In 1992, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson starred in “White Men Can’t Jump.” Controversies and issues of racism were greatly associated with the title of this movie.
We don’t want to dig deeper into this issue regarding races and colors, but they make people wonder if, indeed, one race is more inclined to jump higher. For basketball, this seems to be the case. So does it indeed hold water? Is it true?
Most people revert to the idea of genes when asked why it seems that African-Americans can perform better at basketball. Partly, this concept of genes holds.
As the Olympics results would tell us, people from the African Continent have steadily dominated the 800 to 10,000 meter runs, and an African-American held on to the 100-meter dash. But the world is yet to see any of them succeed in swimming.
So What Does This Imply?
Given the results and human physiology development, each race develops specific muscle groups that enable them to perform better at a given sport.
So yes, African-Americans have the advantage of explosiveness and strength to dash for short distances and jump higher for basketball. Still, they are less inclined to swimming or pole vaulting, for their muscles are heavier.
Genetics, or nature as some may one to term it, give an edge, and in knowing that the other guy has an advantage, the only option is to give up, right? Wrong. An edge puts one ahead, but it does not determine success.
Yes, they have nature on their side, but if you choose to, you’ll have nurtured on yours. Don’t get what I mean? It’s simple, train yourself to jump higher for basketball. After all, nothing beats the human will to succeed.
How To Jump Higher?
To jump higher for basketball, there is an array of exercises and routines which you can utilize. Just a keynote, they must target your legs and thigh regions. Perhaps the most effective way is weight training.
Doing leg presses on a leg press machine builds the quad muscles through inward and outward movements, leg extensions by sitting against a wall until the thigh is parallel with the floor. These are the best ways to start weight training.
After doing your quads, another important muscle group you need to focus on is the calves. The simplest and most effective way to work your claves is by raising your toes. To work this out to a maximum, you’ll again need a wall to provide you with resistance.
Then by utilizing one foot, push up and down. Always remember to focus the weight in front of the foot. Do this progressively and start slowly, for it can tear the muscles if forcibly done.
Of course, after the weight and resistance training, it is important to incorporate flexibility and actually practice jumping. Plyometrics will allow you to do both and not oblige you to have a specific training environment. In fact, the exercises to jump higher for basketball suggest that you can do them inside your house.
Plyometrics and Weight Lifting
Basketball workouts these days have elements of both plyometrics and weight lifting. Weights allow the athlete to gain muscle mass and strength, while plyometrics help improves jumping ability and explosiveness. Our basketball workout routines incorporate the two and will help you dominate the court in no time.
An Overview Of The Workout
To jump higher and perform better for basketball, there is an array of exercises and routines which you can utilize.
The Lower Body
To start, basketball players need strong legs to “box out” and not be pushed around. A strong base will even allow shorter players to push taller players away from a potential rebound or even prevent bigger players from backing you into the basket.
There will be many exercises that we recommend. A couple for strengthening the legs would be leg presses on a leg press machine which builds the quad muscles through inward and outward movements. Static exercises can also help.
For instance, if you stand against a wall and slowly lower your back and move your feet out, you will eventually be in a sitting position against the wall. The ideal position is to have your knees bent at a 90-degree angle, with your back straight against the wall. Hold this position.
After doing your quads, another important muscle group you need to focus on is the calves. The simplest and most effective way to work your calves is by raising your toes. Then by utilizing one foot, push up and down. Always remember to focus the weight in front of the foot. Do this progressively and start slowly, for it can tear the muscles if done too forcibly.
Of course, after the weight and resistance training, it is important to incorporate flexibility and actually practice jumping. Plyometrics will allow you to do both and not oblige you to have a specific training environment. In fact, you can often do the exercises to jump higher for basketball in your own house or outside on your lawn.
An example of plyometric basketball workouts would be the two-foot jump with the knees to the chest. There is actually a picture above on this exercise. Basically, what you do is do 12 to 14 repetitions of jumping up and down while bringing your knees to your chest. This is a basic exercise that will work on your jumping ability and quickness.
The Upper Body
Getting your upper body strength is also very important in basketball. For instance, your triceps are important if you want to gain distance on your shot. Getting big triceps will allow you to launch the ball from a much further distance.
Putting muscle on the rest of your upper body is also important. Take your chest, for example. Once you get to a certain level, basketball players will be banging with you in the paint and pushing your chest with your shoulders. It would be good to have a little muscle to keep up with this physicality.
Basketball workouts for the upper body using plyometrics are also important. Plyometrics focuses so much on quick, explosive movements and will allow you to grab rebounds faster, explode for a loose ball, and defend better with your arms.
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