Official vertical/jumping/dunking thread POST ALL VERT QUESTIONS HERE

[1Bleak]

I am 17, 6'3" and weigh 160 lbs. I can grab the rim but cant get close to dunking. For my basketball team we work out a couple days a week, do box jumps and a couple sets of squats. I squat about 175 lbs. I have a very poor diet and eat only junk food, is that a factor in my weak vertical? What can I do to increase it, ive heard doing pushups help but i dont see how.

Diet definitely plays a big role, keep squatting heavy, and do something more reactive than box jumps. Box jumps are mostly for power, but won't help as much in transferring energy from a run up.

[1Bleak]

So I've been doing SS for 2 month I am squatting 1.8x my bodyweight I am 75kg(165lbs) squatting 140kg(310lbs) but when I started I was squatting only 70kg(155) but since then my vertical gains were very small 1-2 inches not more I was also doing plyometrics 2x a week for a month but still don't see any improvments

Plyos look like this

Depth Drops-3x5
Box jumps-3x5
Rim jumps-2x5
Maximal effort jumps-2x5

should I change something? why vertical is not increasing???

BTW my vertical is 28-30 inches from still (rough measurment)

I was thinking of doing Vertical Jump Bible Full reactive routine but I don't want to dump SS yet

Routine looks good, might be an effort thing. Make sure EVERY jump is 100% jumping as high as you can, and be completely rested between each set.

[1Bleak]

Starting the jump manual tomorrow. I think leg press wouldn't help me as much so I'm going with squat. Should I do half squats or deep squats? Which are most beneficial for vertical jump increase? And can you really gain 10 inches in 3 months?

Deeeep squats, more flexibility, and stronger tendons, and more strength through a larger range of motion. And how many inches you gain depends, on your effort, current levels, and consistency

[AquariusR]

-I have a 7ft 3 standing reach.
-I can get half my hand above rim while jumping off one foot but can barely touch it while jumping off two .
-Im 120pounds and I can squat 220pounds on half squats and around 180 on deep squats .
-Keep in mind im only 14 yrs old and a freshmen. 3months ago i was barely touching rim
Now im trying to gain 6inches mininum on my vert in 1 year to start dunking but i would like to gain 10-12. Is it possible? I dont know what to focus on now to steadily keep adding to my vert.

[Heimdalll]

-I have a 7ft 3 standing reach.
-I can get half my hand above rim while jumping off one foot but can barely touch it while jumping off two .
-Im 120pounds and I can squat 220pounds on half squats and around 180 on deep squats .
-Keep in mind im only 14 yrs old and a freshmen. 3months ago i was barely touching rim
Now im trying to gain 6inches mininum on my vert in 1 year to start dunking but i would like to gain 10-12. Is it possible? I dont know what to focus on now to steadily keep adding to my vert.

you have no trouble with rate of force development focus on strength. Do low bar squats and break parallel (don't go to deep or too short) try to hit 2x body weight

[1Bleak]

you have no trouble with rate of force development focus on strength. Do low bar squats and break parallel (don't go to deep or too short) try to hit 2x body weight

He should go high bar cuz it hits quads more, and 2 foot takeoff is more quad dominant than one foot takeoff. And your right he should definitely focus on strength training, squats for me at least have an almost direct correlation to my vert, as long as you keep jumping consistently

[Lahb9997]

Vertical Jump and Sprint potential.

I am a male 126 lbs, and 5'7 1/2 tall. I am wondering how high my potential vertical jump may be. I currently ahve terrible strength levels, i am just starting to train squats, and deadlifts, with max around 160 lbs in the squat, and 150 in deadlift(oddly enough) when I get my squat up what do you think my potential vertical and sprint time could be?

Current vertical 34"
Sprint time 100m 10.8 seconds.
40: 4.45

[krakkerz]

Vertical Jump and Sprint potential.

I am a male 126 lbs, and 5'7 1/2 tall. I am wondering how high my potential vertical jump may be. I currently ahve terrible strength levels, i am just starting to train squats, and deadlifts, with max around 160 lbs in the squat, and 150 in deadlift(oddly enough) when I get my squat up what do you think my potential vertical and sprint time could be?

Current vertical 34"
Sprint time 100m 10.8 seconds.
40: 4.45

Firstly, let us know how those times were set and recorded.

