| By :
Glenn Devey
Kareem Abdul-Jabaar's career with the Lakers is the stuff of basketball legends; but how about the time he spent with Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee? Did they spend any time on how to improve a vertical jump - you bet! The Cap had this to say in 2006 to Andrew Kamenetzky about the Little Dragon's influence: "Bruce, more or less, backed up what I had learned from John Wooden. It was just an echo of John Wooden, from Hong Kong as opposed to Indiana. You have to be committed. You have to be prepared. You have to be willing to sacrifice to be totally prepared. To be in shape and understand the nature of competition." At seven foot two inches, Jabaar was blessed with the kind of height that most of us can only dream about, but by aspiring to reach our own personal best in our training and performance on the court, we can still break new boundaries and take our game to the next level up. If you're serious about how to increase vertical jumps, then developing more flexibility and looseness is a great place to start. Apart from reducing the chance of injury after a thorough warm-up, more flexibility will allow you to let out the explosive muscle force you've worked hard all season to develop. Here's what Bruce had to say about it: "Neural impulses are sent to the working muscle to bring a sufficient number of fibres into action at precisely the right time, while impulses to the antagonist muscles are reduced to lessen the resistance." Which means - if you've ever felt like you're playing with the brakes on, it could be that tight, stiff muscles are the culprit! For us, it's the hamstrings that need to be lengthened as they are the antagonist, whereas the quads can be shortened as the working muscle. There are plenty of great stretching exercises out there on the net and on YouTube in particular; I'd encourage you to incorporate some of them into your own regime; however the following principles of good stretching must always be followed: 1. Warm up first. A good cardio-vascular warm-up will fill the muscles with blood, providing them with oxygen and make sure they are more pliable and able to be stretched. 2. Even and deep breaths work best for a safe and controlled stretch - you'll find that your reach extends particularly on the out-breath. 3. Stretches that are gently held will safely extend your reach - do not bounce! Stretching is best performed as a gentle, relaxed activity, not an aggressive and ballistic routine. 4. Have some variety in your stretches - we all plateau from time to time in our training - the improvement in physical ability and performance comes from yanking the body out of it's comfort zone, even when it prefers to stay cozy. 5. Be flexible in your mindset as well as your body. How about a Yoga class or some Martial Arts to mix it up a little? It worked for the Cap. (But don't expect a film career to ensue!) The process of how to increase vertical jumps can be mastered by anyone willing to learn, change and work smarter as well as harder. As Bruce put it: "If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."
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