Who's Coming to The Dunk Camp!?

In addition to some of the top pro dunkers and experts in the field of athletic performance, we also have athletes signed up for The Dunk Camp from Mexico, Hawaii, Canada, and all over the U.S.

So excited!

There are still a few spots available! For anyone who still reads my blog, I will give you a special discount! :) Just DM me on Instagram @thedunkcamp for details.

Let's gooooooooooo!!!!

Here's a progress video for one of our pro dunkers - CJ Champion. Insane!!! If you want to jump higher and dunk, come to the Dunk Camp!!!

My Two Hand Dunk - Hard Work Pays Off

Follow me on Instagram @overthehilldunker!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I've been chasing the two hand dunk for almost 5 years! 5 years! That is a really REALLY long time and so I felt it was worth a second blog post dedicated to this dunk which has eluded me for so long!

Anyone who has worked and worked and worked for something and finally got it...knows that achieving a big goal and dream is one of the best feelings in the world! It almost seemed like it happened in slow motion. The feeling I had when it went down was unbelievable!

Below is a longer video of the long awaited for 2 hand dunk. I had to use the song called "Welcome Chris" from one of the best scenes in one of the best movies of all time - Pursuit of Happyness when Chris Gardner (Will Smith) gets the job and realizes his dream.

I've visualized this moment while listening to this song over and over again. While this dunk is nothing compared to a lot of dunkers out there, for me at 44 years YOUNG to achieve this goal is a dream come true.

So blessed. So stoked. Can't wait to do it again and with some power!

Go Get Your Dreams!

Follow me on Instagram @overthehilldunker

Started vert training again - Week 8

Another week in the books!

I've now completed 8 weeks of this 12 week phase. I am still 100% on hitting every single workout so far. This week was the first time though that I was not able to complete all the exercises in every single workout. It was on one of my plyo days and I still had a few jumps left to complete. But there was nothing left in the tank.

It wasn't a great jumping week. My body actually doesn't feel that broken down but it has to be after this many weeks and workouts. I'm also still playing basketball three days a week on top of all the workouts. I would probably get better results if I didn't do that and let my body rest more. But, I have to play. It's an addiction!

I mentioned last week that I was going to start taking creatine again and I started yesterday. I am very curious to see how my last few weeks go and am counting on some extra energy from creatine to help me get a few inches in gains!

I'm also adding in my "secret exercise" during 2 of the workouts each week until I complete this phase. Right now,. I'm focusing primarily on getting super explosive and that exercise in my opinion is one of the best on teaching you to get off the ground as quickly as possible.

That's about all for now. Here's this week's video. Enjoy!

Started vert training again - Week 2

Feels so good to be training again!

Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks into this 12 week phase of training and I'm noticing a difference already. I feel stronger and more explosive. I'm also pleasantly surprised at how well my body is responding in terms of not being crazy sore especially after not doing squats, deadlifts, etc. in a really long time. I have been stretching and icing a ton which definitely helps.

This morning I tested my no-step, 1 step, and running vert. It's hard to know for sure but I would estimate that I'm up about a 1/2" on my no-step and about 1 inch on both my 1 step and running vert from last week. It's subtle but at least in my mind it looks like I'm moving a little better and am more explosive compared to last week.

Here's the video.

Video - testing my vert at beginning of training

Yesterday, I tested my no-step, 1 step, and running vert as part of my workout. I think it will take 4-6 weeks to get back to where I was and then another 4-6 weeks to hit new PR's.

By the end of 12 weeks, here are my goals:

• No step vert: hang on rim with 1 hand
• 1 step vert: hang on rim with 2 hands
• Running vert: both wrists above rim and dunking 2 hands off dribble and off backboard

Here's the video from yesterday showing where I'm currently at on my vert.


My running vert looks SO SLOW! Got to speed that up!

Excited to be back training again!

Back at it!

The last few months have been crazy busy and among the most stressful of my life. My training has taken a back seat and it shows. But, all that really means... is it's time to get back to training!

