Do You Really Need Platform Shoes to Increase Vertical Jump?

We’ve all seen Michael Jordan go up for that monster jam. Lately, it’s Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant that’s been providing us with the awe-inspiring moments. Nothing captures the imagination like being able to achieve the forty inch vertical leap, or forty four in the case of Mr. Jordan. The fascination with this athlete’s dream has resulted to different training programs, assorted performance enhancing supplements, and even various training devices, all geared towards helping an athlete increase vertical jump.

One of the more popular products purchased by many is the platform shoes. The platform is a shoe with the forefoot raised by design to promote calf strength and development. It is usually used in conjunction with a plyometric routine.

The primary design of the platform shoe is to enhance plyometric training by providing additional stretching to the gastroc-soleus complex or the calf muscles. But a pre-teenage young man using platform shoes to improve his vertical leap is compromising his knee and ankle musculature while skipping process that is necessary for his future long-term athletic growth. During training, stability and balance must come first before strength. Strength comes first before explosiveness and power. Training for explosiveness before achieving balance is like solving a mathematical problem using long division without having basic addition skills. It just could not work. How about for an athlete already possessing balance, stability and strength? A mature athlete. Will the platform shoes be able to improve his vertical jump? Maybe. Are the platform shoes worth buying? This depends on the view of the individual who will use it.

Companies that market the platform shoes assert it delivers the best speed and vertical jump workout available. One manufacturer claims “No other method develops as quickly the specific muscle groups and neural connections essential for speed and jumping height… with frontal shoes, the geometry of the lower leg is radically altered and actually made more efficient for sprinting and leaping (JumpUSA).” In this alone there is a reason to be wary: is it really necessary to “radically alter the lower leg”? There couldn’t be any more efficient machine than the human body; would these shoes actually improve in a positive manner our natural mechanics? Independent researchers are torn on the subject. While some worry about the over-stretching of the Achilles tendon or the resulting instability in the ankle joints, some believe the shoes offer the best possible calf workout. Also the shoes may impede overall development by preventing development of the bigger leg muscles such as the hamstring, quadriceps and gluteus muscle.

“[Platform] shoes emphasize calf strength and explosiveness… The down side is the calf contributes to only about 30% of jumping ability, the shoes degrade the effect of the workout routines on the rest of your leg muscles (Primus Research).” “Based on the comments of several outside reviewers, we remain convinced that the eccentric loading conditions imposed on the Achilles-soleus-gastroc complex by Strength Shoes impose a substantial risk of injury, especially if not used correctly… Until further research indicates otherwise, our position remains that the risk of injury may be too great and the magnitude of training effect too small, on average, for us to recommend Strength Shoes to coaches and athletes,” (Hatfield).

There are no devices or magic formulas that provide immediate gratification to people seeking to achieve greater vertical jump. Platform shoes like those marketed by JumpUSA, and Strength Shoes, among others can be used to improve calf musculature among experienced athletes but should not be used in the duration of an entire workout in order to develop other muscles and prevent injury. An experienced trainer with a weight lifting, running and jumping program may provide a better, less costly and lower risk of injury alternative.

Double Your Vertical Leap Valued at thousands of dollars, sold with almost $500 dollars, the Double Your Vertical Leap package is one of the best available products on the market regardless of the numerous books and packages offering similar information. If you think I am crazy to pay close to $500 for the program, you are right. Luckily for me and money other athletes who wanted to improve their vertical jump, the author of the project has different kind of sales which make the product far more affordable. In fact, right now, there is a $97 promotion that I took advantage of. Click here to Read Full Review… Click here to Visit Website…