My knees were a little sore after this workout. I didn't push my knees out as much as I should have. I also played basketball before this workout so the soreness could have been from that and not the weightlifting.
Wednesday
Squats: 260 pounds x 5 reps x 2
Overhead Press: 150 pounds x 5
Deadlifts: 320 pounds x 5
I strained the bottom of my foot playing flag football, so I cut out jumping exercises today.
Friday
Squats: 355 pounds x 3
Close-Grip Bench Press: 230 pounds x 3
Power Cleans: 190 pounds x 3
I'm close to getting back to my 5 rep squat PR. I'm looking forward to breaking that record in week 8.
These were my max efforts; warm-up and work-up sets are not listed.
Monday
Squats: 335 pounds x 5
Close-grip bench press: 220 pounds x 5
Barbell rows: 190 pounds x 5
Drop jumps off 22 inch bench: 5 x 5 sets
Wednesday
Squats: 250 pounds x 5 x 2 sets
Over head press: 145 pounds x 5
Deadlifts: 310 pounds x 5
Stair jumps (up to 4th step): 5 x 4 sets
Friday
Squats: 345 pounds x 3
Close-grip bench press: 225 pounds x 3
Power cleans: 185 pounds x 3
Pogo jumps: 10 x 4 sets
I really focused on pushing my knees out to the sides during each squat rep. I was able to move through each squat rep with more explosiveness than I could with the same weight in the past. My close-grip bench press sets felt easy.
I was first introduced to depth jumps in high school. It was part of a basketball training program at my first high school. We weren't given any explanation on how to perform the exercise and our coach had all of us dropping off a table that was at least 30 inches off the floor on our very first day. Needless to say, I really didn't see any improvement using this exercise and I thought it was kind of stupid.
With the Jump Soles program, I performed depth jumps 3 times a week. The program, at the time, didn't come with a great deal of instruction and, looking back, I know that I didn't perform this exercise correctly. Again, because of poor technique, I thought the exercise wasn't very useful.
When I put together my squat/depth jump program a few years later, I read a more about depth jumps in some volleyball magazines that gave better instruction on how to perform the exercise. This time I saw a great improvement in my vertical and started to love this exercise. One thing I did was start from a low box and then work my way up to a 24 inch box over the course of a few weeks. I really learned how to explode through my jumps starting this way.
In college, I performed depth jumps sporadically. It wasn't until I used the Science of Jumping program that I starting using them again on a regular basis. At that time, I wasn't jumping really high and could dunk with two hands off of a drop-step. It wasn't until the past few years that I stopped using them. During this time, I've had a few injuries that have frustrated me (leg stress fractures, partially torn Achilles tendon, hip strain, tendinitis) and have not allowed me to perform depth jumps like I used to perform them. The issue is that I tried to perform them like I did when I was younger, using lots of resp multiple times a week on high boxes.
With my current training, I am going to follow a set of rules and see if I can not only perform depth jumps without causing tendinitis and still see an increase in my vertical jump. Here are my "old dude rules for depth jumps":
Soft surfaces only. No concrete or basketball courts. Either grass, sand, or on a stack of mats.
Only one day per week. I'll need to give my legs lots of time to recover.
Start slow and low. I've started this program performing only drop jumps off a low box. In the coming weeks, I'll switch to depth jumps off a low box and won't transition to a higher box for at least a few weeks.
Lower rep sets. No more than 5 reps per set.
Soft landings after each jump.
Since depth jumps have always been a part of my training when I was jumping really high, I've got to find a way to keep doing them.
It seems that almost anyone who is a serious lifter will rank squats as the number one exercise to build strength and power. I didn't start to focus on squats until I was about 21 years-old when I used my older brothers squat rack. At the time, I did full squats with my rear-end touching my calves. I was explosive and the knee issues that I had up until that point seemed to disappear. When I went away to college, I didn't perform one squat for 2 years. When I was 23 years-old, I badly injured my left knee; I woke up one morning and I just couldn't bend it. A few days earlier at my parents' house, I got in my brother's squat rack and, without warming up, tried lifting weights close to the amount that I was using 2 years earlier. I remember my knee feeling funny when I was done, but didn't think anything of it. A couple of days after that, I went to play basketball and my knee felt even funnier after I went up and dunked it a couple of times. Then, as mentioned, I couldn't bend my knee the next morning.
