anyone doing vjb?

[richi]

just finished wk 2 on the inter balance programe,

going real good so far, prob just in my head but i already feel like its working as i could always do a far few different dunks of 1 foot but could only just touch the rim with 2, so should make a big diiference on d aswell with checks.

cant help but notice though some of the workouts in the programe i swear are just there to make you look a fool in the gym lol, jumping up and down on the spot makes you look a tad bit strange but when you have the bar on your shoulders doing it!!!!!!!!!!

just wondering also has anyone else done the program, how did it work for ya?

[Swaggin916]

This program works... but I developed tendonitis in my knee while doing it. One of my friends developed a knee problem as well... but my other friend didn't. I think for me, I had pulled a groin in the past and it just never quite healed right I don't think... so a lot of the impact was taken by my knee and patellar tendon got messed up. I pulled my hammy and still tried to do the program making matters even worse on my knee.

All I have to say is be careful. If your knee starts to hurt, stop doing the program immediately and wait for it to heal. Skip the 1 leg speed hops... Those have to be the worst on your knees. I did the same program (inter. balanced) and those come up in the 2nd phase.

I gained 3 inches of vert by week 6... but after that everything went downhill... so I can't exactly tell you what to expect after that, but 3 inches by week 6... you should be right around there (my friend had about the same gains as me and we are about the same size). BTW, if you are nice and lean, you shouldn't have too many problems. I was about 195 while doing this program and it was just too much weight to have on my frame. A lot of that weight was muscle, but my BF was probably around 15 or so... which is way too much. You want to be at 10% or lower if you are going to do a VJB program so your joints are stressed a lot less.

[richi]

yeah cheers for the heads up well in week 2 now and i can really feel the difference now was playing ball today and i have only been e=able to grab the rim of 2 feet just decided to go for it and hit the 1 hander no way near as high of 2 feet then 1 but such a big improvment in a couple of weeks i would certanly rec this programe:rockon:

[carpevicis]

I recommend Vertical Mastery, the dude selling it is a cool guy and really knows his stuff. He helps you out whenever you're having a problem and his site's got great tips and reviews on other jumping programs. It's also personalized so each person gets a custom workout.

After doing 1 10 week workout, my vertical went from 18 (:oldlol: ) to a max of 27. It was an off day when I measured my 18 but 27 isn't a slouch at all. I have a standing reach of just under 7' (6'11") and when I'm warmed I can throw down on 8'6" off 1 leg. I'm not even a single legged jumper, but it really boosted that aspect of mine. But the balls diameter is actually 9.39 inches so if I round to 10 for dunking mechanics, I have a 29 inch vertical. YES!

In addition, my squat went from 3 reps at 165 to 3 reps at 190. Great program. Unfortunately I might have to take a break from it to work on conditioning.

[richi]

vjb has tayler made programs which you find the one thats best for you, well vjb is working really well so dont think i will change untill i have finished the 8 wks

props on ur jump improvments pal 13 more inchs then u have hit the promise lands:lol

[mapleleaf]

Yes i do have and itfeel very good while you can earn muney and develop experience.

[BoredActuary]

I'm doing the vjb intermediate plyo program with my own strength program. I'm only into week 2 of phase 1 so I haven't noticed much of a difference.

My standing two foot vertical leap is around 20'' - I'm 6' 6'' in shoes, with a standing reach of 8' 8'' , weigh 180 pounds and am 27. So from a stand still I can touch the rim jumping off two feet. With a run and two foot jump (I can't leap) I can just about hang on with one hand.

I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes at the end of the first phase. I also made a clip of my jumping before I started the program, so I'll put a link up for that soon.

[Swaggin916]

I'm doing the vjb intermediate plyo program with my own strength program. I'm only into week 2 of phase 1 so I haven't noticed much of a difference.

My standing two foot vertical leap is around 20'' - I'm 6' 6'' in shoes, with a standing reach of 8' 8'' , weigh 180 pounds and am 27. So from a stand still I can touch the rim jumping off two feet. With a run and two foot jump (I can't leap) I can just about hang on with one hand.

I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes at the end of the first phase. I also made a clip of my jumping before I started the program, so I'll put a link up for that soon.

What is your own strength program? The one he has on there is pretty good. I hope whatever you are doing involves squats, deadlifts, and other power movements.

