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

[ghettoracer]

I'm 36 and will be turning 37 in November. In beginning of 2009 I was at my heaviest ever (~87 kg/190 lbs) after being a lazy ass for about 1.5 years and hardly exercised. I'm at 180 cm exactly or 5'11". Then started in Feb. 2009 I got back into basketball and yoga and started playing ball just about every day ever since... slowly but surely I shed the weights week after week in the beginning of 2010 I weighted about 72.5 kg (160 lbs). Lately I've been at 70 kg or slightly below so about 153 lbs ish and this is pretty much back to my weight in high school.

Between 2009 and now I've only hit the weights sparsely. Less than 20 sessions total. I weight myself at the local hospital with a digital scale that can measure body fat, water weight, muscle/bone weight ... etc. All I've lost are fat. Muscle change has been less than 0.5 kg. If anything, I should have gain a little muscle (or at least it should've become denser/heavier) through the exercises.

As far as vertical is concerned, at my best (probably around age 25) I remember I can jump and try to grab the rim and it would be at the middle of my palm. I have fairly small hands. So that's at most 5" above the rim. At my worst in early 2009 the tip of my finger was about 6" below the rim. Boy did I feel fat, clumsy and just straight NASTY when I was out of shape. Right now I'm only able to barely touch the rim. But I am happy just to be able to touch the rim again. :-) At least the lateral speed and endurance (I average ~3 hours a day 6 days a week in the past year) are back. I hold my own in scoring against anyone just fine thanks to my wide array of weapons and basketball IQ.

Skills wise I got back all that I lost (due to poor conditioning mainly) and the shooting touch is back as well. My biggest skill improvement would be my left fade away and it has been pretty much un-stoppable in 3-3. Another one has been steals I can read the dribble better and time my hands jabs more accurately.

Anyway, back to the subject of vertical. Since I was never a gym rat and I never trained for vertical specifically, I always thought that I should be able to dunk if I trained to improve my vertical specifically. Since I can put the middle of my palm at the right at my best, in theory if I just gained 6" vertical my entire palm should be 2-3" over the rim and I ought to be able to just "stuff" the ball in...

So, anyone here past age 30 improved their vertical by 8" or more?

[Venom]

I'm not 30+, but I'm nearly your weight and height and I increased my vertical 7-9" in little over a year. Look through all the threads here concerning conditioning and vertical leaps and take Swaggin's advice.

[5foot6]

theres a few guys on youtube who are in their mid-30s and still dunking hard

[bumpyknucks]

Had you spent your entire life training hard I would say theres no chance of you improving your vertical at your age, but given the fact that you havent done much, you can definitely improve. 1st thing you should do if you are serious, invest in some glucosamine (older people take it for arthritis) .....it will definitely help you feel more spry if taken correctly.

[Kumo]

Saw this in a new article from Kelly Bagget yesterday..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scauc4-v5sU

[Swaggin916]

^^^ Now he just has to show himself dunking on a 10.

34.5 inch vert for a 36 year old is fantastic. It just goes to show that you can still improve even at a more advanced age. Eventually your muscles will start to deteriorate, but they will have a helluva time if you keep working them out.

[tgan3]

I don't know about "significantly improving" but I believe yes you can still improve and get maybe 4-5 inches higher but nothing drastic like 10 inches.

I've seen guys 40 or 50 years old being able to dunk. Nothing is impossible though you just keep on trying.

[Swaggin916]

^^^ didn't watch the video did ya? :lol

36 year old gained 10.5"

Those results probably aren't typical, but drastic improvements are possible even at that age.

[jbot]

theres a few guys on youtube who are in their mid-30s and still dunking hard
did a 1 handed dunk today while working out my oldest son. i've lost 35 pds and have no athletic ability beyond just being tall. i probably have a 12" vertical or something horrible like that. :oldlol:

[ghettoracer]

I know it's "possible". I was just wondering if anybody in this forum has done it so I can get more inspired... I started hitting the weights consistently last week. Will update progress from time to time. I did squats for the first time in my life. I warmed up with 50kg 1x10, then at 80kg I did 3x10. It felt okay, certainly enough to stress my quads a bit but not quite to failure.

