Topic: Improve height jump

[Maurizio Faleo]

Hello guys! Today I measured the height of my standing jump, it's 33cm, I want increase the height of my jumps, How can I do?   

[Ryan Anthony Vetter]

Do squat lifts and leg presses this is very easy to do even without a gym. Go to a park, find a picnic table, set the bench bar onto your feet, do three sets of ten a day. Squat lifts, lift the table top upto shoulder height, hold it there and squat down, then stand up, three sets of ten daily. Remember to avoid buckling your knees and other joints.

[Tom Heyl]

http://www.americanparkour.com/smf/index.php/topic,3046.0.html

Add Olympic lifts into your workouts, and plyometrics, on average Olympic lifters have the highest vertical jump, even over basket ball players.

[Grip]

just keep jumping to the highest thing you can jump to, then when that gets easier, find something higher.

JUMPING is the best way to improve your muscles you use for JUMPING.

[Brett Robert]

Maurizio, you'll get more accurate responses in the General Fitness section. 
 

http://www.americanparkour.com/smf/index.php/topic,3046.0.html

Add Olympic lifts into your workouts, and plyometrics, on average Olympic lifters have the highest vertical jump, even over basket ball players.

This is the most accurate response so far, however be advised that plyometrics are often reserved for athletes who can already (deep) squat 1.5 times their body weight.  Also, if you already train parkour, then you may be getting significant plyo volume anyway, so you might be better off sticking to lifting alone to supplement the parkour.

just keep jumping to the highest thing you can jump to, then when that gets easier, find something higher.

JUMPING is the best way to improve your muscles you use for JUMPING.

Not entirely true.  If this was true, then why do high jumpers lift weights and sprint?  I know that "just train parkour" is the feel-good response, and most of us probably wish it was true.  However, unless you can produce large bodies of data (i.e. hundreds of athletes who only jump and don't weight train who out-perform those who supplement jumping with weight training) then it's still not correct.  That said, you're right Grip that training jumps is essential to getting better jumps, but it's not the whole picture and it's absolutely not "the best way to improve your muscles you use for JUMPING."

[Maurizio Faleo]

I read that's useful do squat but at bodyweight or with additional weight? I'm sorry for my english 

[Ryan Anthony Vetter]

I read that's useful do squat but at bodyweight or with additional weight? I'm sorry for my english 

Aye, don't worry about your english, it's good enough for me because you're trying to do your best.

I would imagine you should start with less than your body weight, probably 1/4^th your weight, then if this proves too simple increase to about 50% of your body weight. Keep increasing this weight until you're at a point where it actually causes durable stress on your legs.

[Maurizio Faleo]

Thank you very much 

[Alexz]

Do negatives, jump off every high thing you see and then eventually you'll be able to jump back on to it.

[Brett Robert]

I read that's useful do squat but at bodyweight or with additional weight? I'm sorry for my english 

You should do weighted squats if you have access to an Olympic Weight set.  Either find a coach to learn the technique, or learn (at your own risk) from YouTube & books.  Try Mark Rippetoe's videos, he's an authority on the subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kawBY5p29fQ

Do negatives, jump off every high thing you see and then eventually you'll be able to jump back on to it.

This is literally the worst advice I could possibly imagine.  Following this advice will likely cause injury.  If you're serious you should stop posting advice and learn more about anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics.  If you're not serious, this probably isn't the thread when you're dealing with a non-native English speaker.

[Ryan Anthony Vetter]

This is literally the worst advice I could possibly imagine.  Following this advice will likely cause injury.  If you're serious you should stop posting advice and learn more about anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics.  If you're not serious, this probably isn't the thread when you're dealing with a non-native English speaker.

Sounds about right, level jumps would be better then downward at this point.

[Alexz]

This is literally the worst advice I could possibly imagine.  Following this advice will likely cause injury.  If you're serious you should stop posting advice and learn more about anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics.  If you're not serious, this probably isn't the thread when you're dealing with a non-native English speaker.

I'm serious

[Steven Low]

Squats, Deadlifts, Power cleans, supplemented with long or broad jump skill practice. Plyometrics (if you want reactive ability) can be added in later,

There is absolutely no reason you should be jumping off stuff and taking drops. Depth drops as a subset of plyometrics is only used by ELITE athletes (who already squat >2x bodyweight) and never go above waist height anyway.... and they are used to develop reactive ability. NOT the ability to statically jump.