I started on Monday of this week and I'm going to give everything I've got to reach my goal of dunking 2 hands over these next 12 weeks. Besides the workouts, I will be super strict on eating healthy, stretching and icing every day, and getting proper rest each night.

As far as workouts go, I'm doing a mix of Jump Manual and other exercises that have given me the best results over the last few years. That includes my "secret exercise" that I've mentioned in a couple of my previous posts.

Speaking of this exercise, check out this email thread from a few weeks ago:

--------

On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 1:23 PM, Derrick James <derrickjames330@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi I Am willing to try your secret exercise and share the results with you.

Could you please snend it. 

Thanks in advance 

On Friday, February 13, 2015, Andy Nicholson <andy@kalunaproductions.com> wrote:

Hi Derrick,

Here is the video of the exercise that has seemed to make a difference for me. Hope it helps! Let me know it goes.

my "secret" vertical jump exercise

On Sunday, February 15, 2015, Derrick James James <derrickjames330@gmail.com>wrote:

Hi Andy 

Thanks, I'll get back to you in 4 weeks 

On Thursday, March 19, 2015, Derrick James James <derrickjames330@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh hey

The exercises helped improve my quickness, I can dunk now thanks.

On Thursday, March 19, 2015, Andy Nicholson <andy@kalunaproductions.com>   wrote:

That is fantastic! Congrats! How much higher are you jumping now?

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 4:12 PM, Derrick James <derrickjames330@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks, I am jumping about 2-3 inches higher now 

On Thursday, March 19, 2015, Andy Nicholson <andy@kalunaproductions.com> wrote:

Awesome! First time you ever dunked? How tall are you and what is your age?

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 4:16 PM, Derrick James <derrickjames330@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes first time I've ever dunked 

I'm 6,2 15 yrs old

------------

So that makes 2 people I know of who started dunking after they did this exercise for a few weeks. Pretty cool!

Happy training everyone!

Another year - What's possible?

Here we are in 2015 and I've had yet another birthday! I'm now 43 years YOUNG!

I have started training again after taking some time off the last few months. It feels really good to be working out again. 

For the next 12 weeks, here's what my workout schedule looks like:

Mon, Wed, Fri - play hoops and do my "secret exercise"

Tue - Deadlifts, chin-ups, and core

Thu - Upper body

Sat - Squats, Cleans, and a few plyo's

This is the routine (with a few minor changes) I was following about 6 months ago that got me jumping really well this past Fall. 

Anyone else try my "secret exercise"? 

And, you got to check out the progress my new YouTube and FB friend, "Mick Pick" has made! He's using the Jump Manual and also told me he's been doing my "secret exercise" as well. So fun to see people reach their goals! Inspiring stuff! Watch his videos and subscribe to his channel!

Happy New Year everyone! Let's get to work!

Anyone willing to try my "secret" vertical jump exercise?

2 posts in 1 week! Wow!
I had another pretty good dunking day this morning and wanted to share a new video:



These last 2-3 weeks, I've dunked the most consistently I have since I started vertical jump training 3 years ago. So what is the difference? I guess it's impossible to know for sure...but here are my thoughts.

• I'm training LESS in comparison to what I've been doing up until now. So leads me to believe I may have been over training or like Jacob Hiller likes to say, "under recovering".  I will be the first to admit that it is really HARD for me to do less. I am the guy who will kill himself in the gym and only feel like I got a good workout if I can't walk at the end of it. And, the only reason I cut back on my training was because of limited time. It is not easy to tell when you are over training...I would have told you that I was not over training. So, be very careful about it. 
• The last 2 weeks, I have iced and stretched almost every night for 30-45 minutes. My flexibility has increased and my body just feels better. Flexibility (and recovery) does make a difference.
• About 3 months ago, I started lifting upper body which I had kind of neglected for the most part until recently in terms of my vertical jump training during these last 3 years. My upper body strength has really improved and I'm very close to getting a PR on bench press. I'm also getting pretty close to being able to do a muscle-up on a bar which will be almost as cool as dunking. So why would upper body help my jumping? Arm swing? Or maybe just less fat? Jumping is an overall body strength exercise...so don't neglect or overlook the importance of upper body strength. 
• I also started doing an exercise I used to do back when I was 29 years old and was jumping the highest of my life. I don't know if you can call it a "secret" exercise but I don't know anyone else who does this exercise (the way I do it) and it was something I made up myself. What I can say for sure...is I was doing this exercise when I jumped the highest of my life (age 29) and I started doing it again a couple of months ago and I'm jumping really well right now. Coincidence?