Well, money was tight for my wife and me so I didn't get it checked out. To this day, I still can't jump with max effort off that leg or else it stiffens up on me.
From that point forward, even though there was a nice gym at the college I transferred to, I stayed away from squats because I thought they were the cause of my knee troubles. I performed leg presses and leg extension instead and stayed away from anything that even looked like a squat rack. When I purchased the Science of Jumping program when I was 25 years-old, I added heavy deadlifts to my routine and saw some nice progress in my vertical leap. After I graduated from college and we built our home, I purchased an Olympic weight set and power rack...but I still refused to squat.
My older brother, over this period of time, kept trying to convince me to try squatting again. I finally gave in after I read his copy of Beyond Bodybuilding by Pavel Tsatsouline. I used Pavel's squatting techniques and liked that I could squat, with correct form, without any knee pain. I then incorporated squats into my routines but never saw any real gains until I used Stronglifts by Mehdi. After some time, I finally used the Madocw intermediate program and got my 5 rep squat up to a PR of 370 pounds. That progress was derailed by hernia surgery; had I been able to stay on the program, I'm sure I would've pushed my 5 rep PR up to 400 pounds.
Right now, I am again using Madcow and, based on the program's predictions, could get my 5 rep PR up to 420 pounds with a 1 rep max of 473 pounds. I hope I can stay with it this time.
Here are some personal tips that I follow when I squat:
I squat to or just below parallel. Anything higher isn't a real squat and anything lower is hard on my knee. I have tried dropping the weight to allow me to squat deeper, but my progress is always hampered by knee pain. I use a sleeping bag to let me know when I am low enough.
I wear knee sleeves. These keep my knees warm and pain free. I don't feel like they increase the amount of weight I can lift other than the fact that I can lift without pain. Mark Rippetoe, in his book Starting Strength, suggested that a knee wrap does not significantly increase weight lifted unless it is so tight that it cuts off circulation to your lower leg and needs to be removed inbetween sets.
I high-bar squat with the bar resting on top of my scapulae. I've tried low-bar squats, but my shoulders are so tight that it hurts both during the set and for a day after.
I keep my chest spread and and my sternum raised like I'm trying to show off my pecs.
I arch my back naturally and take in a deep breath, bracing my abs like someone is going to punch me. I also wear a belt to protect my back. My abs, over time, have actually become stronger and more solid since I started wearing belt (Rippetoe explains why this happens in his book Starting Strength).
Before each set, I grab the bar for balance and then lower myself into my lowest position. I move my feet around, make sure my thighs are angled out so that I don't develop hip impingement, my feet out pointed out no more than 30 degrees, and then find my groove. This is the position I will squat down to with each set.
I explode my hip upward as soon as I hit the bottom position and keep driving upwards so that the weight feels like it may shoot off my shoulders.
I love squats. I just wish that I hadn't stayed away from them for as long as I did.
Day 1
Squat: 330 lbs x5
Overhead Press: 145 lbs x5
Barbell Row: 185 lbs x5
Drop Jumps off 12" box: 5 x 3 (reps x sets)
Day 2
Squat: 250 lbs x 5 x 2 (reps sets) - light day
Close-Grip Bench Press: 210 lbs x5
Deadlift: 300 lbs x 5
Stair Jumps to 4th step: 5 x 3
Day 3
Squat: 335 lbs x3
Overhead Press: 145 lbs x3
Power Cleans: 180 lbs x3
Pogo Jumps: 6 x 3
My right hip was a little sore at the end of the week. I need to make sure my right thigh is angled out 30 degrees to help prevent hip impingement. Overall, I moved the weights with good speed. I'll have worked up to my starting weights by week 4 and then it'll start to get a lot more difficult.
