squat question

I want to get a higher vertical leap as well as becoming more powerful overall. However as of right now my max squat (225 lbs, my weight is 200) is very low relative to my weight. Should i focus on increasing this before doing excercises focusing more on maximal force/ power such as jump squats and olympic lifts? Also where is a good place to do olympic lifts, my gym doesnt really have a place to drop the weights after lifting them such as a pad and i dont think they would like me to just starting doing power cleans and dropping the weight on the ground afterwards. Thanks for your help guys.

yes, improvements need to be made in your max strength first.

you need to build up your general fitness so your body can handle the stress you must place on it to increase your Mxs. As far as the olymipic lifts are concerned I would suggest you start light and learn the technique while building your general fitness or GPP. Start by learning the front squat, Clean Pull and RDL perfect these movements. Next learn to jump shrug from the hang position. This willl transfer into a nice squat clean. Perform these drills as a combo exercise and you will be ready to perform strength movements and jumping higher in no time.

great advice man ill do that!

get the muscles strong, that are working while u re squating. concentrate not only on ur legs but also on hips, lower back.hope this helps

what other excercises should i do to further implement these muscles?

glute ham raises, dimel deadlifts, pull throughs, good mornings are some good exercises but just try a lot of exercises and choose those u like the most. i would change the exercises very often because so u make sure that there are some disbalances. i also really like zercher squats cause u can squat without the weight on the back and they teach u to really be tight while squatting. hope this
is better.

I cant do glute ham raises at my gym which pisses me off cause they dont have the apparatus, but ill try out that other stuff.

i know that problem, we don t have a ghr aparatus either. we do it like this: first we did it with the knees on the floor and a partner holding ur feet at the heels, now we do it with the knees on a punching bag so that ur feet are at the end of it. then the partner is pressing a 20kg plate against the feet from behind and the
heels down with his hands. works good this way. i know it sounds very difficult but just look at the ghr at efts and check what it takes to imitate the important
aspects: feet as locked as possible, somethig like a plate to press ur toes and feet against. this exercise is too good to leave it out, eventhough it´s not the perfect way it will work ur hams right. give it a try, hope u like it