In fact...I'd really like to know if there is something "special" to this exercise. If anyone reading this would be willing to try a new exercise 3 times a week for 3 weeks and share with me their results, I will tell you exactly what it is and how to do it. I'm dying to know if it will help anyone else. The exercise can be done at the end of a workout and will take less than 5 minutes.

If you are willing to try it, send me an email (andy @ kalunaproductions.com) or send me a message on FB (www.facebook.com/andy.nicholson.169). The only thing I ask in return is for you to tell me if it helped you jump higher!

Got some nice dunks today

Just a quick update. I got 2 really nice dunks today. The best one wasn't on camera (of course). But, the second one was. Here's the video:

My training is going really well. I am actually doing less vertical training than I have in the past. Lots of basketball and short workouts. Here's the training schedule I've been following the last few months in case anyone is interested:

Monday - play basketball, run 1 ladder at full speed, speed rope
Tuesday - upper body (weights)
Wednesday - play basketball, 10 pistol squats, speed rope
Thursday - upper body (bodyweight exercises only)
Friday - play basketball, run 1 ladder at full speed, speed rope
Saturday - squats, deadlifts, zig zags, medicine ball throws, etc.

Anybody still out there? I feel like my blog is dead! :)

I'm jumping higher!

I mentioned in my last post that I had a really good jumping day last week. Yesterday, I was hoping to have another day like that but unfortunately I wasn't jumping as well and actually missed every single dunk attempt I tried. I was pretty bummed out. But, then I watched one of the video clips of one of my dunk attempts and realized I was actually jumping pretty well.

Below on the left, is a freeze frame of the last dunk I got on video from December of last year. This is at the very peak of this jump before I dunked the ball. And, on the right is a freeze frame of one of my dunk attempts yesterday at the peak of my jump. I know the angles are a little different but I think this jump is definitely a few inches higher. 

What's more exciting to me is that I was definitely jumping even higher than this on Friday. So based on that, I've got to be really close to getting a two-hand dunk.

What do you think? Am I jumping higher in the second picture? Or is it just me?

Got my best dunk today in a long time!

Apologies again for how rarely I'm posting these days...but I have some good news that I wanted to share!

This morning I got the best dunk I've had probably in a couple of years! I threw the ball off the glass and caught it and dunked one handed similar to the last dunk in this video.

It felt so good! Most of my dunks in the last two years have been when someone tosses the ball up by the rim (which is the easiest dunk to do). Catching off the glass is a harder dunk and requires jumping higher too. I was jumping higher today than I have in quite a while. This is very good news because I'm not getting younger. But, more importantly...the training I have been doing the last 2 months (which is a little different than what I was in the past) seems to be working.

Next week, I will post a video with some dunks and some of the training my son and I have been doing together and share some more details about the changes I have made if anyone is interested.

Let me know!

Another birthday and my training for 2014...

I've had this blog now for over 2 years tracking my vertical jump training! I've been able to reach some of my goals and others I'm still working on. Just had another birthday which now makes me 42 years young.

About 6 weeks ago I was jumping really well. Got some great dunks. And pretty much guaranteed in writing here on my blog that I was going to dunk 2 hands before the end of the year. I'm sorry to say that didn't happen. Not completely sure why. Could have been fatigue. Could have been overtraining. Could have been that I gained nearly 10 lbs during the holidays. 

