Do Jump Strength Shoes Really Work? Let's Find Out...

Jump strength training shoes can be expensive. They range in price from $89 - $149 depending on the manufacturer. So, are they really worth the money? Let's take a look.

Strength shoes are designed with a 1.5" hard rubber platform attached under the balls of your feet which prevent your heels from directly hitting the ground. This will make your calf muscles have to work harder in any exercise that you perform in them. In reality, I'll admit that many people DO increase their vertical jump using platform shoes. However, the improvement is because of the drills and exercises they do not by the magic of the shoes.

A Scientific Study on Strength Shoes

There have been several scientific studies that have compared two focus groups. One group of people using jump strength training shoes and one group without them. Both groups used the exact same training program, and the group without the shoes increased their vertical just as well, if not better than the other group.

The workout was provided by the manufacturer. It randomized 12 intercollegiate track and field participants to a Strength-Shoe group and a normal-shoe group. After 8 weeks of a training program supplied by the manufacturer, the normal-shoe group showed a tendency to improve more than the Strength-Shoe group on all performance measures!

The individuals training in regular shoes improved more in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, strength at slow speed, and strength at fast speed. Only calf circumference tended to improve slightly more in the Strength-Shoe group. Two of the six athletes in the strength shoe group complained of shin splints, and one of them had to drop out of the study because of the pain.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against jump strength shoes. If you want to use them that is great. I'm just trying to give you some solid information. I have never used strength shoes in my vertical jump workouts and I was able to increase my vertical by 12 inches over a 7 month period of time.

However, just using strength shoes alone probably won't bring you the type of gains that you are looking for. A step-by-step program will enable you to reach your goals faster. An extensive customizable vertical leap program that covers all aspects of training is needed to see REAL gains (like the 12" gain that I got).

Simply, targeting improvements on your form alone and mastering the proper techniques can increase your vertical by 2 - 4 inches! You can find out more information about increasing your vertical leap and the program I used at the links I have below:

http://www.40inchvertical.net/

How To Train for a 40 Inch Vertical

Increase YOUR Vertical Jump