Steel21 - I think you should try and figure out what is holding your vert back and attack it. Just doing random bouts of exercise across the board will not do it.
a couple of posts that will help you here - opne from Joe Cole and the other from DBHammer
While reading subsequent posts about vertical jumping strategies I have to
say:
- Vertical jump training is misunderstood.
- Plyometrics are misunderstood.
There also seems to be some confusion about “training for weaknesses”.
Everyone here (I hope) is familiar with the teachings of dave tate & louie,
who preach about the benefits of focusing your training on correcting
weaknesses. I am completely in this camp.
The problem is - when it comes to vertical jump - what are your weaknesses?
How do you measure them and how do you correct them?
In my own training & while helpig others I use a few simple tests which give
a good idea of this:
-
A normal (counter-movement) vertical jump. Things to look for :
a. depth of knee bend
b. speed of reversal from eccentric-concentric
c. time to completion
d. position of hips/posture on takeoff (should be straight as a
pole, perpendicular to the ground)
e. position of arms on takeoff - (should be parallel to the ground
at takeoff and then move up)
-
A static hold vj - this should be a 4 second static hold with the same
angle at the knee that they used on the normal vj’s - you start at say
90degrees, hold for 4 seconds (min) and jump with NO counter-movement.
a. Do they perform a counter-movement (this shows they lack
strength/coordination at that position and are relying on their plyo
capability)
b. Height differential between normal and static (if the static is
very close or above (>95%) of the counter-movement jump, this means that
subsequent training should focus on plyo capability. If it is less than this
strength training is important. There are no strict numbers though.
c. position of hips/body
d. arm poosition
e. time taken
Of course, VJ is not really important – as the most important thing is the
actual biomechanics from the sport. This should be analysed correctly.
There is also the same type of testing completed with squats ( both knees
forward (high bar) and hips back), deads & good mornings with up to 3rm and
60% 1rm weights going for speed.
Doing this testing you can see most of the motor qualities that are needed
(and deficient) in the athlete.
The secret to the training as you would expect is to continually test and
re-evaluate the training methods. It is an iterative system:
e.g. an athlete comes in the 70% sj/jj. We do weights & stop all
plyos. The athlete re-tests and is 98% sj/vj. We concentrate on plyos until
next testing… Etc etc etc.
In the software world, this is a subset of a methodology called “agile
development” which in a nutshell is basically a continual
test-evaluate-improve cycle.
There are probably errors in this, so don’t hound me , its Monday morning
and im buggered.
Any questions?
Joe Cole
With your goals in mind, I would have to assess your reactive ability, for starters. One way to do this is to use a reactive jump pad which incorporates switches to measure how long it takes for you to go from contact to contact(toe off to landing), in time, then converts this to a readout that is expressed in height. This simple unit, which is very inexpensive if you build it yourself, and relatively inexpensive if you buy one from a distributor, gives you the tool you need to perform this test.
What you will do is perform a down and up vertical jump on the mat. Then, you will gradually work up in drop height, into a reactive jump, and measure the according reactive height achieval as you go. For example:
90cm down and up
50cm drop/92 cm reactive jump(RJ)
65cm drop/ 95 cm RJ
80 cm drop/ 97 cm RJ
95 cm drop/ 99 cm RJ
105 cm drop/ 98 cm RJ
100 cm drop/ 96 cm RJ
Thus, your greatest RJ height was attained at a 95cm drop(99cm RJ)- for this example. With this test, there are a few phenomenon that will result:
(1) Your down and up vertical will be greater than your RJ ability.
(2) Your down and up vertical will be less than your RJ ability
(3) Your down and up vertical will be equal to your RJ ability.
Now, if your situation is #1 then you need to incorporate my neuro-rate and neuro-magnitude methodics immediately. (note: this is the general need…without diving too deep into the matter)
But, if your situation is likened to #2 then you need to take a closer look (even generally speaking):
(a) Your RJ ability will spike early and then decay late(i.e. best RJ at nil cm drop all the way to 90cm+ drop without a gain or loss).
(b) Your RJ ability will rise in relation to the drop-height you impose on the system(your body).
If your situation is a then you need to introduce more neuro-magnitude work, including EMS.
If your situation is b then you need to concentrate more on the supportive elements of neuro-duration, neuro-rate, as well as an-2 work.
Relating back to the general test, if your down and up vertical equals your RJ ability(#3) then you need to take a “lop-sided” approach(note: this situation poses the greatest potential for immediate gains, of which will quickly lead into a situation b type circumstance. For some this will mean concentration of neuro-mag and neuro-duration. For others this will mean concentration of neuro-mag and neuro-rate. The determinent is to recognize at what point your RJ ability decayed. Was it above or below your VJ height? The more significant your RJ ability maintained the peak above a height equal to your VJ height the more neuro-duration work should be employed in your lop-sided approach. The opposite is also true; the lower your RJ peak is attained in relation to a drop height equal to your VJ height proves an escalating need for neuro-rate and neuro-mag work.
All right, buddy, only so much time can be spent on one question. Hopefully this gives a little bit of a nudge in the right direction. A more detailed exploration, specifically a case by case examination, can be addressed in any one of our consultation packages.
some terms to help you guys
Neuro-Duration - basicly strength work
Neuro-Magnitude - basicly power/explosiness and reactivity, think speed squats, depth jumps, alitutde drops etc,
Neuro-Rate - rapid fire automatic cyclic movements, ie sprints