At any rate, I'm not giving up. I started training again the first week of the year and am now 3 weeks into another 12 week phase. I'm taking creatine again and am rededicating myself to eating healthy so I can get leaner. I'm right around 180 lbs which would be fine if my bodyfat was low but it's not. So, I got to change that.

I'm coaching my son's AAU team (8th grade) and am really enjoying that. I try to incorporate a little bit of what I've learned during the last couple of years into our practices. I can't help but think how much better of a player I would have been had I trained properly back then. If anyone has figured out time travel, please hit me up!

Well...Happy New Year everyone and may all your vertical jump and other worthwhile goals come true in 2014!

Final week of training for this 12 week phase + couple of dunks

I’m finishing up my last week of this phase of training. Just one more workout and I get to take 2 weeks off! But, that doesn’t mean I will just be sitting around doing nothing. I plan to play hoops, do a few light exercises, and do some dunk sessions. I am really excited to see how I’m jumping once my legs are completely (or almost completely) fresh.

Here’s a couple of dunks I got this morning between pick-up games. Not my best jumps but not too shabby.



I’m actually most excited about how close I am to hanging on the rim off my no-step vert. I almost got that today. That will be a key milestone in my progress and expect that to happen in the next couple of weeks as well. 

Keep training guys! It’s worth it!

Jump Manual - 41 years old - Week 11 Results

Week 11 of my Jump Manual training went better than last week.

I took my sister-in-law's advice to incorporate some additional 1 leg exercises into my workouts such as lunges (stopped doing these a while ago), bulgarian squats (new exercise for me), single leg glute bridges (have done these off and on), and reverse hyperextensions (new exercise for me). It felt really good.

I have already been doing pistol squats (1 leg squats) fairly regularly and will continue doing them. I think pistol squats might be the single best exercise out there for improving your vertical as well as preventing injuries. When I finish this round of training, I am considering going to an extremely simple routine that would heavily focus on pistol squats and other mostly bodyweight exercises and plyometrics. In about 2 weeks, I will start training with my 13 year old son everyday and so time for my own personal training will be very limited. I'm actually excited about it because I think I can still make some really nice gains while actually training less. More details on that later. My son and I will also be making videos to track his progress and so that will also be fun.

Speaking of my son's training, he's at a camp this week with Micah Lancaster, who is one of the top basketball trainers out there. So wish I had access to this caliber of training growing up. Things have changed so much. When I was growing up, many coaches and trainers discouraged basketball players from lifting weights. "It will mess up your shot!" This partly explains why I weighed in at a hefty 140 lbs as a 5'11" senior.

If you don't strength train now, you simply won't be able to compete in today's game. The level of strength and athleticism is just unreal. A few weeks ago, my son played in a basketball tournament that featured some of the best 6th, 7th, and 8th grade basketball teams in the country. I'm not kidding when I tell you there were 7th grade teams that looked like high school varsity teams in skill, strength, size, athletic ability, and talent. They even had a dunk contest. Absolutely blew my mind. Doubt I could even touch the net when I was in 7th grade! Last year's dunk contest at this same tourney might have been even better.

Going to finish this last week really strong! Eating right, stretching, and getting after it for all my workouts. I'm planning to get a dunk video posted this week and then a video next week hopefully featuring a two hand dunk!

Happy "Spring"!

Jump Manual - 41 years old - Week 10 Results

Week 10 of Jump Manual training was kind of mediocre.

So, here's where I make excuses....

My brother and his wife and kids came to town (which was awesome) to ski and hang out. As a result, my wife made a plethora (jefe...do you know what a plethora is?) of yummy food which I ate way too much of. There was also extra junk food around the house since we had guests and my will power just sucks. The day they arrived my weight was the lowest it had been in a while (175 lbs) and when they left it was back up to 178 lbs. I also missed a workout and didn't stretch very much. Dang!