Secondly, no-one - no matter how well qualified - can tell you what your "potential" is in those areas. If they claim they can, they are either selling snakeoil, or they are a teenager who read such a snakeoil product.

[AquariusR]

He should go high bar cuz it hits quads more, and 2 foot takeoff is more quad dominant than one foot takeoff. And your right he should definitely focus on strength training, squats for me at least have an almost direct correlation to my vert, as long as you keep jumping consistently

Whenever I do high bar squats I feel it more in my hamstrings/glutes than quads. Since june I haven't been going past parallel until this week so i wonder if this has caused my hams/glutes to lag behind in terms of strength and are now catching up or are my feet just too wide ?
-I place my feet just a tad bit past shoulder width.
-I did deadlifts a few times but not regularly and I did lunges almost every week.

[capuSC2]

Isn't that the fun part? Finding out your potential and limits?

[Heimdalll]

He should go high bar cuz it hits quads more, and 2 foot takeoff is more quad dominant than one foot takeoff. And your right he should definitely focus on strength training, squats for me at least have an almost direct correlation to my vert, as long as you keep jumping consistently

Jumping is more about posterior chain rather then quads so glutes and hamstings are far more important whether it is one foot or two foot jump. Also looks like he jumps better of one foot so why not push it to the limits rather then trying to jump of 2 foot and low bar squat still concentrates on quads.

Whenever I do high bar squats I feel it more in my hamstrings/glutes than quads. Since june I haven't been going past parallel until this week so i wonder if this has caused my hams/glutes to lag behind in terms of strength and are now catching up or are my feet just too wide ?
-I place my feet just a tad bit past shoulder width.
-I did deadlifts a few times but not regularly and I did lunges almost every week.

As I said low bar squats have more athletic carry over then high bar so you should try them. Your feet placement sounds fine. when you squat try to activate groin area (you should feel stretch in the groin) try to push your knees away from each other rather then going straight up and down.

[Lahb9997]

Firstly, let us know how those times were set and recorded.

Secondly, no-one - no matter how well qualified - can tell you what your "potential" is in those areas. If they claim they can, they are either selling snakeoil, or they are a teenager who read such a snakeoil product.

100/40yrd dash, hand time from first reaction to chest across line. Vertical jump, on wall from max reach to max touch, 2 step.

[Lahb9997]

Isn't that the fun part? Finding out your potential and limits?

I find the fun part is setting a goal and trying to strive to reach it, of course one wants a reasonable goal to set, so I want to estimate where my potential could tap out at and do my best to reach it.

[FLChamp]

I find the fun part is setting a goal and trying to strive to reach it, of course one wants a reasonable goal to set, so I want to estimate where my potential could tap out at and do my best to reach it.

There is no way to track that. And if you ask me, those statistics are blown way out of proportion. When did you even start training?

[1Bleak]

Jumping is more about posterior chain rather then quads so glutes and hamstings are far more important whether it is one foot or two foot jump. Also looks like he jumps better of one foot so why not push it to the limits rather then trying to jump of 2 foot and low bar squat still concentrates on quads.




As I said low bar squats have more athletic carry over then high bar so you should try them. Your feet placement sounds fine. when you squat try to activate groin area (you should feel stretch in the groin) try to push your knees away from each other rather then going straight up and down.

I think high bar squats have a lot more athletic carryover, and they work on mobility more than low bar a bonus. To work on posterior chain he should be doing deadlifts. And research also shows that two foot jumping activated quads more than one foot jumping. One foot jumpers usually have a very strong posterior chain relative to their weight. Don't get me wrong it's very important to be glute dominant, but I feel like instead of low bar he should do high bar squats along with deadlifts, if he wants to improve his 2 foot jump. That's what I did and I've improved my vert from not dunking to windmilling in 8 months

[AquariusR]

I think high bar squats have a lot more athletic carryover, and they work on mobility more than low bar a bonus. To work on posterior chain he should be doing deadlifts. And research also shows that two foot jumping activated quads more than one foot jumping. One foot jumpers usually have a very strong posterior chain relative to their weight. Don't get me wrong it's very important to be glute dominant, but I feel like instead of low bar he should do high bar squats along with deadlifts, if he wants to improve his 2 foot jump. That's what I did and I've improved my vert from not dunking to windmilling in 8 months