[Maurizio Faleo]

Thanks to all, I'm starting to squat weighted and I think to add plyometrics later 

[wolf555]

So basically if I jump out of my window (I'm on the 4th floor) every morning to go to work I will eventually be able to jump back up? If so this would save me SOOO much time at lunch (I'm being sarcastic here by the way)

[David Glass]

Wolf, it seems this question has been settled

I don't know if it has been mentioned, or highlighted enough, but vertical height is achieved by both the actual jump height and the degree to which you can tuck to either clear or land an obstacle; this is why it is important to train vertical jumps while attempting to clear or land obstacles

That said, while strength is also a huge factor, explosiveness is even greater. For jumping, deadlifts and squats are important, but I would bring more explosive lifts such as the clean and the snatch to the forefront of your training; these lifts require a greater degree of skill and technique, but are very rewarding once you get them right. I'm not sure how many here would disagree, but I regard the clean as a "Power Deadlift + Front Squat" combined... huge bang for your buck

[Tom Coppola]

I have to disagree with people recommending Oly lifting.  If your main goal is to improve at parkour you should stick with training parkour (sport-specific plyometrics) and add in extra strength training via squat and deadlift.  Oly lifting requires a lot of skill practice and is pretty strenuous on your joints.  So Oly lifting combined with the stress of parkour is probably not the best route, especially for a novice.  Not to mention if you spend all your time learning how to snatch, c&j, etc, then that's time you're not spending on parkour skill work and/or quality strength work.

[Steven Low]

I have to disagree with people recommending Oly lifting.  If your main goal is to improve at parkour you should stick with training parkour (sport-specific plyometrics) and add in extra strength training via squat and deadlift.  Oly lifting requires a lot of skill practice and is pretty strenuous on your joints.  So Oly lifting combined with the stress of parkour is probably not the best route, especially for a novice.  Not to mention if you spend all your time learning how to snatch, c&j, etc, then that's time you're not spending on parkour skill work and/or quality strength work.

I would agree with this.

It really depends what your goals are though.

[David Glass]

I would agree with this.

It really depends what your goals are though.

I have to say I can see where you guys are coming from in terms of skill specific training, but at the same time, I hope you can benefit from my personal experience with oly lifting.

Four years back I had all sorts of mobility and strength issues and while my primary goal was to be good at parkour (which I still am not), I decided that a more structured approach to my training would be required or my current limitations would cause me to shy away from it altogether.

I think skill based training will teach you to maximize your current strength and power levels, IF you haven't already, and that's the key. IF you haven't, it will give you the most bang for your buck in the very early stages of your training, but once you've done that, you're going to want to have a foundation to fall back on in order to continue to progress

Back to my personal experience, I took the Vertical test recommended on this site, where you jump up and paste a piece of tape to mark your highest leap, and pretty much forgot about it while I focused heavily on oly lifting... well, on my own version of CrossFit that required more and heavier oly lifts in the workouts, and pretty much came back to the vertical a few months later, solely for the purpose of pointing out to a friend what "vertical" meant.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did my vertical gain a full foot, but somehow, I knew it had... I knew how high I could jump and what I could reach... Was the combination of oly + parkour stressful on my knees? Not really, but you can argue I wasn't doing a ton of parkour anyway.

I have since deviated from oly lifts in favor of more power lifting, and have consequently noted mild regressions in terms of both the vertical and the broach jump, but I suspect I will be quickly regaining those few inches (and then some) as I resume more skill based, and yes, more power based training (in the form of oly lifts)

Now, full disclosure, I'm going to be 40 in the next couple of months, and I weigh about 205 lbs. You can argue that, 4 years ago (at 235# with chicken legs and huge mobility challenges), to think I was going to have a 9' or 10' broad jump without some massive strength gains (and some weight loss), would have been laughable, so I made a choice that was clear to me given the circumstances I was presented with at the time.

The point I'm trying to make is, take a look in the mirror, in a matter of speaking, see where you are at, and what will get you where you want to be. If you think you have enough leg strength to propel you those few extra inches, and you think those few will be enough, then focus on skill and skill alone. If you, like me, know that once you get those inches you're only going to want more, start building strength and power now, don't wait until you've maximized the benefits of skill based training.

[Steven Low]

I would no doubt say that it depends how much parkour skill work you are doing to figure out what is optimal. I mean, if you're getting out 3-4+ times a week for a few hours, I don't think your joints are going to be able to handle the workload of 2-3x a week lifting + Oly lifting. Even doing 2-3x squat/DL may be too much.

There is also a skill component of learning to broad jump and vertical leap. Oly can definitely help reinforce proper hip mechanics for the jump which will put a lot of height on your vertical especially if you were mostly jumping from your quads/calves before.

As I said though, it really depends on what your goals/focus is. If you're taking a hiatus from parkour then maybe Oly lifting is something that can help significantly. However, if you're one of the guys getting out a lot then it's definitely probably not going to be a good idea.