So maybe you bought a good jump training program and have gained the first 6 to 8 inches in your vertical but now progress has stalled? Or maybe after weeks of hard training you still haven’t seen that initial gain that everyone says comes pretty quickly at first?
In either case, you are stuck at a plateau and your training is not producing any more gains. So what can you do?
Here is a list of possible reasons for the Plateau and what you can do about it.
* Poor nutrition: A mistake many athletes make is that they only take whey protein after training. A protein shake a day WILL INTERPRET in the results. A minimum should be three shakes a day, in the morning, after training and before bed. Another mistake is poor nutrition in general. If you think that everything your body needs is in the whey protein shake, you are wrong. Try to add fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet. Don’t you like to eat them? Put them in a blender and make them one of your protein shakes for the day. Olympic legend Carl Lewis had the highlights of his career at age 30 by switching to a diet of raw fruits and vegetables.
* No Glutes – No Results – So your squat has gone up a lot but your vertical hasn’t. Your glutes may be off and you are overcompensating with your quadriceps (thigh muscles). To activate the Glutes you have to FEEL THEM CONTRACT. Try box squats. As you lower the weight and sit on the box, all the stress is taken off the quads. Now as you stand up and begin the lift, dig your heels into the floor and FEEL your glutes contract. Another great posterior chain build is the wide stance squat. With a wide stance, with the toes slightly turned out (like the martial arts horse stance), the posterior chain will be forced to take over.
* Plyometric Form – You are stronger but still don’t explode. Video yourself jumping. Pay attention to how quickly you leave the ground. I did this and compared it to a friend of mine and my explosive take off was slow motion compared to his. Naturally, his vertical is much higher than mine, but I am stronger. Focus on maximum takeoff speed with each plyometric drill.
* Test your vertical after resting: By rest I don’t mean 30 minutes. When you train hard over time, the CNS (Central Nervous System) will wear out. The CNS is responsible for firing the muscles. Rest for 3-5 days and then test your vertical.
* Your Posterior Chain Is Still Weak – The main drivers of the jumping movement is the posterior chain (Glutes – Hamstrings – Lower Back). Advertising exercises that focus on these areas for greater leverage and explosive potential. There are examples of each exercise all over YouTube, so I won’t post examples in this article.
* Raise ham buttocks.
* Hyper and inverse hyper extensions.
* Barbell hip thrusts.
* Wide stance squats.
* Box squat.
If you think you’ve reached your vertical jumping potential, think again. I’ll end with a quote that I live by and perfectly sums up this article.
“There are no limits. Only plateaus. You must not stay there. You must go beyond them.” -Bruce Lee
