Sunday, December 4, 2011

Want to jump higher? Do this...

There are two things I'm doing as part of my vertical jump training that I think have made a HUGE difference in my results so far. When I tell you what they are, you might be surprised. As they have nothing to do with plyometrics, weights, or nutrition!

The two things I'm talking about are my blog and my YouTube videos. How much difference have they made? It's impossible to say for sure but I don't think you can overestimate their impact. The reason I say this is when it comes to achieving a goal, it comes down to desire. How bad do you really want it? How hard are you willing to work to get it? Most people are just talk. They want to dunk but they workout a couple of times and give up. If you don't put in the work, you don't get the results. It's that simple.

So without this blog and my YouTube videos, I don't think I would have come this far. I think the motivation would have run out a while ago. I also don't think I would have come this far without the encouragement, compliments, and even new friends I've made as a result of pursuing this dream. I've had a few "haters" of course and although they can be annoying they have motivated me too.

I can think of several times when I wanted to skip a workout or not do another set or sleep in. And I would think about this blog and wanting to show some progress in my next video and it would give me that extra motivation I needed in that moment to keep going. And, that's what it takes.

So if you are reading this and want to dunk or achieve some other goal, my challenge to you is to tell the world and hold yourself accountable. Make videos and create a blog. You will have fun and it will help keep you motivated.

Thanks to everyone who is reading this and especially to those who have posted words of encouragement here or on my YouTube videos. I really appreciate the support.

Good luck!

25 comments:

  1. keep it up bro! you serve all of us that are in the same path as you as motivation! tomorrow is my first day of the fourth week on the program. almost a month already! I have made noticeable progress! MOTIVATION is KEY

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  2. Hey man good job. My vertical is slowly increasing again. I was going to say, can you give you some tips on form? I can touch the rim on my standing vertical, and half my hand grabs the rim on my running, but its inconsistent; is there any advice you can give on your running vert(two legg jump)?

    Thanks

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  3. @ilikebirds120 - can you post a video of you jumping? that will make it much easier to give you some advice. also here are a couple of videos you may want to watch on jumping form

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo6m9oziL3g&feature=channel_video_title

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf95YGbSMBg&feature=channel_video_title

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  4. hey dude so i can flush the it down the football pretty handily, and am able to do the volleyball now, too. How many more inches do you think i need?

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  5. @seanc -- if you are dunking a volleyball you are getting really close. probably just need 1-2 more inches...

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  6. Your success story is amazing, I love the videos of your progress. One question, do you think I could gain 12 inches in 7 months doing this? Im 6'1'' and 17 years old.

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  7. @ High Flyer - thanks man! greatly appreciated!

    How high is your vertical currently? I think your goal is definitely realistic unless you already have a super high vertical. At a certain point, it gets really hard to keep adding inches. For example, if you already have a 40 inch vert...it will be really hard to add 12 more inches. But, if you have in the low 30's or down into the 20's, then you can definitely do it if you put in the work.

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  8. 26'' or so is what is was.I could grab rim standing under the basket. I could dunk a football when running. I recently fractured my back so I am out for 6 months. Planning on starting on jump manual first of June and end in November before basketball season so actually closer to 6 months of training not 7. I would love to be able to dunk easily with 1 or 2 hands so hopefully I could do it in games. You see I live in a small town and go to a small school and absolutely nobody dunks. Im looking to change that.....

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  9. @ High Flyer - whoa! sorry about your injury. i think it's great though you are already making plans after you recover. i bet that will help you to heal faster too. i wish you a full and speedy recovery. good luck man!

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  10. Just wondering what your thoughts are. Based on the stats I gave you, how many inches do you think I need to be able to tomahawk dunk 1 and 2 handed? Would love to do it next November

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  11. @High Flyer - to do a sweet tomahawk dunk you probably need to be able to get mid forearm to the rim. not sure how many inches that would be...

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  12. How many inches away do you think your are from getting the 2 hand dunk?

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  13. Great question! I'm going to film on Friday and see where I'm at.

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  14. I can slam it hard 1 and 2 handed on a 9ft goal, I can slam it pretty hard 1 handed on 9 1/2ft and can almost dunk 2 handed. My thoughts were that if I can slam it hard on 9ft I need 12 more inches to be able to do the same on 10ft. Looking forward to your video

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  15. What are your weight lifting stats?

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  16. @ Witness - I haven't tested my max on the lifts in a long time but best guesses right now on some of the major lifts for 1 rep Max:

    275 on Squats (down to parallel)
    260 on Dead Lift
    175 on Hang Clean

    These are just guesses though based on how much I lift during the Strength and Explosion workout in Jump manual

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  17. I understand. I am doing the jumpmanual too. I am amazed by you powercleans I can only do 145 and I'm lucky to gain 5 pounds a week.

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  18. Mind to share how much weights you do for each execise? For example, explosive jump, medicine throw....

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  19. I Only use a 10lb med ball for med ball throws and I use 50lbs for explosive jumps. Those are ploymetric exercise so I focus more on the speed then the weight. My weight lifting stats are. Squat-325 deadlift-250 hangcleans-145 hamcurls-90 and I added bulgarain split squats-180 and Jump squats-155

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  20. I also use a 10 lb medicine ball for the throws and medicine ball approaches.

    For weighted explosions, I've been using 10 lb dumbbells in each hand as that is what I have at home. Talked to Jacob on Friday and he suggested using 1/3 of you weight which means I should be doing like 30 lb dumbbells and so I'm going to buy some for Christmas!

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  21. I Started my program i guess now i can grab the rim 2 weeks into the program. but when i use a standing Vert and try to grab the rim am not close i have to take 2 or 3 steps before i can do so. is it too early for me to get to that level.and also how many weeks did it take you to start grabbing the rim from a standing Vertical.

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  22. @ harlemgunner1 - i can almost grab the rim on standing vertical...but not quite there yet to be able to hang on the rim. probably 1 more inch and i should be able to hang on rim from standing vert.

    standing vertical is much more about strength so as you get stronger from doing the lifts in jump manual your standing vertical will increase.

    your running vertical is a combination of strength and quickness.

    good luck!

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  23. Before my back incident I could hang from the rim with my standing vertical. However, I could not dunk with my running vertical like candyman.

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