Why Nearly Every Athlete Should Start With a Base of Strength in Vertical Leap Training

Why Nearly Every Athlete Should Start With a Base of Strength in Vertical Leap Training

There is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the following formula:

Velocity x Force = Power

This is the correct formula for power, not the formula regarding vertical jump.

Now before you start telling me that this goes against everything you have ever heard, give me a chance to prove to you that what you have heard concerning this is wrong, or at the very least confusing.

To illustrate this, I will present the example of two catapults.

Catapult A: This catapult can hold 100 pounds of strength while the swing speed is 30 mph.

Catapult B: This catapult can hold 500 pounds of strength and the swing speed is also 30 mph.

Object to be thrown: Golf ball (less than a pound).

Now which catapult will throw the golf ball further? The strong one, right? Wrong!

The golf ball is so light that both catapults will launch the ball at the same speed. The amount of strength the catapult has makes no difference whatsoever.

Once strength has overcome the resistance as to achieve maximum capable swing speed, more strength will not increase your vertical jump.

I will explain using the same catapults mentioned earlier, except instead of a golf ball, imagine if we were throwing a 90-pound cannon ball. Which catapult is going to throw it further?

In this situation, Catapult A is not going to be able to produce the 30 mph speed that it is capable of because the cannonball's resistance is slowing the speed.

Catapult B, however, will get very close to 30 mph because it will not be effected as much by the cannonball's high resistance.

My point?

Strength is helpful for contraction time. While you may be capable of much faster contraction times, you may not have enough strength to overcome the resistance of your own weight.

Let's say we took away the resistance of your body weight. Yes, your contraction times would increase, but this only means that you need to be stronger to perform with the resistance of your own weight! This is good news because it means that focusing on strength training will certainly lead to a greater vertical jump, if your weight does not increase too much. Most athletes are capable of faster contraction times, but lack the strength necessary to overcome the provided resistance.

To further illustrate this point. Let's hand you a cannonball. Now...jump! You would see that your contraction speed would be dramatically slowed down, not including the fact that gravity is holding you down even more! This is why nearly every athlete should start with a base of strength.

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Related articles:  Jacob  Hiller's Jumping Manual, Free Vertical Jump  Training

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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