Well I guess its technically week 5 but I will give you an update and some highlights from week 4. I'm continuing to make progress on my lifts.
Squat 5x285- On my last couple of reps my form really started breaking down so I'm going to stay around this weight for a week or two to make sure my form is solid
My shoulder is feeling much better and stronger, I'm looking forward to starting back on the using a barbell instead of the dumbbells and seeing how that goes and I will probably start doing flat bench again next week.
So last week after my city league game on Tuesday I tried to grab the rim with two hands and I got it (barely, just enough to hold on with both hands)! So I feel like I'm definitely making progress. I wish I had it on video. I hope to get a good jumping video posted this week.
But, the best part about it, was that it was after my game, I wasn't feeling particularly explosive and some guy gave me a pretty good charlie horse during the game. So what I'm saying is I think I could have done better.
Monday 4 February 2013
Saturday 26 January 2013
Week 3 Update Vertical Jump Bible
Thought I'd touch base. I wasn't able to get any footage this week for my vertical testing. I should be able to get some next week, so hopefully the gains will be noticable after 2 weeks.
I set a PR on my squat today (PR Squat 280x5). I was happy about that. If my squat keeps improving, then I feel like the week was worth it. I didn't get a whole lot of plyos in this week due to a weird workout schedule, and I do the plyos in the group class room at my gym, so if I don't go at the right time, they have a yoga class in there or something. Since I wasn't able to do plyos I did some explosive lifting, hang cleans, box squats, jump squats, and jumping bulgarian split squats (this exercise has the best name, lol).
This coming week, I really hope to get a 2 hand rim grab on video.
As far as upper body is concerned, my shoulder had really been giving problems the last couple of weeks so I did a little research and have come to the conclusion that I have some rotator cuff issues, I think it has to do with having a strength imbalance between my flat bench and my back and shoulder lifts. So I took some advice this week and cut out flat bench, substituting it with incline bench and did my shoulders with dumbells to take some stress off, and also did some rotator cuff isolation work. My shoulder felt really good afterwards so I'm going to try this for a few weeks and then go back to barbell military press.
I set a PR on my squat today (PR Squat 280x5). I was happy about that. If my squat keeps improving, then I feel like the week was worth it. I didn't get a whole lot of plyos in this week due to a weird workout schedule, and I do the plyos in the group class room at my gym, so if I don't go at the right time, they have a yoga class in there or something. Since I wasn't able to do plyos I did some explosive lifting, hang cleans, box squats, jump squats, and jumping bulgarian split squats (this exercise has the best name, lol).
This coming week, I really hope to get a 2 hand rim grab on video.
As far as upper body is concerned, my shoulder had really been giving problems the last couple of weeks so I did a little research and have come to the conclusion that I have some rotator cuff issues, I think it has to do with having a strength imbalance between my flat bench and my back and shoulder lifts. So I took some advice this week and cut out flat bench, substituting it with incline bench and did my shoulders with dumbells to take some stress off, and also did some rotator cuff isolation work. My shoulder felt really good afterwards so I'm going to try this for a few weeks and then go back to barbell military press.
Friday 18 January 2013
Week 2 Day 5 Test Day
I've got a couple of vids to post today. The first is from my upper body workout on Wednesday and the second is my vert test.
First I just wanted to post my bench press that way all my major lifts will have been recorded. I did 4 sets ramping up the weight and ended with 5x245lbs. I was happy with this because my chest was pretty weak the week before. As you will see I barely got the 5 th rep but what could I do, my spotter had the camera, lol. Now that's motivation!
Here are my stats for the vert. Height 5'9".
Reach 7'3.5"
I took this vid after a bunch of pick up games. In between games I did a few running 2 foot jumps and on one I was very close to hanging with 2 hands. Some short term goals for me are, to touch the rim from a standing jump, I think I need about 2 inches for that so I'm hoping for 2 weeks from now. Another, is to hang with 2 hands from a run and I'm hoping to do that next week and to hang with 1 hand from one step which I hope to do in 2 weeks as well. Wish me luck.