Good idea to start now if you can. With a standing reach of 8'8... you better be able to dunk man. I can see you gaining 10 inches if you stick with the program. 30" would put you at 11'2... You could throw it down hard at 11'2.

[BoredActuary]

Sorry, I meant to write 8' 4''. But with my height and reach I'm not too far off. My avatar is a screen shot of the clip I'll post soon.

The strength program is something I came up with from reading around. I go twice a week and do a full body workout:

Incline chest press
Straight arm pull downs
Rows
Military press
Arm curls
Dips (3 sets of 15)
Lat pull downs

Leg extensions
Leg curls
Calf raises (3 sets of 25)
Squat/Dead-lift - I switch exercise each session
Straight leg dead-lift
Step-ups
Adductors and abductors (3 sets of 25)
Roman seats and some 1min planks

I do 3 sets of 8 reps for all other exercises. If the gym isn't busy this takes me around an 60-70min.

[Swaggin916]

Make sure you are doing low reps and high weight on those deads and squats. No more than 6 reps really... Any more than that you are focusing less on explosion and more on strength.

Do your Squats, Dead's, and stepups first... you want to be really fresh for them. They are your power movements... they are what is going to give you your gains. The leg extensions and Hamstring curls are secondary... As are calves. Those exercises aren't going to help your vert... they just make sure everything is up to par so you don't have strength imbalances.

8'4 is a little more human and less NBA lol. Yea at only 180 pounds... that tells you have basically no muscle. You should make phenomenal gains just stick with it.

[5foot6]

has anyone heard anything good or bad about the new become a freak program? thinkin about givin it a try

[BoredActuary]

I'll re-shuffle my program and do the power movements first. I was using the leg extension and curls as a sort of warm-up. Should I still do them?

I am pretty lean/skinny, I think I will always be that way, I just don't have the body type!

Thanks Swaggin916. I'll post later with my progress and some videos.

[BoredActuary]

Here's my vertical leap just before I started the program. I might film the end of phase 1 test from a different angle and jump for the rim instead of the backboard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts3rZv1QjBY

[Kumo]

Here's my vertical leap just before I started the program. I might film the end of phase 1 test from a different angle and jump for the rim instead of the backboard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts3rZv1QjBY

Damn bro, you're (were?) slow as hell.. decent hops though. What week you at now?

I just started the same one as OP.

[BoredActuary]

I know, I didn't realise I was that slow until I saw it on camera. They were just 3-step jumps though... But I'll try some faster run-ups on the next test.

I'm finishing up week 2 of phase 1 tomorrow. I'll be filming the end of phase 1 results next week.

[Swaggin916]

I'll re-shuffle my program and do the power movements first. I was using the leg extension and curls as a sort of warm-up. Should I still do them?

I am pretty lean/skinny, I think I will always be that way, I just don't have the body type!

Thanks Swaggin916. I'll post later with my progress and some videos.

It's actually fine to do them as warmups... I thought that might have been what you were doing. Personally though I would warm up with dynamic stretching and maybe 10 minutes on the bike... shooting around and getting nice and warm is great too. If you warm up like that, you are completely fresh. The blood is flowing, and your muscles aren't tired from anything. That's how you want to be when doing squats/Deads or anytype of power movement like that.

Yea you are super slow on your jumps... no power or anything there. What this program will do is not only increase how high you get up, but how fast your get up. You will be able to board like you never have, block shots, contest shots... all that stuff is based on how quickly you can get up there. Of course length is more important for those because you are already there without jumping... but you are already tall so add that quickness to your jump, you will cause all sorts of problems.

[BoredActuary]

Here's the end of week 3 video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EqZyA7jL9U

I feel like I'm jumping slightly higher but I think that might have more to do with my faster approach. The standing two hand jump was very poor. I also found right leg is stronger than my left leg when leaping.

After everyone's comments I've been thinking "explode" when lifting weights and doing the plyos. It's still early days, I'm starting phase 2 next week and will post another progress video in 3 weeks time.

[Swaggin916]

Standing 2 foot jump is based on pure power and explosion. As you get stronger at your lifts, your 2 foot standing jump will increase (as well as every other jump really... but in particular the standing 2 foot jump).

[BoredActuary]

Here's my end of phase 2 clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ka_bANi4fY

I think I had a slight improvement on my standing vertical leap - before I could touch the rim with my finger tips and now I'm getting my fingers tips slightly over the top of the rim. My running vertical has improved as well, I can nearly hang on the rim with two hands and touching the rim with my palm with one hand.

