Posts Tagged ‘fast twitch muscle fibers’
Learn How to Jump Higher: Target the Right Muscles
Amateurs trying to train themselves in increasing their vertical jump height, either for basketball, volleyball, cheerleading, football, etc., without proper supervision by a professional physical or jump trainer can unwittingly do more harm than good as there are a lot of false information out there on jumping higher exercises.
There are many exercises out there that could feel right to you but is totally wrong if you consider your goals.
For example, in training to increase vertical jump you would easily conjecture that one of the useful exercises to include in the regimen is, well, jumping exercises. So you come up with a regimen, say, 100 12-inch high jumps per session and do it 2 to 3 times per week.
Will this be effective in increasing your vertical jump? The simple answer is no. What it will do is improve you cardio-vascular endurance. It will strengthen your leg muscles but not the ones you need to strengthen to effect a significant increase in jumping height.
Targeting the Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers
What exercises you need to do depends on what muscle fibers you want to target. There are two varieties of muscle fibers that make up our skeletal muscles, which are the human engine for physical movement: the slow twitch and the fast twitch muscle fibers. These two differ in how fast they execute contraction to move our body.
Fast twitch muscles contract twice as fast as its slow counterparts and are the fibers to target if you want to make fast and powerful movements that does not need to be done for long periods of time. Slow twitch muscles generate less power but they do not tire easily and can be trained for endurance. Fast twitch muscles generate more power but they tire easily. These are the muscles you need to target to your vertical training.
Marathon runners and long-distance swimmers do not target the fast twitch fibers because they need to develop the slow twitch muscle fibers for endurance. Basketball players, volleyball and football players need to train the fast twitch muscles to generate the energies needed to execute higher jumps for explosive dunks.
The following are examples of what exercise types you need to adopt for your jump higher training:
If you are weight training, try to lift about 85% of your maximum load as it has been shown that the heavier the lift, the more you are activating your fast twitching muscles into your cause.
Go for speed. In whatever exercise you do, always do it in quick movements as this also promotes the activation of the fast twitch fibers. Don’t do exercises with average intensity over a long durations. Quick and high intensity workouts bring out the best in your fast twitch muscles.
Plyometric exercises are, essentially, the types being promoted by the previous bullet. They are exercises made for speed and maximum intensity. Train your body by simulating the act of explosively jumping to make a basketball dunk or a volleyball spike.
It is easy to go astray in your efforts to learn how to jump higher so be sure you know what you are doing before you jump into any athletic training. It is advisable to consult a professional before jumping into any training program.
Tags: basketball, fast twitch muscle fibers, increasing their vertical jump height, jump higher training, learn how to jump higher, plyometric exercises, volleyball