First I just wanted to post my bench press that way all my major lifts will have been recorded. I did 4 sets ramping up the weight and ended with 5x245lbs. I was happy with this because my chest was pretty weak the week before. As you will see I barely got the 5 th rep but what could I do, my spotter had the camera, lol. Now that's motivation!
Here are my stats for the vert. Height 5'9".
Reach 7'3.5"
Monday 14 January 2013
Week 2 Day 1 Vertical Jump Bible
Hey all,
Today, I felt great during my workout. Got a new PR for dead lift and I felt explosive while doing my other exercises and plyos. Today's exercises included, dead lifts, box squats, jump squats followed by some plyos.
New PR Dead lift 5x335lbs
After watching the video I made, I'm not too happy about my form, I started rounding my back. Given this was my 4th set of 5 and a pretty heavy weight, i'm not that upset about it, but I definetly need to pay better attention to it.
I'm really hoping to get a good vert test on video, this Wednesday before my usual pick up game.
Today, I felt great during my workout. Got a new PR for dead lift and I felt explosive while doing my other exercises and plyos. Today's exercises included, dead lifts, box squats, jump squats followed by some plyos.
New PR Dead lift 5x335lbs
After watching the video I made, I'm not too happy about my form, I started rounding my back. Given this was my 4th set of 5 and a pretty heavy weight, i'm not that upset about it, but I definetly need to pay better attention to it.
I'm really hoping to get a good vert test on video, this Wednesday before my usual pick up game.
Friday 11 January 2013
Week 1 Day 5
Just a quick update. Did squats, power cleans, RDL's, and calve raises today. Got a video of my squat. Only got the rear view, next week I'll do it from the side. Got a small PR today. Did 270x5 which according to my computer is slightly better than doing 275x3. Next I'll go for 275x5.
Summary
Squat 270x5
P Clean 175x2 (I do these in sets of three)
Also, did a nice plyo workout. Looking forward to next week. I really need to post a vertical test. I'll try and do that next week.
You can't really see all the weights for the squat but I promise there are 2x45 and 2x10 and 1x2.5 lbs on each side with a 45lb bar. For the cleans I just did a vid with 135 for a form check and then didn't get one with my max cause someone occupied the squat rack next to us.
Feel free to comment on form/technique improvements, I'm all ears.
Cheers
Summary
Squat 270x5
P Clean 175x2 (I do these in sets of three)
Also, did a nice plyo workout. Looking forward to next week. I really need to post a vertical test. I'll try and do that next week.
You can't really see all the weights for the squat but I promise there are 2x45 and 2x10 and 1x2.5 lbs on each side with a 45lb bar. For the cleans I just did a vid with 135 for a form check and then didn't get one with my max cause someone occupied the squat rack next to us.
Feel free to comment on form/technique improvements, I'm all ears.
Cheers
Wednesday 9 January 2013
Week 1 Day 3
I doubt I will usually post more than once per week but, I have a little spare time and some stuff to add to my original post.
Okay, so it seems my upper body isn't quite as strong as I thought. My 5 RM were accurate as of a month ago, but I guess if you don't do anything for a month stuff gets a little weaker, lol, who knew.
Although this is a little disappointing, I'm not taking it too hard, because my priority has been my upper body lately anyhow. Over the holidays I took only a week off my lower body and didn't lose anything there and actually gained a bit but I took about a month off my upper body, since spare time I had I used to do my leg exercises.
Actually, I'm not really expecting to get many upper body PR's on the program I'm doing, which is fine, since I think I'm a little top heavy anyhow. I read somewhere that your upper body only contributes between 5-15% to your vertical so you should allocate your time accordingly. So my plan is to only try and maintain my upper body strength while increasing my lower body, if it goes up great. I plan on only working out my upper body one day a week by doing 3 main compound exercises. Standing military press, bench press, bent-over row. The one exercise that I do want to get a few PRs on is my military press which seems in-proportionately weak compared to my chest and back, I know its a smaller muscle group but my 5 RM today was only 130. I think part of that is the fact I have a little pain in my shoulder but I'm not sure, maybe I've ignored this muscle group in the past.
