Josh Metters Jumping

What follows should increase your vertical jump and strength in your legs dramatically.
Are you a person who can't quite slam that ball through the basketball rim.Maybe you can but you don't have enough jump to do something really fancy. Or maybe you are a high jumper just looking to edge above the opposition. This program can even increase your start if you are a sprinter.
Over 9 weeks a series of exercises will improve the strength and power in your legs giving you everything you want.
If you want to know how you can do this just read below for your ticket to sporting excellence.
Weeks 1+2
Pick two of these exercises to do three times a week.
1) Skipping - Do 3 - 5 sets of 100 reps, followed by 2 sets of 100 on one leg. Do 1 of these sets on your left leg and the other on your right.
2) Square Jumping - Create a square on the floor with 4 quadrants, use tape or something to do this. Jump into each square in a clockwise direction. Once you have jumped in each of the 4 quadrants and are back where you started you have done one rep. Do 4 sets of 25 reps, two sets going clockwise and the other two going anti clockwise.
3) Jump and Reach - Find a spot that you can't quite reach i used a basketball rim. Jump from standing position (no approach) and reach for that point. Do 3 sets of 15 jumps with maximum effort on every jump.
Weeks 3+4
Continue with your two exercises from weeks 1+2 and add two of these exercises. Again do them 3 times a week.
1) No Armed Jumps - I'll warn you now these ones hurt. You realize how much you use your arms for jumping. But they pay off big time and are well worth the effort. Jump with your hand clasped above your head striving to touch your knees to your chest on each jump. As your feet hit the ground, rebound back into the air (bounce, with no pause on the ground). Do 3 sets of 15 - 20. This is the hardest exercise you will do.
2) Laundry Jumps - Named after the materials I had available to me at the time, this exercise requires jumping back and forth over an object in a side-to-side motion. The object should be no taller than 2 feet and no lower than 8 inches. It should not be more than 12 inches in width. The object should also be collapsible in case you land on it. I used an extremely collapsible laundry basket (plastic). Rebound back and forth over the basket. Do 3 sets of 20-30 reps.
3) Approach Jumps - Do normal approaches with maximal jumps. Reach for an object slightly out of reach. Concentrate on your arm movements as well as the speed of your approach (the faster the better). The closer (time-wise not distance-wise) that your last two steps hit the ground, the higher you'll jump. Focus on mechanics. Do 3 sets of 10-15 reps.
Weeks 5+6
Continue your exercises from the previous four weeks and add 1 of these. Again 3 times a week.
1) Split Leg Jumps - Start in a kneeling position with your forward leg bent at 90 degrees and your back leg slightly off the ground. Jump and land with the opposite foot forward and the opposite foot backward (don't bang your knee on the ground). On your forward leg, try and keep from bending your ankle so that your knee is more forward than your foot (this puts a lot of pressure on your knees). Do 3 sets of 30 repetitions.
2)Speed Skater Bounds - Do the same motions as a speed skater would. When you land on your right foot, your left arm should be swinging in front of you, your right arm should be swinging backward, and your left foot should be close to the ground and crossed behind your right leg. Sorry if the description isn't very good. I recommend watching a speed skater. Instead of sliding back and forth while bent over, you bound back and forth over about a distance of 4-6 feet depending on how tall you are. You should feel it killing your gluteus maximus. Do 3 sets of 30 repetitions
Weeks 7,8+9
Now the real work starts.
From weeks 3 & 4, do three of the exercises and add 10 repetitions to each exercise. Also, do both of the exercises from weeks 5 & 6 adding 10 repetitions to each. After you are done with these 9 weeks, take a week off and do some "active-rest". After that, do some of the exercises that you enjoyed the most-or the exercises that you felt you benefited the most from. Do 3 of your favorite ones three times per week working on intensity and increasing the number of reps you do every week. After another nine weeks of that "playing around", you might want to start working on the program again. I recommend a lot of "down-time" from plyometrics after a nine week period of hard training.
I have kept nearly all of my gained vertical jump after I finished a year of plyometrics and progressive weight training without much plyometric maintenance. However, to get back to peak form, I would have to do three sets of some exercises, three times per week for a few weeks. I do that a few weeks before each season begins. Good luck.