This was not with full free weight/barbell but on a alignment assisted Smith machine. After I'm confident about my forms I might try for a 1 rep max later on. I think it's probably around 100kg right now. No idea how long until I can achieve 2x my body weight (140kg) but it'll be interesting to see how much higher I can jump then.

Kelly is definitely an inspiration. His hardwork for 2-3 years paid off well. I would love to achieve some thing similar before I turn 40.

[Swaggin916]

well one thing you don't want to do once you have got your form and base of strength down is 10 reps. That's too many reps for increasing power and explosiveness (which is what you want to work on). Get that solid base, then move off that Smith Machine, and hit the free weight squats for 3-6 reps per set.

What else are you doing?

[ghettoracer]

I'm still experimenting. But I will be dropping the reps and increasing the weights in the future for most of my weight stuff not just limiting to my leg work outs. The last leg day in addition to:

smith machine squats 50kg 1x10 80kg 3x10

I also did:

leg extensions 80 lbs 1x10 (warm up), 100lbs 1x10, 120 lbs 1x10, 130 lbs 1x10 (as u can see i'm playing with weights a bit still will get it closer to failure in the future)

walking lunges with dumbbells 60lbs 1x12 (warm up), 80lbs 3x10

box leg raises (no leg press machine), 60 lbs 1x10 (warm up), 80 lbs 1x10, 90lbs 1x10, 80 lbs 1x8 (my hand grip was weak, simply couldn't grip the 90 lbs on the final set)

to finish off I do 7 sets of 80 lbs 12 reps leg extensions (FST7 program that I'm using always finish with 7 sets in the end) with 30 second recovery time between the set.

usually I will also do some machine curls for the hamstring but skipped it last time. I'm part of the camp that believe calves don't play a huge role in jumping and I believe significantly improving quad's power is the way to go so I won't be doing much calve work. The gym also don't have any standing or seated calve raise machines. Yah I know the gym kinda sucks butt but it's close and it has just enough for my needs... :-) This is the only weight gym I've been to that does not have ANY mirror.

[Swaggin916]

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.

[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)

[Swaggin916]

Lookin good man. Keep us updated. You might end up having a strength imbalance tho if you do so many extentions without doing some leg curls as well... so watch out for that. That's how you pull stuff.

[ghettoracer]

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

[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-journals-experimental-routines/walking-lunges-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-journals-experimental-routines/walking-lunges-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.

[ghettoracer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw3ufwHjkRo

check my form for rdl and critic/comment. thanks.

12/13/2011 Monday

rdl's 30kg 1x10 (warm up), 70kg 1x8, 75kg 1x8, 80kg 1x8
smith machine squats 50kg 1x10 (warm up), 80kg 2x8 atg, 90kg 1x8 1/2, 100kg 1x8 1/4, 110kg 1x8 1/4
incline db press 60lbs 1x10 (warm up), 80lbs 1x8, 90lbs 2x8
db bench press 60lbs 1x10 (warm up), 100lbs 3x8 (last set was challenging)
incline db curl 10kg 3x8
bb curl 25kg 1x8, 30kg 1x8
smith machine bench press 40kg 1x8 (warm up), 70kg 2x8, 75kg 1x8 (challenging but good)

finished my first kg of whey isolate today. not quite sure if if i gained muscles really... a kg of this isolate is suppose to have about 800g of protein. my weights are increasing slowly. need to kick up the work out frequency a notch.

after that, 80 minutes of very intense full court indoor bball. serious offense and defense by both teams. great fun. won 2 games and lost 2 games.

[Swaggin916]

form looks fine on the deadlifts. The weight is definitely going to have to increase and by a lot to see good results in your standing vert.

[ap34]

If you're on a vertical jump program should u still run everyday?

[ghettoracer]

If you're on a vertical jump program should u still run everyday?

i'm not on a vj program per-se. just 2-3 weight sessions a week. so i still ball a bit, although certainly a bit less in duration compare to half year ago. also, i have not really added plyo work outs yet (which are pretty stressing and tiring for me). for me i'm just to steadily increase my strength first... if you meant actual running, i hate that. i cycle instead.

for training tips and logs check out Andrew Darqui's http://www.adarq.org that's where i keep my log and it's a small forum where everybody's trying to train hard and support each other. drop by. i only update this one from time to time...

