Category: Sport

Vertical jump exercises start of week 9

johniLeave a comment

I have read through the Vertical Jump Bible ( http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/verticaljump.html ) and I have been loosely following the novice strength program for 8 weeks with modifications.  I am a few weeks behind on the program as I wanted to take my time on the first phase and build up some strength before progressing to the next phases.

I have now completed Phase I (weeks 1 – 5), Phase II (weeks 6 – 8 ) and just starting Phase III now.

Tonight was work out A and completed:

  • Squat: 1 x 6 @ 80kg and 3 x 6 @ 90kg
  • 1 and 1/3 squats: 2 x 8 @ 70kg
  • Leg curls (quick up, hold 2 sec, down over 8 seconds): 4 x 6 @ 56kg
  • Calf raises: 3 x 20

The 1 and 1/3 squats were extremely difficult and took about 10-15 minutes to recover… in fact, I felt light headed after doing those.

From week one I’ve seen the following increases over the 8 weeks:

  • Squats: 50kg/60kg -> 90kg (33% increase… 4% per week)
  • Leg curls with delays: 39kg -> 56kg (30% increase… 3.75% per week)

I’ve read some sites that say with squats you can expect to see 5% weekly increases, so, I’m very happy with 4% over the weeks.

Although very happy with the weight increases, testing the vertical leap at the end of week 5 showed less than an inch increase.  Going to test the vertical again Friday and start introducing the beginner plyometrics exercises into the program over the coming week.

URLs:

Jump programme end of week 5

johniLeave a comment

I extended Phase 1 to 5 weeks and did the following exercises:

Workout 1:

  • Squat ( 3×10 ) @ 50kg… increased up to 60kg end of week 5
  • Leg curl (3×8) @ 39kg.  1 second up, 1 second hold, 8 second down…  increased to 42.5kg
  • Calf raise (3×20)

Workout 2:

  • Dead lift ( 3×8 ) @ Low weight to get form correct… 10kg to 20kg… end of 5th week 40kg.
  • Barbell lunge (3 x 8 per leg) @ 10-15kg… increased to 17.5kg
  • 1-legged calf raise (3 x 20) holding dumbell… 10kg dumbell

Measure vertical leap 13/03/2009, weight 95.3kg:

  1. 23.5″
  2. 25.5″
  3. 26″

3rd jump increase of 0.5″ isn’t much but overall strength and stability has been greatly improved.

Adjusting the workouts over the next 3 weeks to:

Workout 1:

  • Squad 4×8 (70kg)
  • Explosive squat 2×5 (~ 40kg)
  • Leg curl with delays 4×6 (42.5kg)
  • Calf raise 4×20

Workout 2:

  • Barbell Split Squat 4×8 (17.5kg)
  • Romanian Deadlift 4×8 (40kg)
  • Glute-Ham raise 3×15
  • 1 legged calf raise (10kg) 3 x 15 per leg

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