How to Increase your Vertical Leap with Band Training

Last Updated on January 11, 2009 by Jimson Lee

This is Part 2 of a 6 part series guest blogged by Strength & Conditioning Coach Virgil Aponte.

How to Jump Higher! Vertical Leap Secrets From the World’s Best Strength Coaches – Part 2

As I mentioned in part one in late 2006 I decided to get on the phone and grill over 13 world class strength coaches on their vertical training methods. How can you go wrong when you have over 13 of the nation’s best experts teach you first hand what they know on vertical jump training?

And the best thing for me was the learning experience. I learned so much from these world class coaches and here is my chance to share what I learned. I must warn you though: There is a chance you can bang your head on the rim by following these vertical jump tips!

In part 1 of this series I got a chance to share vertical jump training secrets from 3 kettlebell training experts. If you did not read part 1 makes sure to check it because there is a great deal you can learn from these gentlemen.

Next I got chance to grill Jon Hinds, Dave Schmitz and Burke Spencer. They are true gentlemen, world class strength coaches but they too share a unique distinction. They are known in training circles as band training experts and each brings a unique twist to their band training expertise. Dave makes great use of the famous Flex Bands and Jon and Burke are the actually inventors of their band products.

For those that think band training is only for home gym workouts and general fitness tools think again. These gentlemen will teach you that they are excellent tools for maximizing your workouts and have the resume of working with elite pro athletes in many sports to prove it.

1. The big point to drive home is that you need to use a band that adds resistance but not so much that you wreck your form. Band training is meant to be fast so you need to choose an appropriate level of resistance. Dave Schmitz even spoke of the bigger guys being humbled by the use of the heaviest bands. This is certainly not the way to go. Once you can touch the rim with simple medium or even light bands get ready to start dunking and grabbing more rebounds!

2. Another big point these band experts drive home is the importance of proper technique: Remember to jump explosively and land quietly. As Jon Hinds put it: Land like a cat. Other tips to keep in mind are to keep your chest up and butt out, make sure knees track toward the second and big toe and your weight is distributed 50/50 on each side.

3. The great thing I love about bands is you work hard and fast with little resistance (compared to traditional weights).

So to review bands give you the ability to train fast with a resistance heavy enough to make you work harder and improve yet light enough that it does not destroy your form and hurt your progress. Bands are also great to drop in on almost any exercise. They all had slightly different ways of using bands but the premises were very similar. Train fast using movements that will maximize your jumping.

Jon Hinds really drove home another big point. Don’t forget to add jumping to increase your jumping ability. You’ll be surprised to see how many people forget this! We have many programs that focus on every exercise under the sun except what we are trying to do and that is jump!

Virgil Aponte brings over 12 years of experience as a Personal Trainer, High School PE Teacher and Strength & Conditioning Coach. He has trained hundreds of people including elite professional athletes of the Women’s National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. He earned his Master’s Degree in Physical Education from Brooklyn College and is an American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness Instructor. Based in Brooklyn New York he is considered by many fitness industry experts as the authority on stair exercise training and is the author and creator of the Ultimate Stair Exercises for Athletes. To learn more from about vertical jump training visit http://www.JumpExperts.com today!