[ap34]

Nah I meant sprinting. Jogging or cycling (it depends on how hard you cycle) can actually bring down your vertical if you do it enough.

[Swaggin916]

Nah I meant sprinting. Jogging or cycling (it depends on how hard you cycle) can actually bring down your vertical if you do it enough.

It depends how you cycle. If you interval train hauling ass for 15 seconds and cruise for a minute, it can actually help a little bit. Just don't over do it.

[ghettoracer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVEnWu2G8u4

12/14/2010 11am - a little last minute one on one before driving Chris to the airport for his 2:30pm flight leaving Taiwan. 19yo Chris 203cm 6'8" 100kg 220lbs vs. 37yo 180cm 5'11" 72kg 158lbs Frank. just a few friendly games. first to 6 buckets win.

a pretty bad showing of my left hand lay ups and my right hand hook shots. they are usually much higher percentage than what this video shows. not a good shooting day for either of us. i missed several of my usually highly reliable bank shots. we were short on time so neither of us really properly warmed up.

thought to myself watching the video - damn i'm really playing freaking old man basketball... obviously not trying to use speed but instead always just trying to find enough space to get the shot i want. gonna try to film a session where i try to use what's left of my athleticism next time and see how much "young frank" is left in me. haha.

ps, this rim is taller than regulation. about 10'2".

[ghettoracer]

took last 10 days off lifting to try and improve my back stiffness. lucky for me local hot spring is only a short 15 minute ride on scooter away. i've hit it up 4 times already, soaking for 1-1.5 hours each time at 43c/110f (breaks in between of course @ cooler 34c/93f water). i try to stretch a bit while i'm soaking in the water... the stiffness is slowly reducing. fingers crossed on it really getting better. i decided to get back in the gym today.

soreness = none
injuries = jammed left ring finger 90% healed, lower back slightly stiff, lower left almost normal now. lower right is a little worse but improving.
fatigue = none

smith machine squats 50kg 1x8 (warm up), 80kg 2x8 atg, 90kg 1x8 atg (pr for atg), 100kg 1x8 1/2, 110kg 1x8 1/2, 120kg 1x8 1/2 on the last 120kg i went parallel, how ever i rested the weight on the stopper slowly, then tried to explode up. i think the effect is similar to box squat. the difference being while resting there's no weight on my spine vs. a real box squat. but the muscle training aspect appears to be the same. i'm told it is also call pin squat.

rdl's 30kg 1x10 (warm up), 70kg 2x8, 75kg 1x8, 80kg 1x8 (extra 1x8 @ 70kg vs. last time) at first after warm up i went straight to 80kg thinking i didn't try hard enough last time. well, last time i did rdl first before squats and in addition i have not lifted for 10 days. did like 3 reps at 80kg and the motion didn't feel good since it's only my 3rd rdl session so i drop the weight down to 70kg and start over. at first i figure i got weaker or maybe tired from squats already and i was gonna just to 70kg twice then 75kg but once i got used to the motion and weight 75 and 80 didn't feel that bad. progressive loading does stimulate the CNS and make it feel better...

incline db press 60lbs 1x10 (warm up), 80lbs 3x8
incline db curl 10kg 3x8
db bench press 60lbs 1x10 (warm up), 90lbs 1x8, 100lbs 1x8, 110lbs 1x7
machine bench press 80lbs 1x8 (warm up), 120lbs 1x6, 140lbs 1x6, 170lbs 1x6 (very challenging but good, pr!)

no protein supplement in this time period (finished 1st kg of whey recently). casein and whey on order. except for the db curl i tried to concentrate on the eccentric phase for 4 seconds and it definitely made the work out much more challenging at the same weights. i'll implement this on most of future gym sessions.

[GhostDeini32]

yoga + lifting + plyos = improved vert.

supplements, what you eat and your extracurriculars are also important.

