While the jury is out on just how significant an impact diet and nutrition have on Increasing Your Vertical Jump, there is compelling evidence that the ideal food diet for Jumping Higher is most likely to be determined by the type of jumping activity you are actually taking part in.
If you are preparing to jump higher in basketball, for example, there will be tremendous emphasis on carbohydrate and protein intake. There are two basic reasons for that.
The first is that there is actually more to basketball than just jumping (which we suspect you already know). When you are on a basketball court your body needs energy levels to remain above a certain level if you harbor aspirations of competing among the best of them.
Secondly, in basketball there is also the small matter of helping your body recover sufficiently to compete at a high level for a sustained period over a season-long campaign.
If you are preparing to increase your vertical in high jump, nutrient intake tends to actually be neglected because there is a greater obsession with avoiding the build-up of body fat - and/or burning that fat. The result is that carbohydrates and other micronutrients are taken in much smaller quantities than other professional athletes.
Despite that, it does remain worth noting that the energy intake of most competitive high jump athletes is usually in balance with the energy output. We will circle this back to what we said in the paragraphs above - that there is less to jumping over a horizontal bar and onto a mat, than there is to completing a full basketball match.
In essence, what we are saying here is that you should not get too caught up in the numbers but rather focus on striking a balance that is suitable for your body.
The ultimate take-away should be that the food requirements will change, depending on the physical demands which are being made in a certain jumping activity, in relation to what your body is currently capable and incapable of doing.
Food To Consume:
1- Water
Before you start splitting hairs on whether water qualifies as food or not, you need to remember that this blog is about striking the right dietary balance when trying to jump higher.
This might come as news to some of you but water is in fact a vital nutrient, which should be taken in regularly for any sporting activity - including those where some form of jumping is required.
Whether you are training or competing, you need to replenish fluids that are lost from sweating.
While the rate of sweating might vary from code-to-code, all jump training regimens are performed at a high intensity and the level of your performance will be impaired by the decrease in body mass that comes with the territory when sweating.
2- Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates sources include but are not limited to bread, pasta, beans, rice, fruit and cereal. These are just some of the things that feature in your daily diet anyway.
When jumping or training to jump, under any circumstances, your body’s capacity to store and release energy is critical to increasing your vertical. Carbs provide the fuel that your body needs to jump better.
There is no better source of energy than carbohydrates, which is particularly important when performing jump training at a high intensity. As we suggested in the paragraphs above, your energy intake will be determined by the energy you are using up. High jumpers will probably use up a little less energy than basketball and volleyball players, for example. So they will take in smaller portions of carbs.
3- Protein
Among the more common sources of protein are foods like beef, lamb and pork, chicken, turkey, duck, seafood, eggs, diary products, nuts and beans - you know, food that we come across in our supermarkets every day.
Why is protein so important for somebody training to jump higher, I hear you ask?
Well, jump training is a physically demanding business. It is actually recommended that you allow yourself 48 hours to recover when performing the most common form of jump training - Plyometrics.
Proteins are valuable for those taking part in Vertical Jump Training, because they actually assist with that recovery. However, we are not just talking about recovery from jump training, we are also talking about recovery from a game situation.
You see, replacing the carbohydrates used up under these circumstances is one thing but your muscles also take a tremendous beating throughout. That is where the proteins come into the picture, because they help repair or rebuild that muscle damage.
Food To Avoid:
1- Fatty Foods
This could be a long list but among the main culprits that come to mind are things like pizza, French fries, fried chicken, burgers and regular crips. We mention those because they tend to be the most convenient to find.
The thing about fatty foods is that they are exceedingly difficult to digest. So, at the best of times, these are actually bad for your health anyway. However, serious complications emerge when you are preparing to workout or compete.
We have already established, in the paragraphs above that you need the proteins and carbs to help you get through a jump training session. If you begin to have issues with digestion because of the fatty food intake, your body is going to struggle to absorb and use the nutrients that you actually need to perform and adequately recover.
2- Refined Sugar
This is another one that might seem impossible to avoid, because it is everywhere. Food sources that contain refined sugar look and taste soooo good - and they are almost always pretty affordable too.
When you consume foods like ice-cream, muffins, soft drinks, baked beans, chocolates, candy and even some breakfast cereals, your blood sugar levels will initially spike but so too will the insulin levels in your body. The result of that is you will start to feel sleepy and exhausted even.
Your body just crashing while training or taking part in a jump activity is counterproductive. You certainly aren’t going to reach your workout goals and you aren’t going to jump higher either - not consistently anyway.
3- Alcohol
The more obvious response to this is that alcohol inhibits your decision-making capabilities in general. You cannot train or perform when you are intoxicated!
However, this extends well beyond that and one also needs to examine the long-term impact of alcohol consumption.
So, while you might not be “drinking” shortly before or during jump training, there is still that ghastly temptation to drink away from the field of competition.
The so-called social drinking is harmful because it thins your bones (you need greater bone density to jump higher), it contributes to muscle death (you need strong muscles for lower limb functionality) and booze even creates regular fatigue. Just stay away from the booze. There is no justification for taking it.
Conclusion
Equally important as knowing what food you should and should not consume when trying to jump higher, is knowing when you should consume that food and in what portions that food should be consumed.
As is the case with working out, you should establish some core eating - and drinking - habits if you want to perform to the best of your ability for a sustained period.
You need to closely monitor when you take in your carbohydrates and proteins. You don’t only do this before training and competition but you also need to implement a meaningful diet plan outside of regular training and competition too - when your mind tricks you into thinking that you can cheat on your diet.
Hey, I’m Aleksandar and I am a Basketball freak! That is why I decided to create this blog. Teaching people How to dunk a basketball and How to Jump Higher in this sport or other related sports that require vertical jumping, is my specialty. If that’s your aim, then you have come to the right place.