Jump Manual at 40 years old - Week 10 Results

Week 10 of my vertical jump training using the Jump Manual started out great. But, then I went out of town for 3 days to go camping and didn't workout at all! I was fully planning to do the off-day exercises on Wednesday & Friday and my core & upper body workout on Thursday (like I normally do each week) as these are workouts that can be done just about anywhere. But, I didn't do it.

On the bright side, the strength & explosion workout (squats, deadlifts, cleans, etc.) that I do each Saturday did go well. I was able to increase the weights on squats and knee drives. What seemed crazy though is the workout seemed so much harder than it did the week before. Probably because I hadn't done anything for the last 3 days!  Also, not getting much sleep or eating well on my camping trip didn't help. About 1/3 of the way through the workout, I seriously considered calling it a day. So glad I didn't! This week is also going to be tough as I'm out of town for 4 days. Got to do better.

This morning I decided to play basketball since I hadn't played in like 10 days and was really missing it. I felt a little sore from Saturday's workout but not too bad. I did some depth jumps in between games and was able to beat my previous best of 29.1" (shown in my Week 8 video) with 30.8". However, I was jumping off an 18" chair as compared to a 12" step in my last test. So that probably explains some of the increase as I should be able to jump higher off the chair than the step.

Here's the video from today:

Jump Manual at 40 years old - Week 9 Results

Week 9 of my vertical jump training went extremely well.  As I mentioned in last week's update, I decided to go back to doing the exact workouts outlined in the Jump Manual instead of the modifications I had made.

After only 1 week, I already know that was the right decision. How do I know? Well, since I track all my workouts, I know my lifts increased either in weight or number of reps on several exercises. That felt great!

Also, I decided to cut back on playing basketball from 3 times per week to 1 time per week. It felt so good to being playing on fresh legs!

So make sure you are getting enough rest. Recovery is HUGE!
I don't have a video to share this week but will make sure that happens on my next update. Thanks for reading!

Jump Manual at 40 years old - Week 8 Results

During the last seven weeks of my Jump Manual training, I have been able to "re-gain" most of the gains I made to my no-step vertical last year. However, I'm definitely not jumping as high off the run. I've been thinking a lot about this and believe this is due to overtraining or as Jacob likes to call it "under recovery".

These last seven weeks instead of doing 1 plyometric workout and 1 strength workout separated by several days as outlined in the Jump Manual, I decided to experiment with shorter workouts but more often. So, I was lifting legs 2 times per week and doing short plyometric workouts 3 times per week. But, I don't think this is the right approach for me. My body just needs more rest and recovery time.

So, I'm going back to the standard Jump Manual schedule of 1 plyometric workout and 1 leg workout per week separated by 3-4 days. I'm also going to only play basketball 1 time per week to allow myself even more time to rest as compared to what I was previously doing.

I'm confident this will get things back on track. In hindsight, I should have just stuck with the standard Jump Manual workout schedule. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Today, I did the standard plyometric workout and used the Just Jump system for the first time during a plyo workout. It was so awesome to have immediate feedback on how I was performing. I used it during depth jumps, medicine ball approaches, rim jumps, and weighted explosions. Now, I will be able to more accurately track my progress and push myself to the max during each workout. I also expect this to speed up my results.

I'm really motivated again and can't wait to see where I'm at during the next several weeks! 

Here's a clip of my best depth jump today which was only 29.1 inches. I was disappointed that I wasn't getting more like 33-34 inches but expect to be there very soon. Thanks for reading!

Jump Manual at 40 years old - Week 7 Results

I'm late posting my recap of Week 7! But, the week went fairly well other than I still haven't been able to dunk 2 hands which I was hoping to do by July 4th.

I did test my no-step vertical on Monday as I've been doing for the last several weeks. My best no-step jump was 30.3 inches which is a 1/2 inch less than my best jump from Week 6 when my best was 30.8 inches.

I've been feeling a bit run down and tired the last few weeks which isn't normal for me. I think this is due to not eating as healthy and not getting enough sleep. I'm recommitting myself to eating better and getting to bed earlier.

Although my no-step vertical is close to where I was at my peak last year, my running vert doesn't seem to be as high. I think this is do to fatigue and possibly overtraining. I looked back through my old training logs and blog posts (another reason why tracking your workouts and having a blog are so beneficial), and realized that when I was jumping my best, I had cut back to playing basketball to only once per week instead of 3 times per week like normal. My body probably needs more recovery!

So starting this week, I'm only going to play hoops 1 time per week for the next several weeks and see how that impacts my results. I'm also going to set a new date for me to dunk 2 hands. I'm heavily leaning towards this being my last phase of training for a while. It's just too easy to keep pushing that date back and while my motivation is still high it is not like it was when I wanted to dunk before I turned 40 last year. I was on a mission!

I wish there was a dunk contest for old guys that was happening this fall. Having a date like that would really motivate me. I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as it would likely be the worst dunk contest of all time! :-)

But, maybe I will put on my own dunk contest? If your over 35 and would want to participate, post a comment below. The winner gets a year supply of Viagra?!

Happy Training!