Vertical Leap Training

**STAYHUNGRY** · 06-01-2006, 08:19 PM

I was looking this up on the internet and was surprised to see that the highest vertical leap of any Olympian was Nicu Vlad, who was a Powerlifter that competed in the clean and the snatch. He had a 43 inch vertical leap!!!!!! That is higher than Vince Carter, Michael Jordan and almost any professional athlete. The reason was that he combined strength and speed, which is called Plyometrics. To snatch the type of weight he was snatching took a perfect balance of explosiveness and strength. He is even in the world record book as having the highest vertical leap. It shows how sport specific training can benefit an athlete. Olympic lifts are purely Plyometric lifts that combine strength and speed. Another athlete who had over a 40 inch vertical leap was powerlifter Mark Henry, who later joined the WWE wrestling group. He was officially recorded at a 41 inch vertical leap and could two hand dunk a basketball at 5'9 and 330 lbs of bodyweight. Anyone who is looking to improve explosiveness, jumping,etc, should definetly look into powerlifting and Olympic style lifting with expolsiveness.

S-H

**buckeyefootball4** · 06-01-2006, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by STAYHUNGRY

I was looking this up on the internet and was surprised to see that the highest vertical leap of any Olympian was Nicu Vlad, who was a Powerlifter that competed in the clean and the snatch. He had a 43 inch vertical leap!!!!!! That is higher than Vince Carter, Michael Jordan and almost any professional athlete. The reason was that he combined strength and speed, which is called Plyometrics. To snatch the type of weight he was snatching took a perfect balance of explosiveness and strength. He is even in the world record book as having the highest vertical leap. It shows how sport specific training can benefit an athlete. Olympic lifts are purely Plyometric lifts that combine strength and speed. Another athlete who had over a 40 inch vertical leap was powerlifter Mark Henry, who later joined the WWE wrestling group. He was officially recorded at a 41 inch vertical leap and could two hand dunk a basketball at 5'9 and 330 lbs of bodyweight. Anyone who is looking to improve explosiveness, jumping,etc, should definetly look into powerlifting and Olympic style lifting with expolsiveness.

S-H

vince 43in

mj 48in

spud 46in

dee brown 44

and i have many more.

**spywizard** · 06-01-2006, 10:03 PM

Plyometrics has always been the defacto for building vertical jumps..

**buckeyefootball4** · 06-01-2006, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by spywizard

Plyometrics has always been the defacto for building vertical jumps..

not always depends who u r working with..

**STAYHUNGRY** · 06-01-2006, 11:26 PM

Jordans vertical leap was verified when he joined the baseball team during his baseball period. It was 42 inches and this is verified in MANY different places including the Bullls AND the baseball archives. Plus, 48 inches is EXACTLY four feet in the air, how suspicious such an exact figure. I was just posting some interesting info. It is all backed up however. Do research before questioning.

**buckeyefootball4** · 06-02-2006, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by STAYHUNGRY

Jordans vertical leap was verified when he joined the baseball team during his baseball period. It was 42 inches and this is verified in MANY different places including the Bullls AND the baseball archives. Plus, 48 inches is EXACTLY four feet in the air, how suspicious such an exact figure. I was just posting some interesting info. It is all backed up however. Do research before questioning.

u do research idiot. who cares when he was playing baseball im talking about when he was at his peak.

**STAYHUNGRY** · 06-02-2006, 11:07 PM

I will back down so it doesn't become a flame board. When it gets into name calling and unintelligent responses we should all try to just keep everything on track for a board that informs and educates through lifters and bodybuilders experiences. I'll concede to you my friend, so that this board doesn't go the way of so many other boards on the net. Just mellow out bro. Figure out what this board is all about and then come back.

