static contraction achieves maximum muscle contraction for low rep counts, allowing for faster recovery to compete. The explosive exercises only operate within one’s explosive capacity, not to exhaustion.  Again, this allows for faster recovery time while stimulating the central nervous system and fast twitch muscle.

The workout schedule is flexible, to adapt to your game schedule.  Use the game day workouts on game days and fill in the other days with the other workouts.  This assumes you have about 2 games/matches a week.

Click any exercise below to see details