*Just a side note, my 5 RM which I've been posting is the current max I use for my last set of 5 so really it should be a little higher since I do 4x5 before that of ramping weight.*
By the way, my dead lift and squat max's are correct as I did those just within the past week. I'll be doing some power cleans on friday so I will post the numbers for that then.
So today's current 5RM 's
Standing Military 130
Bent over Row 205
Chest 235
A 15 lb drop on chest seems a little excessive but it was the last exercise I did and I usually do it first so that may have something to do with it.
There is a pick up game going on tonight, so I see if I can do some vertical measuring at the gym.
One last thing, I need to set a time frame. For my goals so I'll get a little more specific on that once I get my vertical numbers.
Train Hard
JT
Okay, so it seems my upper body isn't quite as strong as I thought. My 5 RM were accurate as of a month ago, but I guess if you don't do anything for a month stuff gets a little weaker, lol, who knew.
Although this is a little disappointing, I'm not taking it too hard, because my priority has been my upper body lately anyhow. Over the holidays I took only a week off my lower body and didn't lose anything there and actually gained a bit but I took about a month off my upper body, since spare time I had I used to do my leg exercises.
Actually, I'm not really expecting to get many upper body PR's on the program I'm doing, which is fine, since I think I'm a little top heavy anyhow. I read somewhere that your upper body only contributes between 5-15% to your vertical so you should allocate your time accordingly. So my plan is to only try and maintain my upper body strength while increasing my lower body, if it goes up great. I plan on only working out my upper body one day a week by doing 3 main compound exercises. Standing military press, bench press, bent-over row. The one exercise that I do want to get a few PRs on is my military press which seems in-proportionately weak compared to my chest and back, I know its a smaller muscle group but my 5 RM today was only 130. I think part of that is the fact I have a little pain in my shoulder but I'm not sure, maybe I've ignored this muscle group in the past.
*Just a side note, my 5 RM which I've been posting is the current max I use for my last set of 5 so really it should be a little higher since I do 4x5 before that of ramping weight.*
By the way, my dead lift and squat max's are correct as I did those just within the past week. I'll be doing some power cleans on friday so I will post the numbers for that then.
So today's current 5RM 's
Standing Military 130
Bent over Row 205
Chest 235
A 15 lb drop on chest seems a little excessive but it was the last exercise I did and I usually do it first so that may have something to do with it.
There is a pick up game going on tonight, so I see if I can do some vertical measuring at the gym.
One last thing, I need to set a time frame. For my goals so I'll get a little more specific on that once I get my vertical numbers.
Train Hard
JT
Tuesday 8 January 2013
Week 1 and Intro
Hey All,
Okay, so after seeing a few you tube and blog diaries of others trying to dunk, I was motivated to start a blog for my own journey, logging all my progress towards my first ever dunk. Yep, that's the goal!
I haven't measured my vertical just yet but I do have some lifting stats as I have already been doing some strength training.
Bench 5RM:250
Squat 3RM:275
Dead lift 5RM:330
My Stats
Age:35
Height: 5'9"
Weight 173lbs.
Background
Played basketball in high school and did the strength shoes a couple of times during this period. The best I was able to do was dunk a volleyball and I was able to grab the rim with both hands off a 2 foot jump. This remained the same until I was about age 24. Then I slowly went down hill in terms of fitness to the point where I basically didn't play basketball or do much of anything except play a little golf until about 1 year ago. I got so bad at basketball that I was embarrassed to even play a local pick up game. I relied a lot on quickness and once that was gone, so was any semblance of a game.
Jump Training Past
I mentioned above that I used to do the Strength Shoes, these actually helped me get some good gains back in the day, not sure how much in terms of inches but I went from just nicking the rim to being able to dunk a volleyball. That was all I ever did for my legs except the odd calf raise or leg machine. I was under the idea that basketball and just jumping would make my legs stronger and whenever I did lift weights it was mostly to look good on my upper body, hence the reason my bench is so close to my squat (it used to be better, lol.)
