Did you see Steve Francis at the Slam Dunk 2000 contest? He then finished as Vince Carter’s runner-up with some sick dunks. Actually, it had a vertical of 44 inches at the time! That’s it, 44 inches! Besides Vince Carter (45-inch vertical), Stevie Franchise had the highest vertical in the league at the time! And in case you didn’t know, the guy is only 6’3 ”!

“I never went back to Shaq or Mutombo. But I got ‘Zo. I never got C-Webb. I have Patrick Ewing, Vin Baker. I remember those dunks because those guys always say,’ You’re not going to shoot with me, ‘and stuff like that. But I have them! ”

– Steve Francis

So how do you get such a sick vertical? To begin with, it is important to know that being able to jump high is the result of a combination of these things:

– Natural ability

– Leg strength

– Explosive power

– General athletics

That means, if it’s not in your genes, you will probably never be able to jump like Steve Francis. On the other hand, none of us can. But no matter what your vertical jump is now, you can always do better. To get motivated, just take a look at Steve Francis’ training back in the days – it’s a

4 days a week, one hour a day of training (not including running or playing basketball, = 3 additional hours a day). Each day consists of different exercises, only certain exercises such as jumping rope are performed each time.

Day 1 (Monday):

– Jump rope (300 jumps)

– DynaDisc Figure Eight Stand on a pair of discs (they look like deflated dodge balls) holding a ten pound medicine ball. (15 figures of eight in each direction)

– Seated Reverse Crunch Sit on a flat bench with your legs stretched out over the end. Leaning back on your arms, lean back until your upper body is at a 45-degree angle to the bench and slowly bring your knees up toward your chest, keeping your upper body stable. Slowly return them to the starting position to complete the movement. (2 sets of 15)

– High Sprint with Knee Raise Sprint along a basketball court while standing on your toes and raising your knees as high as possible. (20 races)

– Leg curl (2 sets of 15)

– Seated leg extension (2 sets of 15)

– Hip abduction (2 sets of 10)

– Hip adduction (2 sets of 10)

– Stability Ball Dumbbell Chest Press Like a standard chest press, but while lying with your back on the ball to work a bit more on your core. (2 sets of 10)

– Dumbbell Front Raise You are now entering the part of the workout designed to really split the shoulders. Making sure your arms stay just outside shoulder width, lift one up first, then the other, for one rep. (2 sets of 15)

– Dumbbell Lateral Raise To work the outside of your shoulder, stand leaning slightly at the waist, holding a weight in each hand, palms facing each other. Raise your arms to your sides until they’re parallel to the ground, then come back. (2 sets of 15)

– Dumbbell Rear Deltoid Raise Lie face down on a bench at a 45 degree incline with weights in each hand, arms hanging off the bench and slightly bent. Maintaining the same elbow bend, raise your arms out to the sides until they are parallel to the ground, then come back. (2 sets of 10)

– One Arm Dumbbell Row Now for the back of your shoulders, hold a dumbbell in your right hand, bend over and place your left hand and knee on a bench for support. Keeping your back slightly arched and your shoulders parallel to the floor, raise your weight-bearing elbow toward the ceiling and then come back. (2 sets of 10, then switch sides and repeat)

– Stationary bike (25 minutes)

As for the vertical jump exercises, in addition to the common exercises like jumping rope and raising the calves, Steve used some special and very effective exercises.

Here is an example:

Stand up straight and jump as high as you can without bending your knees (your knees will bend slightly). As soon as you hit the ground, raise the profit again and repeat this move several times. This exercise is extremely effective in strengthening the muscles of the lower leg.

Keep in mind that the vertical jump is part of leg strength and part of explosiveness. In fact, the explosive part is the more important of the two. It’s not about the size of your leg muscles or how much weight you can lift in the gym. It’s about your athleticism, coordination, and ability to explode and get off the ground.

For the rest of the jumping exercises and crucial things you need to know about vertical jumping (why often what you “don’t” do is more important than what you “do”), check out this page which I highly recommend. :