any age 30+ guy here significantly improved your vertical?!

[ghettoracer]

After reading Kelly's Ultimate Split - http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/...matesplit.html

I have a feeling I'm not resting enough... I should probably play ball 3 days a week instead of 6. All the freaking sets and reps gets to me some times. The idea to reduce the work volume but increase in load further is speaking to my heart. Hmm..... decisions decisions.

[Swaggin916]

Yea 6 days a week is too much unless you are just playing a game or 2. Depends on how intense the game is tho... I have played in games that are more tiring that 3 games.

But yea the idea is have medium-low volume but make every set count. Over training is the worst... you do all this work and don't get the results you want. Just find the volume that works for you, everyone responds differently. I can tell you right now you need to tone it down on the bball tho. 2-3 days a week if you want to increase vert... don't play until your legs are not anymore either... if you legs are sore and you play... you aren't giving them the rest they need to grow.

[ghettoracer]

it's leg day again...

Mon, 08/30/2010

squats 40kg 1x12 (warm up), 70kg 1x8, 80kg 2x8 concentrated on form and tried to explode upwards, starting point parallel to floor, tried a few reps tip toe going up

walking lunges 30lbs 1x10 (warm up), 80lbs 2x8, 90lbs 1x8
leg extensions 80lbs 1x10 (warm up), 130lbs 1x8, 150 lbs 2x8
box step ups 50lbs 1x10 (warm up), 80lbs 1x8, 90lbs 2x8 (hmm, hand grip was no problem today)
leg extension 7's 100lbs 7x12, 80lbs 1x14 (just to make sure i was really burning heheh)

quoted last session for comparison. my back was uber stiff last week so i skipped weights. been stretching a lot to get the back to soften up a bit to get my flexibility back. now i can put my head on my knees and chest to quads again with locked knees. when the back was stiff last week i couldn't even touch my forehead to knee. it's good to get some of the flexibility back... gotta keep yoga up; was lazy for a bit and i paid the price for being lazy. anyway, just finished today's leg work out:

walking lunges w/db 50lbs 1x10 (warm up), 80lbs 1x8, 90lbs 1x8, 100lbs 1x8
smith machine squats 40kg 1x10 (warm up), 80kg 1x8, 90kg 2x8, 100kg 1x8 (was feeling good so i tried 100kg, felt ok so i did 8 reps)
leg extensions 80lbs 1x10 (warm up), 150lbs 1x8, 170lbs 1x8, 190lbs 1x8
box step ups w/db 50lbs 1x10 (warm up), 90 lbs 2x8 (only did 2 sets because both quads and my hand grip was giving up)
leg curl 80lbs 1x10 (warm up), 120lbs 1x8, 130 lbs 2x8

originally i planned to finish with FST7's 7x12 leg extensions but i was pretty beat after the leg curl already so i just stopped. still experimenting with my work outs. as you can see i increase the weights on some bits of the work out.

[ghettoracer]

skipped workouts last week. i've been having weird shoulder pain for 2-3 months. when i try to do push ups (or incline bench press) in certain motion there's a lot of pain... had one guy worked on it, he was suppose to be good but after like 4 sessions it did not improve at all. finally i gave up on him and went to the guy that worked on my ankle sprain in June. after a painful ~15 minutes session it felt immediately better. this guy has real skills. i guess i must've pull the muscle when i first started hitting the weights more regularly about 3 months ago. i was expecting it to heal by it self over time but it never did.

back to the gym after like 15 days off.

09/27/2010 Monday leg day

walking lunges w/db 50lbs 1x10 (warm up), 90lbs 1x8, 100lbs 1x8, 110lbs 1x8 (+10 lbs vs last time)
smith machine squats 60kg 1x10 (warm up), 100kg 2x8, 110kg 1x8 (+10kg over last time)
leg extensions 80lbs 1x10 (warm up), 150lbs 1x8, 190lbs 1x8, 210lbs 1x8 (+20lbs over last time)
box step ups w/db 50lbs 1x10 (warm up), 100lbs 2x8, 110lbs 1x5 (+10 lbs over last time but only 5 reps)

on the squat i decided to do 110kg x 8 but i think i pull/pop (slight pop sound as i was coming up, no pain at the time) something on the freaking last rep. but just after the back felt a little weird/stiff. i decided not to do leg curls because of this. visiting the dude to get my shoulder and back work on this evening.

[Swaggin916]

Remember that you are older man... the body can take a pretty good beating when you are young, but not so much when you are old. You are doing the right thing by having those tweaks checked out. You really need to take care of yourself at any age, but you can absolutely take no chances when you are over 30.

