Vertical jump training programs are a scam. Well, many of them are. Is it because they don’t work? No… it is simply because they are not usually worth the money you pay for them. Put hard work into a program that involves exercises resembling jumping and squatting and gains will happen, especially if you have never really trained before. Build more leg/hip muscle and practice jumping a lot… most programs fall into this mold somehow.
Yeah… sure you got those abs using that belt. Most vertical programs are not near the scam that most “Ab equipment” is, but are they worth your money?
Somewhere in the 6-12 week range of most “vertical jump programs” however, gains start to stall or even reverse, leaving the aspiring athlete confused on where to go next.
Looking at world class performers in the track and field jumps, consistent progression over the years is a characteristic of many athletes. Elite jumpers working with the best coaches in the world will be satisfied with increases as small as 2% each year, or even 1% as they move into their late 20’s. This may not sound very appealing to the average joe who thinks doubling their vertical leap is a viable option, but it reveals what should be expected when long term training goes well.
Let’s be clear about one thing, very few athletes in their late teens/early 20’s add 2” a year, each year to their vertical leap. Think about it: If you are 18 and have a 28” standing vertical leap and then add 2” a year until age 28, you will have a 48” standing vertical leap. Is this possible? No… but 2” a year for 3 years and then .5” for the next 5 years (leading to a 36.5” standing leap) would be feasible… as well as something that the average athlete would love to accomplish.
Stefan Holm jumped his personal best of 2.40m in the high jump at the age of 28. He jumped 2.30m 8 years before at age 20. 8 years to gain 10cm, but nobody will argue with his progress.
So how does a person reach long-term excellence in training vertical leap?
First off, let me say that there is no one type of planning/periodization that will guarantee that “crotch in the forehead posterized slam dunk” down the road. Rather, general planning principles exist that will help any athlete to continually construct programs that allow for long term athletic success. There are many roads to Rome, but it is smart to know how to select the one which will take an athlete to glory as efficiently as possible.
With all this in mind, let’s take a look at a few principles that will help manage planning ones training over a longer period of time.
I. The Principle of Block Periodization
When it comes down to it, there are two major aspects of training for vertical leap power: speed and strength. Every sub-type of training (sprinting/jumps/plyos/weights) falls somewhere along the spectrum. This is leaving out technique training which has more to do with the manner in which the body uses that force. Technique training in vertical leap doesn’t have to be arranged in the same manner as other aspects of training.
According to “Block Periodization”, training must be arranged to focus on a small set of variables, rather than training multiple qualities all at once. Block periodization should be approached from the idea that certain aspects of physiology and performance take longer to build in regards to both the most important competition and long term development.
What does this mean? As the great sport scientist, Mel Siff, noted in his landmark book “Supertraining”, changes in training brought about by increased muscle size last longer than those changes brought about by improving the neuromuscular system. Granted both are important, but it is helpful to know how and when to train these two facets of performance.
Compared to many sports, vertical leap has relatively few facets of improvement, coming down to size, strength, power and speed. They can even be condensed further to Strength/Size and Power/Speed. Jumping efficiency and technique are always present in the program (at least they should be). When put into a “block” (2-6 weeks of training) the emphasis will comprise about 75% of the cycle. There are 3 basic cycles that one can run when training for vertical leap.
• Size/Strength based (75% of cycle emphasis)
• Balanced (Balance of strength and speed)
• Speed/Power based (75% of cycle emphasis)
Strength based cycles are going to be a bit more helpful for two foot jumpers than one foot jumpers.
Of course, this all applies more to two footed leaping than one foot jumping (link one foot jumping to our free ebook). Two footed jumping demands a longer ground contact time and greater knee bending, which favors strength (more time to produce force). One leg jumpers/track and field jumpers can still use these three types of blocks, but they will find themselves in the size/strength based blocks for shorter periods of time than their two footed counterparts.
When there is no real timeline for performance (i.e. general training to jump higher/dunk/etc.) the majority of blocks should be devoted to the strength/force end of the spectrum. In this case I would recommend 2-3 strength based cycles, alternating with 1 speed or balanced cycle. This will reduce staleness and burnout, especially if those strength based blocks are including a lot of work over 90% of the 1RM.
Bottom Line: Try and focus on either speed or force in your training. Everyone is different in which quality they need to train more (although most need to work primarily on force). Training blocks should emphasize either jumping, plyos and speed (with maintenance strength work) or jumping and strength (with maintenance speed work). Athletes shouldn’t run the exact same blocks the whole year or may suffer in terms of lower adaptation reserves, psychological burnout and overuse injury.
Coming up in section II:
II. The Principle of Cross Sectional Area
III. The Principle of High Frequency vs. High Intensity
IV. The Principle of Deloading
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