[ghettoracer]

wed, jan 7th, 2011

whey and casein protein arrived today! *my doorway pull up bar, push up pro, and ab roller wheel thingy came yesterday too. *my new year resolution is to hit 10% or less body fat by 1/31/11. *did 1x20, 2x15 push ups, 2x15 close grip push ups and 2x20 ab roller yesterday. *3x20 push ups, 2x15 close grip push ups and 2x20 ab roller wheel today. *my lower ab feels sore! *a few random pull ups and chin ups. *ab roller definitely works certain muscles in the ab well. *i had a old high school friend who used to do 100 ab roller daily 4 years ago and he had a rock hard abs after few months... *i also got in quite a bit of yoga stretches in the last 2 days. *about 2 hours worth. *back stiffness is still present, but only in the lower right now. *weird!

was about to shower and sleep but with my lofty goal of 10% fat i better kick it up a notch. *so i got in these before shower:

regular pull ups, all the way down, slightly less than shoulder width grip, palm faces eyes. *1x8
wide grip chin ups, hang for 10 sec., than only 1x2 (weak hand grip), then 1x6
2x20 push ups, i can really feel some shoulder muscles working hard
1x15 close grip push ups, palms slightly below chest, seems to stress triceps hard too, could only do 1x15 on the knees. * :uhhhfacepalm:
tried to do a set of ab roller wheel but can't even go all the way down (lower ab sore as hell).

both whey and casein's origin are from New Zealand... *the casein is apparently made by NZMP (New Zealand Milk Products) for Holland's DMV brand. *NZ has a pretty big dairy industry. *not too sure about the details of whey, except it's from NZ too. *i believe it is whey concentrate not isolates. *and the seller said they've added "nitro-t" to it. *100g serving has 80g of protein. *should be just food grade bulk products.

Thursday Jan 6th, 2011

soreness = lower right back and buttocks pretty sore (old stiffness problem still)
injuries = jammed left ring finger 95% healed
fatigue = chest little sore from push ups last couple of days, lower ab sore

lunch
pre work, 2 egg whites (~8g protein), chicken burger (16g protein, 260 kcal) + barley milk drink (3g protein), a guava, a fuji apple. *40 grams of whey (32g of protein) an hour before work out

smith machine squats
50kg 1x8 (warm up)
80kg 2x8 atg
90kg 1x8 atg
100kg 1x8 1/2 squat
105kg 1x8 1/2 squat

rdl's
30kg 1x10 (warm up)
70kg 2x8, 75kg 1x8
80kg 1x8
85kg 1x8 (PR, +5 kg)

incline db press
60lbs 1x10 (warm up)
80lbs 3x8

incline db curl
10kg 3x8

bb curl
20kg 1x8 (semi warm up)
25kg 1x8
30kg 1x8

db bench press
60lbs 1x10 (warm up)
90lbs 1x8
100lbs 2x8 (challenging due to soreness from push ups last couple of days)

machine bench press
80lbs 1x8 (warm up)
130lbs 1x8
150lbs 2x6 (challenging due to soreness from push ups last couple of days)

machine pec flies
60lbs 1x10 (warm up)
100lbs 1x8
120lbs 1x8
130lbs 1x8 (challenging due to soreness from push ups last couple of days)

post work out 40 grams of whey (32g protein)

dinner
chicken sandwich( 12g protein, 230 kcal), beef stew noodle soup (25 grams of protein 640 kcal), a guava and a fuji apple.

for cardio i've been meaning to add cycling in the morning but the weather has been rainy and a little cold and i don't have the proper gears... *might have to do some "zusana" cardio sessions in the mornings. *:-P

man i'm toast! i worked out hard at the gym this afternoon. gonna hit the sack early at 10:30pm. =) some casein and off to sleep i go. *about to sleep but just did

1x25 push up
1x6 pull up
1x6 chin up

4 hours later i'm up. i always find that sleeping before 11pm makes my sleeping more efficient. the old chinese docs sure know their stuff... liver rests at 11pm-1am and you really should be in bed! so i didn't drink the casein before bed, i'm doing it now and it's my first mix. whey mix so easily with just a spoon i notice how fluffy the casein powder is compare to whey i had a hunch it might be different. well it came out super clunky and i'm freaking chewing tar/cheese right now! at least it is flavorless so it is not too nasty. apparently i will need a blender/mixer for this stuff. arrg! *anybody have some casein recipe? *i'm thinking maybe some kinda cheese omelet or with potato might be good...

friday, jan 7th, 2011

at indoor gym for 4.5 hours total. played full court and ran hard for little over 3 hours. 40g whey pre and post workout. 3 banana after workout. subway chicken sandwitch and i did cheat a little with a small bag of potato chips and ~10oz of soda.

