2 min read
YOU MAY NOT be genetically gifted enough to explode for March Madness-level leaps when you hit the court. That’s okay—you shouldn’t give up your dreams of dunking just yet. You can develop jumping skills and add explosiveness (and maybe another inch or two) to your vertical with the right training plan.
The coach behind the workout is DeVentri Jordan, founder and director of performance at Tria GameFace Training and MH Advisory Board Member. To demonstrate what you need to know, he ran Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. through a protocol called French Contrast Training to help elevate—literally—Samuel’s explosive jumping ability.
This method uses pairs of heavy Olympic exercises and explosive movements. This is to achieve post-activation potentiation (PAP), which states that “the contractile history of a muscle influences the mechanical performance of subsequent muscle contractions.” In layman’s terms, coupling a heavy lifting movement with an explosive exercise immediately following can help generate more athletic force.
In this case, Jordan explains how pairing Olympic-type exercise followed by an explosive jump can help manipulate your nervous system into generating more explosive force. That could result in more explosive power your lifts and your jumps.
Smith, who’s trained several star athletes including Teddy Bridgewater and Paige Bueckers, breaks this training routine into a three-phase system that hits power, explosiveness, and the ability to slow down.
The French Contrast Jump PlanWarmupMini Band Series
An effective warmup shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but should be able to activate your muscles. In this case a mini band is all it takes to get the muscles firing. Band walks in all directions—forward, backward, laterally, stiff-leg and bent knees—will quickly fire up your quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, abductors, and adductors.
The WorkoutPhase 1High Pull / Resisted Plyo Jumps
6 sets of 3 / 6 sets of 5
This pair of triple-extension moves are designed for muscle recruitment. The high pulls will help to prep the muscles for lengthening while the jumps will work on increasing muscle speed.
Phase 2Dumbbell Iso Hold to Max-Effort Jump
6 sets of 3 reps
Shutting down your central nervous system is the goal of this sequence. Grab a pair of dumbbells for a five-second isometric hold, followed immediately by a max-effort explosive box jump. Box height is not important here; Jordan explains that a smooth and controlled landing is the main focus.
Phase 3Depth Jump to Explosive Leap
4 sets of 2 per leg
To become an explosive athlete, you also need to work on deceleration, which is where depth jumps are essential. With this exercise, you’ll drop off a low box from your left or right foot. As soon as you land, immediately jump as high as you can, focusing on nailing a soft landing.
Jeff Tomko is a freelance fitness writer who has written for Muscle and Fitness, Men’s Fitness, and Men’s Health.
