How High Can You Jump?

If you have come to this page you're probably interested in learning how to jump higher. Along with my daughter, a soon-to-be senior in high school, I decided to see how high I can learn to jump. We tested several products and followed the directions. The following paragraphs tell of the journey my daughter and I undertook -- but feel free to scroll down to see our reviews.

Though not all products were equal, the process of learning to jump better was incredibly rewarding.

My name is Dan Myers. I am the father of a smart, beautiful, caring daughter named Christine. I played basketball in high school, and have been fairly active all my life. But my athletic abilities fail in comparison to my daughter, who is an accomplished volleyball player, basketball player, softball catcher, and swimmer.

But, by far, my daughter's favorite sport is volleyball. She's a natural! What she lacks in height she makes up for in technique and tenacity.

But she wants to play closer to the net. She asked her coach what she had to do to get to her preferred position, and her coach told her this:

"Jump higher than the taller girls."

So my daughter told me that she needed to learn how to jump higher. This was it. This was my chance to get a few more minutes with my daughter during our busy lives. I could let this opportunity pass me up.

So we decided that we'd learn how to jump.

For 20 minutes a day we would work on exercises to help us jump higher. I was excited. When my daughter sets her mind to something, she does it -- I have a free personal trainer!

So, on Monday morning we threw on some sweat pants and started doing all the leg exercises we could recall. At the beginning and end of the session, we tried to see how high we could reach on the garage wall. After several rounds of stretches, resistance training, and jumping around like idiots, we found we could jump maybe an inch higher after working out.

It was great. My daughter made sure I was ready for a workout every day, and we had a lot of fun. Besides being sidelined by an injured toe for three day (that's a whole different story!) we worked out every weekday for twenty minutes.

But it wasn't working.

The fact was, on top of all the physical activities we were doing during the week, the extra 20 minutes did little more than help wake us up in the morning. We weren't doing exercises that would help us jump higher.

We aren't professional athletes or trainers, but we knew a bit about exercise. But our knowledge had simply failed us -- jumping high is something that cannot be attained by traditional workouts.

Though I knew she was too proud to say admit it, I knew my daughter was disappointed. I'm a happy middle-aged guy who is learning to jump higher to impress others dads at our weekly basketball game, but my daughter is truly dedicated to volleyball. She was getting ready to be a junior at the time, and hopes to earn a volleyball scholarship. Of course, her mother and I hope she gets a scholarship too! (UPDATE 7/13/09: Scholarship received! Parents thrilled!!)

So I did some research.

Let's just say there's no shortage of jumping programs available online. I came to find that many were created by authors with no real knowledge about what it takes to get results. Ultimately, I found three programs with a good reputation that I thought we should try. We ended up trying all three, and here's what we discovered.

The Vertical Explosion Training Program Price: $37.00 Techniques:                Instruction:                   Presentation:               Bonus Materials:          Overall:	The first product we tried was The Verticle Explosion Training Program. We were mostly pleased with the program -- it  cuts to the chase and gave us results in the first week. You get the whole program for a pretty good price. It also comes with the Vertical Explosion Training Log, which we found incredibly useful in helping us stay motivated. It also comes with the Boost You Metabolism Guide, which we found interesting. The metabolism guide did not contain much that my daughter and I did not know, but for some it will undoubtably be beneficial in losing weight. Despite the mediocre ratings, this is not a bad program by any means. My daughter and I followed the program (almost) perfectly, and can attest to the fact that the program works. But would we recommend the VETP? Ultimately, no. The two programs we tried after this one were far more effective. We each added 6 inches to our vertical leap, but felt that we were reaching the maximim benefit from the program. We wanted more. Click here to visit the Vertical Exprosion Training Program website
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The Vertical Jump Project Price: $495.00 (!!!) Techniques:                 Instruction                  : Presentation:               Bonus Materials:         Overall:	The Vertical Jump Project posed a dilemma for us. The program is highly recommended by many experts, but at a price of almost five hundred dollars we were unsure about buying this program. But with a 60-day guarantee, we decided to give it a try. Does in work? Yes. The eBook (400+ pages!) and series of vidoes make the material incredibly easy to learn, and my daughter added 4 inches to her vertical leap giving her a total of 9 inches added. I added another 3 inches giving me 7 inches added. And, let me tell you, my basketball prowess has absolutely skyrocketed. I am becoming known as the "jumping guy" at the YMCA. I'm thinking about starting a jumping class!  (UPDATE: The class has started and we have over 30 students!) Would we recommend this product? It's a very tough call. The material is great and, with the money back guarantee, shelling out five hundred dollars is not so intimidating. Is five hundred dollars worth it to add at least 8" to your vertical leap? Absolutely. But should you do it? Fortunately, there's another option that will get the same results for the fraction of the cost. Click here to visit the Vertical Jump Froject web site.
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The Jump Manual Price: $67.00 Techniques:                 Instruction                  : Presentation:               Bonus Materials:          Overall:	My daughter and I were thrilled with the results we achieved with the other products we used to increase our jumping abilities. But there was one more product that came highly recommended that we had not tried. For the sake of completion, I decided to shell out another $67 and try one more program. Plus, volleyball try-outs were coming up, and if we could squeeze a couple more inches our of her jumps, it'd be well worth the price. This was the best decision we made! In hindsite, I wish we bought this program first. If we did, this site probably would never have been created. The program was created by Jacob W. Hiller, a well-known trainer who has worked with world-class athletes. Hiller covers every aspect of fitness required to maximize your jumping abilities in depth, and his systematic approach has been formed through real-life experience. And it works. I can now dunk a tennis ball (getting closer to dunking a basketball every day) and my daughter now leads her volleyball team in spikes and blocks. Purchasing this products grants you access to a members-only forum based around the program. I've made several friends asking and answering questions about my experience with the program. Direct e-mail support from the author proved to be useful, but to be honest the members of the forum provide more than enough support! Click here to visit the Jump Manual web site.