Evaluation of Jumpsoles and Strength Shoes-- Do they truly work?
Jumpsoles are one of the icons of the vertical jump training world. They have been around because the '90s and claim to increase your vertical jump by 5-10 inches by adding fast-twitch muscle fibers in the lower leg.
In this evaluation, you are going to find out if Jumpsoles in fact work and whether there are better alternatives out there.
What are Jumpsoles?
Jumpsoles are basically a simple rubber platform you attach to your own shoes. They make it impossible to touch the ground with the heels consequently increasing the work of the calf muscles.
Jumpsoles come with a plyometric vertical jump training program delivered on DVD or VHS (yes, they are that old). The workouts of this program are meant to focus your body weight onto your calves and train you to spring off the balls of your feet like a powerful cat.
A comparable alternative: Strength Shoes
The distinction between strength shoes and jumpsoles is simple. While jumpsoles attach a rubber platform to your own shoes, strength shoes already included a pre-attached platform you can't remove.
The training viewpoint behind the strength shoes is identical to the approach of the Jumpsoles. As you are required to do your exercises on the suggestion of your feet, your calf muscles get a heavy exercise theoretically increasing your vertical jump.
In this post, everything related to Jumpsoles is also true for strength shoes.
How do Jumpsoles work?
Jumpsoles included an 8-week training program of specific plyometric workouts. You perform these workouts two times a week with the rubber platforms connected to the front of your shoes. You can take a look at the total training program here.
Workouts range commonly: 1-foot dives like skipping, fast two-footed jumps (like lateral cone hops), and slower, two-footed jumps (like box jumps).
These workouts resemble the exercises in lots of other vertical jump programs and are proven to increase your vertical jump even without the addition of Jumpsoles.
In the beginning, you will feel a bit uncomfortable when training with Jumpsoles attached to your shoes. They are rather heavy and unpleasant and the extra weight is extremely distracting specifically for one-foot dives.
So, should I utilize Jumpsoles?
The distinction between doing the recommended exercises with or without Jumpsoles is the increased intensity for the calf muscles. But, does that even make good sense?
I believe there are 2 reasons why this is NOT the most efficient way of training your vertical jump:
1. Calves play only a small part in jumping
Vertical Jump height is figured out by the quick extension of 3 different joints: knees, ankles, and hips. This so-called triple extension is a motion pattern involving a great deal of different muscle groups like the feet, calves, upper legs, glutes, lower back, and even arms and shoulders.
The calves are just estimated to contribute in between 10% -20% to the vertical jump height. Other muscles (like the quadriceps) are much more important and contribute as much as 50% or more to jumping capability. This differs depending on your jumping style (one-foot jumpers depend more on the calves, two-foot jumpers less), however it shows concentrating on the calves may not be the very best concept.
You can also do a little experiment for confirmation. Attempt to jump with your knees and hips completely extended and just utilizing your calf muscles. You have to have pretty strong calves to get off the ground.
2. Jumpsoles may ruin your jumping technique.
If you want to improve any athletic capability, you wish to do exercises that closely look like the actual motion for which you are practicing. By just leaping from your toes, your body might in fact "forget" how to jump utilizing your heels.
By training with jumpsoles, you will become great at this really particular type of leaping, however you click site still need to translate your new ability back to routine vertical leaping.