Over the years, I have tried numerous training programs and
have had some measure of success with each of them. While not all of them are specifically vertical jump training programs, I used each of them with the idea of becoming more explosive. My ability to succeed with
these programs has varied because my ability to recover and handle
physical stress has changed as I've gotten older. I'm not advocating for certain programs and trying to trash others, I'm just giving an honest report of what happened when I tried each program. Each of these programs, if you believe the advertisers and videos on YouTube, have brought success to at least a few individuals.
Here is a list of some of the different training programs
that I’ve used and my experience with them:
High school program: While there wasn't a name for it,I had a program that I performed the summer after my junior year that put some inches on my vertical. The success of the program came mainly from the fact that I had never really trained with any kind of organization and because I was so weak that any strength gains immediately increased my vertical. I didn't, however, receive any coaching on diet, stretching, or recovery. I developed tendinitis in my left knee that made it miserable to sit at a desk or in the backseat of a car for longer than a few minutes at a time without extending my leg to relieve the tension in my knee.
Jump Soles:
I used this program between my senior year of high school and my first semester
of college. I became a lot quicker, could run a lot faster, but didn’t notice
much of a change in my vertical. The program, at the time, was a single sheet
of paper without a video to explain the exercises. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t
performing some of the exercises with proper technique. Later versions of this program have included instructional videos.
Air Alert:
I had an initial increase in my vertical over the first 2 weeks of the program
that was very significant. However, further progress did not occur and I actually
had some regression in my vertical.
Squat/Depth Jump program: In my early 20’s, I
put together a program of squatting three times a week with depth jumps being
performed prior to each of those workouts. Dunking was easy. The program ended
when I went away to a college that had a weight room that was only open to
students early in the morning (the sports teams used it throughout the day). I
was lazy and didn’t get out of bed to exercise.
Science of
Jumping by Strength Through Science: I was jumping really high with this
program. I was in my mid-20’s at the time and was able to dunk without much
effort. When I tried using this program later in my mid-30’s, tendinitis in my
knees prevented me from continuing the program.
Powertraining
by Robert Dos Remedios: This is a book that is published by Men’s Health magazine.I liked the information in this book and its
focus on overall fitness. The program incorporated a lot of explosive movements
and multi-joint exercises. I saw some progress with this, but I didn’t like the
recommendation to lift all-out every exercise session, to change rep ranges
every week, and then switch ex ercises every few weeks. I didn't see significant strength gains.
Bigger, Faster, Stronger: I first saw this program at my high school but never used it because my basketball coach was against heavy weight training. I started using it in my thirties but burned out with it: The program had you performing some type of lower body exercise on Monday-Wednesday-Friday with plymetrics and running performed on Tuesday-Thursday. This probably would have worked for me when I was younger.
Jump
Manual by Jacob Hiller: Good information. Lots of people seem to have
success with this program. It provides all of the theories behind the training
and includes information on recovery and diet. To be honest, I really liked the
training but I could never get through all of the exercises because I would get too tired. He really pushes the idea of stopping when your performance for the day slows down and I would start to slow down about halfway through the routine.
I spent time figuring out which exercises to cut out.
Stronglifts
by Mehdi (www.stronglifts.com ): I
used this program twice to really increase my squat and to put on some weight.
I added some depth jumps once a week and other, less intense plyometric jumps
on other training days. When my squat went up to more than I had ever
previously lifted, my vertical was awesome. However, I pushed myself too hard
with this program and ended up with a strained right hip that prevented me from
training for a while. My vertical also suffered because of this. I have used
his intermediate Madcow program and
was seeing good results (squat PR 370 lbs for 5 reps) right up until I had
umbilical hernia surgery.
5-3-1 by Jim Wendler: I used this program right after my hernia surgery and it was
great for recovery. While I quickly brought my strength back up to pre-surgery
levels, I was getting too big. While this may not be a problem for some, I
still wanted to become more explosive for basketball. Overall, I liked the
compliments people at work started to give me.
Work for
vert (www.Workforvert.com)
: This program was similar to a program I used in high school in that they both
used a lot of jumping and weightlifting using 10-rep sets. I used this program
in addition to 5-3-1 right after my surgery and my body wasn’t ready for it. I ended up with
Achilles tendinitis that prevented me from doing any jump training for a couple
of weeks. It may have worked had I been in better shape at the beginning. However, as per my own experience, I do not think 10 rep sets build
explosiveness like 3-5 rep sets do.
