What did Bruce Lee teach the cap about increasing vertical jumps?

Okay, so Bruce wasn’t exactly known for his writings on how to increase vertical jumps on the court, or even how to hit more hoops, but it had a profound effect on Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. In this 2006 interview with Andrew Kamenetzky, the Captain has this to say about Bruce’s influence:

“Bruce more or less backed up what he had learned from John Wooden. It was just an echo of John Wooden, from Hong Kong instead of Indiana. You have to be committed. You have to be prepared. You have to be willing to sacrifice to be fully prepared. To be fit and understand the nature of the competition.”

At seven-foot-two, Jabaar was blessed with the kind of height most of us can only dream of, but by aspiring to reach our personal best in our training and on-court performance, we can still break new limits and take our game to the next level.

If you’re serious about increasing your vertical jumps, then developing more flexibility and looseness is a great place to start. In addition to reducing the chance of injury after a full warm-up, increased flexibility will allow you to unleash the explosive muscular strength you’ve developed throughout the season. This is what Bruce had to say about it:

“Neural impulses are sent to the working muscle to bring a sufficient number of fibers into action at the right time, while impulses to antagonistic muscles are reduced to decrease resistance.”

Which means if you don’t stretch and loosen up before a match and as part of your training regimen, you’re playing with the brakes on! In the case of an explosive jump shot, your quads will be the working muscle (pulling you up) and your hamstrings will be the antagonists (pulling you down).

There are plenty of great stretching exercises on the web and on YouTube in particular; Stretching your routine as well as your glutes and hamstrings is critical to success; however, when you do, you must adhere to the following principle of good stretching:

1. Heat first. A good cardiovascular warm-up will fill your muscles with blood, supply them with oxygen, and make them more flexible and able to stretch.

2. Even, deep breaths work best for a safe, controlled stretch. You will find that your reach is particularly extended as you exhale.

3. Hold your stretches and gently increase your range, don’t bounce! Stretching is best done as a gentle, relaxed activity, not an aggressive, ballistic routine.

4. Have some variety in your stretches – reaching a plateau in training and performance is quite natural – improvement in fitness and performance comes from taking the body out of its comfort zone, even when it prefers to remain comfortable.

5. Be flexible in both your thinking and your body. How about a Yoga class or some Martial Arts to mix it up a bit? It worked for Cap. (But don’t expect a movie career to ensue!)

The process of how to increase vertical jumps can be mastered by anyone willing to learn, change, and work smarter and harder. As Bruce said:

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spill over into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”