Since I am far closer to dunking off one foot than two I want to work on being able dunk off one foot more (focusing on one thing instead of two would be quicker right?) unless I'd be able to see increases in my vert at a good rate while working on both. Personally , the goal is to be able to dunk off one foot by september next year , *being able to dunk off two feet also would be nice but I wouldn't mind not being able to*

[Heimdalll]

Since I am far closer to dunking off one foot than two I want to work on being able dunk off one foot more (focusing on one thing instead of two would be quicker right?) unless I'd be able to see increases in my vert at a good rate while working on both. Personally , the goal is to be able to dunk off one foot by september next year , *being able to dunk off two feet also would be nice but I wouldn't mind not being able to*

I am not in a mood to start arguments here so choose yourself: high bar squat (mostly quads) Low bar squats (posterior chain AKA glutes,hamstring) but still both are compound movements and work each part of your leg so it doesn't really matter at this time as you are beginner stick with one you feel more comfortable.

http://verticaljumping.com/posterior_chain.html/ this article will answer your question best...

[AquariusR]

okay thanks.

[icomesb4u]

your coach is a fking retard for having yall do cross country lmao i feel your pain tho man. all you can do now is increase your caloric intake and do the main workouts for vertical after practice and pray for the best.

[jimmy767]

Always come back to this part of the forum to motivate me.
Been on a cut recently, and lost 8lbs in about 2 weeks.
Can someone teach me how to embled youtube videos on here?

http://youtu.be/d49OqaVeHDk



Here's a video of my friend dunking as well

A old video
5'10 asian dunk mix on 9'8 basketball net



http://youtu.be/oQPGf8hikHY


second video is 10 feet rim

http://youtu.be/ITkuE2mhwck

[mrkrinkle462]

So I just started SL 5x5 to increase my strength because I'm very tall and lanky, which means I'm not very strong. The last month I've built up to squatting 150 which is just under my body weight. I'm 6'2 and I'm very close to dunking. My question is, basketball season starts in two weeks, is three days of basketball practice a week enough plyos to see improvements on my vertical? The last month I haven't seen any improvements even though I've strengthened my legs a decent amount. Or should I do plyos once a week on top of practice

[rhymeswithcash]

So I just started SL 5x5 to increase my strength because I'm very tall and lanky, which means I'm not very strong. The last month I've built up to squatting 150 which is just under my body weight. I'm 6'2 and I'm very close to dunking. My question is, basketball season starts in two weeks, is three days of basketball practice a week enough plyos to see improvements on my vertical? The last month I haven't seen any improvements even though I've strengthened my legs a decent amount. Or should I do plyos once a week on top of practice

Most see vertical gains after a rest week. If you want to see your gains now, take a week off lifting and plyos.

[ncfitness21]

I'm trying to up my vert and I could use some help. I have really big and strong thighs not just for my age but really for any age really and my cavs are pretty big and strong also yet I can't jump as high as I think I should be able to. It's not that I'm slow either because I was the 2nd fastest freshman on the track team in the 100m so I'm pretty fast. I think the problem is that while I'm strong and I'm fast, I'm not very quick. Even though I'm good in the hundred meters, I always would start every race behind and come back in the end to win.

Does anyone have any exercises to improve my quickness? I'm trying to stay away from weights also for fear of hurting my growth plates. I've been jump roping to try and improve my quickness, is this a good idea and does anyone have any other stuff I can do?

I understand your fast but not quick that's why you start slow and your strong legs power you through the middle to end part of the 100 meters. Just like you lift heavier to get stronger you have to do exercises quick to make you quicker. The two best one I would recommend are quick feet and line shuffle where you place one foot in front of a line and place the other on the back of the line and alternate feet as quick as you can. No more than 30 seconds per set because after that you'll condition the muscles not make them quicker. 2 sets of 30 seconds for each exercise 3 times a week and you'll notice a difference in a couple weeks.

[ironmaniac508]

The majority of my lower body training is centered around short distance sprints and accessory posterior chain exercises (reverse hypers, GHR, single leg deadlifts, step ups etc.). Anyway, I decided to do some plyometric work yesterday before one of my sprint sessions to see how I fared.

I did some standard vertical jumps and I did squat jumps. On the squat jumps I would go into a full squat, pause @ the bottom for several seconds and explode up.

