how much can you hang clean? and how high can you jump?

[Elliot.]

Im just curious to see peoples answers because my personal best for the hang clean is 125x5. My vertical leap is 24 inches and Im about 4 inches from dunking so I wanted to get an idea of how far I am from getting there. I know that there are different factors and no clear answer but Im just curious.

[VerticalDreams]

Im not exactly sure how much I can Clean an hang, ive never done it, I have never also done weighted squats, or deadlifts. I am 6'4 and have a 39" vertical . I have a 7'9 Standing Reach, and therefore only need 27 inch Vertical in order to touch the rim at 10ft. my 39" vertical currently lets me get an entire 12 inches/ 1ft above the rim , hell I could grab an 11ft Rim. And I dunk on a regulation hoop with EASE now.

I've gained my hops ( and they are still rising with training) almost entirely from the Plyometrics workouts I have been doing. ( I Did do possibly a month or so of leg strengthing Via Weights before undertaking plyometrics)

If its increased vertical leap you are looking to get, there are a few things you want to look at improving, ask yourself these questions:

a)How good is your Core/Ab Strength?
b)How good is your Flexibility
c)How good is your ankle strength

These are 3, often overlooked but EXTREMELY important parts of improving your ability to jump higher.

People always do say to use Plyometrics in order to gain the hops, and thats true. But Plyometrics will give you better results if you already have a solid strength foundation, I mean.. Plyometrics are all about increasing the speed/power output that your muscles can provide in order to make you more explosive, but what is the use of turning a weak base of strength into power, you wont see alot of improvement.

Do a few weeks of Leg weights,
Leg extensions,
Weighted Calf Raises,
Leg Press,
Squats
and so on. THEN move into some plyometrics workouts, in order to convert that new found strength in your legs, into explosive power and speed!

If you are not currently working your abs, or have a weak core. This is 100% certainly going to be holding your vertical potential back, As well as the ability to control your body whilst in the air.

I'd suggest putting aside at least 20+ minutes aside to work on your core strength each day.

Flexibility is also an overlooked yet amazingly important part of jumping.
Imagine your legs as a rubber band.
If you take a rubber band, put it over your thumb and pull it back/stretch it, once you let it go, it contracts and fires forward quickly and takes off. If that rubber band was unable to stretch to its maximum potential, it would fire MUCH less further than it normally would, say if you pulled it back to halfway.

Your leg muscles are like that, if they are not as flexible as they could be, they are not going to be able to extend and contract to their full extent and therefore allow for maximum power/explosiveness enabling your higher vertical jumping.

and finally the Ankle.

When you jump, or perform the motion of jumping, the very first group of muscles that are fired into motion when you make contact with the ground is the ankle, they are also the very last muscle group area to leave the ground as you propell into the air.

Strengthening your ankle means you will not only Reduce the chance of injury e.g Rolls/sprains. You will have increased stability/ power output from the Beginning AND Last microsecond of your jump!


I guarantee if you worked on your Core/ Flexibility and ankle strength before anything else, you would instantly see an increase in your Vertical leap.

Hope this post was helpfull to you.

[Elliot.]

Thanks for your post. Your vertical is very Impressive especially for only doing plyo's. I incorporate plyo's into my workouts I usually superset them after doing a set of hang cleans, squats, or dead lifts. I also work core and my ankles about twice a week. I also work on my flexibility. Its weird because I've noticed that I have gotten quicker and can guard small fast guys a lot closer than before, but over the summer my vertical has only increased 1 or 2 inches. Is this a good amount of progress for 3 months? I feel like I should be progressing faster?

[VerticalDreams]

awsome, well keep at it my friend, you will begin seeing the results you want.

I dont and didnt do purely Plyo's .
For 2 months prior to starting plyo's I did Leg weights to build the strength needed to gain good results. I also still do upper body weights training / core/ flex training.

It all depends on the person to be honest man, different people will progress at different rates.
From my training, I added something like 14 inches in 3 months.that is a RIDICULOUS gain and is not a typical gain at all, in fact ive never heard of gains that fast. My base Vertical Jump was like 27 inches before training , Ive always been a fairly OK jumper. I have a good genetical/physical makeup for it though, my father is 6'7 Native american, and he was a gifted sprinter in his youth, I got his body shape/ muscles ( particularly the Fast Twitch muscles he used for sprinting)

DO NOT let the pace of your results discourage you.
everybody progresses at different rates, it is just important that you keep training and keep gaining. eventually you will be jumping higher than you thought possible.

keep up the good work . and feel free to add my page or add me on ********. Maximus Gough is my name.
hit me with any questions you have and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

[squatnoob405]

Im not exactly sure how much I can Clean an hang, ive never done it, I have never also done weighted squats, or deadlifts. I am 6'4 and have a 39" vertical . I have a 7'9 Standing Reach, and therefore only need 27 inch Vertical in order to touch the rim at 10ft. my 39" vertical currently lets me get an entire 12 inches/ 1ft above the rim , hell I could grab an 11ft Rim. And I dunk on a regulation hoop with EASE now.

