Week 10

I started a rec basketball league on Monday evening. We won by 17 points over a team of 20 year-olds (always nice) and my legs were feeling great. After the game, I got my hand about 6 inches over the rim, which is a 30 inch jump on a one-step approach. The next day I started the plyo day for the Jump Manual and my legs still felt great as I ran the sprints; I felt like I ran them faster than I had up until that point. After that, however, my legs were done; I didn't have the energy to even get up and touch the rim. I dropped the remainder of the workout and tried lifting for my upper-body instead, but I struggled with that, too.
So, for the week of Thanksgiving, I'm giving my body a rest. I'll pick it up again next week and see if I can't get in a full week's worth of training.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Video Summary

I finally entered the 21st century and learned how to upload my videos to YouTube.

Here are my lifts this past week:

• Bench Press: 225 pounds for 5 reps

• Overhead Press: 165 pounds for 5 reps

• Squats: 270 pounds for 5 reps. Going below parallel each time.

• Hexbar Deadlifts: 265 pounds for 5 reps. I'm hoping to make this my heaviest lift in the next couple of weeks.

Here are my vertical jump attempts over the past weeks. These aren't necessarily my best jumps each week; they're just the attempts that got on video. It seems lower, but I promise that I've measured this rim a bunch of times: it's 9'10" in height.

Week 3

Week 5

 

 

Week 8

 

 

 

 

 

Week 9

Here are my best lifts for the week:

• Squats: 270 pounds for 5 reps - still going slightly below parallel. I felt like I exploded out of the hole better than the past 2 weeks.
• Hexbar Deadlifts: 265 pounds x 5 reps. I handled this weight better than lower weights the past few weeks. I think I've found my groove for this exercise.
• Bench Press: 225 pounds for 5 reps
• Barbell Rows: 225 pounds for 5 reps
• Overhead Press: 165 pounds for 5 reps - I was especially proud of this one. Next to squats, this is the exercise that I want to improve on the most.

I am starting a rec basketball league this next week and may have some weeks where I don't get in all of my exercise days. We'll see what happens.

Summary: Beginning of week 9

This is week 9 of the program, but only week 5 since I've gone to using only the Jump Manual  and not altering the weightlifting portion of the program. Here's a summary of where I'm at:

Beginning: 9/11/2012
Height: 6' 1/2"
Standing reach (with shoes): 8'
Weight: 205 lbs
Body fat%: I'd rather not know
Standing vertical: 23"
One-step vetical: 25"
Running two-foot vertical: 28"
Squats: 225 pounds x 5 reps
Bench Press: 180 pounds x 5 reps
Overhead Press: 135 pounds x 5 reps
Deadlift: 255 pounds x 5 reps

Current: 11/10/2012
Height: 6' 1/2" (sadly, this has not increased :-) )
Standing reach (with shoes): 8'
Weight: 215 pounds
Body fat%: I'd still rather not know
Standing vertical: 26"
One-step vertical: 29"
Running two-foot vertical: 30"
Squats: 265 pounds x 5 reps
Bench Press: 220 pounds x 5 reps
Overhead Press: 160 pounds x 5 reps
Hexbar Deadlift: 255 pounds x 5 reps

Goals for end of week 12:
Standing vertical: 28"
One-step vetical:  30"
Running two-foot vertical: 33"
Squats: 285 pounds x 5 reps
Bench Press: 240 pounds x 5 reps
Overhead Press: 175 pounds x 5 reps
Deadlift: 295 pounds x 5 reps

Goals for end of week 16:
Standing vertical: 30"
One-step vetical:  32"
Running two-foot vertical: 36"
Squats: 315 pounds x 5 reps
Bench Press: 255 pounds x 5 reps
Overhead Press: 190 pounds x 5 reps
Deadlift: 325 pounds x 5 reps

These goals may seem unrealistic, but keep in mind that I started light on all weightlifting exercises. Even if I don't meet my weightlifting goals, the "push" will get me to all-time PR's on every lift.

Week 8

Here are the improvements in my vertical jump measurements:

• Standing vertical: 1/2 to 1". That's two weeks in a row that I've seen an improvement in my standing vertical after not having any improvement for several weeks in a row.
• One-step vertical: Maybe 1/2" and my jump felt smoother and more powerful.
• Running vertical: Will measure on Wednesday when I'm playing basketball.

I've discovered that I can't perform all of the exercises listed in the Jump Manual. I can't perform lunge jumps: My knees can't take it. After performing lunge jumps, my performance in the remaining exercises for the day suffers as I have slow movements. After the workout, my knees ache and it takes a couple of days for the pain to go away. I tried changing my technique after reviewing some books and videos, but my knees still hurt with this exercise. So, I'm going to cut it out altogether. I may not replace it with another exercise, but I am thinking of doing box squats instead.

My best lifts for the week:

• Squats: 265 pounds for 5 reps
• Hexbar Deadlift: 255 pounds for 5 reps
• Bench Press: 220 pounds for 5 reps. The last rep was tough.
• Barbell rows: 220 pounds for 5 reps.
• Overhead press: 160 pounds for 5 reps

What I discovered about my squats the past 3 weeks:

• I tried a little wider stance and have been lifting barefoot; these changes were based on some of my readings. Today, I went back to the athletic stance that I described in week 3 and to wearing shoes. The shoes that I wear have a heel that is slightly elevated and this helps my feel better balanced and stronger coming out of the hole. My knees felt great after performing squats this week.

Week 7

At the beginning of this week, I was amazed at the improvement in my one-step vertical. My improvements on my vertical measurements on Monday:

• Standing vertical: Maybe 1/2"
• One-step vertical: Close to 1.5", I really felt like I was exploding towards the rim with a whole lot more force.
• Running vertical: 1". I still feel clumsy and stiff with my approach. When I tried a one-foot takeoff, my knee buckled so I really need to work on my one-foot technique.

No basketball this week because of work and Halloween.

I just weighed myself yesterday. My weight, while wearing a polo shirt, slacks, and Doc Martin dress shoes, is:  220 pounds! I'm not trying to put on weight but it just keeps piling on. However, I am still increasing my vertical and feeling quicker and faster.

Weightlifting:

• Squats: best set was 260 pounds for 5 reps
• Hexbar deadlifts: best set was 245 pounds for 5 reps (I'm still working up slowly on these)
• Bench press: best set was 215 pounds for 5 reps
• Barbell rows: best set was 215 pounds for 5 reps
• Overhead press: best set was 160 pounds for 5 reps