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 don’t stretch and loosen before a game and as part of your training regime, you’re playing with the brakes on! 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; Stretching your routine as well as your glutes and hamstrings is fundamental to success; however when you do, you must adhere to the following principle of good stretching:
1. Warm up first. If you want your muscles to be soft and pliable, employing a thorough warm up will saturate the muscle fibres with blood and oxygen to help them lengthen.
2. Breathe deeply and evenly whilst stretching – 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. Change your routine periodically to keep it new and challenging – reaching a plateau in training and performance is quite natural – the body may prefer to stay in a comfortable routine but the shock and surprise of a new movement or extension is where the growth will stem from.
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."
We hope you’ve enjoyed this article and that it’s prompted you to take a different look at how to increase vertical jumps and try something new. If you really want to get the edge and learn the secrets that the away team don’t want you to know, take a sneaky look at our advanced programme here: http://www.improveverticaljump.org
Article Source: What Did Bruce Lee Teach The Cap About How to Increase Vertical Jumps?