Stretch Your Vertical
…a cool picture should probably
go here, right? Oh well…let’s get
you more flexible and jumping
higher :-)
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Copyright 2009 © by Alex Maroko. All Rights Reserved.
No portion of this e-report may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including fax, photocopy, recording or any information
storage and retrieval system by anyone but the purchaser for their own personal use. This
e-book may not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of
Alex Maroko, except in the case of a reviewer who chooses to quote very brief passages
for the sake of a review written for inclusions in a magazine, newspaper, or journal - and
these cases require written approval from Alex Maroko prior to publication.
For more information, please contact:
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.gamespeedinsider.com
Disclaimer
The information in this book is offered with the implied notion that the reader is
cautioned that there is an inherent risk assumed by the participant in any form of physical
activity. Anyone participating in any physical program should check with their physician
prior to beginning such activities. Anyone participating in these activities should
understand that such training may be dangerous if performed incorrectly. The author
assumes no liability for any potential injury the participant may incur performing any
physical activities associated with this e-book.
Hey! Alex here and I just wanted to say thanks again to you (because you obviously did
something cool to get your hands on this special report…whatever that something cool
was, I have no idea!).
OK, enough with the formalities. I’m a straight-forward type of dude and I like to get
right to the nitty-gritty…no need to go into a 5-page intro here telling some story about
how I came across all these stretches and how well they all work together (if you actually
want to hear the story, holler at my assistant Austin at [email protected]).
So, this is Stretch Your Vertical.
The report and program is laid out like this:
1. I’ll go over all of the major muscles you want to make sure are flexible and
pliable when it comes to jumping higher.
2. Then, I’ll go over a few different stretches you may or may not have seen before
for each of those major muscle groups.
3. Then, I’ll go over some things about mobility and activation exercises that are a
little different than stretching, but just as important for you to jump higher.
4. Then, I’ll put it all together for you to give you a sample stretching program that
you can carry out every single day to improve your flexibility and jump higher.
OK, enough talking, let’s go :-)
The Major Jumping Muscles
Quadriceps:
Made up of 4 different muscles, the quadriceps are a big piece of the jumping puzzle.
Lots of athletes have overly tight rectus femori so that is a biggie we’ll be focusing on
here.
Hamstrings:
The hamstrings are on the back of your leg and do two things: flex your knee and extend
your hips. They’re naturally pretty reactive and powerful, and most athletes seem to find
themselves feeling better when they don’t static stretch their hamstrings, but instead,
focus solely on the dynamic flexibility of the hamstrings. We’ll use forward leg swings to
focus on this.
Glutes:
(Look at those glutes…this guy needs to be in a rap video!)
The glutes are the powerhouse behind most of your explosive movements. We’re not
going to be focusing on their flexibility here, but instead, focusing on their tissue quality
and their firing. Lots of athletes actually have dominant hamstrings or lower backs that
perform a lot of the muscular actions the glutes should be…we’ll be fixing that here.
Calves:
The calves contribute a small part to jumping, so naturally, we’re going to give them a
little bit of attention. We’ll stretch ‘em out, but won’t necessarily dwell on them.
Hip Flexors:
The hip flexors do exactly as their name would entail…they flex the hip. They’re also
almost always tight on most athletes and tight hip flexors often are major culprits in
bringing down your vertical. You better believe we’re going to stretch these bad boys and
get you ALL loosened up.
Ankle Mobility:
The ankle area is routinely a little too tight, or immobile. While we don’t want a overly
flexible, “flimsy” ankle, we do want a mobile one, so instead of the usual ankle stretching
exercises, we’ll be focusing on ankle mobility exercises.
Hip Mobility:
See the same description above in the ankle mobility section…we’ll be focusing on hip
mobility to really loosen and open up those tight hips.
Lats:
The lats bring your arms down to your pelvis. That’s the muscular action they perform.
So if they’re tight, then they won’t let you raise your hands that high in the air. It only
makes sense that by increasing the flexibility of your lats that you’ll be able to raise your
hands just a little bit higher towards the sky, and voila!, higher vertical jump.
Stretches For The Major Vertical Jump Muscles:
Side-Lying Quadricep Stretch
Back-Leg Elevated Quad Stretch (focus on rectus femoris)
NOTE: For this one, I know it doesn’t show it in the picture, but you want the knee of the
back leg (the one elevated) on the ground. And it’s the quadriceps of that leg that you
should feel the stretch. Feel free to put your arms in a more comfortable spot if you want
too. Keep your torso solid and lean back to increase the intensity of the stretch.
Standing Quad Stretch
Hip Flexor Stretch
Standing Calf Stretch
Standing Calf Stretch on Stairs
One-Armed Lat Stretch
Side Lat Stretch
Ankle Mobilization
NOTE: This looks like a normal calf stretch, but you’re actually going to be focusing on
the front leg. Keeping the both feet on the ground, you’re going to try and touch the knee
of your front leg to the wall. Hold it as close to the wall as you can for a second, then
return to the starting position .We’ll count that as one repetition.
Fire Hyrdrant
NOTE: You’re going to rotate your leg around your hip, like shown in the pictures above,
in a full rotational manner. One revolution is one rep. After going through all your reps
going one way, you’re going to reverse the movement and go through all of your
repetitions going the other way. This is hip mobility exercise.
Forward Leg Swings
Side Leg Swings
1-Leg Glute Extension
NOTE: Lower your leg back down so that it’s almost in the same position as your support
leg, then lift it back to the top point (as pictured above), focusing on squeezing your
working glute (butt) muscle throughout.
Glute Bridge
The Stretch Your Vertical Jump Routine
Putting it all together…
Okay, here’s the routine to follow. You’ll want to do this as often as you can (but don’t
drive yourself crazy trying to do it everyday…please).
You can do it in the morning, or at night, or even in the afternoon if you’re really feeling
frisky :-)
Make sure you’re at least a little warm before you start. Do a set of some bodyweight
squats or some jumping jacks just to get some blood flowing before you start.
Go through this routine one time. It should take you roughly 10 minutes or so (maybe
less). And you will feel dynamite after.
Enjoy :-)
SYVJ Exercise #1- Glute Bridges 1 set x 10-20 reps
SYVJ Exercise #2- Fire-Hydrants 1 set x 8 reps (each way, each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #3- Ankle Mobilitzation 1 set x 10 reps (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #4- Standing Quad Stretch 1 set x 20 seconds (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #5- Standing Calf Stretch 1 set x 15 seconds (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #6- 1-Armed Lat Stretch 1 set x 20 seconds (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #7- Back-Leg Elevated Quad Stretch 1 set x 30 seconds (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #8- 1-Leg Glue Extension 1 set x 8 reps (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #9- Hip Flexor Stretch 1 set x 20 seconds (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #10- Forward Leg Swings 1 set x 10 reps (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #11- 1-Leg Glue Extension 1 set x 8 reps (each leg)
SYVJ Exercise #12- Hip Flexor Stretch 1 set x 20 seconds (each leg)
-Alex Maroko
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