[KlajdiB]

Try this program if you want to increase your vert at that age

http://ff8b8409w0rxepadw907hc8y-0.hop.clickbank.net/

[BrentISballin]

You are right, calves won't do hardly anything to increase your vert... but leg extensions aren't going to anything to increase your vert either. Your power comes from your quads, hammys, glutes, groin, hips... it comes from everywhere but calves (Though calves do play a small part so you might want to think about doing them), but you have to be doing particular exercises. Isolation exercises are the devil pretty much... in terms of functional strength, they don't give you a whole lot. They have their place in rehab programs, but just stick with your multi-joint hip activating movements. If you want to add in extentions, hammy curls, and calve raises at the end, be my guest... They are a decent way to make sure everything is in balance, but they aren't going to get you higher vertical. Back squats, front squats, deadlifts, Cleans, Clean and Jerk, Snatch, Step Ups, Lunges, and explosive plyometrics are what your program should be all about... and when you get out on the bball court, jump your ass off. Nobody developed a good vert by sitting at the 3 point line, they got it by jumping all over the gym.

This guy knows what he is talkin about. I do however think that leg presses and other isolation exercises still play a fairly big role in explosiveness,power and standing vert. If you look at football players who have extremely strong legs and gluts , they can powerfully take off with people hanging on them down low off a standing vert.

Either ways if you have never done plyometric workouts then it will increase your vert!

[Swaggin916]

This guy knows what he is talkin about. I do however think that leg presses and other isolation exercises still play a fairly big role in explosiveness,power and standing vert. If you look at football players who have extremely strong legs and gluts , they can powerfully take off with people hanging on them down low off a standing vert.

Either ways if you have never done plyometric workouts then it will increase your vert!

They don't get that from leg presses and and isolation exercises. They great great standing verts because they do power movements such as squats and cleans. Even in High School, the 1,000 pound clubs for football are based off your max bench, squat, and clean... all compound multi joint exercises that increase power. Also, the fact that everything football players do is explosive helps with vertical too... it's a game of short bursts, and jumping is a short burst and that's why it helps.

If you want to see for yourself, go ahead and do a program that is based around leg press and isolation exercises... then do one based on squats, stepups, cleans (the exercises I mentioned in my post) and see which one works better for you. I'm not trying to prove you wrong, but I am trying to tell you that doing those exercises is a waste of time if you want to increase vertical. You are just taking away from other exercises that are better.

[ghettoracer]

oct. 8, 2010

this week i'm busy with work so have not gym at all, also giving the back more rest... i did play indoor on monday night running with a bunch of college professors. good hoop iq games are always fun in their own ways, much less athletically challenging but enjoyable when the team understand what (and why) each person is doing. :-)

after indoor last night (~1.5 hour of solid running full court) i tried a few standing jump and 2 leg running jumps. i'm happy to report that although i have not weight trained as much as i wanted to (due to the re-occurring stiff back) i have gained about 2" over since i started hitting the weight racks more steadily (started about 3 months ago). now from standing jump i can just barely touch the bottom of a 10 feet rim with my middle finger and my running 2 feet is about 2-2.5" over the rim now. :-) still down from my peak 10 years when i was mid 20's which was ~5" over the rim. but i'm happy to report a slight gain/recovery in vertical.

--

oct. 25, 2010

back still giving me issues in the past 2 weeks so i have not done any weights :-( , just hoop about 4 times a week. got the back worked on 3 times in the last 2 weeks (1 hour sessions) by a new massage guy. he seems pretty skilled. he's able to reduce the stiffness every time he works on it but every day just after an hour or 2 of hard running basketball it still stiffs up. i've schedule for an xray tomorrow to play it safe. i decided to get back on the weights (just not gonna squat for a while until i really figure out what the heck is going on with it).

45 deg hyper extensions 3x25
incline db press 40 1x10 (warm up), 60 2x8, 80 1x8 (left outer shoulder still have pain )
flat db press 60 1x10 (warm up), 80 3x8, 90 1x8 (+3 reps @ 90 vs. last time)
machine bench press 50 1x10 (warm up), 100 1x8, 110 1x8, 120 1x8 (straining on 120lbs but pushed through)
machine pec flies 70 1x10 (warm up), 100 1x8, 110 1x8, 120 1x8 (also straining @ 120, left outer shoulder pain also shows on this)
alt. incline db curl 15 1x10, 20 1x8, 25 1x2 (too much strain), 20 1x9
barbell curl 18kg 3x8

still some time left for the 1 hour session that i paid so i added 2 back exercise just to work it some.

lat. pull downs 80 1x10 (warm up), 100 1x8, 110 2x8 (+ 10lbs over last time, really tough last 2 reps)
machine rows 50 1x10 (warm up), 80 1x8, 100 1x8, 110 1x8 (used machine instead of barbell. don't wanna tax the back too much yet)

25 reps of hypers kinda drove me nuts with the number of repetition. i used to hold a 15kg plate and do 10 reps... the strain in the last couple of reps feels about the same as high reps with out weight. is the extra reps with out weight that much better? just noticed you recommended 5 sets but i only did 3x25. i will do 5x20 next time.