In terms of numbers I think I've gone from a 20" to a 21" standing vertical and 22" to 24" running vertical leap.

Its been 4 weeks since I took Swaggin916's advice on moving to 6 reps from 8 reps for my power moves. I've improved from 3x6 reps with 80kg to 3x6 reps with 90kg, I'm focussing on getting my thighs parallel to the ground and exploding upwards. My deadlift has improved from 6x60kg to 6x80kg, I think I could lift more but I'm still getting used to the movement and don't want to screw up my back by loading the bar too much. I'm also doing step ups with 24kg dumbbells in each hand. I started out with 20kg dumbbells in each hand.

[carpevicis]

Good work, it feels great to see yourself get stronger. And good job and remembering to keep form over weight. An injury takes longer to recover from than the put the weight on progressively.

My deadlift shot up a couple weeks ago, it was 135x5 then I took a week off and it went to 185x5, now it's 205x5.

[Swaggin916]

Keep it up man. As you increase in weight, you will see your vertical increase as well. Right now your lifts aren't very impressive, but keep lifting and they will get impressive. Don't give up on this either... stick with it. You will be up over 30" and dunking in no time... and you thank yourself for sticking with it.

[BoredActuary]

No clip for the end of phase 3. The weather has been pretty bad in the UK. I've still been working out and doing VJB.

I can squat 110kg (6 reps - I do three sets of 6 reps - 1st 100kg, 2nd 105kg, 3rd 110kg), dead lift 90kg (3 sets of 6 reps) and 3 sets of 6 reps of step ups with 30kg dumbbells.

I was down at my usual rim this morning and decided to measure it. Turns out it is 3 inches higher than regulation! So my vertical leap measurements have been off by about 3 inches. I'll be in the US in 2 weeks time on holiday and the place I'm at his a court, hopefully its regulation height and I'll get some clips out there.

[Swaggin916]

Yea man get some clips I want to see your improvement.

[BoredActuary]

So I'm back from my holiday and I have a clip of me testing my hops on a regulation height rim. I was pretty surprised, I kept measuring the rim to make sure it was 10' because it just seemed so easy to reach compared to the one near my house. I'm not really slamming it in but it's a start.

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

Let me know what you guys think.

I'll have a final test video later in the week (if the weather clears up...) to show my progress on my usual rim. And I'll be starting another cycle of the VJB programme.

[Swaggin916]

So I'm back from my holiday and I have a clip of me testing my hops on a regulation height rim. I was pretty surprised, I kept measuring the rim to make sure it was 10' because it just seemed so easy to reach compared to the one near my house. I'm not really slamming it in but it's a start.

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

Let me know what you guys think.

I'll have a final test video later in the week (if the weather clears up...) to show my progress on my usual rim. And I'll be starting another cycle of the VJB programme.

Good job man. Just keep working at getting more explosive. Right now you are real slow with your approach and your first step is surely slow. I think it would do you a lot of good to do some 20 yard sprints... look at how really explosive leapers approach the rim... they look like they are about to jump out of the atmosphere.

[BoredActuary]

I know, I can get the height, but it takes me a while to get up there. I also found that I would hit the back iron if I ran at the rim fast. All stuff to work on though...

For this cycle of VJB I've started doing cleans which should help. I'm doing the novice plyos this time round. If the weather's good this weekend I'll get a clip of my hops to show my full progress on my usual (3" higher...) rim. I'll see if I can be more explosive in this clip.

[Swaggin916]

Cleans will definitely help. Just do it explosively but controlled. Load some weight on the bar. As your lifts get higher, you will be more explosive. You will have to be to get the weight up haha.

[BoredActuary]

I never got around to doing the first week filming, the weather in the UK has been pretty bad. I'll post a video when I'm done with the first phase in two weeks.

Swaggin916: At the gym, on a Tuesday, I'm doing deadlifts, cleans and step-ups. On a Friday I do squats, cleans and straight leg deadlifts.
Do you think I should swap the straight leg dead lifts for step-ups? Or is it better to have the variety?

Cleans are definitely a great exercise, you just can't cheat with them...

[Swaggin916]

I never got around to doing the first week filming, the weather in the UK has been pretty bad. I'll post a video when I'm done with the first phase in two weeks.

