5 Explosive Exercises For Your Vertical Jump

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Check out the five explosive exercises for increasing your vertical jump provided by Cody Roberts.

Cody Roberts is a Certified Strenth and Conditioning Coach at the University of Iowa, read more about Cody and his Athletic Development Program.

1. Squat

Whether you are back squatting with the bar, or doing body weight squats, this exercise is an essential part of a vertical jump program. This exercise will build strength in the legs and core, which are key in the landing phases of any plyometric program.

Cues: Start light, and stay rhythmic in the motion. As your form becomes better, start to add speed to the accent (up) phase by attempting to "push your feet into the ground" and "leading with the shoulders" on the way up.


2. Squat Jumps

This power movement exercise is vital to improving your vertical jump as it improves your explosiveness and strength in your lower body and core.

There are many different ways to perform a jump squat (body weight, weight on the shoulders, weight held low, bar on the back, etc.).


3. Box Jumps

We love these exercises, as they are relatively simple to master, but gives you a great way to train explosive movement.

This exercise is a counter movement jump. Go down fast and up fast, using the arms... the box is there only to break the landing.


4. Medicine Ball Throws

We want to keep some velocity and speed with our jumping movement and be explosive with a little bit of resistance and the medicine ball throw allows us to do that. Focus on loading the hips, heels and exploding.


5. Snap Downs

The snap down is where we learn to manage force. In this excercise the arms are over head and the legs are in a shoulder width stance.

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  • The surprising secrets D-I trainers use with their players (that most athletes have never heard of)
  • What you need to do BEFORE plyometrics to make sure you see the biggest vertical jump gains
  • Training methods that make sure your workouts translate to REAL RESULTS on the court
  • How to incorporate the Pyramid of Development into your workout program to enhance your results
  • 6 dynamic exercises you can use immediately (with video tutorials)

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Comments

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Paolo Cruz says:
4/30/2023 at 3:17:03 PM

How many reps per set, and how many sets for these exercises?
Thank you

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Daniel Rodriguez says:
10/24/2020 at 6:50:39 PM

Great set of exercises, regular weighted squats work pretty well for targeting the glutes, hamstrings, and quads. Though I think the jump squats can be swapped out since that exercise is a bit tough on the knee joints.

From what I've read kettlebell swings seem to be a good fit since they mimic the triple extension that occurs while jumping.

That way it's a close substitution for the jumping motion in jump squats, and kettlebell swings seem not only safer but more fun to perform.

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harris bavo says:
8/12/2020 at 7:42:05 AM

some how helping me with my basketball

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Rafael says:
6/27/2017 at 11:36:33 PM

Only thing worth mentioning is on the 1st vid, with the bar squats. I believe entirely full range of motion, however at the same time I'd be weary of knee locking. Knee locking can bring in a whole world of consequences.

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greg McBenchal says:
4/17/2017 at 12:08:37 AM

These works outs are weak sauce brah..me laugh at puny coach.

whats with having 10 year olds weight lifting brah.. thats a no go meng.

I got zip lock bags with protein shake farts tougher than this workout brah

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  1 reply  

Greg is a dummy says:
2/19/2020 at 10:50:44 AM

this might be the dumbest comment on the internet. Congrats... BRAH

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Mubashir Akhtar says:
2/20/2017 at 6:10:12 AM

This is a good article, and the videos just make it that much better. Most people might not think to use some of these exercises for basketball training!

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Christian says:
3/2/2016 at 10:48:47 AM

Is it good to do this workout routine 3times a week?

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Asas says:
12/8/2015 at 12:32:28 PM

Hello,
Its really a great post.Also very helpful videos.

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Patrick says:
7/1/2014 at 4:19:07 PM

Thanks for the videos they very helpful. These exercises some which were familiar to me, but would never thought to use or incorporate in basketball training. Great videos!

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Georges Hourani says:
6/2/2014 at 12:05:42 PM

i wondor doesn't weight effect the groth of the young player ???

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