Looking to increase your vertical jump? Plyometric workouts are designed to develop a person's muscle power, strength and speed and helps to improve your vertical leap.These exercises involve explosive movements in order to cause muscles to stretch and then contract more powerfully. This strengthens muscles, increases vertical jump and decreases the impact on joints.

Many basketball players try to increase the height of their vertical jumps using plyometric workouts. Tennis players' benefit from the muscle strengthening acquired with the workouts also. Skiing is another sport that can be improved with plyometrics.

Basically, strength in the thighs and lower legs are used in all three of these sports, and plyometric workouts that are done correctly can be very helpful in improving performance. These are just three sports whose performance can be improved by the exercises. There are many more.

Stretching muscles prior to contracting them uses the stretch reflex of the muscle to enhance the power of the muscle contraction. Plyometric workouts involve performing jumps, one right after another. When you reach the ground after one jump, the quadriceps muscles in the thigh stretch as your knee bends. Then they contract with the next jump. The pre-stretching enhances the contraction of the next jump. Some plyometric workouts involve jumping up onto boxes about 42 inches high and down from the boxes repeatedly without stopping. This repetition builds the strength of the muscles in the legs.

Jumping onto hard surfaces can potentially cause injuries so using the correct techniques are essential to a successful outcome. Using boxes with padding and jumping onto a padded mat on the floor can help prevent injury. Using an experienced trainer is recommended. If you start out gradually and build up to a higher level of difficulty, plyometrics can be safe and effective. If however you do not do the exercises correctly, you will not get the results you were hoping for and you may incur some joint injuries.

Samuel Young is a coach and expert in plyometric workouts. Please click here to learn more about how to increase your vertical jump.