Do you watch sports on TV that involves athletes jumping fairly high? I am not only talking about track and field sports, but also ball games like basketball or volleyball. Isn’t it amazing how high some athletes can jump? Why are modern high jumpers hitting the stratosphere near the eight foot mark? How can a basketballer jump high, twist and turn between opponents that are trying to steal the ball from him and then slam the ball into the basket and make it look so easy?

For one these athletes have a certain talent for what they do. But there is also a tremendous amount of work behind these successes. Much more than we would expect actually. Shooting your body up into the air for vertical height requires some serious amount of leg muscles. But pure muscle will not do it alone and so you need to consider proper training techniques that allow you to jump high as if you would be shot into the air by a rocket. [click to continue…]