Here's a summary of what I've learned over the years:
Being younger is better. I've had to add additional recovery time as I've gotten older. Recovery time, however, does not always mean sitting around and doing nothing. Stretching, foam rolling, light running, and lower intensity sets of exercises performed on other days. For example, Madcow has a light squat day that allows you to work on form while getting you ready for your next heavy lifting day.
I need more weightlifting and have to be careful with plyometrics. I need to perform depth jumps on lower boxesand always make sure I jump off of soft surfaces (i.e. grass, sand, etc.). Weightlifting using mainly deadlifts, squats, and power cleans at lower rep ranges (3-5 reps) have helped me in the past. Also, I've had more success using programs where the weight on the bar is increased systematically with either programmed deloads or a 10-20% deload when progress stalls.
I have to practice jumping. Practice time can include all-out, max jumping attempts along with days where I jump at 80% of my max while really focusing on form.
In future posts, I'll talk more about each exercise that I perform and include some progress reports.
Getting older and dunking the basketball don't seem to go together. I've read through and tried different training programs that don't seem to work for me as I've gotten older. A lot of them claim that an older person should still see progress with these programs, but my success with them has been limited because of a few factors:
I'm turning 40 this year. My ability to recover has changed drastically in the past few years. I haven't been able to complete every rep of every exercise every week because of this.
I work full-time, have a wife and kids, and don't have a lot of time to devote to training.
I work swing-shifts. Sleep isn't consistent and neither is my training schedule.
I have some nagging injuries the don't allow me to perform certain exercises: Bad knees, bad right Achilles tendon, bad shoulders.
It's recommended that I get lighter in order to jump higher. I've put on some muscle over the years and I'd rather not have to lose any of it. Right now, I'm almost 6'1" and weigh about 215 pounds. When I was younger and jumping my highest, I weighed about 190 pounds.
Over the years, I have discovered certain factors that have consistently helped me to jump higher:
Heavy lifting with squats and/or deadlifts. I don't have a lot of natural strength and heavy lifting has always had a positive effect.
Depth jumps. While the height of the box and training frequency has varied over the years, my highest jumps always came with these added to my training program.
Olympic-style lifting. When I was younger and skinnier, I hardly ever used these exercises and still had success. As I've gotten bigger and more muscular, vertical jump gains have not come without these lifts incorporated into my program.
That's it. These are the 3 factors that have always helped me jump higher. With this blog, I'll keep track of my training progress and see if I can get back to dunking a basketball using these exercises without causing further injury to my body and without having to lose this muscle that I've been able to put on (I'll gladly lose any of the fat that I have). This blog will help me keep track of what's working and what isn't.
My training program, which I started last week, looks like this:
A modified Madcow program. Madcow is an intermediate lifting program that I found at www.stronglifts.com . I used this program before a recent surgery and liked the gains that I made. I've tweaked it a little bit to add some plyometrics and power cleans. Here's how it looks:
Monday: Squats, bench press, barbell rows, drop jumps (depth jumps where you stick the landing off the box).
Wednesday: Squats, overhead press, deadlifts, stair jumps (from a stand, I jump to the highest stair the I can).
Friday: Squats, bench press, power cleans, pogo jumps.
While squatting three days a week may seem like too much, especially when I've said that recovery has been an issue for me and that I have bed knees, this program has you lifting at different intensities throughout the week. The lighter days, I've found, really help me with my recovery. Squatting, overall, has helped my knees become stronger and feel better.
Over time, I'll change the drop jumps to regular depth jumps. I've decided to start with drop jumps to re-learn to load my body for jumping and to land properly. This should help me jump higher and help prevent further injury.
To help determine if I will have success with this program, I've set the following goals:
Dunk a basketball with two hands.
Squat 480 pounds (this is the amount of weight that I have here at home)
Close-grip bench press 275 pounds (close-grip makes it easier on my shoulders)
I'll let you know how my training goes and I'll add some posts explaining more about my exercise techniques and which programs I've used in the past.
