To gain the most competitive edge, it's important to spend your drill time wisely using proven techniques.

Have you heard of Luke Lowrey? You may have read about Luke in Slam Magazine... even heard him interviewed on Sirius Official NBA Radio...

...If you'd like to increase your vertical jump, Luke is known for taking athletes from exactly where they are, and as much as doubling their vertical jump - Find out more...

You'll discover as you read more about Luke and his Vertical Leap Program that he's regarded by top American, European and Asian coaches, NBA, NFL, NCAA, ATP Tennis tour, UEFA football, Olympic teams, plus well over 4,000 regular athletes as the world's undisputed, number 1 vertical leap expert: Increase Your Vertical Jump - Starting Today!

Naturally, your muscles have their limits, however you will maximize your vertical leap potential if you train using specialised drills and condition yourself with consistent effort.

Exercising to increase vertical leap: Center your efforts on building the calf muscles and quads in your legs. These are the primary muscles used when jumping vertical. Begin with some calf raises, the idea is to start small then work your way up.

Your vertical jump can benefit greatly from being conscious when performing incidental daily exercise like walking: By walking with a toe-heel action you will inadvertently give your calf muscles a work out. Also try walking on your toes where possible. These couple of changes can make a marked difference on your vertical leap if done on a regular basis.

Squats help both stretch and strengthen and can be a great contributor to your vertical jump exercises. Try doing 10 sets of 10 squats. Once you've included squats in your regime for a time, you'll be able to increase the amount of sets. The idea is to start out on two feet, then as you grow stronger, go to one foot, balancing your entire body weight on the one foot.

Following squats with some more calf raises is said to be very effective in improving vertical jump. Though make sure you've had a five minute recovery period before starting the squats again for the maximum gain on your vertical jump.

Mini hops can help to: jump a little off the ground, over and over, but don't hop. A skipping rope or jump rope is excellent for this exercise. Walking or running on tip toes is another big part of vertical jump exercises. Try it for 20 minutes, then try backwards for 2 to 3 minutes. You can also try standing on one spot on tip toes for 2 minutes.

Stretching is very important. The main focus should be given to hamstrings, quads, hip-flexors, glutens and calves. Just use a towel to stretch the limb to it's comfort limit for up to 10 seconds, relax, then back into the stretch again. This is great for improving your range of motion and bluffing your body into giving up more of it's potential flexibility - now repeat your stretches at the improved range. It's important that you stretch only after your vertical leap workouts. Research shows stretching before an event will actually decrease your body's power output.

Your dorsi-flexors are a crucial part of increasing vertical leap - walking around on your heels without letting the actual ball of your foot touch the ground will help strengthen your dorsi-flexors or tibalis anterior as they are less commonly referred to as.

When jumping, you can also try loading your body up with some weight - a medicine ball is ideal for this. This gets your body recruiting more motor units in the working muscles - this allows the work to seem much easier when the weight isn't there (in the game) because your body has enlisted the help of more motor units.

More Vertical Jump Exersises

The Unloading Jump is another very effective vertical jump exercise. Hold a pair of 10lb dumbbells, or any weight for that matter at waist level then quick step up to the rim to do a counter movement jump or rim jump, at the peak of your crouch just before you take off, drop the weights and take off with all you've got. The math and science behind it is this: when you load the eccentric contraction with more weight than the concentric jump, you create more force achieving a higher vertical leap.

Strengthening ankle muscles is important for vertical leaping too. Try doing 50 ankle hops, say 10 sets of 5 then follow with 10 sets of 3. Be sure to use the proper technique. If your not sure ask your coach or see: Increase Your Vertical Jump - Starting Today!

Your overall stamina can be dramatically improved and fatigue reduced when you jump correctly. When jump training, try jumping off 1 leg, then 2 legs, 1 leg reverse, and then 2 legs reverse. When you weight train, be conscious to work your posterior chain muscles that is your lower back, hamstrings and glutes. Your posterior chain muscles account for as much as 80% of the force generated for your vertical jump.

It's important that you clearly separate your speed (or plyometric) training days and your strength training days. The best vertical leap programs, exercises and regimes combine rest and variety and hard work - get these 3 out of balance and you simply won't get the increase in vertical jump you are looking for.

Keep a training log - write it down - don't just keep it in your head. You'll encourage yourself by documenting your wins and you'll be able to laser target your areas for improvement. Remember, practice, drill rehearse consistently, but rest regularly too. If your muscles are not being built up, they are atrophying (meaning weakening).

Here's a great tip: when you go for a vertical jump, focus on swinging your arms up fast timing it with the jump. And if your sport requires power and endurance, remember the more endurance training you do, the more your muscles learn oxygen-consuming low-output slow-twitch characteristics. You need your muscles to become more efficient at using the creatine phosphate energy system. This means including high-intensity short-duration drills like sprints.

Don't forget to stretch: Your muscles need at least 48 hours of rest to rebuild broken down fibers after your longer vertical leap workouts. You will notice your muscle size increase on your rest days - that doesn't happen without rest. Without rest your muscles can become used to your workouts may not increase in strength or mass.

Vertical leap exercises can result in injury to knees, ankles, shins and more. Its important you consult with your coach, trainer or physician before you commit to any changes in your training so you can set realistic goals and sensible training durations.

In general, always start with lesser weights and shorter durations and slowly build your way up for the biggest increase in your vertical leap.

Increase Your Vertical Jump - Starting Today!