How to Jump Higher by Cade

Formerly known as jump training, plyometrics are exercises developed to increase your vertical leap. The words plyo and metrics actually stand for measurable increase.

Power is a result of both speed and strength in a muscle and plyometrics link those 2 factors together. The fastest way to increase power in a muscle is through proper plyometrics training.

When you want to move a muscle, your brain sends a chemical reaction to the muscles. Some movements occur without any conscious effort on your part.

Good jumpers stay in contact with the ground for the shortest time possible. When you bend down before jumping you have energy stored in your legs and the more time you are on the ground means more time for that energy to be wasted in the form of heat.

So to teach people how to jump higher you must focus on being in contact with the ground for a shorter period of time. This is why plyometrics exists, to teach muscles a faster reaction time.

A muscle has more energy if it is stretched immediately prior to it contracting. This is why dropping down before you jump will actually cause you to jump higher.

Muscles can be compared to rubber bands to an extent. A stretched rubber band will go farther than a non-stretched rubber band.

Another example of how muscles react to being stretched is the patella tendon. When a doctor taps you just below the knee with a rubber mallet your tendon is stretched which causes a fast reaction of the muscle to contract.

A muscle contracts faster when being stretched first. You can't really change the speed of the stretch reflex with training but you can change the strength of the response, which will cause you to jump higher.

Cade writes about how to jump higher plyometric exercises