Tonight marks two months on the program. I have increased my standing vertical by 5 1/2" to 22 1/2". My Run in vert is up by about 2 1/2 inches to 25 1/2". I am now touching about 10'5" with the run in. My max squat is up to 275 lbs. (I weight 200, stand 6'5", and reach about 8'3 1/2").
I can now dunk a volleyball one handed and I am having some success dunking a basketball one handed. I would of thought that I needed to be closer to touching 10'8" before getting here. I am jumping off one foot and I can't get nearly as high jumping off of two feet. I don't know if this is a technique issue, I have read that a two-legged jump is supposed to be bigger, but it isn't working that way for me.
My goal is to add about 2 inches to my vert each month. So I am ahead of schedule for standing, and behind schedule for run-in vert. I am not sure why I am seeing such different progress in each, maybe i need to test run-in vertical differently. Right now I am taping a yard stick on a wall and jumping up and touching it.
In other news I am starting to get some shin splints. Nothing serious yet, but I am probably going to stop doing plyometrics for the next month or two and do Olympic style lifts instead. At two months it is time to make some changes to the workout anyway to ensure that my muscles keep adapting and growing. I have replaced the Bulgarian Squats with lateral lunges with light weights. And as i mentioned I am replacing all of the high impact pylometrics with oympic style lifts. So the Depth Jumps, Single leg hops onto a box, tuck jumps, standing vertical jumps, two legged jumps, double one leg hops, and explosive step-ups are out. I am also going to add in some cardio into the program. This month I am going to do two or three days of 20-30 minutes of cardio. One of those days will be running if my shins don't hurt, otherwise it will be stairmaster, elipitical, rowing, and stationary bikes. If you didn't guess I haven't done the jump rope work yet - just haven't had the time and frankly I have never enjoyed jumping rope - but before the plan is over I am going to do at least a month of it.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Learning How To Dunk
So I still haven't managed to get an entire weeks worth of workouts in a single week - but I am getting in at least three days every week - lifting twice and doing Tuesdays plyometrics. The two major blizzards that have hit Colorado in the last couple of weeks have meant the gyms have been closed a fair bit. Maybe next week. I have to say as well that easing into the plyometrics is probably easier on the body anyway - injuries are a sure way of not reaching my goals.
Last night I decided to see if I could dunk yet. Last week I was able to dunk a volleyball so I know I am getting close. Last night I was able to get the ball over the rim but it kept clunking out of the hoop. A key change to get me closer is changing the way i jump. Instead of jumping from two feet I am jumping from one. I hold the ball in my right hand and takeoff from my left foot. As I explode upwards I drive my right knee and arm as high as I can. Driving the knee is key to maximizing your jump. After that I start to fall apart. I am working on palming the ball and I am trying to use momentum to help keep my grip on the ball. I will update this when I get it figured out. I hope to be dunking before the end of the month! And I am definitely going to keep training for the full 6 months - I want to be able to do a 2 handed dunk and hopefully dunk from standing. More importantly the more vert I get the better I will be able to spike and block in volleyball.
I have also added weight to my reps - I started doing squats with just the bar (45lbs) in the first set and moving up to 145 for the 6th set. Now I am adding 10 lbs across the entire range and will add another 10 lbs next week. I can squat more weight - but I want to make sure that my form and range of motion are full and correct. Here are my starting weights for each exercise: Squats 55 lbs, Step-ups 85 lbs, Bulgarian Squats 90 lbs (45lbs each hand), Dead Lifts 115 lbs, Hamstring Curls 110 lbs, Calf Raises 190 lbs, Jump Squats 10, 12, 15, 20 lbs. For reference I am 6'5" and 200 lbs.
Last night I decided to see if I could dunk yet. Last week I was able to dunk a volleyball so I know I am getting close. Last night I was able to get the ball over the rim but it kept clunking out of the hoop. A key change to get me closer is changing the way i jump. Instead of jumping from two feet I am jumping from one. I hold the ball in my right hand and takeoff from my left foot. As I explode upwards I drive my right knee and arm as high as I can. Driving the knee is key to maximizing your jump. After that I start to fall apart. I am working on palming the ball and I am trying to use momentum to help keep my grip on the ball. I will update this when I get it figured out. I hope to be dunking before the end of the month! And I am definitely going to keep training for the full 6 months - I want to be able to do a 2 handed dunk and hopefully dunk from standing. More importantly the more vert I get the better I will be able to spike and block in volleyball.
I have also added weight to my reps - I started doing squats with just the bar (45lbs) in the first set and moving up to 145 for the 6th set. Now I am adding 10 lbs across the entire range and will add another 10 lbs next week. I can squat more weight - but I want to make sure that my form and range of motion are full and correct. Here are my starting weights for each exercise: Squats 55 lbs, Step-ups 85 lbs, Bulgarian Squats 90 lbs (45lbs each hand), Dead Lifts 115 lbs, Hamstring Curls 110 lbs, Calf Raises 190 lbs, Jump Squats 10, 12, 15, 20 lbs. For reference I am 6'5" and 200 lbs.
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