Over the last year
So I guess I'm going through a mid life crisis but I just had to do something to get back in shape. I've always been slim, getting a little chubby here and there but mostly i'm blessed with a good metabolism. But I got very soft and my cardio was to the point I couldn't even play a pick up game to 9 pts. Not sure what my vertical deteriorated to at its lowest but I'm pretty sure I could barely touch the backboard on a layup.
So about 1 year ago I started weight lifting, of just focusing on upper body with one measly leg day of poor form squats and some machines. My friend convinced me to start dead lifting and after doing some research, I realised I was doing it all wrong, I started a strength training program called Bill Starr's 5x5 and that brought me to my current numbers. And what do you know, if you actually dead lift and squat with proper technique (depth slightly below parallel) your vertical goes up. I got so that I could hang on the rim with 1 hand off of 2 feet. This got me thinking, if only I had this (leg strength) 10 years ago, this could have been my missing link. Now I feel like I have one last chance to dunk.
So I researched a few programs and settled on the Vertical Jump Bible by Kelley Baggett. And, so my journey starts.
Goals: (I will have some more concrete goals next post)
Dunk (I'll take anything, lol)
Squat 2xBW (340) for 5 reps (I figure these 2 go hand in hand)
Pretty simple for now. I'll put up some vertical numbers once I figure out what it actually is.
I will post some jumping numbers and some vid's to get started hopefully within the next week.
Okay, so after seeing a few you tube and blog diaries of others trying to dunk, I was motivated to start a blog for my own journey, logging all my progress towards my first ever dunk. Yep, that's the goal!
I haven't measured my vertical just yet but I do have some lifting stats as I have already been doing some strength training.
Bench 5RM:250
Squat 3RM:275
Dead lift 5RM:330
My Stats
Age:35
Height: 5'9"
Weight 173lbs.
Background
Played basketball in high school and did the strength shoes a couple of times during this period. The best I was able to do was dunk a volleyball and I was able to grab the rim with both hands off a 2 foot jump. This remained the same until I was about age 24. Then I slowly went down hill in terms of fitness to the point where I basically didn't play basketball or do much of anything except play a little golf until about 1 year ago. I got so bad at basketball that I was embarrassed to even play a local pick up game. I relied a lot on quickness and once that was gone, so was any semblance of a game.
Jump Training Past
I mentioned above that I used to do the Strength Shoes, these actually helped me get some good gains back in the day, not sure how much in terms of inches but I went from just nicking the rim to being able to dunk a volleyball. That was all I ever did for my legs except the odd calf raise or leg machine. I was under the idea that basketball and just jumping would make my legs stronger and whenever I did lift weights it was mostly to look good on my upper body, hence the reason my bench is so close to my squat (it used to be better, lol.)
Over the last year
So I guess I'm going through a mid life crisis but I just had to do something to get back in shape. I've always been slim, getting a little chubby here and there but mostly i'm blessed with a good metabolism. But I got very soft and my cardio was to the point I couldn't even play a pick up game to 9 pts. Not sure what my vertical deteriorated to at its lowest but I'm pretty sure I could barely touch the backboard on a layup.
So about 1 year ago I started weight lifting, of just focusing on upper body with one measly leg day of poor form squats and some machines. My friend convinced me to start dead lifting and after doing some research, I realised I was doing it all wrong, I started a strength training program called Bill Starr's 5x5 and that brought me to my current numbers. And what do you know, if you actually dead lift and squat with proper technique (depth slightly below parallel) your vertical goes up. I got so that I could hang on the rim with 1 hand off of 2 feet. This got me thinking, if only I had this (leg strength) 10 years ago, this could have been my missing link. Now I feel like I have one last chance to dunk.
So I researched a few programs and settled on the Vertical Jump Bible by Kelley Baggett. And, so my journey starts.
Goals: (I will have some more concrete goals next post)
Dunk (I'll take anything, lol)
Squat 2xBW (340) for 5 reps (I figure these 2 go hand in hand)
Pretty simple for now. I'll put up some vertical numbers once I figure out what it actually is.
I will post some jumping numbers and some vid's to get started hopefully within the next week.
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