Many parents out there, as well as athletes themselves, are paranoid about vertical jump training, all for one common and persistent reason: the dreaded jumper's knee.
What is Jumper's Knee?
Haven't heard of it? If you're an athlete, you've probably felt it at one time or another. It's the swelling of the patellar tendon, situated just below the front of the knee cap. Doctors officially call it patellar tendonitis. Its common name, jumper's knee, derives from the unfortunate fact that it occurs so frequently in basketball players and other sports with a lot of jumping.
This all-important tendon doesn't only propel you off the ground, it helps to stabilize your landing after the jump. As you might imagine, this tendon gets exercised quite a bit by jumpers. In fact, especially if your calves are weak, the patellar tendon is almost definitely getting overused.
How Do I Know If I Have It?
There won't really be a question if you have it. If you're experiencing pain in your knee and if it looks swollen...and you didn't get stung by a bee it's probably jumper's knee.
Okay, I Don't Want This; It'll Keep Me Off The Court. What Do I Do?
Ultimately, it comes down to this: when hamstrings are tight, they pull your quads, which puts pressure on the patellar tendon. Balancing out the stretching and strength of your legs is vital to avoiding patellar tendonitis. Keep the following six steps in mind when training your vertical jump:
1. Stretching, your hamstrings in particular, will prepare your legs for the upcoming workout.
2. Strengthen your leg muscles. Lunges in particular are a good exercise to focus on, because they're known for stabilizing the joints.
3. Say it with me: Recovery! Recovery! Recovery! This is vital after every workout. If it hurts, stay off of it as much as possible. Wait until the pain goes away. It's that simple.
4. In line with workout recovery, sleep is also an important recovery time. High schoolers especially are known to need more sleep, and get less, than the average population. Making sure you get an adequate amount of sleep will keep in you top condition.
5. Train on softer surfaces, if possible. Grass, rubber mats, or other surfaces besides the basketball court will give a good amount of variety for your overworked knees.
6. And finally, icing daily can be a tedious ritual, but unparalleled in preventing this condition. And ultimately, you should be icing after every workout. To avoid going through the trouble of preparing bags of ice and immobilizing yourself while holding them to your knees, consider investing in a knee wrap. These are stored in the freezer in between use. This trick alone eliminated any problems I've had with jumper's knee in the past.
Prevention is, in this case, so much better than looking for the cure. The "cure" for jumper's knee sometimes means missing out on court time, having to change your workout to more low impact sessions due to pain, or even resorting to surgery. Better to be on the safe side, pay attention to your body, and keep yourself playing.
If you're like most athletes who want to leap higher, you need quick, effective ways to put on muscle. Do you want to learn actionable ways to get the results you want? Would you like more tips for how to jump higher? Are you a dedicated athlete with a desire to excel at your sport? Do you want to use the best and most effective vertical jump training system to greatly increase your jump height? If yes, then you need to join Jacob Hiller's Jump Manual Program.
Click here ==> Jump Manual, to read more about this Vertical Jump Training Program, and how it ranks with other Popular Vertical Jump Training Systems out there.
Related articles: Jacob Hiller's Jumping Manual On ESPN, Free Vertical Jump Training Tips
...
Article By Jacob Hiller: Jacob Hiller is the creator of a bestselling vertical jump program "The Jump Manual", and he is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on vertical jump training. Click on the following link to visit his website: Jacob Hiller's Jump Manual
No comments:
Post a Comment