Improving your vertical jump with squats and cleans
When it comes to improving your jumping ability, forget all the talk about complicated “miracle programs” featuring all kinds of squat variations. Different squat variations have their place in strength training, but not in developing jumping ability. The two most important exercises for improving your jumping ability are the standard barbell squat and the barbell clean. No athlete who jumps well, moves fast and is explosive has poor squat and clean numbers.
Did you know that powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters have the best vertical jumps of any athletes? They really do, yet they do absolutely no training specifically to improve their jumping ability.
Other athletes also have exceptional jumping ability, with vertical jumps reaching 100 cm or more. These include sprinters, football players, shot putters and discus throwers. All these athletes train primarily for strength and explosive power, rather than specifically to improve their jumping ability. Yet their strength training, including squats and cleans, gives them excellent jumping ability as a bonus.
Take a closer look at athletes with excellent jumping ability and you will quickly spot some clear similarities. All athletes who jump well are very strong. That means they can squat at least two times their body weight (2 x body weight) and clean a barbell weighing 1.5 x their body weight. Athletes who jump well perform these two exercises (the squat and the clean), and their numbers in both are very good.
So if your goal is a powerful jump, these two exercises should be your favorites in the gym. I (the author) have put together a selection of athletes with excellent jumping ability. Let’s take a look at their numbers.
Brian Urlacher
This American football player was already a fan of lower-body training at school. His coach had no problem with that either, telling him that training your upper body was optional, but training your lower body was a must. As long as Brian was squatting and cleaning, things were going well. He stood 193 cm tall and weighed 118 kg, with a 40-yard (36.6 m) time of 4.57 and a vertical jump of 96.5 cm. He could clean 185 kg and squat 250 kg.
Vernon Davis
An American football player with an exceptionally powerful physique. Vernon is the man whose job is to carry the ball over the goal line for a touchdown. He is 192.5 cm tall and weighs 115 kg. His 40-yard time is 4.38 and his vertical jump is 106.5 cm. Vernon squats 310 kg and cleans 165 kg.
Translator’s note: I strongly recommend taking a look to see who we’re talking about and what he can do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1FHm_EmcRw
Ben Johnson
There are unconfirmed rumors that Ben Johnson did no dedicated plyometric training at all. He is said to have focused mainly on sprinting itself, sprint intervals and lifting heavy weights in the gym. I (the author) have even read that he rarely ran intervals longer than 100 m, as he wanted to be as explosive and fast as possible over that short distance. His training focused entirely on activating his fastest muscle fibers to the fullest extent.
Johnson was very fast and explosive, and his start and initial acceleration were among the best of all time. This clearly stems from the fact that, at a body weight of 86 kg, he could squat 275 kg for 5 reps. We won’t get into whether he used performance-enhancing drugs to squat that much, but we can clearly see a strong connection between exceptional explosive power, speed and impressive squat numbers.
Maurice Greene
The former 100 m record holder (9.79) could squat 230 kg at a body weight of 77 kg. He had an excellent vertical jump and start.
Matt Shirvington
An Australian sprinter known for his exceptionally powerful starts. He cleans 120 kg with ease and squats 200 kg. He achieves these feats at a body weight of 80 kg.
Nicu Vlad
This weightlifting world record holder, weighing 102.5 kg, has recorded a vertical jump of 106.5 cm. He performed the jump in loose clothing and weightlifting shoes, without warming up.
Mark Henry
He stands 192.2 cm tall. He is a WWE wrestler who has also competed in Olympic weightlifting. He can easily dunk a basketball despite weighing 175 kg. His snatch and clean and jerk results are world-class, and he squats 477.5 kg and deadlifts 417.5 kg.
Brock Lesnar
The former professional wrestler and UFC fighter is an impressive figure. He is also 192.5 cm tall and weighs 128.5 kg, with a 40-yard time of 4.65 and a vertical jump of 89 cm. That is an incredible result considering that he was actually recovering from a serious motorcycle accident when he performed the jump. His bench press is 215 kg and his squat is 315 kg.
Fred “Dr. Squat” Hatfield
A powerlifter who squatted 454.5 kg at a body weight of 116 kg, so it is hardly surprising that his vertical jump was 101.5 cm.
Of course, squats and cleans are not the only strength exercises that improve jumping ability, but there is a strong connection between the athletes’ strength numbers in these lifts and their jumping ability. All the athletes mentioned are very strong in these two lifts in particular. So if you want to improve your jumping ability, these two exercises will help you reach new heights.
Article source: http://www.clutchfitness.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10009
Translator’s note: a quick clarification here—if your vertical jump is 100 cm, that does not mean you can jump onto an object 1 m high. It means you jump straight up into the air with your legs remaining straight, and the height of the jump is measured as the distance between your feet and the surface you jumped from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_grZppjtCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7r8RBdGMg0
Translated by Janar Rückenberg
Come and train! ArtGym
