It has been seen on ESPN and in Men’s Health magazine. The website features glowing testimonials from young and old, male and female, professional athlete and junior high kids. It offers a double your money back guarantee. Does The Jump Manual really deliver on its promises?
In The Jump Manual, Jacob Hiller combines exercise, flexibility, and diet to increase strength and quickness. This, he claims, will lead to an explosive jumping ability, with gains of up to 10 inches in height.
Science seems to support Hiller’s program. Numerous studies are showing the benefits of plyometric training combined with weights in increasing the vertical jump. In a study published in 2010 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers Arabatzi, Kellis, and DeVillarreal studied 36 men. The men were separated into four groups each utilizing a different training type – plyometrics only, Olympic weight training only, plyometrics and weight lifting, and a control group. The researchers found that all three groups increased in their vertical jump height.
Studies have also supported the resistance, or weight training, component in increasing vertical jump height. A study conducted by Tsimahidis, Galazourlas, Skoufas, et al, and published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2010 indicates a significant increase in vertical jump height when incorporating resistance training into an athlete’s training regimen. The increase was as much as 1.5 percent.
Studies on flexibility training, which Hiller incorporates in his program, show no positive correlation between flexibility and vertical jump height. In fact, most studies show a negative correlation. One study conducted by Dos Santos Galdino, Nogueira, Silva Galdino, et al, published in 2010 in Human Movement, found that jump heights actually decreased up to 6.8 percent after flexibility training. Another study published in 2010 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, found no considerable effect of flexibility training on agility or vertical jump. However, flexibility training can improve muscle recovery and decrease injury, an important factor in any sport.
Of course, diet is important to any successful exercise or training routine. Hiller’s program incorporates diet as an essential component of muscle recovery. Hiller claims muscle recovery improvement will result in increasing vertical jump height faster and provide greater injury prevention. Jim Stoppani, who holds a doctorate in exercise physiology and is senior science editor for Muscle and Fitness Magazine, places great emphasis on the role of diet in muscle recovery.
Science seems to back most of Hiller’s program in regards to diet, plyometric exercise, flexibility training, and resistance training. There is one catch to Hiller’s program. The gains do not come magically. You have to be dedicated and work at it to get the results you want.