| I believe that the main reason why most athletes fail to | | | | fastest. |
| improve their vertical jump is because they train | | | | They also produce the most force. |
| incorrectly. | | | | They are mostly used during explosive activities like |
| This is because they do not get the right information | | | | jumping and sprinting. |
| from their coaches and trainers. | | | | They are primarily responsible for vertical jump |
| To make matters worse, the internet is filled with | | | | performance and should therefore be the main focus |
| websites that contain outdated, rehashed, and | | | | of your training. |
| incorrect vertical jump training information. | | | | The Role Of Genetics |
| In this article, I will talk about one of the most important | | | | In general, the more fast twitch fibers you have in your |
| aspects of vertical jump training: how different muscle | | | | body compared to slow twitch, the higher you can |
| fiber types affect jumping. | | | | jump. |
| There are 3 types of muscle fibers: | | | | The ratio of your muscle fibers is a result of: |
| * Type I: Slow Twitch | | | | (a) What you were born with (genetic)and |
| * Type IIA: Fast Twitch | | | | (b) Transformation of slow twitch to fast twitch and |
| * Type IIB: Fast Twitch | | | | vice versa (through training) |
| Type I: Slow Twitch Fibers | | | | Genetics therefore plays a role... BUT you can always |
| These muscle fibers contract slowly and maintain the | | | | train your body to convert some of your slow twitch |
| contractions over a long time period. | | | | fibers into fast twitch (and vice versa). |
| They are ideal for endurance activities like long | | | | Research proves that you can convert approximately |
| distance running, and are resistant to fatigue. | | | | 40% of your slow twitch fibers into fast twitch fibers. |
| However, they produce relatively low force. | | | | For example, marathon runners are 75% slow twitch |
| They are therefore unable to generate a great vertical | | | | while sprinters are 75% fast twitch (Type IIA &B |
| jump no matter how much you train them. | | | | combined). Both groups of athletes achieve this |
| This means that you won't jump higher by running for | | | | through training (although genetics does play a part) |
| miles or doing 500 jump squats, because these | | | | Therefore, if you train correctly, you don't have to |
| activities only build your slow twitch fibers. | | | | have good genetics to be able to jump higher. |
| You will improve your endurance, but not your vertical | | | | Conclusion |
| leap. | | | | The biggest reason why most athletes fail in their |
| Type IIA: Fast Twitch Fibers | | | | quest to jump higher is because they train incorrectly. |
| These muscle fibers are in the middle of the range and | | | | This is primarily because they do not get the right |
| they fatigue faster, contract faster, and produce more | | | | training information from their coaches and trainers. |
| muscular force than slow twitch fibers. | | | | Also, most websites on the internet contain outdated, |
| However, they don't generate as much force as | | | | rehashed, and inaccurate vertical jump training |
| TypeIIB muscle fibers. | | | | information. |
| Because of this fact, they are not as important in | | | | Training smart is just as important as training hard. |
| vertical jump training. | | | | To learn how to 'train smart' and increase your vertical |
| Type IIB: Fast Twitch Fibers | | | | jump, check out my blog. |
| These fibers fatigue the fastest and contract the | | | | |
