Program Flow

PROGRAM FLOW

Ok, now you’ve measured your vertical jump, your explosive to reactive jump deficit, you’ve tested your general leg strength, now it’s about time to get in the gym. So lets figure out how to decide what program you need.

Raw Beginner-

1.   Jumping efficiency and muscle coordination

2.   General strength

3.   Rate of force development

4.   Reactive strength

Novice-

1.   General strength

2.   Rate of force development

3.   Reactive strength

4.   Muscle growth

Intermediate–:

1.   Rate of Force Development

2.   Reactive strength

3.   General strength or

1.   General Strength

2.   Rate of force development

3.   Reactive strength. Advanced – Everything

Lets take a look at the various profiles you may fall under so you will know where to start

Beginner Profile:

1.   You’ve spent little time in the past lifting weights, doing plyometric drills, or any other jump programs.

2.   Your strength and reactivity are both undeveloped.

3.   Your vertical jump is poor to average (24 inches or less)

4.   Your vertical jump from the ground is better or approximately equal to those done off boxes.

Recommendations:

If you’re a beginner you’ll need to develop a base of strength and begin conditioning your body by utilizing basic jump training.  You should follow the raw beginner jump/plyometric routine and either the beginner weights or bodyweight strength training routine.  This is the one situation where doing a fairly high volume of low intensity jump training can work fairly well for.  The jump training increases general physical preparation and teaches the body how to work and move economically.  After about 6 weeks of this type of training, you can then move on into another program that

incorporates more advanced strength training and more intense plyometric training. See the beginner strength programs.

Novice Profile

1.   You’ve spent little or no time lifting weights and thus squat less then 1.5 x bodyweight or leg press < 3x bodyweight

2.   Your reactivity is naturally better developed.  Your reactive jump off the boxes or with a running start will be somewhere around 20% or greater then from the stationary jump on the ground.

3.   Your vertical jump is fair to good (up to 28 inches)

4.   Lots of strength needed!

Recommendations:  If you’re this type of novice you have naturally better reactive strength.  Whether this comes from structure, training, or practice, your strength needs to catch up to your reactivity.  This means you need to focus on strength training.  The beginners strength- training program is tailor made for you.  When you have built up your strength strength, you can then move on to the intermediate programs and mix both plyometrics and strength training. See Novice Strength Training program

Intermediate I profile

1.   You’ve either lifted weights in the past or you’re naturally strong.  You squat 1.5 x bodyweight or more or leg press 3x bodyweight or more.

2.   Your reactive strength is under-developed.  When doing the reactive jump test your jump off the ground will tend to be fairly even with your best box jump. Your jump with a 3-step run-up will be less than 20% better then your jump from a stand-still.

3.   Your vertical jump is typically poor to good (< 28 inches)

Recommendations:  If you’re this type of athlete you need to emphasize plyometric and rate of force development training to better utilize your natural strength.  If you’re this guy, a program consisting of Intermediate plyometrics with once per week strength maintenance will work extremely well.  See “plyometric focused intermediate” routine.

Intermediate II profile

1.   You squat 1.5 x bodyweight or leg presses 3x bodyweight or more.

2.   Your reactive strength is well-developed.  Your best jump off the box or with a run-up will be somewhere around 20% or more better then your squat jump.

3.   Your vertical jump could be good to very good (24-32 inches).

Recommendations:  If you’re this guy you have decent levels of strength along with excellent reactive strength.  You’ll make your best gains with a program heavily focused on strength to balance out your well-developed reactive strength.  A program focusing on strength with a moderate volume of plyometrics will be just the ticket.  See “strength focused intermediate” routine.

Regular Intermediate Profile

1.   You squat 1.5 x bodyweight or leg presses 3x bodyweight or more.

2.   Your general strength and reactive strength are both good but neither one outweighs the other.  Your best box jump will be somewhere between 5-20% greater than your ground jump but not more.

3.   Your vertical jump could be anywhere from average to very good (20-32 inches).

Recommendations:  If you’re this guy you probably have a difficult time figuring out whether you need more general strength or more reactive strength. You really have no clear-cut strengths or weaknesses.  You’ll benefit from a well-rounded combination program incorporating good amounts of both. See “general intermediate” routine.

Advanced Profile

1.   You squat 1.5 x bodyweight or leg presses 3x bodyweight or more.

2.   You have experience both lifting weights and doing plyometric programs.

3.   You have an excellent vertical jump (32 inches or more)

4.   You generally, but not always, have excellent reactive strength with best box jump being 20% or more greater then his ground jump.

Recommendations:  If you’re this guy you have an excellent vertical jump and have experience with all facets of training.   If you do match the profile of the advanced athlete, yet don’t have the training experience, you should go back and do the intermediate programs first before doing the advanced program, regardless if you have a

high vertical jump already.  The advanced program utilizes very intensive weight training and plyometric drills.  The one pre-requisite to the advanced program is you must have a high enough work capacity to recover from the high volume of lifting and jump training. If not then you probably won’t get much out of this program.  See “advanced” program.

What if I’m still not sure which profile I fit under?

If you’re still not sure which profile best describes you I suggest you either consider yourself a novice and do the novice workouts or do the general intermediate workout. These workouts provide a nice blend of strength and plyometric work and will provide you a good balance.  If you know that your strength or leaping ability is not yet up to the “Intermediate” level, these series of workouts will work like a charm for you.  In fact, the novice workouts will work for just about anyone, regardless of whether they’re novice, intermediate, or advanced.  The purpose of the more advanced programs is to provide a bit more specialization, focus, and variety for those who have a strong base of previous training experience.