Flash's Project: 45'' Vert, 315 Bench, 405 Squat & Stay Healthy

Training Training Logs
21

I wonder if back squats would translate more than front squats (which is what I do). Thinking in a broscience way, a back squat feels more like a vertical jump than a front squat.

I can jump higher off 2 feet (played competitive volleyball 2yrs in high school, yes that sounds flaming), but I can hold a bball in one hand better off 1 foot. I can’t palm, so the forward momentum helps keep the ball in my hand. As of now I can only do the douchebag pseudo-dunk where you lay the ball over the rim, then grab onto the rim with your fingertips. I figure at most 6 more inches on my jump would do the trick.

I feel you about getting comfortable jumping - highest jumping of my life was when I played volleyball, and we were doing 50-100 leaps per practice every weekday just working on spiking/blocking. Dunked with volleyballs after practice, never a bball.

I’m gaining weight, so a dunk probably isn’t in the cards till I eventually lean out. Just want to build the necessary base so that when I do lean out, the leaping is there.

22

[quote]scj119 wrote:
I wonder if back squats would translate more than front squats (which is what I do). Thinking in a broscience way, a back squat feels more like a vertical jump than a front squat.

I can jump higher off 2 feet (played competitive volleyball 2yrs in high school, yes that sounds flaming), but I can hold a bball in one hand better off 1 foot. I can’t palm, so the forward momentum helps keep the ball in my hand. As of now I can only do the douchebag pseudo-dunk where you lay the ball over the rim, then grab onto the rim with your fingertips. I figure at most 6 more inches on my jump would do the trick.

I feel you about getting comfortable jumping - highest jumping of my life was when I played volleyball, and we were doing 50-100 leaps per practice every weekday just working on spiking/blocking. Dunked with volleyballs after practice, never a bball.

I’m gaining weight, so a dunk probably isn’t in the cards till I eventually lean out. Just want to build the necessary base so that when I do lean out, the leaping is there.[/quote]

Also don’t have much experience with front squats, but there’s something about a back squat that just feels right. With that, I’m not talking about some crazy wide stance barbell curtsey. I’m saying a shoulder width-ish stance squat staying as upright as possible while sitting back into it. Not really sure it’s mandatory that parallel be hit either, though you should be within a couple of inches. I lose the ball in the air too, which is why all my vids are 2 hand dunks. I can dunk with 1, but it’s not as consistent. I don’t necessarily think gaining weight right now means you have to hold off on dunking, though you might have to adjust your workouts accordingly. what kind of program you running right now?

23

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

Also don’t have much experience with front squats, but there’s something about a back squat that just feels right. With that, I’m not talking about some crazy wide stance barbell curtsey. I’m saying a shoulder width-ish stance squat staying as upright as possible while sitting back into it. Not really sure it’s mandatory that parallel be hit either, though you should be within a couple of inches. I lose the ball in the air too, which is why all my vids are 2 hand dunks. I can dunk with 1, but it’s not as consistent. I don’t necessarily think gaining weight right now means you have to hold off on dunking, though you might have to adjust your workouts accordingly. what kind of program you running right now?[/quote]

I’m doing a push/pull/legs split. I warm up with hang cleans on deadlift days, and hang snatches on some of my push days. Warming up with jump squats with an empty bar on squat days feels “right”, like it should carry over to leaping, but landing with the extra weight is pretty tough on my knees.

I know increasing my jump while bulking isn’t impossible… but it’s certainly more difficult. I feel like if I play ball once a week and keep squatting/cleaning/snatching, I should be leaping through the roof when I eventually lean out (early next yr) if not sooner. I’ve only recently started caring about clean/snatch form and explosiveness.

24

[quote]scj119 wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

Also don’t have much experience with front squats, but there’s something about a back squat that just feels right. With that, I’m not talking about some crazy wide stance barbell curtsey. I’m saying a shoulder width-ish stance squat staying as upright as possible while sitting back into it. Not really sure it’s mandatory that parallel be hit either, though you should be within a couple of inches. I lose the ball in the air too, which is why all my vids are 2 hand dunks. I can dunk with 1, but it’s not as consistent. I don’t necessarily think gaining weight right now means you have to hold off on dunking, though you might have to adjust your workouts accordingly. what kind of program you running right now?[/quote]

I’m doing a push/pull/legs split. I warm up with hang cleans on deadlift days, and hang snatches on some of my push days. Warming up with jump squats with an empty bar on squat days feels “right”, like it should carry over to leaping, but landing with the extra weight is pretty tough on my knees.

I know increasing my jump while bulking isn’t impossible… but it’s certainly more difficult. I feel like if I play ball once a week and keep squatting/cleaning/snatching, I should be leaping through the roof when I eventually lean out (early next yr) if not sooner. I’ve only recently started caring about clean/snatch form and explosiveness.[/quote]

Right on. Have you ever thought about doing something like DeFranco’s program, or designer athletes by robertson? I don’t think getting bigger and being more athletic have to be mutually exclusive, though if you’re focusing on aesthetics there are probably better programs. I know the summer I made my best gains I added about 5lbs of bodyweight and while I didn’t test it, I’m sure i increased my vert by at least 3-4". Think about the stories you hear of college football players adding 20lbs of bodyweight while slashing .3 seconds off their 40. It can be done. Not trying to “convert” you, just something to think about.

