First of all, be sure to review parts 1-5

This is what was covered in these parts:

Part 1: kettlebell exercises to jump higher

Part 2: Band Training Secrets To Improve Your Vertical Jump

Part 3: What to do from 10 pm to 11 pm outside the gym to maximize your vertical jump

Part 4: What does speed have to do with jumping higher?

Part 5: Technique, weaknesses and mobility to maximize your vertical.

Of course, you couldn’t write an article on vertical jump training without discussing ladder exercises. After all, they call me “The ladder boy, the ladder guru and even the stepfather”! I was also fortunate to see first-hand how valuable stair training can be when I served as a strength coach at the WNBA’s New York Liberty in 2002 and 2003. In fact, we found ourselves without places to train. Can you close it? Well, at the time the New York Knick training center was under construction and it really caused us trouble.

So why am I so obsessed with stair training for energy development? The first reason is that stairs lend themselves well to plyometric training.

The exercises of choice are usually box jumps and jumps when it comes to plyometric training. Ladders can replace the need for a box, and limits don’t really require equipment. Another thing I like about stairs is that you can develop a rhythm that I think is very important. By this I mean that you jump from stair to stair for the prescribed number of repetitions. You really can’t do this with a box, which makes stairs a better option.

Another thing is that I think a hard surface works best when doing a power development workout. A harder surface gives you better ground reaction force, making you more powerful. Some coaches actually use sand training and I think this actually defeats the purpose of getting a forceful stretch and shortening reaction. However, keep this in mind, as a hard surface can damage the joints. Ladder work for energy development should not be done more than 2 times a week. And if you are in season, it is convenient to do it only once a week with very little volume or low level of hops (1 or 2 steps maximum) and a form of conditioning. Steve Cotter makes an excellent point in his talk on energy development training: it’s like homeopathic medicine. You want some of the poison so you can adapt and become stronger and more powerful. So just a little bit of stair energy building training can go a long way. Just remember to work hard, be intense, and don’t overdo it! In fact, our energy building work on the stairs only takes 15 to 25 minutes, 1 or 2 times a week.

Stairs serve as excellent equipment for plyometric training for many reasons. You have steps that serve as indicators of improvement. When an athlete starts out, they may be able to jump one step at a time. As the athlete improves, he can go up 2 to 3 or even 4 steps at a time, showing marked improvement.

Actual plyometric training equipment can be very expensive and is generally not available to many athletes. This is not the case with stairs.

The next reason is that stairs are great for high-level anaerobic conditioning and speed development. So what do I mean by top-level conditioning? Simple: conditioning that leaves you lean and out of breath. Getting in shape is important because jumping takes a lot from you. More importantly, a great leap is simply a great leap. You also want to be able to have a big jump throughout an entire basketball game. Don’t be the athlete who looks good in warm-ups when nothing is at stake. Be the athlete who can jump, block shots, rebound, shoot, and make a difference in the 4th quarter.

On top of that, running and jumping stairs for conditioning will actually improve strength and power. In fact, even if you simply embrace running upstairs to condition yourself, you will notice a significant improvement in strength and power. The reason for this is because you are training to move your body against gravity and that inherently has a strength and power component. Even more, in season you’ll want to cut down on heavy power development work due to all the jumps you’re already doing. But you can still do the high-end anaerobic conditioning (usually running upstairs) because it’s time efficient and gives your buc a lot (conditioning, strength, and power) performance.