Swaggin916: At the gym, on a Tuesday, I'm doing deadlifts, cleans and step-ups. On a Friday I do squats, cleans and straight leg deadlifts.
Do you think I should swap the straight leg dead lifts for step-ups? Or is it better to have the variety?

Cleans are definitely a great exercise, you just can't cheat with them...

nooooooo... seriously??? :oldlol:

Keep the variety... I like that you are doing cleans twice. Like I said, your explosiveness needs to increase and those are going to help you the most.

[BoredActuary]

I've finished phase 1 of my second round of VJB. I just need to get the clip sorted out and I'll put it online this weekend.

Now that there's snow on the court, filming updates will be difficult. The UK's not great for indoor courts, most gyms don't have them, if they do, you have to rent them out.

Strength-wise I've not improved. I've dropped weight on my squat and deadlift because I felt I didn't have great form and wasn't going low enough on the squats and I wanted perfect form on the deadlifts. But I have started doing power cleans. Here are the weights I'm doing (all are 3 sets of 6 reps):

Squat (once per week): 90kg, 95kg, 100kg
Deadlift (once per week): 80kg, 90kg, 95kg
Step-up (once per week, two dumbells each weighing): 32kg, 32kg, 32kg
Straight leg deadlift (once per week): 85kg, 85kg, 85kg
Power Cleans (twice per week): 60kg, 65kg, 70kg

Should I do sets of increasing weight or try to do 3 sets of constant weight? How do people gradually increase what they lift?

Just a reminder: I'm 6'6'' (in shoes) with an 8'4'' reach and weigh ~82-83kg and the rim in the clips (after measuring it the other day) is ~10'4''-10'5''.

SVJ: ~24-25''
RDVJ: ~26-27''
RSVJ: ~25-26''

[bobbyflay]

nice, I just started doing this program last week. I actually gained two centimeters from two workouts so far. I work out on tuesday and friday for the bodyweight strength program/plyometric if I didn't play basketball in a day or have practice. I hope to dunk by the end of next summer. Good luck to you too..

Random Stats: 5'7 (will probably grow a couple more inches)
Found out why my standing vertical is like 8 inches and my leaping vertical is about 40 inches. I have been training plyometrics every since I was 8 years old(martial arts and stuff) lol. Turned out I was just developing explosiveness, not true strength.

[BoredActuary]

Here are two short clips of my progress. One at the beginning of round two of VJB and the other 3 weeks in. Not much difference really except for new shoes for this round - UA Micro G Lite, nice shoes.

Week 0 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG-PPGQitZo

Week 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eG5JX8vtzM

I might get some clips of me sprinting and doing the lane agility drill to see if I really am that slow...

[theaussieguy]

so i have finally started doing some weights. On a good day i can touch regulation and that was just by practicing my 2 footed jumping so i am hoping to get another 5 inches in the next 3 months which will allow me to grab onto regulation.

[BoredActuary]

Good stuff. What weights are you doing? Are you doing some plyos as well?

[theaussieguy]

Good stuff. What weights are you doing? Are you doing some plyos as well?

hey boredA im not following any specific program from VJB but i have definitely taken a lot out of that and added the core exercises into a general weights program. My main exercises for building strength come from front/back squats and deadlifts but i am thinking about adding some cleans in as well.

I hit the weights three times a week

day 1: Back/bicep/trap - deadlift day

day 2: Chest/shoulders/triceps

day 3: Legs - squat day

with a rest in between each day. I am only doing a more general weights program because i am pretty lightweight and i figure any extra weight will only be beneficial towards my goal.

Not so concerned about doing pylometrics right now i still want to see how far i can get through an increase in power alone however in saying that i'm positive i wouldn't have made the progress i have made without VJB's section on how to perform a two footed power jump which i have to say i was practicing for weeks before i even hit the weights so in that regard i was doing a bit of pylometric work but none of the specific activities like depth jumps etc. I have found that improvements in my two footed jumping ability has translated somewhat to my one footed jumping which according to VJB, relies more on ones reactive ability so jumping alone IMO is pylometrics.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200212

Heres a thread i made i will probs delete it and just add my videos here so we can check each others progress.

