Feeling better! Lost 8 lbs

I mentioned in my last post about a month ago that I was starting a 10 day cleanse to help me get back on track with eating healthy and losing some weight. That ended up being a great experience! It blew my mind to learn how much the food you eat impacts the way you feel. If you have ever eaten super healthy for an extended period of time, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you eat sugar, processed foods, etc. on a regular basis (like I was), you may not have experienced this and you have no idea what you are missing. I didn't until I did the cleanse.

After those 10 days of eating perfectly - I felt absolutely amazing. Like, I can't even explain how much better I felt. I also dropped 8 lbs and most of the pain in my joints including my left knee are gone. What a difference!

Now that my body is feeling better from eating right and getting some recovery from months of training -- I'm ready to get back to training again. I am going to start my next round of training on Monday, August 10th and will be documenting my progress more regularly here on my blog and YouTube channel.

My recommendation to anyone out there who is wanting to feel better and jump higher is take a serious look at the food you are putting in your body. Eating clean is not easy -- but you will feel amazing.

Training update

I don't know if anyone visits this blog anymore! But, just in case here's the latest on my dunk training.

The last few months haven't gone super well. I've gained some weight and had some nagging injuries and just haven't been jumping very well. Some days my left knee really bothers me and other days it feels alright.

I've been trying to ice and stretch more and that has helped some. I've also started using the leg extension machine at the gym and that has seemed to help the most. Makes me think there could be a muscle imbalance between my quad and hamstring that is causing some of the problem. I've noticed if I do leg extensions the day before I play or jump, it feels better than other days where I haven't done leg extensions.

To address the weight gain, I started a 10 day cleanse yesterday that hopefully will allow me to drop some fat quickly (without losing muscle) and get me on track for eating healthier. For most of my life, I've always been one of those skinny guys who wanted to gain weight and had the hardest time. That is no longer a problem! I can gain weight pretty easily if I don't eat right.

I'm going to take the next few weeks off from training to let my body recover. I will hit it hard again in early August.

I do feel like my next round of training (12 week phase) will probably be my very last attempt at chasing the 2 hand dunk. My life is just too crazy and Father Time is becoming harder to battle. But, I'm going to give it one more shot.

Stay tuned!

I'm in Sports Illustrated!

In this week's issue of Sports Illustrated (June 1 issue), there is a super cool article written by Michael McKnight called the Dunk Project. The story is about Michael chasing his dunking dreams at age 42.

About 6 months ago, Michael came across my blog and reached out to me to ask some questions and get some of my advice since we are about the same age and shared a common goal. We traded some emails and phone calls since then and I've had a front row seat to watch his amazing progress during the last several months.

Michael mentions me in the article which was a great honor! My dream of being in the pages of Sports Illustrated finally came true! Just 25 years late! :)

You got to check it out! Head to your local store and pick up a copy of the June 1 issue of SI.

You can also see the online version here including some very cool videos.
http://www.si.com/longform/2015/dunking/index.html

If you're reading this Michael, thanks 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:

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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

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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! :)