25

Well, it’s almost 11 o’clock and I’ve only eaten twice today. Need to put more focus on having “snack stuff” with me between meals so I can at least get a few extra cals throughout the day. Start my job Friday, and it looks like for most days I’ll be working from 7am 'il 3pm, so it looks like I’ll basically be forced to get in at least 4 solids a day. Anyway, played ball for about an hour and a half before lifting. Not sure why, but my quads were pretty sore, and dunks I’m normally catching with ease felt like someone snuck led boots on me before attempting 'em.

ME lower - Narrow stance parallel box squat-barx2x5, 95x5,135x5,185x?,225x.245x2,265x2,275x2,285x2 None of these were to failure. Was counting to 3-one-thousand on the way down, paused for 2-one-thousands, and tried to complete the rep in one one-thousand or less while I shouted it in my brain. The last rep of 285 was slower so I called it

GHR’s-3x5 super negative

rear foot elevated split squats-bwx5’, 35’sx8, 45’sx8,50’sx8 Need to push these. Everything I do involving lower body aggravates my knees to some degree, so I generally don’t push the weight as hard as I should. Guess if I’m ever going to get past this I need to focus on strengthening everything. i could realistically handle the 75’s for good clean reps on these. Gonna push it next week.

Abs and calf superset. I’m exhausted. Gonna grub and cach some z’s. y’all be good.

26

So, I think in order for me to reach my goals I need to eat more and play less ball. Also, I’m trying to go back to school this upcoming semester so I need to prioritize everything and with work, school, the gym and trying to sneak in ball 2-3 times a week on top of social shit my time’s gonna be spread pretty thin. I’ll try and play a bit before lower body days and maybe one other day a week if I can. Anyway, played ball for an hour and a half tonight, then did upper.

DE bench- barx2x10, 95x2x5,135x8x3 [about 60% max right now] Alternated between two different grips, regular and close. My regular grip is pretty close as I take the crease of my thumb and match it where the knurling meets the smooth, and my close is outside ridge of my hands where the smooth meets the knurling. My thumbs are a couple of inches tops from touching 'cause I bench with my thumbs riding the bar.

Seated military-95x10,105x10,115x10 [all fairly easy, just didn’t rest a lot between supersets] + Wide grip pull-ups-3x12

Face pulls-4x12 + db bench-40’sx? 80’sx3x8,8,7 [wanted to use 90’s but I was pretty smoked by this point.

Band pressdowns + cable rope hammer curls.

Don’t know if I mentioned but i pinched a nerve in my left shoulder about 2 months ago and I’m still getting weird hot spots running down my left arm and thumb and it’s way more unstable than my right during any db moves. Need to fix this. Gonna spend the next 8-12 weeks focusing on eating more, playing less ball and getting up to 175lbs morning weight. For some reason when I do this my hops increase as well, or at least it’s been that way in the past. Y’all be good.

27

Watched a couple of your dunk vids… all I could think was “man I would love to block the shit out of that”

JK…kinda

28

Bring that shit, son!

29

Haha if I’m ever in Houston I’ll take some time out of my day… hopefully there will be no video of my Shawn Bradley impression when you dunk

30

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Haha if I’m ever in Houston I’ll take some time out of my day… hopefully there will be no video of my Shawn Bradley impression when you dunk[/quote]

Haha. As often as Bradley got dunked on, you have to give him credit for always going up to contest. With that, think it was a kind of a right of passage in the league to punch on his head. EVERYBODY went at him.

31

why do you have so many logs?

i hate you

32

[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
why do you have so many logs?

i hate you[/quote]

Haha, gotta keep you on your toes Blackula.

33

Work’s going pretty well. Slept like ass all weekend and had to be up early Sat and Sun, so wanted to get to bed early last night to be at work at 7 bright eyed and bushy tailed… and passed out about 12:30, so got 5.5 hours of sleep last night. Oh well. I’m on my feet all day and for some reason my back gets surprisingly stiff, so by the time I got to the gym [3:30] I needed some loosening up on top of being dog tired.

Warm-up, 50 free throw makes [took 56 shots. Gay. Want to get this in 53 or less. Also, I shoot my ft’s about a foot and a half off the line, Van Exel style], DeFranco’s upper mobility

bench-barx2x10,[add 2-board]95x5,135x5,155x5,185x5,205x3,215x3,225x3,230x3,185x9

CSR’s-platex10,plate+quarterx4x10 + INC db-35’sx?,70’sx3x8 [pretty easy]

Clean into strict press-barx?,95x3x9 + band pulls-3x10

Strict hammer curls-15’sxalot,35’sx2x10 db 24’s [like 21’s but 8 instead of7, and start with full range zottmans, then supine curls, then hammers. Pump’s unreal].

