Road to 40 inch running vert - Week 10 Results

Quick update...yesterday I tested my no-step vertical again and was fully expecting to have another PR. But, didn't happen. I got 31.6" a few times (31.8") is my current PR that I got last week.

But, I also did the 4 jump test which I hadn't done in several weeks. I saw a huge improvement with this test. My previous best was:


.24 (avg ground contact time)
2.99 (explosive leg power)
25.6 (average vertical for the 4 jumps)

Yesterday, my best results were:

.21 (avg ground contact time)

3.54 (explosive leg power)

27.2 (average vertical for the 4 jumps)

So, I'm very happy with the progress there. 

I ended up not doing a dunk session on Saturday last week but am planning to do that this week. Hopefully, I can get some good stuff.

Thanks for reading!

Road to 40 inch running vert - Week 9 Results - another PR!

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have still been training hard despite my schedule being crazier than ever. I've had to get up at 4:45 am in order to get my workouts in during these last few weeks. But, I'm determined to reach my goals and will give up sleep if I have to!

And it is paying off! 3 weeks ago I got a new PR on my no-step vert and today I got another PR (31.8" on my no-step vert).

Here's the video:



Today's jump was only a PR by .2 inches but progress is progress! And I fully expect to get a new PR next week. I'm feeling so good again after all those injuries.

I'm hoping to make a new dunk video on Saturday. With my no-step vert higher than it probably has ever been (even when I was a "young" lad), I should be able to get some decent dunks. I haven't tried dunking much lately as I've been much more focused on training and playing basketball.

Stay tuned! Big things are coming!

Road to 40 inch running vert - Week 6 Results - new PR!

After some bad luck with injuries, I’m finally feeling good again!  In fact, today I got a new PR on my no-step jump!

Here’s the video with my new PR of 31.6 on my no-step jump:

It feels so good...to feel good! The sprain on my right ankle took so much longer to heal than I was expecting. The worst part was the timing! Two weeks ago, I went to Florida and was able to meet up with Steven Celi who has become one of my favorite YouTube dunkers. I was hoping to make a cool dunk video with him but we were both injured. It was still cool to meet him in person and learn more about his training and what has worked and not worked for him. He’s a big believer in jumping every day or almost every day. He does very little lower body strength training now and mostly focuses on jumping and plyometric work. It definitely has worked for him. He recently tested at 42” on his running vert which is fantastic.

I’m super excited again and look forward to getting another PR very soon. I'm feeling very confident about getting to 34” on my no-step and 40” on my running vert! Big dunks coming soon!

Thanks for reading and following along. I appreciate the support.

Road to 40 inch running vert - Week 4 Results

Today marks 2 weeks since I sprained my right ankle pretty bad. Even though it didn't keep me off the court or from working out for very long, it still is not 100% and I'm not jumping great right now. I'd say maybe 80%. I'm actually icing it right now as I type this!

The swelling has gone down a ton but is not completely gone. I can do most exercises other than depth jumps as those are just too painful still. 

I did test my no-step vert on Monday and my best jump was 29.1 which of course was disappointing. That's 2 inches from my PR. I know my ankle is mostly to blame but that doesn't make me feel any better! I just want to jump higher!

I also did the 4 jump test a few times and my best test was:

.24 (ground contact time)

2.87 (explosive leg power)

23.5 (avg vertical during the 4 jumps)

Those are fairly similar to my last test a couple of weeks ago after I had sprained my left ankle and down quite a bit from where I was 3 weeks ago. I know these numbers will rapidly go back up when I am healthy. 

The timing for these injuries is kind of unfortunate as I'm going to Florida next week and am going to meet up with my friend Steven Celi who I met through YouTube from doing the Jump Manual. I used to jump higher than this guy but he's passed me up by a ways! But, hopefully I will have a great week and can get some decent dunks. We're planning to do at least one dunk session and maybe two. He also recently sprained an ankle and may not be 100%. But, no matter what it will be fun and it's so cool that I've made some new friends from chasing my dunking dreams.

Check out one of his recent dunk mixes!

I admit it...I'm addicted to basketball

Last week, I sprained an ankle for the second week in a row. My right ankle was a cankle!

So, I started ice liking crazy, popping Advil, and whatever else I could to speed up recovery. And, to my surprise this bad boy is healing up pretty quickly! I sprained it last Wednesday and so I took Thursday and Friday off. But, I was able to workout on Saturday.

Because of my basketball addiction, I played on Monday and again today even though that probably wasn't the best idea. Good thing I've never been into drugs! Pretty sure I would be the worst addict ever.

Here's what it looks like now:

It's still not 100% but so glad it's getting better so quickly.

I will test again on Monday and see where I'm at. If I can stay healthy, I'm confident there are some nice gains in my near future.

Wednesdays are bad luck

Just a quick post...

For the second Wednesday in a row, I've sprained an ankle playing basketball.

A week ago it was just a mild sprain that took a couple of days and I was back on the court. Yesterday's is probably the worst sprain I've had in a few years. Here's a picture. I have a feeling this one is gonna take more than a couple of days to heal...$@$!*

Road to 40 inch running vert - Week 3 Results

Another good week of training despite spraining my left ankle playing hoops (luckily not a bad sprain). The "cool" part was I did it blocking a guy's shot. But, there was some contact in the air and got off-balance and landed wrong. It's still a bit swollen and I need to do a better job icing it.

Last week was also kind of crazy because my oldest son was trying out for 2 competitive basketball teams and I probably get more stressed out than he does. But, he did great and is so fun to see his hard work pay off!

My best no-step vert was down this week almost an inch. I got 29.5 compared to 30.4 last week. I attribute that to having a bad day, some soreness, and my sprained ankle.


No-step vert test results so far:

• Week 3 best no-step vert = 29.5 
• Week 2 best no-step jump = 30.4
• Week 1 best no-step jump = 30.1
• PR for no-step jump = 31.1 (April 2013)

I also did the 4 jump test again. My best of 3 attempts was:

.24 (ground contact time)
2.91 (explosive leg power)
23.4 (avg vertical for the 4 jumps)

Ground contact time (.24) is same as last week.
Explosive leg power (2.91) is down from last week's 2.99.
Average vertical for the 4 jumps (23.4) is down from last week's 25.6.

This kind of shows I just had no "bounce" this day which also helps explain my no-step vert being down. Just one of those days. Next week will be better!