--

just got back from the doctor the xray shows my spine to be in perfect alignment. i'm relieved that it's nothing bad like herniated discs or anything like that. just muscle fatigue or pulled muscle. the doc recommended muscle relaxers (optional) and rest. at the local riverbank where i used to ball a lot there's a guy in his early 40's he's a pharmacist and he's mentioned muscle relaxers before. he said there are no bad side effects and taking it helps a lot of the older 40+ ballers. is the no side effects part true? any first hand experience.

--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMpv7L97p6k

this video is shot the same day (5pm) as the one i upload few weeks ago (9:30pm after few hours of full court). it was over the 15 minute limit and i finally got around to chop it to 15 min youtube limit. as you can see it is way less lazy...

[raiderfan19]

Im sure this has been mentioned in some thread if not this one, but one of the better things for me when i want to increase my vertical is to finish your workout 2-3 days a week with 3 sets of ten of pushup into squat jumps. What you do is get into a pushup position, do a pushup then explode into a squat jump come back down into a pushup position do a pushup and explode into a squat jump. This isnt meant to replace your workout or anything and you shouldnt do it everyday but a couple of times a week and you will see results.(it will not be fun while your doing it)

[ghettoracer]

yah, some call those burpee's... i should indeed add them to my workout. they are definitely always challenging with just 10-15 reps when done with max jumping effort.

[ABPrints]

Remember that you are older man... the body can take a pretty good beating when you are young, but not so much when you are old. You are doing the right thing by having those tweaks checked out. You really need to take care of yourself at any age, but you can absolutely take no chances when you are over 30.

haven't been here in awhile, but reading the thread title, this is the first thing I thought of (which Swag basically stated). Sure it is possible to make gains and reach set goals, but (I just turned 36 yesterday so i know how it feels lol) gotta make sure you recover properly.

Good luck. i haven't dunked since I was 29, maybe I will make this a goal of mine this year?

[ghettoracer]

if anybody is interested in my progress log it is kept here...

http://www.adarq.org/forum/progress-...vs-box-step-up

my running touch is now at 10'3". my PR was ~10'5" touch about 12 years ago. hopefully i will have a new PR in 3 months. that's my short term goal. :-)

[thejumpa]

if anybody is interested in my progress log it is kept here...

http://www.adarq.org/forum/progress-...vs-box-step-up

my running touch is now at 10'3". my PR was ~10'5" touch about 12 years ago. hopefully i will have a new PR in 3 months. that's my short term goal. :-)

Nice man. Looks like you are about to hit a new PR! I'm definitely gonna follow your log.

I have a question. At what age did you realize that your athleticism was declining a little bit? Whether it be vertical leap, speed, agility, recovery, etc. I'm 24 and been dunking and whatever since I was 16. I couldn't imagine not having enough hops to get up there or move around like I do now. Honestly, it would make basketball(sports in general really) that much more boring.

[ghettoracer]

Nice man. Looks like you are about to hit a new PR! I'm definitely gonna follow your log.

I have a question. At what age did you realize that your athleticism was declining a little bit? Whether it be vertical leap, speed, agility, recovery, etc. I'm 24 and been dunking and whatever since I was 16. I couldn't imagine not having enough hops to get up there or move around like I do now. Honestly, it would make basketball(sports in general really) that much more boring.

i think for most people it usually is just life taking over them. especially when one have kids. i've been single and with out kids (i love my freedom).

my athleticism was a gradual decline with slowly increase in weight/fat back in mid 2007 i had a lazy half a year where i didn't do anything and ate way too much junk foods and the bad weights added up fast. it was difficult to shake off and when i moved back to Asia the diets was improved and i lost like 5 lbs but with out exercising it wasn't going down any further. i was quite out of shape and thank goodness for my love of basketball it slowly brought me back.

now that i'm back in shape again, there is still a little decline (just a little bit) of athleticism vs. when i was in the 20's but experience and knowledge more than makes up for it. i'd certainly say i'm a much more efficient player now than i ever was.

proper nutrition and conditioning (including staying flexible) will go a long way in sustaining your athleticism in the long run.