On the positive side, my brother's wife is an athletic trainer and so we talked at length about vertical jump training, strength training, etc. She really knows her stuff and gave me some great advice. She is a big believer in doing exercises that as closely mirror the athletic movement as possible. So for example, she said I should be doing more 1 leg exercises as you do a lot of jumping off 1 leg in basketball. She also suggested doing squats, lunges, etc with your feet in the same placement as when you jump (which would actually be somewhat of a staggered stance at least for me when I jump off 2 feet). So I will be trying to incorporate some of her suggestions and am curious to see how they impact my results.

No video this week. Sorry about that. Will make sure I get one next week.

Only 2 weeks left!!!

Jump Manual - 41 years old - Week 9 Results

Week 9 training using the Jump Manual was a good week.

I got in all the workouts except for one and that was because I was unusually sore after my Tuesday workout which I changed up a bit this past week. I mentioned in my last post that I was going to start adding in some additional plyometrics and that's probably what the additional soreness was from. So I took Thursday off to recover. I hate missing days as it makes me feel lazy. But, sometimes you just have to rest.

I've continued to modify and tweak my workout during these last 9 weeks and I feel like what I'm doing now is perfect for me. Admittedly, I have a tendency to change things probably a little too much. But, I think this is the right combination of strength, plyo, core, upper body, etc. It pushes me hard, doesn't take too long, and is giving me results.

To be honest, I was feeling a little discouraged (my wife would say I was "very grumpy") last week as I was expecting to see some nice progress after having a week off but didn't see any gains. However, that all changed this morning! I was in the basketball gym at Gold's doing my depth jumps (I prefer to do them with the basketball rim so I have a target and can tell how well I'm jumping) and some guys came over and asked me to play 3 on 3. It drives me nuts when guys ask me to play hoops at Gold's because I have no willpower to say no! And, I need to workout!

So of course, I said okay and we started playing. We played a very low key game where no one played defense or tried very hard (at least I didn't). After the game, they said okay let's switch up the teams and play again. I grabbed the ball and drove in hard to the basket and threw down a pretty nice one hand dunk. I don't think they were expecting that. One of the guys said, "He's on my team!". That made me laugh and feel really good.

Once again, I jumped really well when I wasn't expecting it and didn't have my camera out to capture the moment. I had already done squats and depth jumps and was a little tired and had no intention of playing basketball today. I also had on my old Kobe's that have no traction and wasn't wearing my knee brace either. I'm not very comfortable jumping with all my effort unless I have that on. In spite of those things, I jumped really well today. The modified workout, taking creatine, stretching more, and eating better (I'm now down to 175 lbs) are making a difference.

I'm really excited again and feeling optimistic that reaching my goal of the two hand tomahawk dunk is possible. On the right day, when the adrenaline is pumping, I think I could do it. But, the planets and stars may have to align perfectly.

When is the next full moon?

Jump Manual 2013 - took another week off

This past week I took a break from my Jump Manual training. It was nice to have some time off and give my body and mind a break.

I'm now headed for the home stretch. My last 4 weeks of this phase of training! And I'm actually coming up on 2 years since I started using the Jump Manual back in April 2011! In fact, my 2 year anniversary is almost exactly one month from today (April 11). It would be so amazing to reach my goal of the two hand tomahawk before then.

So...I'm going to do everything I can this last month to make that dream come true. Here's the plan:

-- Start taking creatine again (started yesterday)
-- Stretch everyday
-- Adding back in some additional plyometrics
-- Shortened workouts that focus on explosiveness
-- Play basketball 1 time per week instead of 2 times per week. Got to spend the time training instead of playing hoops.
-- Eat super healthy. Get as lean as possible without losing strength during these next 4 weeks.
-- Get more sleep. I regularly go to bed at midnight or later and get up at 5:45 am. Not ideal.

And I'm also going to pray! :-)

Hope your training is going well. Wish me luck during these next 4 weeks.

Jump Manual - 41 years old - Week 8 Results

My week 8 training using the Jump Manual went alright. I skipped one of the workouts completely and then did only about half of another workout. Definitely started feeling some fatigue and burn out and so I'm definitely going to take this week off and rest up a bit.

