Tomahawk before Thanksgiving - Weeks 10-11

Tomorrow (Thanksgiving) is my most recent deadline to throw down a 2 hand tomahawk dunk!

Now, I definitely believe in thinking positively and believing in yourself! But, the laws of gravity and physics still have to be overcome! And the unfortunate reality is I still have a ways to go to achieve this goal. With that said, I am playing hoops in the morning and will have my camera with me just in case it does become the best Thanksgiving Day ever! :-)

I've been thinking a lot lately about the basics in terms of vertical jump training. To increase your vertical, one or more of the following must happen:

- get stronger
- get more explosive/quick/springy
- improve your technique/form

Of these 3 key ways to improve the vertical jump, I feel I have the most room for improvement with strength.  So, that's where I'm really focusing right now. I have modified my workouts by reducing plyometric work and increasing the frequency of strength training. I also started taking creatine two weeks ago and am noticing a difference. In the last 2 weeks, I've gotten a little bit stronger, my lifts are increasing, and it's only a matter of time until that carries over to my jumping.

I'm going to continue this new routine for the next 10 weeks and have set the following goals:

- Squat: 300 lbs
- Bench: 225 lbs
- Deadlift: 325 lbs
- Bodyweight: 168 lbs
- Bodyfat: 10%

I believe these are the minimum levels of strength I've got to obtain in order to throw down two hand tomahawk dunks. And there are tons of other benefits to getting stronger too. But, dunking is my favorite!

Speaking of dunking, you've got to watch this video of Gerald Green. I've never seen anyone get their head this high above a rim. And, this is at the Pacers practice facility so should be a legit 10 foot rim. Even his teammates are freaking out.

Hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

-Andy

Tomahawk before Thanksgiving - Weeks 8-9

If you read my last post from a few weeks ago, you may recall I went to Europe for a week. It was an awesome trip! But, derailed me a bit on my vertical training with the Jump Manual and on updating my blog. Since I returned from my trip, I've lacked motivation, strength, and energy and I missed several workouts. I'm ready to change that!

This morning I had a great workout and am confident this week is going to be a good one. I also started taking creatine again after being off of it for several months. I'm anxious to see how it impacts my results this time. 

The next several weeks my focus is going to be on getting stronger. I think my strength is a bigger weakness compared to my "springyness" although I'd like to improve that too. My goal is to get my squat over 300 lbs and my deadlift to 325 lbs and get my bodyfat under 10%. When I do that, I should be dunking 2 hands easily!

Tomahawk before Thanksgiving - Week 7

Week 7 of this phase of vertical jump training using the Jump Manual was another great week. That's 3 weeks in a row of really getting after it.

This week is going to be tough. I actually left for Europe on Sunday and will be traveling to France, Germany, and the UK. Long days and jet lag doesn't bode well for working out. I'm not planning to do much other than maybe some pushups and 1 leg squats in my hotel room. Taking a week off will actually be kind of nice. Give my body a break and get going again next week. 

Will start posting videos again hopefully next week. Until then...au revoir and lebewohl!

Tomahawk before Thanksgiving - Week 6

Week 6 of my vertical jump training was another great week! 2 weeks in a row of no missed workouts.

I really like the new schedule I'm on. Also, it feels really good to be hitting my upper body hard again. Other than core work, the Jump Manual leaves your upper body workout pretty open to do whatever you want. So, I opted to not do very much! And, that is not good. I've also noticed playing hoops the last 2 weeks or so that I'm shooting better. I'm confident this is because my upper body strength is improving.

That's about all I can think of for now. I really got to start making videos again!

Tomahawk before Thanksgiving - Week 5

Week 5 of this phase of training using the Jump Manual went great! One of my best weeks of training for sure.

Last week I made some changes to my workout by splitting the 2 plyo workouts into 2 shorter workouts and I really like it. I actually think these shorter workouts will allow me to focus more on quality and explosiveness which is what you want. I do think the standard Jump Manual workout is ideal for the first time you go through the program to build a strong foundation. But, after the first 12 weeks, I would recommend shortening some of the workouts. 

I've decided to make one more minor change. I've noticed that Mondays are consistently my best jumping days. I believe this is because on Saturday, I hit it really hard with the strength and explosion workout (squats, deadlifts, etc.) and on Sunday I just rest and do some stretching. Because of this I'm going to move my first plyo day to Monday from Tuesday as I do think the order in which you train can impact your results. Hitting plyo's on the day I jump the highest is ideal.

So here's my schedule that I plan to stick with until Thanksgiving:

Monday: Plyo's
Tuesday: Core & Upper Body
Wednesday: Rest or Swim or play hoops
Thursday: Plyo's
Friday: Core & Upper
Saturday: Strength & Explosion workout

Thanks for reading and hope your training is going well!

Tomahawk before Thanksgiving - Week 4

Week 4 of "Tomahawk before Thanksgiving" went better than last week. Instead of being super lazy, I was only somewhat lazy! I missed two of the six Jump Manual workouts.

I've decided to make a few modifications to my workout for the next 8 weeks to see if it makes a difference. Here's my new schedule:

Monday: Core & Upper Body

Tuesday: Plyos (A little shorter than the standard Jump Manual plyo workout)

Wednesday: Rest (might swim or play hoops)

Thursday: Plyos (A little shorter than the standard Jump Manual plyo workout)

Friday: Core & Upper Body

Saturday: Strength & Explosion Workout

I'm also tweaking the core & upper body workout a bit. I've been taking it to easy and time to step it up. Going to add bench press and military press and really go crazy with my core. Going to get my bodyweight down to 165-168 from 173 lbs where I'm currently at.

So, stay tuned. I'll let you know if these changes make a difference!

I'll leave you with this video I saw today of a guy who is shorter than my 5'6" wife and can throw down serious dunks. Absolutely unreal! Almost seems like the laws of gravity don't apply to this guy. Enjoy!

Tomahawk before Thanksgiving - Weeks 2 and 3

I just realized I forgot to post a recap of last week's training. I don't even remember why so will not try to come up with a good excuse!

Since I write down all my workouts, I'm reviewing my tracking sheets to refresh my memory on how things went. According to my notes, I got in 4 of the 6 workouts. I missed one of the core & upper workouts and one of the off-day exercise workouts. Played hoops 3 times. Not a great week but not horrible.

But, this past week was way worse. I had full intentions of working out but I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't do a single workout (other than playing basketball 2 times). It was a crazy week for me as my 12 year old son had 2 tryouts for competitive basketball teams and we also did some extra workouts to help him prepare. He's made a ton of progress and it's really fun to see him improve. Yesterday, we went camping and boating so I missed my favorite Jump Manual workout -- the strength & explosion day which is squats, deadlifts, cleans, etc.

With basically a week off, I'm expecting this week to go really well. My body should be pretty fresh so I should be jumping well and be able to hit the workouts hard.

Yesterday, Joe C. Thomas who is one of the 4 guys I'm competing against for Nike Elite's posted a video showing his progress on getting down his first dunk. He's REALLY close so I've got to get going or he's going to win this friendly competition!

Check it out! He was definitely high enough on the first backboard toss!

Good job Joe! But, I'm coming after you! :-)