6'4, 7'8" reach.. hard to believe but thats the most t-rex arm ive read so far. i have a 7'8" reach at 5-10". you need to forcefully push your single arm up on your standing reach test while keeping your whole shoe flat on floor. i really think you measured it wrong.

the only requirement for a 6-4 to dunk is to be lean.. leverage will take over the rest.

[VerticalDreams]

Yeah dude, for a guy of my height. My arms are ludacrisly short.
I'd say MAXIMUM, would be 7'10. I've had it measured a few times. because I didnt believe it either.
a guy of my height should have a reach of like 8'3 or something. Most of my shorter friends ( below 6ft) have the same ish Standing reach as me! My hands are also too small to palm a basketball, I dont think I can even palm a size 6 ball (under Regulation ) VERY anoying, essentially that is the reason I began increasing my vert, because I cannot hold the ball in 1 hand, it was really hard to dunk it, however now I can get about 1ft above the rim, its much easier as all I have to do is cup it in my hand and throw it down.
I have a longer lower body, legs and so on. with a shorter torso and arms.
yeah, at 6'4 and being lean, you should be able to dunk. I just wanted to make my dunks spectacular lol. Continually training my vert and currently sittin on 39" vert.
training hardout for the 50" haha

[squatnoob405]

if you want a 50' RVJ, there is no way you are getting there without getting good with the full squat. longer lower body means more space to pack on the muscles. a 50RVJ is at least a high 30s or low 40s standing vert. can't SVJ without proper leg strength. goodluck!

check out your local boy chad/area51..

[VerticalDreams]

yeah man, dudes off the chain! ive seen him dunking before!
absolutely crazy.
I am going to add higher intensity weights into my workout, But after I finish this 6 month cycle with my plyometrics, once ive done that. I should be at around 40-44 Inch RVJ.

And I will certainly need to add more leg strength via heavy squats and other weights in order to build the strength needed for plyometrics to become beneficial once again for me.

thanks for the tips,

[The-0ne]

Im not exactly sure how much I can Clean an hang, ive never done it, I have never also done weighted squats, or deadlifts. I am 6'4 and have a 39" vertical . I have a 7'9 Standing Reach, and therefore only need 27 inch Vertical in order to touch the rim at 10ft. my 39" vertical currently lets me get an entire 12 inches/ 1ft above the rim , hell I could grab an 11ft Rim. And I dunk on a regulation hoop with EASE now.

I've gained my hops ( and they are still rising with training) almost entirely from the Plyometrics workouts I have been doing. ( I Did do possibly a month or so of leg strengthing Via Weights before undertaking plyometrics)

If its increased vertical leap you are looking to get, there are a few things you want to look at improving, ask yourself these questions:

a)How good is your Core/Ab Strength?
b)How good is your Flexibility
c)How good is your ankle strength

These are 3, often overlooked but EXTREMELY important parts of improving your ability to jump higher.

People always do say to use Plyometrics in order to gain the hops, and thats true. But Plyometrics will give you better results if you already have a solid strength foundation, I mean.. Plyometrics are all about increasing the speed/power output that your muscles can provide in order to make you more explosive, but what is the use of turning a weak base of strength into power, you wont see alot of improvement.

Do a few weeks of Leg weights,
Leg extensions,
Weighted Calf Raises,
Leg Press,
Squats
and so on. THEN move into some plyometrics workouts, in order to convert that new found strength in your legs, into explosive power and speed!

If you are not currently working your abs, or have a weak core. This is 100% certainly going to be holding your vertical potential back, As well as the ability to control your body whilst in the air.

I'd suggest putting aside at least 20+ minutes aside to work on your core strength each day.

Flexibility is also an overlooked yet amazingly important part of jumping.
Imagine your legs as a rubber band.
If you take a rubber band, put it over your thumb and pull it back/stretch it, once you let it go, it contracts and fires forward quickly and takes off. If that rubber band was unable to stretch to its maximum potential, it would fire MUCH less further than it normally would, say if you pulled it back to halfway.

Your leg muscles are like that, if they are not as flexible as they could be, they are not going to be able to extend and contract to their full extent and therefore allow for maximum power/explosiveness enabling your higher vertical jumping.

and finally the Ankle.

When you jump, or perform the motion of jumping, the very first group of muscles that are fired into motion when you make contact with the ground is the ankle, they are also the very last muscle group area to leave the ground as you propell into the air.

Strengthening your ankle means you will not only Reduce the chance of injury e.g Rolls/sprains. You will have increased stability/ power output from the Beginning AND Last microsecond of your jump!


I guarantee if you worked on your Core/ Flexibility and ankle strength before anything else, you would instantly see an increase in your Vertical leap.

Hope this post was helpfull to you.

I'm gonna look into these tips as well. Great tips.

My 1rm power clean is 230, which is not the greatest considering my stats at 5'10 and 250 pounds. My previous high school vert was 31 inches and I'm not sure what it is currently (that was about 5 years ago). I can touch rim though but I can't grab. I need to measure my reach though.

[VerticalDreams]

Sweet, Im glad my Tips were of use to you !
They are the ideas that I have been sticking to whilst training my body/ vertical, and its definitley working.

feel free to message me with any questions you might have about training your vert.