STAYHUNGRY

**buckeyefootball4** · 06-03-2006, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by STAYHUNGRY

I will back down so it doesn't become a flame board. When it gets into name calling and unintelligent responses we should all try to just keep everything on track for a board that informs and educates through lifters and bodybuilders experiences. I'll concede to you my friend, so that this board doesn't go the way of so many other boards on the net. Just mellow out bro. Figure out what this board is all about and then come back.

STAYHUNGRY

good job and stayhungry

**Tank75** · 06-03-2006, 09:07 AM

whenever my kids (i'm a coach) start to fight, I always remind them that we make better friends than enemies.

no matter which one of you is right, i think we can all agree that there are some amazing athletes out there and that olympic lifts and plyometric workouts could be one of the keys to their success.

my workouts at this point are primarily olympic in style and when I start my cycle this week I'll keep you posted on how this affects my own jumping ability and overall athleticism.

**buckeyefootball4** · 06-03-2006, 11:58 AM

when you are working with kids that are weak AKA high schoolers there is no need to have them during advance plyos etc, just get them stronger and add in some base plyos down road like jump rope, skipping etc.

**scriptfactory** · 06-03-2006, 03:54 PM

The world record holder for vertical leap is Darrell Griffith, a basketball player, with a vertical leap of over 4 feet (48")...

**Tank75** · 06-04-2006, 09:29 AM

yeah, you definitely don't need to have young people doing these types of lifts... in the off season, however, we do build up to some basic box jumping and plyometric work and i try to teach them the basics of a good squat, bench press, and clean, but not the snatch because that puts a lot of stress on the shoulder. i know that when i went to play college ball i was so far behind everyone because i was never exposed to those explosive lifts at all. gotta start small and work big.

**Badgerman** · 07-09-2006, 10:29 AM

My son is 5'9"........590x4 squat.......bench 370.........weighs 190........solid
36" vertical (top 20 at stanford nike camp).
He did alot of things for vertical.......but I think the complex training helped the most.......squats followed by box jumps........but you have to be REALLY
careful with box jumps........it generates so much force.
He's just starting to do hang cleans etc more often.
On power cleans he working on catching the bar at the very bottom to engage the glute ham complex better.......
On of the best exercises for vertical is to just go jump for the rim........vary the weight........one day wear a vest......the other time have somebody give you a boost so your contraction speed is higher.
Similar to throwers using weights on each side of the actual implement weight

**Badgerman** · 07-09-2006, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by Tank75

whenever my kids (i'm a coach) start to fight, I always remind them that we make better friends than enemies.

no matter which one of you is right, i think we can all agree that there are some amazing athletes out there and that olympic lifts and plyometric workouts could be one of the keys to their success.

my workouts at this point are primarily olympic in style and when I start my cycle this week I'll keep you posted on how this affects my own jumping ability and overall athleticism.

Don't be sad if initially your vertical drops.......just be patient......the neuro adaptation will come.......and don't forget to jump some.......

**Badgerman** · 07-09-2006, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by buckeyefootball4

when you are working with kids that are weak AKA high schoolers there is no need to have them during advance plyos etc, just get them stronger and add in some base plyos down the in like jump rope, skipping etc.

I agree.......I think the guidline is you shoyld be able to squat 2 times your body weight before you even think about plyos.

Man........there are so many ways to train.......

**ThatAthlete82** · 09-13-2011, 02:23 PM

For what it's worth, when I was in college I trained at a specialty gym for this sort of stuff in the off season. My VJ was 37 inches(pretty good for a white guy haha). In about an hour and a half workout we would stretch, roll out, and warm up. Did some small muscle lifts for the hip fluxor and other small muscles around the waist. Single leg RDL's and some light band work. Then the heavy lifts we did were step ups and hang cleans. Then we just jumped for like 40 minutes: DL box jumps, SL box jumps, box jumps with a weight vest, a box jump complex with a med ball, continual broad jumps. Basically, jump a lot with resistance and for lifting concentrate on single leg exercises with cleans as your base(I'm not a fan of heavy squat-others will tell you different /shrug).