How to Improve Your Jumping Ability through Body Awareness

My article, “How to Improve Your Jumping Ability through Body Awareness”, below, was originally posted on July 21, 2007 on www.MartialArtsPlanet.com, the premier website for martial artists, within the Health & Fitness forum.  I hope you enjoy it.  If you are a return reader to this article, please feel free to go directly to page 2 for the beginning of the  “Movement Re-education Routine”.

How to Improve Your Jumping Ability through Body Awareness
              by James Speer, Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

Did you ever have a desire to be able to dunk a basketball, or to better deliver that jump kick in a sparring session?  Who among us would not like to enhance our jumping ability?

Please find below a jumping routine, for good, productive results. This routine is not intended to be applied in the mindset for Muscle Loading, or, for Cardiovascular Work, although these two different methods, of course, also produce improved jumping ability. Having a background as a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, rather, what I’ve provided below is a series of movement sequences intended for fostering greater bodily awareness. My Functional Movement Education work is a body-centered, self-discovery process, which utilizes movement. This form of Movement Reeducation operates under the principle that, in order for your Self (your body) to learn something, conditions have to be provided that are comfortable for it. Otherwise, once your nervous system detects any form of discomfort, it just shuts itself off from any further learning. Of course, with Muscle Loading, one often does approach a zone of discomfort, and, thus, acquires muscle gains, which is another way to develop jumping improvement.

Before doing the different movement sequences as described below, remember to always move slowly and well within your comfort range. Some of the movements described below may not be natural movements that your body would select to do spontaneously. Therefore, go at it easily, gently, as well as, slowly. If a particular movement sequence is uncomfortable to do even one time, then, possibly, do much less of it, and/or slow it down even more. If it is still uncomfortable, then do not do it at all.

Of course, if you were in a real physical contest, such as a sparring session with high kicking, a basketball game, or, if you were jumping in your standard, orthodox way, it would be all right to do your natural jumping movements, intensely, and as hard as you can. However, for the purposes of the following learning exercise, vis-a-vis, the following “movement reeducation routine”, again, go slowly and well within your comfort range, especially the first few times that you do the routine. You probably should not do the complete routine more than once per day, to give your system time to “integrate the Learning from the lesson”. For each of the different steps, always touch down, or, land on the ground, as you would naturally, with your feet facing, relatively, directly ahead of you.

Rest whenever you need to. Always rest at least 20-40 seconds between each movement sequence, even if you do not feel especially tired. Do all movement sequences 2-9 times. Remember, you don't get points for doing a lot. If you're only comfortable doing a particular jump movement sequence one time, that is fine. Always stop before the first sign of discomfort. For developing kinesthetic, or bodily, awareness, sometimes Less is More.

Do not rush. This is not necessarily a work-out routine. It's a bodily awareness lesson, learning how we organize ourselves to move (to jump) within our environment.  Instead of just rushing through the routine by hurriedly proceeding from one step to the next step, instead, if you rest properly between each movement sequence, the entire routine should take you between 10 to, possibly as long as, 30 minutes to do.  To assure that you are allowing enough time for movement learning, or, Sensory Motor Integration, to take place, you should be jumping leisurely enough that you never get out of breath during the routine.

For those of you who feel comfortable with Visualization or Imagination Work, Body Awareness lessons can often provide a wonderful opportunity for this. I will not elaborate on this kind of work here, only to express that imagining, or, imagination work, can, often, be productive. One experiences the same bio-electric or bio-chemical activity in the brain, during imagination work, as one would experience by actually doing the physical movement.

Again, I designed the following movement (jumping) routine not intended to be presented in the format of a "Guts to the Wall" Muscle Loading Session, which, obviously, merits its own rewards. Instead, the following routine is meant to be done comfortably, to allow Neuromuscular Reeducation to take place in a comfortable "learning laboratory". The next day, in your normal workout, when you go "Guts to the Wall" when doing other jumping exercises, see if you, perhaps, feel some sort of change or improvement, as a result of the slow, comfortable, learning lesson (below), you did the previous day.


Movement Re-education Routine for Improving Jumping Through Kinesthetic Awareness

*** The following steps are written, inferring that one is jumping into the air, and, thus, landing back down on the ground. However, sometimes when I do each of the different steps of the below routine, I like to do each step so that I am jumping up onto a bench, and, I then jump off the bench, coming back to the ground, then, resting for several seconds, before I, once more, jump up onto the bench again. Thus, one has the choice of doing each of the described movements below by, either, jumping up into empty air, or, jumping up onto a bench. ***

1) With your feet comfortably apart, jump in your natural way. Don't try to jump your hardest. Just jump as you would, easily, well within an easy effort.

2) Jump with your toes facing inward (pigeon toed). However, be sure to land (to touch down) in your natural way.

3) Jump with your toes facing outward ("Charlie Chaplan" style). However, be sure to land (to touch down) in your natural way. For each of the following steps, always touch down in your natural way.

4) Starting with the weight predominantly on the outsides of your feet, jump.

5) Starting with the weight predominantly on the insides of your feet, jump. This may feel uncomfortable. Therefore, tailor this movement to your own comfort. If it is still uncomfortable, then don't do it.

6) With your feet wide apart, jump.

7) With your feet together, jump.

8) Cross your right leg in front of your left leg. Jump.

9) Cross your left leg in front of your right leg. Jump.

10) Look up at the sky (or, ceiling). Jump.

11) Look down at the ground. Jump.

12) With your head turned to the left, jump. With your head turned to the right, jump.

13) Leaning forwards, jump. Go easy with this.

14) Leaning backwards, jump. Go easy with this.

15) With your buttocks sticking out, jump.

16) With most of your weight on your toes, jump.

17) With most of your weight on your heels, jump.

18) Jump in your natural way. Does it seem easier now? Does it seem more smooth and fluid? Is there something about it that feels differently?

The preceding routine is also helpful for a proficient athlete who, possibly, eventually approaches a plateau or sticking point by repeatedly jumping over and over again, the same way, day-in and day-out. The provided kinesthetic awareness routine offers an exercise in bodily awareness to, perhaps, better refine one's movement pattern to be able to, once again, progress in his jumping ability.

By doing the different jumping variations as stated (Most likely, there are possibly hundreds more that one can have fun creating.), this can possibly invite one's attention (awareness) to different body parts, for his system to then be able to pick and choose how to better coordinate one body part with another body part.

Of course, I also believe that in conjunction with this bodily awareness routine, it is also helpful for one to also do "Guts to the Wall" strength training and conditioning, including productive plyometric exercises. However, I would recommend that if you are doing this the same day as my body awareness routine, above, to do the "Guts to the Wall" training first, before the bodily awareness lesson. Or, if you are going to do the "Guts to the Wall" work after the bodily awareness routine, to allow a break of a good couple of hours of in-between time, for your Self (your body) to first integrate the improved sensory-motor integration it learned during the body awareness lesson.

Guan Yin Acupuncture & Movement-Education Center
Dr. Lin Cheng Speer, LAc, OMD, PhD
James Speer, Injury Rehab Therapist
Functional Movement-Education Therapist
Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
1003 Wilshire Blvd. Suites #203, #208
Santa Monica, CA 90401
tel. 310-395-1952www.drlinspeer.com
"Health Is All that Matters!"

"If you’re in pain, or your body aches, I give you the sensory motor experience to be able to move freely, effortlessly, pleasantly, without strain or discomfort. Say 'Hello' to relaxing, and 'Goodbye' to stiffness and pain!"

To see my popular YouTube video of me demonstrating the wonderful "'2-Minute Movement-Education Miracle' to Free Up Your Stiff Neck", Click Here