I’m exhausted right now. Have to be back at work from 7-3 manana, but if I’m feeling up to it I’ll try and get a new dunk vid before I do DE lower. Y’all be good.

EDIT: Forgot to add that I drank half a medium iced coffee from SB on the way to the gym and after my second superset of clean & press/band pulls I had to go the bathroom and yak. It was pretty gnarley. here’s what I ate today-

Breakfast 7am- 4 jumbo eggs scrambled with bp’s, 2 medium diced potatoes

10-ish- protein shake w/ 1 scoop casein, 1 spoonful natty pb, handful of blueberries and a banana

1:30- 2 chicken breats and 1/2 cup pre cooked rice

3:30 got to gym, started lifting about 3:50 after warm-up
shake after workout [5:15]

about to grub on 2 pork chops, veggies and another 1/2 cup of rice, and if I don’t pass out I’ll polish the night off with a pb sandwich and a big glass of milk. My work’s cool in that I can bring tuperware’s full of food and get down pretty much whenever.

34

Well, planned on doing DE lower yesterday after work, but forgot my clothes so went back home and chilled for a bit and got a call from this sexy lil bartender I met this weekend, so “DE lower” turned into “Getting hammered with sexy little bat shit crazy bartender all night”. Fortunately I have the day off, so after I run some errands I’m gonna hit the weightroom and hopefully play a little ball before hand. I’ll holler.

35

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Warm-up, 50 free throw makes [took 56 shots. Gay. Want to get this in 53 or less. Also, I shoot my ft’s about a foot and a half off the line, Van Exel style], DeFranco’s upper mobility

[/quote]

That’s insane to me. Good shit. If make 40 of 50 I call it a good day. I’ve never been much of a shooter though. Trying to get better as I get older.

Do you ever do shootarounds while keeping track?

36

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
… so “DE lower” turned into “Getting hammered with sexy little bat shit crazy bartender all night”…[/quote]

That sounds like my kinda workout lol

50 out of 56? That’s crazy.

37

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Warm-up, 50 free throw makes [took 56 shots. Gay. Want to get this in 53 or less. Also, I shoot my ft’s about a foot and a half off the line, Van Exel style], DeFranco’s upper mobility

[/quote]

That’s insane to me. Good shit. If make 40 of 50 I call it a good day. I’ve never been much of a shooter though. Trying to get better as I get older.

Do you ever do shootarounds while keeping track?[/quote]

Thanks man. What’s funny is when I was younger I was an AWFUL freethrow shooter. Even about 3 years ago I played in a league and led the league in ft’s attempted but shot in the 60%'s, which is obviously pretty shitty. Since I’ve been back to playing I’ve concentrated on it. I’ve tried to keep track of shots, but after you’ve put up a couple hundred it gets hard. I have done drills though where I’ll have to hit 5 pull-ups from the elbow going left, then 5 right, then 5 off the crossover going left, then 5 off the crossover right, etc… And wound up in the 200 make range. That generally takes about an hour, but would probably go quicker if I didn’t have to chase down the ball every time. Don’t know how long my phone records for, but I’ll try and get a ft vid up, and maybe a jumper vid as well.

38

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
… so “DE lower” turned into “Getting hammered with sexy little bat shit crazy bartender all night”…[/quote]

That sounds like my kinda workout lol

50 out of 56? That’s crazy.[/quote]

Haha, yeah. Good times were had by all.

Thanks man. 50 out of 50 would be pretty bad ass, but don’t know if I have that in me.

39

Well, after breakfast today went and did a hot yoga class with my roommate. he said it was kinda a lower level entry class, but he got confused and we wound up in a “power yoga” class, which is actually the most advanced class they have, haha. Not sure exactly how hot the room was, but it was well over 100 degrees, and within 5 minutes my shirt was completely soaked and I was literally sweating like I never have before. The class lasted an hour, and while I couldn’t do everything the others could I think I did fairly well, but I obviously didn’t know any of the terms or names she was using so I was just trying to mimic what the others were doing. It was actually pretty fun. After the class got to talking with the instructor and some other attendees and they told me I was a natural, which I got a huge kick out of. Told 'em I was heading straight to Whole Foods after for some granola and pechuli oil, which they got a huge kick out of. Ran some errands and went to play ball after but I was pretty worthless. Played 21 with my roomie and some random 16 year old kid at ST. Thomas University who’s from here but plays for a prep school in NJ [think he said ST. Lawrence?] who was actually pretty good. If he sticks with it he could wind up at the very least at a high mid-major by the time he graduates, just needs to grow into his body [6’4" with at least a 6’8 wingspan] and keep at it. Was thinking about resting up and maybe going to the gym later, but am probably gonna fag out and not do shit. Catch y’all on the flip side.

40

You actually liked the yoga? There is a yoga studio like a block from my house and there are constantly chicks walking in and out of there with their little mats.