I know, what a ridiculous title to this post. Like you really need help learning how to jump. While jumping might seem like a simple task, it is amazing how many things you can actually do wrong with just a “basic” movement.
You see, I have a pretty strong passion for jumping. It was something I was always good at and I development my craft over the years. When I was in middle school I competed on the Varsity track team as a high jumper. After a successful high school career ending as the New York State High Jump Champ and National All-American, I went on to compete at the University of Connecticut. There I had another successful career as a 4 time Big East Champ and All-American.
I am not bring this up to brag how awesome I am, well maybe a little. I bring this up because I know quite a bit about jumping and how to improve your jumping ability.
So many mistakes are made with jumping and huge opportunities are missed for getting over walls or other obstacles where jumping ability is needed.
While there are many aspects of jumping we can break down, let’s focus on one of the biggest areas that individuals are missing out. Many think that jumping ability is a lower body power movement. Obviously lower body power is a critical part of jumping, you can’t forget about the involvement of the upper body.
Lack of arm drive is probably the biggest mistake made with jumping exercises.
You can still jump and develop some power with no arm drive, but you will be missing out on huge power potential. Here is an example of a box jump with pretty much no arm drive.
Now, just swinging your arms is a great start, there is one more aspect of the upper body. Remember one of Newton’s Laws, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. While most movements we create, it all starts with the ground.
If you want to jump higher you need to create more for going into the ground.
If you can do that, you generate more force moving away from the ground, getting you up higher. If we add the arms now you can drive down to the floor and them explode up.
So to start a jump reach your hands high in the air. On the preload, you drive your hands down as you load your legs. This will create more force into the ground. Then you explode up and immediately drive your arms up. This 1-2 combo will massively generate more force and drive you up. Here is a quick example again of a box jump doing both arm drives.
So there you have it. Two simple things to massively improve your jumping and hopefully get you up and over your next wall or other obstacle a little easier. Just remember your two arm movements. Drive down quickly to the floor, then immediately up as high as you can.
Enjoy!
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS, SGX
