I Increased My Vertical 3.5" In Three Weeks

[Gary Gibson]

Barefoot I just jumped and hit my head on an 8' ceiling. I'm 5'9 1/2" without shoes.

That's a vertical of 26.5". Nothing impressive. Except that three weeks ago my vertical was 23".

I want to believe that I've jumped between 24 and 25" in the past when I was at my absolute strongest last year and very well rested. But my life was in transition then and my records are sketchy. My head hitting the 8' ceiling today was a very definitive measure of my vertical leap height, however. I told myself that when I hit the ceiling, I would KNOW that I've made progress. I didn't know if it would happen and I certainly didn't think it would happen this quickly.

I've been trying for over a year to translate my increased leg strength into power as manifested by higher leaping. I've nearly broken myself with Olympic style weightlifting. I've practiced jumping: onto high boxes, with weights, with pauses, without weigths. None of these things worked.

But I still believed that the best way to improve leg power was jumping against resistance. Joe DeFranco is convinced of this too. He successfully prepares athletes to shine in the NFL Combine and claims that jump training is the number one way to increase power, NOT Olympic lifting. Joe uses box squats with bands and various jumps as his Dynamic Effort Day and with great results.

So I decided to keep jumping, but to use bands when I did it. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Jack Woodrup of VerticalJumping.com. His site is full of very good information and he strongly endorsed the Portable Power Jumper from Lifeline USA. The PPJ is basically a way to wear bands. There are two ankle strap contraptions that anchor up to three bands of varying strengths that then loop around the head. I saw an immediate increase of 2" in my vertical in my first session using the bands. A week later I saw a 2" increase in my broad jump as well. And today, still a few days shy of my third session with the bands, and tired from a max effort deadlift session, I jumped my highest ever: high enough to hit my 69.5" crown on a 96" ceiling.

I don't know how much more--if any--increase I'll see, but this is only the third week and after my second session. I have no reason to believe that I won't see more gains for a while before they start to peter out at which point my power/speed training would require more complexity.

But I didn't even know for sure if it was really possible to increase vertical (and broad jump) ability. Not only did I manage to increase it, but I did it rapidly and without Olympic lifts. Just had to put on a few bands and jump.

[EJLouis]

Gary!!!

Hope to hear more about what you've been up to.

Cheers,
E

[mstrofbass]

Holy shit, look who it is!

[mstrofbass]

Barefoot I just jumped and hit my head on an 8' ceiling. I'm 5'9 1/2" without shoes.

That's a vertical of 26.5". Nothing impressive. Except that three weeks ago my vertical was 23".

I want to believe that I've jumped between 24 and 25" in the past when I was at my absolute strongest last year and very well rested. But my life was in transition then and my records are sketchy. My head hitting the 8' ceiling today was a very definitive measure of my vertical leap height, however. I told myself that when I hit the ceiling, I would KNOW that I've made progress. I didn't know if it would happen and I certainly didn't think it would happen this quickly.

I've been trying for over a year to translate my increased leg strength into power as manifested by higher leaping. I've nearly broken myself with Olympic style weightlifting. I've practiced jumping: onto high boxes, with weights, with pauses, without weigths. None of these things worked.

But I still believed that the best way to improve leg power was jumping against resistance. Joe DeFranco is convinced of this too. He successfully prepares athletes to shine in the NFL Combine and claims that jump training is the number one way to increase power, NOT Olympic lifting. Joe uses box squats with bands and various jumps as his Dynamic Effort Day and with great results.

So I decided to keep jumping, but to use bands when I did it. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Jack Woodrup of VerticalJumping.com. His site is full of very good information and he strongly endorsed the Portable Power Jumper from Lifeline USA. The PPJ is basically a way to wear bands. There are two ankle strap contraptions that anchor up to three bands of varying strengths that then loop around the head. I saw an immediate increase of 2" in my vertical in my first session using the bands. A week later I saw a 2" increase in my broad jump as well. And today, still a few days shy of my third session with the bands, and tired from a max effort deadlift session, I jumped my highest ever: high enough to hit my 69.5" crown on a 96" ceiling.

I don't know how much more--if any--increase I'll see, but this is only the third week and after my second session. I have no reason to believe that I won't see more gains for a while before they start to peter out at which point my power/speed training would require more complexity.

But I didn't even know for sure if it was really possible to increase vertical (and broad jump) ability. Not only did I manage to increase it, but I did it rapidly and without Olympic lifts. Just had to put on a few bands and jump.

I think you're eliminating a huge, and probably simpler explanation: The PPJ actually improved your jumping TECHNIQUE, nothing more, nothing less.

[Gary Gibson]

I think you're eliminating a huge, and probably simpler explanation: The PPJ actually improved your jumping TECHNIQUE, nothing more, nothing less.

There is no explanation here, just a sequence of events. Tried for years to jump higher and couldn't. I used this thing a couple of times and gained over 3". Take from that what you will.

[Paul Sousa]

This thread made me laugh. You descended into some serious madness with the high frequency squatting and then the oly work, only to end up strapping some elastics to your ankles and jumping a bunch.

[ColoWayno]

hit my head

You can hurt yourself that way, young man.

[Gary Gibson]

This thread made me laugh. You descended into some serious madness with the high frequency squatting and then the oly work, only to end up strapping some elastics to your ankles and jumping a bunch.

A couple of years ago I would have given my eyeteeth for a legitimate way to increase my vertical/broad jump. Now that I've found it I'm pretty excited to share it.

[Paul Sousa]

A couple of years ago I would have given my eyeteeth for a legitimate way to increase my vertical/broad jump. Now that I've found it I'm pretty excited to share it.

Just out of curiosity, as I know you've wanted an improved vertical for some time, now that it has improved what are your plans for it? Do you have a goal of dunking, or broad jumping a group of midgets or something?

[EJLouis]

Just out of curiosity, as I know you've wanted an improved vertical for some time, now that it has improved what are your plans for it? Do you have a goal of dunking, or broad jumping a group of midgets or something?

Instead of surviving being hit by vehicles using strength, he now plans on jumping out of the way using his improved vertical.