Monday, December 17, 2007

Huge Jump....



I found that on YouTube. There are a few other videos there from the same guys, most of which are of them doing Olympic Lifts.

For example:



Goes to show that explosive power and Oly Lifting go together.

Then again I was just reading Vern Gambetta's "Athletic Development":

Another argument given for the use of the Olympic lifting movements is that they help with jumping because in biochemical analysis of Olympic lifting, the pattern of force closely resembles the vertical jump. I may be missing something here, but then why not just jump with resistance? Learning and mastering the technical complexity of Olympic lifting movements to improve jumping seems to be a stretch.


That said he is still keen on the Olympic lifts - modified where necessary to fit the body type of the athlete.

Adapt the method to the athlete; don't adapt the athlete to the method. Remember you are not training Olympic lifters: you are training athletes who use the Olympic lifts and their derivatives to raise explosive power.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris,

What is your take on squats and deadlifts enhancing vertical jump? While the movement aren't as explosive as the clean and the snatch, they still require strength.

Any thoughts?

Chris said...

Hi there

I think generally getting stronger - e.g. through squats or deads - will help to some degree, but if you want specifically to improve your vertical jump there are better ways to go about it.

There are a few posts on this blog tagged with "jump" and you should flick through them. They say basically don't stretch first but do use plyometrics. There was also a study here that proposed that "The results suggest that subject's own body provides the optimal load for producing maximum mechanical output in vertical jumping. If corroborated by the results of future studies performed on other rapid movement, our findings could support the hypothesis that the muscular system is designed for producing maximum mechanical output in rapid movements when loaded only with the weight and inertia of its own body."

You also have to think about specificity - if you want to be a better jumper, you need to jump! You also need to train the movements and the "power" - being explosive. You might like to think around the concepts that Vern Gambetta discusses here

So I'd say jump and also do movements that mimic the jump and strengthen that pattern - swings, snatches etc...and be explosive as that is what you are trying to develop.