Hops

[norther practitioner]

I need/want more hops. They've gotten a little better now that I've been riding my mountain bike (and lost a few pounds) but I wanna jump like a ninja. Any suggestions?

[Ford Prefect]

Develop maximal leg strength first and foremost. Start squatting in the 1-3 rep range. Don't start doing plyometrics or other speed work until you can squat at least 100 lbs over your bodyweight. Maximal strength work at beginner to intermediate levels will increasing strength while sharpening your force-output curve. (ie force produced in a certain time... the larger that force and the smaller the time = explosiveness or "hops")

Plyometrics, jump squats, and the like will increase your force-output curve but without a subsequent increase in maximal strength. You might as well get the explosiveness AND the strength by focussing on developing maximal strength first. Not only this, but your muscles and connective tissue will slowly adapt to handle these forces your putting on it which isn't so in plyometrics.

Only into intermediate levels of maximal strength training does the increase in the force-output curve start to plateau. This is when you could start inorporating some training specicically geared towards explosiveness.

You could also start oly lifting. By their nature the lifts require a very sharp force-output curve.

[red5angel]

Hey NP, I found a great workout for jumping. It's simple too.

start out by doing knee tuck jumps - Jump up, bring your knees to your chest. Do 10 of those as high as you can and jump as soon as your feet hit the ground.

Do 10 side to side jumps bringing your knees up as high as you can and jumping as fast as you can while maintaining height.

Do 20 jumping lunges. Get down in the lunge position and jump up, switching legs and coming down in the lunge position.

Do 50 calve raises on a raised surface.

each weak add to the total number of reps for each exercise.

I'd break it up by skipping for 20 minutes as well, it looks silly but I got about 8 inches of vertical off this routine, no kidding.

[norther practitioner]

Red, so you're saying you have a 10" verticle now.. nice

Thanks guys.


So ford, I should do weighted squats until I can do 100 over my weight, then start working on the explosiveness...


Thanks again

NP

[IronFist]

Originally posted by red5angel
I'd break it up by skipping for 20 minutes as well, it looks silly but I got about 8 inches of vertical off this routine, no kidding.

Were you trained before you did this? I'm just curious because basically anything will make a newbie stronger, but it takes specific things to make a trained athlete stronger.

[Souljah]

sounds like a good workout red i will give it a try once my college work is done.

I'm 6'2 and i've got about a 27" vert, i know its not much, but my calves are the skinniest things uve seen, and since i started playin basketball agin i need to increase me hops pronto.

Is walking around on tiptoes for extended amounts of time any good?
How do you know when u reach ur limit?

[norther practitioner]

Ford Perfect

Does that mean, if I weigh 180, I should have 280 on my shoulders, or I should have 100 on my shoulders? I'm guessing, now that I wrote that, it is 280.. it has been a while since I've squatted, but when I was ski racing, I could put up a butt load as I remember. I'll have to stop by a gym for a free trial, and see what I can squat. Should I do the sled thing, at an incline, or with just the bar on my shoulders?

Thanks

NP

[Ford Prefect]

Yup. 280 on your shoulders. It sounds rough to get up there, but you're explosiveness will improve just as much as if you were doing explosion-specific exercises and you will gain maximal strength at the same time. Just do a regular squat. No need for the fancy stuff.

Explosion is being able to create a large amount of force in a short amount of time. As you just start out weight training, the increase you have in strength will also correlate to an increase in strength over a short time frame. Only after you have trained for a while and reached a modicum of strength (100lbs squat over your bodyweight for simplicity's sake) will your strength past this short time keep increasing. I've attached a rough graph of what I mean.

In the beginner/untrained graph, you see the force being applied plateau before the 0.5 second mark. Increases in strength will correlate to increase in force produced over this time period. In the experienced graph, you see force production keep increasing as the experienced lifter has time to strain. An increase in maximal strength doesn't necessarily correlate to increase in strength in the short time period. This is when you'd have to use exercises specifically designed to train you explosiveness. Until then, you are wasting your time and asking for injury.

[norther practitioner]

Thanks bro.. I appreciate it.

[norther practitioner]

How deep should I go when doing squats?

[Toby]

Powerlifting-style, of course . None of that Ironfist crap.

Seriously, if you could do 280lb to the floor I'd be impressed. 280lb powerlifting-style isn't a trivial lift either. For jumping purposes, I'd figure that you'd be moving in the same ROM with powerlifting squats as you would with jumping. When you jump, do you start with your bum on the ground? Or your thighs closer to parallel to the ground?

[Ford Prefect]

With only hops in mind and not trying to develop maximal strength, powerlifting style will indeed do. I'd even recommend thinking about just box squatting. To learn how to do a powerlifting style squat (wide stance/more than shoulders width, squat only to parellel) and box squat, I'd recommend this site.

http://www.elitefitnesssystems.com

Check out their articles section. The "How to Squat 900 lbs" one covers both I think.

[norther practitioner]

Thanks again guys...

[Meat Shake]

Buy a pair of jumpsoles. They garauntee 6 inches in 6 weeks or your money back. They work fantasically.
Ive also been doing a TON of calf extentions, and just flat out jumping. Ill stand in my back yard with ankle weights on and just jump as high as I can over and over again.... Ive gotten at least a couple of inches in the past couple of weeks. I need about 2" more to dunk on a NBA size hoop.

[norther practitioner]

How tall are you MS?