Take your Game to the Next Level

Improving your vertical is something we are allways trying to
achieve! Plyometric exercising is a type of workout that develops
muscular explosion through exercises that utilize a variety of
physical movements.

Plyometrics are used in many sports to develop many different parts
of the body. In volleyball, these exercises focus solely on jumping
ability. There are a plethora of different exercises, involving
everything from ankle weights to stationary boxes.

If you really want to develop your jump to the maximum level, then
you should look for a book or website devoted to multiple-day
workout schedules. But there are a few simple exercises that should
get you heading in the right direction.

The first plyometric exercise is a simple squat jump. You will be
performing this jump from a stand-still. Bend your knees down to a
ninety degree angle, making it look like you are sitting on a chair.

Now explode from this position by jumping straight up in the air. I
think it is a good idea to keep you hands together in a ball in
front of you chest to keep you arms still while jumping up. This
will prevent you from adding to the height of your jump with the
upward swing of your arms, keeping all of the work and attention
on your legs, abs and lower back.

When you land from this jump, you want to slowly cushion you body
from the jump back down to the original stance with the knees bent
at ninety degrees. There should be no pausing between jumps, just
jumping, landing, and exploding back up again.

The key is to explode from the down position, and to repeat the
process continuously without any breaks. One set of this exercise
would be to simply jump until you can't jump anymore, but you
should probably put a cap on the set with 25 jumps max or until
exhaustion.

After a proper warm up and stretch, do three sets of this exercise.

You could add ankle weights to increase the difficulty of this
exercise, but beware that this can aggravate knee and back
tendonitis and other injuries.

Another exercise will require a box. The height of the box will vary
with every person, but since you will be making numerous jump
attempts, it should not be within eight inches your maximum standing
vertical jump.

With feet shoulder width apart, jump up onto the box, then step
down, and repeat. Like the last exercise, try not to pause at all in
between any reps. Three sets of twenty jumps are a sufficient
workout. This exercise is much more low impact then the previous
one.

The severity that plyometrics can have on a body, especially an
older or injury-ridden body, can be immense. You should always
monitor the amount of jumping you do with in one of these workouts,
and limit the amount of jumps you perform to 120-160 times. Pay
special attention to any injuries or lingering pains while
performing any plyometric exercise.

Special thanks to Hayley of volletball-magic.com for her insight on this article