Are you still balling on the 10'3" inch hoop? i'm sure you will be dunking in no time man if thats the case, i can definitely see improvements. How comfortable do you feel atm grabbing onto something and supporting your bodyweight? i'd imagine that would be the scariest thing being a tall man like yourself, in the event you slip and end up with an injury like A.Bogut last season.

[theaussieguy]

nice, I just started doing this program last week. I actually gained two centimeters from two workouts so far. I work out on tuesday and friday for the bodyweight strength program/plyometric if I didn't play basketball in a day or have practice. I hope to dunk by the end of next summer. Good luck to you too..

Random Stats: 5'7 (will probably grow a couple more inches)
Found out why my standing vertical is like 8 inches and my leaping vertical is about 40 inches. I have been training plyometrics every since I was 8 years old(martial arts and stuff) lol. Turned out I was just developing explosiveness, not true strength.


that makes sense actually, the good thing about weights is it increases both strength and explosiveness at the same time. I think in VJB he says the height you can jump to is determined by the amount of power you can output in 0.2 seconds which is the the average time it takes to plant and take off. Doing weights essentially allows you to output more power in that time period because the amount of power you can output in a fast paced exercise is directly proportional to your max power, or max squat if you like.

Although i am sure everyones aware of that ITT

[BoredActuary]

I haven't written in a while but that doesn't mean I've quit! I've finished my second round of VJB (novice plyos). I'm waiting for a dry court to film my progress - standing VJ, running single leg VJ, running double leg VJ, and as I said before I'll throw in some sprints and the lane agility drill.

In terms of strength only my deadlift has improved. I've been trying to keep good form and not pile on the weight.

Squat: 3x6x95kg
Deadlift: 3x6x100kg (comfortably)
Straight leg deadlift: 3x6x85kg (comfortably)
Barbell step-up: 3x6x28kg (comfortably)
Power cleans: 3x6x60kg

I'l start my third round of VJB in a couple of weeks and I'll aim to improve these numbers and work a bit harder, I think I've stopped pushing myself since I'm lifting these weights comfortably and I've been able to lift more before. Here's what I'm aiming for (at least one set of 6):

Squat: 110kg
Deadlift: 120kg
Straight leg deadlift: 100kg
Step-up: 36kg
Powercleans: 80kg

[bobbyflay]

Awesome BoredActuary. Good to see a reference for the future.

I completed the 1st novice strength training for weight lifting course 3 weeks ago. For some reason, after the first week(there are 3 weeks in a course/phase) I got 2 inches in my vertical. After that, my vertical became inconsistent. I was slowly switching from a one-legged jumper into a power jumper. I started losing vertical on my one legged jump(got to the point where I could only get to like 9'6-9'8 compared to the past where I would touch the rim everytime). My two-legged jump went from a 9'0-9'2 into a 9-4 -9-6. It seemed strange to me. Now I can't even touch the rim for both of them.

In made my game a whole lot better though. I somehow became one of the best rebounders in every game I played. When I played with college players, I would mostly contribute with defense, rebounding, and some jump shots(I used to just contribute with some defense due to poor strength and maybe one jump shot in 3 games).

[BoredActuary]

Here's a clip showing my progress. I'm still not able to dunk on the higher than regulation rim. My standing vertical hasn't improved much but I feel like I'm getting up faster. My running single leg has improved and I'm jumping higher off my right leg than my left. My running double leg jump seems to have not improved.

I would like to test myself with a vertec to get some actual numbers instead of guessing how far I'm going above the rim, but no chance of that in the UK...

There's also a footage of me doing the lane agility test (I measured out the 16' by 19' area) and a 20yd sprint. Approximate times were around 13 seconds for the agility and 3.5 seconds for the sprint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnWPPefpk48

[Swaggin916]

Still lack explosiveness with your jumps. I don't know exactly what you are doing but you should have improved more than you have IMO. I notice that you take a little hop before you jump on your 2 foot jumps... a good leaper will never do that. It's 1 foot forward, then the other, and explode. Keep working at it. Obv. you have good height and a good vertical would go a long way.

[BoredActuary]

Its been a while. I tweaked my back a few months ago so my lifting has suffered from the break I took.

But my back is 100% now and I'm gradually getting back into the lifting. This gave me the chance to work on my squat form and go really low which I think has helped. I've just finished phase 1 of my third round of VJB.

Even though I'm squatting 3x6x75kg I managed this:

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

[Swaggin916]

not feelin the jersey bro :lol

Looks like you have made some progress.