sat. now and i notice my legs aren't even sore at all. i'm thinking my legs have developed really good endurance... the only sore/stiffness i have is that annoying lower back thing. found a online foam roller supplier so it's on order now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsz7WpW6tMo

video of smith machine squat and rdl form check update 01/06/2011

[JohnWall2]

^ wow

[01amberfirewv]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsz7WpW6tMo

video of smith machine squat and rdl form check update 01/06/2011

Make sure you're keeping your spine in line when doing both of those exercises. On the squats it looks as if your looking down or at the weights when you should be looking straight ahead. It looks like you corrected your form some on the deads by not locking your knees but again make sure your spine is in line (I can't tell if it is or not). You want to kind of stick your butt out and your shoulders back as well as keeping your neck straight so as your are going down you go from looking ahead to looking at the floor. Keep up the good work!

I was glad to come across this thread because I often feel like an old man on here. I don't post much, I am mostly just a lurker.

If you want a good solid workout here is one to try, it's the one I am using now.

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459321&cr=

Basketball has taken its toll on my ankles but lifting has done about everything else in. I have tendinitis in both shoulders, an achy back and my knees give out on me when playing sometimes. I almost wish I could start over and pay more attention to my form than the weights I put up.

[ghettoracer]

i was looking at the safety stopper so i don't slam or bounce the weight against it... i think if it lower it one more down it is still safe but won't be close enough so i don't have to look anymore...

thanks for the suggestions and comments. my squat/rdl both are all work in progress. i have an updated one from jan 10th that i'll upload soon... hate to hear that you have joint pain from weights. do you think there was more you could've done for prehab/rehab? was it maybe lack of enough warm ups and stretching or does it simply come with the territory? this is the first time in my life i've lifted steadily... weights are all still pretty new to me. i re-read what you wrote and it seem like you said your form might have caused some of these issues? how old are you know? yah this forum seems to majority youth.

mon, jan 10th, 2011

smith machine squats
50 kg 1x8 (warm up)
90kg 1x8 atg
95kg 2x8 atg (pr!) unlike previously i always made weight adjustments in 10kg's i did 5kg this time. the extra 5 was felt big time! quite challenging as the vid will show!
110kg 1x8 1/2 squat
115kg 1x8 1/4 squat

i took some vids but haven't u/l them yet. i moved my feet back so that it is more inline with the weights... more like freeweights motion i think.

rdl
40kg 1x8 (warm up)
80kg 3x8

tooks some vids, will u/l soon. worked on correcting the form... i'm gonna get me some gloves. it's not exactly fully grip strength... i don't have that much meat on my palm. i feel some pain literally because there isn't enough padding and the pressure of the weight against my bone is what's causing a little bit of pain. don't wanna roughen up my hands too much or the ladies might complain. lol.

didn't wanna miss my bball time so that was it for the workout.

[ghettoracer]

just u/l the footage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIO66dJXw6g

[ghettoracer]

this is your captain speaking. haha. it's official i'm the captain of the free agent basketball team for GDB winter 2011 season which starts this sunday!! we are going to kick ass. i will make sure of it. this is going to awesome i'm so excited.

ps, GDB = Glory Days Basketball, a recreation league in Taipei, Taiwan. http://www.glorydaysbasketball.com/

[ghettoracer]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1395.snc4/164738_159198264130292_107601845956601_333161_6990 470_n.jpg

#13 is me, i played center for this team, get that shit outta my house son!

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs275.snc6/180310_159197917463660_107601845956601_333148_7774 307_n.jpg

me pulling up.

[01amberfirewv]

Congrats, have you measured your vertical? I wish we had some leagues in my area

[ghettoracer]

age: 37 :: 5'11" (180cm) :: 160lbs (72.7kg) ~17% body fat :: reach: 90.5" or 7'6.5" (231cm) :: wing span: 6" (183cm)
goal: dunk before 40 :-)
status: SVJ 29.5", RVJ ~32" = 10'3" touch
PR RVJ ~34" 10'5" touch @ age 25 (worst was ~6" below rim when i was @ 190 lbs ~30% body fat ~23" RVJ in 2007-8