How to Improve a Vertical Jump for Stylish Dunks

If you want to make stylish, showy slam dunks when you are playing basketball, you'll need to increase your vertical jump. After all, the higher you can jump, the more impressive your jumps will be. What's more, you'll be able to dunk from farther away because higher jumps can also travel farther horizontally.



The key to doing this is to reduce your body fat and increase your the size of your leg muscles. However, this isn't all you need to do -- you also need to put your legs through the motions they'll go through when you jump, in order to prepare them for the action.

• 1

  Add squats to your workout program. Stand with a weight bar across your shoulders, grabbing it with both hands. Bend your knees and hips, keeping your knees over your ankles. Then straighten your legs again to a standing position. Do not use more weight than you are comfortable with. Squats work every muscle in your legs, which will improve your vertical jump. They also move your legs in the manner they need to move to jump, which will help prepare you for more stylish dunks.

• 2

  Add isolation exercises such as leg curls to your workout program. Sit at a leg-curl machine at the gym and set the weight to an amount that you can do only five or so reps with (you don't want the weight to be too easy to lift). Tuck your shins behind the pad, and bring the pad up with your shins by straightening your legs. Keep your back flush against the seat.

• 3

  Perform regular-interval cardiovascular training. For example, sprint or run for a minute or so and then reduce your exertion to a jog or a walk for two minutes, then repeat. This stresses your heart in the short term, which prepares it for the explosive power it needs during a jump.

• 4

  Jump up and down as high as you can about 10 times after every workout (whether it's a weight training or cardio day). This will shock your muscles and make them build the way you want them to. Remember, large muscles alone aren't enough. If you want to jump higher, you need to prepare your muscles for that exact action.

• 5

  Lose some body fat. Perform the previous exercises but also limit your intake of processed foods and simple carbohydrates such as sugar and alcohol. You need to lose body fat because that is weight that doesn't contribute to your jump; it just holds you back.