Vertical Jump Training Arrangement 101: Part 2/3

If, upon threat of death, you had to increase your vertical leap 6” in the next month, how would you train?

Would you practice the gimmicky plyometric exercise you saw your favorite pro basketball player do?

Would you jump hard once or twice a week and hope to gain 1” each session?

German volume squatting program? Smolov squat? Starting strength?

Crossfit!!?!

I’ll tell you what I would do….. practice jumping and squatting… a lot! This article is designed to show you how to take the most important ingredients of training and put them together for the most beneficial outcome, which is throwing down that nasty dunk with a huge crowd watching you, their mouths dropping in unison towards the floor as you are still coming down to earth (or insert your own dunking/jumping fantasy here).

Knowing what each ingredient does and how often to add it is much more important than the ability to dump multiple ingredients in without knowing exactly what they will do. No matter how you train, it is important to know what the goal is, and why what you are doing will help you.  Because X athlete trained that way and is a beast, or, “that’s how my coach trained me and I think I did well” are not the best reasons for including things in your training, but should rather be starting points on a journey of knowledge.

In (PART 1) of this two part series, we talked about how vital it is to learn to manage fatigue in a training program, as well as learn to manage changes in the physical state of the athlete.  For part II, we will discuss perhaps the most important principle of training vertical leap, which is the simplicity principle, followed up with how training can be managed over the long term, and not just for a 12-week program. 

Simplicity Principle

Most people are pretty familiar with the SAID principle but the problem is that hardly anybody really follows it.  It means “Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands”.  For example, if a better vertical jump is the goal, then the most direct way to improve is to actually get out there and practice jumping!  The farther away you get from something resembling jumping (especially in terms of its effect on the force/time curve) in regards to your specific goal, the less it will help you.

There are some very interesting plyometrics out there, and many of them are in fact quite useful, but they should always play second fiddle (perhaps third or fourth even) to practicing the main event, which is jumping!

Warning! The following statement could cause drastic changes to your training.  Read on with caution. 

The problem is, when we aren’t very good at something, we don’t want to do it that often.  Commonly, the issue is our own ego, as we will tend to gravitate towards forms of exercise that either:

1. We are relatively good at in comparison to others

OR

2. Exercises that others don’t do all that often so people consider us to be more adept in our training

The fact of the matter is, training is simple, and every facet of it should resemble the final goal of improvement.  If jumping high is your goal, then training needs to be focused on improving ones deep squat and getting in good, quality attempts at jumping on a regular basis, preferably in a competitive environment.  Don’t be dissatisfied with your jump and start looking for “secret jump exercises”.  If you are an awful squatter, you must be willing to hit the squat in some form, year round in your training and not go looking as much for proficiency in second hand forms of strength training such as Olympic lifts and single leg lifting.

The role that ego plays is a big one.  I have seen athletes avoid things I have for them in training programs simply because they are not good at those exercises and don’t want to be embarrassed in front of their peers.  If you do this in terms of training your vertical leap, you are lowering the ceiling on your potential gains right off the bat.

Sometimes you have to ditch your ego, because you will never bring up your weak points if you don’t directly attack them.  Acknowledge where you are and use it as motivation to push forward.

Many people disguise true vertical jump training with a lot of things that look like vertical jump training… and are unique in their own aspects, but won’t help as much as actually jumping and squatting.  Olympic lifts, jump squats, plyos, and various special strength exercises are nice, but they will never replace consistant specific practice.

Many people might interject…. you have to mix things up, confuse your muscles… or whatever Tony Horton said… don’t you?  The answer is “yes” and “no”.

Read on my friend.

Understanding “Training Effects”

Training gets a little tricky when we start deciding when we want to be at our best, as well as how to keep gains coming in over time with minimal plateaus.  With this in mind, we must be familiar with training effects and how they work.

Points to know regarding training effects:

• The longer you use a mode of training, the less effective it will be.
• Using different exercises or training modes in sequence is better than using them all at once.  Block periodization is better than undulating periodization over the long term.
• It is sometimes best to save the exercises with the most powerful training effects to the times of the season where you will want to be at your best.

Key Point I: The longer you use a mode of training, the less effective it will be

This is an important point to consider in training and is usually only meant to describe using exercises (ala P90X).  When it comes to variety, the volume and intensity are significantly more important things to alter than the exercise.  The training programs of world class athletes in track and field are actually somewhat “boring” by today’s standards.  We often expect an arsenal of secret tricks in the work of those athletes, but the key is rather in the superior skill found in the smaller selection of exercises those athletes do perform.  There is a big problem today in thinking that elite athletes reached their levels through some sort of secret exercise selection but this is simply not true!!

Looking at how to provide variety in a training program without drastically changing the exercise we will take a look at the training of a high jumper.  This training year begins with basic skipping and jump coordination type work, such as jumps over hurdles.  Some coaches will also choose to use dunk training during this time as there is a lot of motor variety and the contacts are also longer, thus building “strength”.  Next, the year moves to a period of short approaches and jumps, which by nature have longer contact times, but are more forceful and explosive than the period before.  As training continues to move forward, the jumper is “sharpened” into jumps that utilize an even shorter contact time (long approach jumps).

Likewise, speed being an important part of jumping, the training year starts off with higher force, lower speed variations of sprinting such as hill sprints.  Once short approach jumping begins, this is sure to be matched with short acceleration development on flat ground (less force, more speed).  As the jumper moves to longer approaches, this is matched with some longer acceleration development and short speed endurance (30-60m).  Although jumping and sprinting are constantly present, they are modulated throughout the year.  This is the variety that is needed, and not so much what the athlete is actually doing; they are always jumping.

