Hey I need some advice on increasing my vertical jump. My goal is to be able to dunk I'm 5'10 and my growth is at it's max. If possible I'd prefer advice from people that has actually done the exercises and seen results cause I've been reading around a lot and can come up with some ideas that "should" help my vertical but I want people who has actually done it. I've only started 2-3 weeks but my current workout has been working out my legs 2x a week and playing basketball 2-3x a week vigorously. Workout is usually 4x10 squats, 4x10 leg press, 4x10 another machine similar to leg press, 4x10 calf raises with weights, and 2 other exercises working out calfs 4x10, 3x75 jumps for jump rope jumping. So far I haven't seen much results not sure if there is a lag time for the results to show but I'm open to suggestions that could help me increase my vertical drastically. Currently I can only grab rim or touch it from a standstill jump. Thanks for your help.

 

To understand how to train a body part just brake down the mechanics of what you want to train for. Vert jump is an indication of leg power therefore doing cardio work is pointless and strength work only partially beneficial.



I would focus the gym efforts on range of motion and power as the main ideas and strength as the secondary. The guidline for rep range for power is 4-6 strength is 8-10. So upon entering the sessions make sure you are fired up and ready to train, have you leg muscles and joint well warmed for battle. Begin with power work and use only compound movements.For legs you can look at split squats, front squats, deadlifts and basic power squats. I would utilize two exercises for up to 6 training sets, with warm up sets before.



At that point work on the strength portion by doing the isolation work like leg curls and calf press. Make sure to incorporate some box jumps on one day of the training and train your verticals on another. It does not make sense to leave them out of the training if your goal in training is to make them better.



Do keep up any of your cardio work but do you leg training on days when the load is lighter, and make sure to have atleast two days off in between this type of training as your nervous system takes quite a hit. Now with decreased reps means higher weights, please remember to do this safely and use a spotter. Follow guidlines specificly for each movement and potentially look into an ergogenic aid such as a weight training belt.



Oh and it wouldn't hurt to supplement with some creatine on these training days.

 

I didn't see any weighted jump training in your list. You want to be able to JUMP better so weight yourself down and JUMP. Mind the ankles on landings though.

 

For jumping, you need to increase your "fast twitch" muscles. Doing 8-10 reps for strenght training isn't quite what you're after. You need to do training that increases the speed of your leg muscles, rather than just brute strenth. There's a very small difference between the two but it's an important difference.

Something I've seen done is instead of using weights while jumping is strap yourself to the ground with excercise bungees (I think they make a specific kit for it). It's similar to using weights, but a lot more consistent (weights won't increase your downward acceleration, they just make it harder to go up, whereas bungees will do both). You'll feel as light as a feather after doing those!

And finally, don't expect to see results for at least 6 months. If you see results before that, great!! But don't be disappointed if it takes awhile.