The height I was able to jump was near identical with these two different styles of jumping.

Does this mean that I have very good strength but need to work on speed/rebound ability? Or could this be simply because I have seldom done plyometrics in the past and that my body is not used to this movement? I also have a solid strength base that I built years ago, about 2x BW parallel box squat.

Thanks

[iMac46]

I am 5'10 and 150 lbs and can touch the ring with just the tip of my fingers. Is it possible for me to dunk next time? My legs aka squats are very weak. I can only squat 115 lbs x 12 reps max. What else can I do to be able to dunk aside from increasing my squat?

[mackallen]

It might be because you haven't done polymetric training before and it takes some time for the body to adapt to new styles of training.

[jmj10000]

I'm trying to up my vert and I could use some help. I have really big and strong thighs not just for my age but really for any age really and my cavs are pretty big and strong also yet I can't jump as high as I think I should be able to. It's not that I'm slow either because I was the 2nd fastest freshman on the track team in the 100m so I'm pretty fast. I think the problem is that while I'm strong and I'm fast, I'm not very quick. Even though I'm good in the hundred meters, I always would start every race behind and come back in the end to win.

Does anyone have any exercises to improve my quickness? I'm trying to stay away from weights also for fear of hurting my growth plates. I've been jump roping to try and improve my quickness, is this a good idea and does anyone have any other stuff I can do?

quickness improves quickness. jump ropes help. Try squat jumps, exploding from the bottom. the more quick movements you do the quicker you'll get

[eatcravemove]

That seems a little strange to me...how does your vertical jump differ from your squat jump? I mean, how far are you going down before you explode up and jump for the vertical jump?

[KAFitness]

When it comes to plyometrics and vert. jump training,

your vert. jump should be significantly higher than the squat-pause jump. The reason for this is stretch reflex theory. Because you're a pausing at the bottom of the squat you're inhibiting this 'stretch reflex'. You're basically preventing a rubber band or spring from recoiling.

So, if you squat-pause jump is just as high as your vert. then that tells me that you have a strong base of lower body strength/power but lack the coordination and technique of the vert. jump.

Here is an excerpt I wrote in another previous thread:

Let me break down the vert. jump anatomically:

A high vertical jump is a result of 3 major joints: The ankle, knee, and hip.

Improve the force created at these 3 joints and your vert will explode... literally. I recently trained a 5'5 gentlemen who in just a few weeks increased his vert. by 4-6 inches.

First master the squat: Barbell/DB/Box squat. Other leg work should include lunges and step ups

Next master the jumping technique. Learn how to squat low but not too low (the ass to grass does not apply to vert. jumping) and explode to full extension of all 3 joints.

Then work on plyometric work.

Exercises should include: ankle jumps, squat jumps, box jumps and BOX DROPS (the best exercise, you can also add a jump after the drop which makes it even more better), bounds, etc. Add on uni-lateral (single leg) exercises and you can also add on weight to these exercises as well by holding a med. ball/ weight plate.

[MikaHell]

When it comes to plyometrics and vert. jump training,

your vert. jump should be significantly higher than the squat-pause jump. The reason for this is stretch reflex theory. Because you're a pausing at the bottom of the squat you're inhibiting this 'stretch reflex'. You're basically preventing a rubber band or spring from recoiling.

So, if you squat-pause jump is just as high as your vert. then that tells me that you have a strong base of lower body strength/power but lack the coordination and technique of the vert. jump.

Here is an excerpt I wrote in another previous thread:

Let me break down the vert. jump anatomically:

A high vertical jump is a result of 3 major joints: The ankle, knee, and hip.

Improve the force created at these 3 joints and your vert will explode... literally. I recently trained a 5'5 gentlemen who in just a few weeks increased his vert. by 4-6 inches.

First master the squat: Barbell/DB/Box squat. Other leg work should include lunges and step ups

Next master the jumping technique. Learn how to squat low but not too low (the ass to grass does not apply to vert. jumping) and explode to full extension of all 3 joints.

Then work on plyometric work.

Exercises should include: ankle jumps, squat jumps, box jumps and BOX DROPS (the best exercise, you can also add a jump after the drop which makes it even more better), bounds, etc. Add on uni-lateral (single leg) exercises and you can also add on weight to these exercises as well by holding a med. ball/ weight plate.

Sounds like a great plan!