My plan is to play hoops 2 times this week and just do the "off-day" jump manual exercises on those days. I'll do some pushups, pullups, and some core stuff and of course stretching and foam rolling. But, I'm going to take a break from lifting (squats, deadlifts, etc.) and plyometrics. Going to eat really strict this week and see if I can lean out just a bit more before I start taking creatine again on Monday. Seems like I gain an instant 5 lbs within a couple of days taking creatine so would like to get down to around 170 lbs so that when I'm on creatine I'm around 175 lbs.

I also sprained my right ankle last week (not horribly bad) but that's another reason to take some time off. I have been doing tons of ice and advil and most of the swelling is gone already. It's my first sprained ankle since I started doing jump manual workouts almost 2 years ago which is really good for me. In the past, I  sprained ankles pretty regularly.

I will upload a new video later this week with some better dunks than that lob from last week.

Thanks for reading!

Jump Manual 2013 - Week 6 Results

Week 6 of this phase of Jump Manual went pretty well over all.

I did miss my big Saturday workout which sort of bummed me out. We went camping on Friday night and then my son had a basketball game as soon as we got home on Saturday. I then did a 2 hour skill workout with him and the day just got away from me. I wasn't completely lazy though. I did some pushups, situps, and body squats as well as some foam rolling and stretching.

I was really looking forward to basketball this morning as we always have good games on holidays and play for a long time. But, my body actually wasn't feeling that great this morning. I felt sore which made no sense at all. I brought my jump mat to test my no-step vertical like I do each Monday. But, I turned it on and it died. Hopefully its just the batteries and not broken or something.

The good news is instead of doing my no-step vert tests in between games, I made some dunk attempts and got the best dunk I've gotten in a while. Felt so good! Jumping is so unpredictable. I really wasn't feeling that good today and yet I jumped probably higher off the run than I have in a while. My approach felt really strong and fast. I think the extra core work I've been doing this phase of training is helping a lot with my running vertical. Or maybe it was watching the slam dunk contest! Although it was kind of lame. With Gerald Green and James White, it should have been so much better!

Some other good news this week is I got a PR on military press. I really suck at this lift! I finally got 105 lbs for 5 reps. Hopefully I can continue to make improvements there. Strong shoulders are important for the arm swing and helping you jump higher.

Unfortunately, I wasn't filming my dunk attempts as I would love to seen the footage. Will make sure I do that next week. I will leave you with this video which blows my mind. I keep watching it over and over and trying to figure out how in the world this 5'6" high school kid can dunk so easy. He's even dunked a few times in games which is even more insane.

Have a great holiday!

Jump Manual 2013 - Week 5 Results

Week 5 for this phase of training using the Jump Manual went extremely well!

I'm really glad I took the previous week off to rest. I admit it was hard to resist the temptation to work out and I was worried about losing some of my gains or slowing down progress. And, there's always a chance when you take time off that 1 week turns into 2 weeks and so on. But, I came back super motivated and was able to push hard with my body feeling fresh again.

I got in all my workouts and stretched every day. Also, my flexibility is finally starting to improve again and believe it is due to changing how long I hold each stretch. Previously, I would hold a position for 10 seconds and repeat 3 times. This past week, I began holding each stretch for 30 seconds and doing just 1 set. Holding each stretch for 30 seconds has allowed me to push just a little further and as a result my range of motion has improved. I still can't quite get my palms to the floor with straight legs but I'm getting much closer.

Yesterday, I tested my no-step vertical again. My legs were feeling great. I was absolutely convinced I would finally break 31". But, I didn't quite get it. I got 30.8" two times which matches my highest no-step jump on the mat from about 6 months ago. So next week has to be the week I finally break 31"! This is the reason tracking is so important as I'm so motivated to do everything I can this week to make sure I get a PR next week. Eating right. Stretching. Really getting after it on my workouts. If I wasn't tracking, there would not be anywhere near the same level of motivation.

Here's the video showing one of my 30.8" jumps.

I'm planning to start making dunk videos again. Maybe later this week. Stay tuned!