Jump Quixote

The last little while, I think I may have been training a bit too intensely, and/or with too much volume. I finished a heavy leg day on a Friday afternoon, and I couldn't do my jump workout on the following Tuesday morning. As a result I have dialed back my workout. I have dropped the total number of jumps to the 50 rep range. I have also changed up the workouts so I am doing a jump/leg workout on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and my Tuesday and Thursday workouts are upper body. My new jump workouts start with a warm up of squats one day and deadlifts the other. Then I typically go to rack pulls (explosive). I started doing these guys with more sets using lower reps. I'll do a warm up in the 10 rep range, then start adding weight with each 2-4 rep set after that. I then go for the bulk of my 50 jumps in sets of 4-8 depth jumps, and I finish with a set of box jumps to get the last of the 50 jumps. When I'm feeling pretty good I throw in some explosive intensity kettlebell

While looking through journal articles to put together my strategy to increase my vertical leap, I came across two particular articles that serve as a major portion of my scientific rationale for my training programming. One is a study. The other is a literature review. Looking over what is there, I think the literature review gives a good encapsulation of what we know. The study is entitled, The maximal and submaximal vertical jump: implications for strength and conditioning.   Jumping involves three main muscle groups. If you ever hear the term "triple extension", it is referring to the action of the big three leg joints, the ankle, the knee and the hip. At the ankle there is extension ( plantar flexion ), where you rise up on your toes. At the knee there is extension, where you straighten the leg. At the hip there is extension where the legs extend down. Going from a seated posture on a chair to standing up and rising on the toes is triple extension. Jumping is explosive

When it comes to the types of exercise I am using, I think of them as falling under one of three categories. Each category has its own purpose and reasoning. These categories are Base Strength, Explosive Strength, and what I am going to call Reactive Strength. Base Strength exercises should be pretty self explanatory. They are exercises selected and performed to build your foundational strength. I’m fine with these being performed slowly, because I am trying to build a basic foundation of muscular strength, bone density, and healthy joint function through a full range of motion. Explosive Strength are exercises that are performed explosively. Many people will think of exercises like the Power Clean , or Hang Clean . I also would categorize several exercises some people might call Plyometrics , like the Box Jump . Reactive Strength is how I like to think of “true” Plyometrics. Plyometrics is used to describe movements with what is termed the Stretch Shortening Cycle (

Two months later, and a birthday later (I'm 45 now) and I'm here with my second update. I'm not seeing the progress I would like, but I'm not surprised. The jump focused Tuesday/Thursday workouts are working well for me. I'm able to function normally during the week at work and volleyball practice. I am seeing small progress. Today after a shorter amount of warm up I was able to touch rim and get the tip of my finger above. I'm hitting right at the first joint of my middle finger on my better jumps. I would estimate my jump is up about another inch above the last update, and 2-2 1/2 above my starting point. I was able to get my head above a regulation men's volleyball net. During scrimmages that I played, my muscular endurance lasted pretty well. Longer rallies with a lot of jumps started to make my legs feel like jelly. Overall I'm feeling pretty good about how things are going. I would like to get more Saturday workouts in now that the volleyball s

I realize this might look like posting something new within 24 hours and there isn't really time to see results, but this update is weeks in the making. I originally intended to start this blog in January, shortly after conception of this idea, but life intervened when I could have started writing. My first workout of the year was on January 8th. My first leg workout was January 9th. Apart from one week that I didn't work out due to illness, I have gone to the gym at least 5 days per week to lift weights. 3 upper body days and 2 lower body days. Some weeks I got a Saturday leg workout in. Starting in February I went from just a lower body strength workout to a jump focused workout on Tuesday/Thursday. The January leg workouts had exercises that should help increase strength, but the primary goal of each leg workout wasn't jumping until February. The times I now get a Saturday workout in, I go for a workout focused on base leg strength. All that being said, I have worked

Like many young men in the twilight of high school, I wanted to be able to dunk a basketball. I was 6 feet tall, I could jump higher than average, and I played basketball every chance I got. When I graduated, I was the strongest I had ever been, and I just finished the boys volleyball season on the varsity team. I was a lean 150 lbs, the heaviest I had ever been to that point, and I could dunk a volleyball regularly. I was within maybe an inch or three of vertical leap away from being able to dunk a basketball. At the time, I think I had a 30 inch vertical. After graduation, I continued to play basketball at least once a week, but I lost regular access to weights. I stayed at that vertical for about a year. That's when things went south. For a variety of reasons, I stopped playing regularly, and haven't been able to train consistently for the last 20+ years. During that time I picked up a degree in exercise science, and I have spent a reasonable amount of time becoming acquai