Key Point II: The best training is often the simplest training

The best training is often training that is reduced to the smallest rotation of parts possible, and then managing that rotation extraordinarily well.  This is similar to the saying, the best athletes in the world do the simple things extremely well.  For the vertical jumping athlete, it is important to learn to do a couple of things (jumping, acceleration, squatting) extremely well rather than learning to do a lot of things (jumping, plyos, Olympic lifts, med ball, yoga, etc.) moderately well. 

Despite the importance of a smaller rotation of exercises for ultimate development, slight adjustments should be made in a program every 2-3 weeks.  The more advanced the athlete the thinner the edge they walk on regarding how long or short to run with a training setup.  Too short and they won’t adapt and stabilize properly, but go too long and staleness and overuse injuries will start to kick in.  This is where things come down to knowing one’s body well and keeping a consistent training log.  Beginner and intermediate athletes have a little more room for error in terms of how long or short to keep their training before making changes.

How to Balance Simplicity with Variety

I’ll finish this section with a quick example of how to run a 12 week training program for an athlete who has a couple of years of lifting under their belt and wants to jump higher for upcoming dunk contests, with 3x 4 week training blocks.  I’ll keep it as simple as humanly possible.  (If you have read Verkhoshansky’s book: Special Strength Manual for Coaches, you will notice his programs are extremely simple as well)

12 Week intermediate training program for vertical leap

 

Rules:

All lifting is done in a state of minimal arousal/heart rate increase, but there is progression each week

Athlete gets 8+ hours of sleep and drinks at least a gallon of water a day

Athlete starts each subsequent cycle with lifting numbers they were hitting 2 weeks previous (1 step back, 2 steps forward)

Athlete should ideally have dedicated training partners

The athlete must want it aka, they want to jump higher BAD.  They must have “the hunger”.

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Block 1

4 weeks (Every day includes movement prep exercises and full warmup)

First 2 Weeks: 

Monday/Thursday: 20x 2 foot dunk attempts/jumps, Backsquat: 5×8

Tuesday/Friday: 20x 1 leg dunk attempts, 150m of sprints (example: 10x20m), Frontsquat 3×5 GHR 4×8

Second 2 Weeks:  (4^th week maintain lifting volume but decrease weight to 50%)

Monday: 15x 2 foot dunk attempts/jumps, Backsquat: 4×8

Tuesday: 15x 1 leg dunk attempts, 150m of sprints, Frontsquat 2×5 GHR 3×8

Thursday: 10x 2 foot dunk attempts: Backsquat 4×8

Friday: 10×1 leg dunk attempts, 100m of sprints, Overhead squat 2×5, GHR 3×6

SUMMARY OF BLOCK I: Volume Based Lifting, Jump Maint/Improvement

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Block 2

4 weeks (Every day = movement prep and long warmup)

First 2 Weeks:

Monday/Thursday: 25x 2 foot dunk attempts/jumps, Backsquat: 4×8

Tuesday/Friday: 25x 1 leg dunk attempts, 175m of sprints, Frontsquat 2×5 Hip Thrust: 3×12

Second 2 Weeks: (4^th week maintain lifting volume but decrease the weight to 60% 1RM)

Monday: 20x 2 foot dunk attempts/jumps, Backsquat: 3×8

Tuesday: 20x 1 leg dunk attempts, 175m of sprints, Frontsquat 2×4 GHR 3×8

Thursday: 15x 2 foot dunk attempts: Backsquat 3×8

Friday: 10×1 leg dunk attempts, 1×5 Depth Jumps 125m of sprints, Overhead squat 3×5, GHR 3×6

SUMMARY OF BLOCK II: Moderate Lifting, Increased Jump Volume

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Block 3

4 weeks (As always, movement prep and warmup each day)

First 2 Weeks:

Monday/Thursday: 25x 2 foot dunk attempts/jumps, Backsquat: 4×4

Tuesday/Friday: 20x 1 leg dunk attempts, 1×8 depth jumps 150m of sprints, Frontsquat 2×3 Hip Thrust: 3×8

Second 2 Weeks: (4^th week maintain lifting volume but decrease the weight to 50%)

Monday: 20x 2 foot dunk attempts/jumps, Backsquat: 4×3

Tuesday: 10x 1 leg dunk attempts, 1×5 depth jumps, 125m of sprints, Frontsquat 2×4, GHR 3×8

Thursday: 15x 2 foot dunk attempts: Backsquat 3×6

Friday: 10×1 leg dunk attempts, 2×5 depth jumps, 100m of sprints, Overhead squat 2×4, GHR 3×6

SUMMARY OF BLOCK III: Lowered Lifting Volume, Increased Jump Intensity (Depth Jumps).  Following 12 week program, the athlete should perform a deloading week with 60% lifting volume and intensity and recreational running and jumping (sand volleyball/racquetball/tennis/etc) 

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Conclusion and Summary

This type of setup uses a lot of the same exercises, and might seem boring to some, but trust me it works!!  I would bet on a program like this vs. 95% of jump programs on the market for an athlete of intermediate levels looking for a competitive edge in their leaping ability.  No gimmicks, nothing funky, just training arranged to produce constant adaptation.

Summary Points

• The best training programs are often the simplest ones
• Simple training programs use very specific training methods
• Often times we must get over our ego to get away from gimmick methods
• There are no “secret” training programs
• Training needs to be simple, but it also must be altered every couple of weeks

Stay tuned for part III, which looks at concepts of basic block periodization over the course of a training year!

References:

Special Strength Manual for Coaches: Verkhoshansky

Power! To the People: Pavel

Recent experiences with track coaches regarding Bondarchukesque training methods