I have a question about my squat stance, I am doing 5/3/1 to gain strength. One of my motivations is trying to dunk. What stance is the best for squats for lets say for jumping higher? I usually do feet shoulder width and really hit my quads by going low.
Would going a little wider and maybe feet pointed out more be more effective? Just need some advice. Currently squatting 1rm 350. Shooting for 405. I do assistance one leg press, leg extension, and leg curls after my leg workout.
Jump up. See where your feet land. That’s your stance.
You need to do dynamic and plyometric type exercises. It’s not enough to be strong. Your neuromuscular system needs to be very quick and responsive so you need to train your legs to hit the ground and immediately spring into the air.
Also, sprint.
Google: DeFranco The Fabulous 15 “Top 15 Exercises for Higher Vertical Jumps”
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[quote]Haldor wrote:
Jump up. See where your feet land. That’s your stance.
You need to do dynamic and plyometric type exercises. It’s not enough to be strong. Your neuromuscular system needs to be very quick and responsive so you need to train your legs to hit the ground and immediately spring into the air.
Also, sprint.[/quote]
Oh yeah! I do hills and sprints a lot, plyo with a vest too. Just wondering what’s the best stance to add to all of that
Do what Jim did and I think suggested have some one measure across your shoulders mark the floor that’s where your feet go toes slightly out , I did it and felt more stable even down in the hole, even if you have a knee wanting to come in, you will know and then you can mental cue knee out, to me it just feels more of a natural movement by setting up that way.
When I was younger I had the same goal. I’m 5’10" and white, so dunking didn’t come easy. I went from not touching the rim, or just barely touching it to being able to get down a 360 dunk. Now I can only dunk once in a while. Most of the time I bang the ball off the back of the rim. Here’s my advice to improve your jump.
For the squat I would use a stance around shoulders width. You probably won’t be using a squat suit, so there’s no reason to use a wider stance. Also, I would use a low-bar squat if you can learn it easily. This will put more emphasis on your posterior chain which is the most important muscles for jumping.
As for the rest of your training, I will agree with the poster that mentioned plyometrics, but you want to be careful that you don’t overdo the jumping.
Too much jumping can cause jumper’s knee or patellar tendinitis. I developed jumper’s knee in high school, and my knees still bother me when I play basketball. Stay away from programs like Air Alert that have you doing hundreds of jumps a day. If you want a fun way to practice jumping just find a low net and practice some crazy dunks. If you’re playing basketball everyday you may not need to practice jumping much.
When you’re in the weight room, you should be doing power cleans or hang cleans. These will combine strength with speed which will help your jump. You should also train the deadlift. These will help with explosiveness because you’re lifting from a dead stop. I don’t care if you use a trap bar, or which deadlift stance you use. Just deadlifting will help your jump. You shoul also make sure that you’re training your upper body evenly. You swing your arms when you jump, so there’s a chain of muscles firing from your shoulders to your feet.
Do this and have fun dunking.
[quote]Randy Tongue wrote:
When I was younger I had the same goal. I’m 5’10" and white, so dunking didn’t come easy. I went from not touching the rim, or just barely touching it to being able to get down a 360 dunk. Now I can only dunk once in a while. Most of the time I bang the ball off the back of the rim. Here’s my advice to improve your jump.
For the squat I would use a stance around shoulders width. You probably won’t be using a squat suit, so there’s no reason to use a wider stance. Also, I would use a low-bar squat if you can learn it easily. This will put more emphasis on your posterior chain which is the most important muscles for jumping.
As for the rest of your training, I will agree with the poster that mentioned plyometrics, but you want to be careful that you don’t overdo the jumping.
Too much jumping can cause jumper’s knee or patellar tendinitis. I developed jumper’s knee in high school, and my knees still bother me when I play basketball. Stay away from programs like Air Alert that have you doing hundreds of jumps a day. If you want a fun way to practice jumping just find a low net and practice some crazy dunks. If you’re playing basketball everyday you may not need to practice jumping much.
When you’re in the weight room, you should be doing power cleans or hang cleans. These will combine strength with speed which will help your jump. You should also train the deadlift. These will help with explosiveness because you’re lifting from a dead stop. I don’t care if you use a trap bar, or which deadlift stance you use. Just deadlifting will help your jump. You shoul also make sure that you’re training your upper body evenly. You swing your arms when you jump, so there’s a chain of muscles firing from your shoulders to your feet.
Do this and have fun dunking.[/quote]
I currently do the 5/3/1 program so I have deadlifts every week and play ball everyday usually! I appreciate the advice, I will def have to look into low bar squatting.