Saturday, May 25, 2013

Frequently Asked Questions about Vertical Jump Programs







FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

You talked about the importance of rest.  Do I need to cut down on the amount of time I play sports?

Yes you should cut down on the amount of time you’re engaged in high intensity activity or adjust your program accordingly.  If you’re very active you might have to cut your vertical jump enhancement program down  to only once/week or so. If you have 3 more more days of practices or games you would also be better off eliminating all plyometric work because your sport is plyometric enough.   If you play full court basketball, volleyball, football, etc. for 2 hours 5 days per week and you try to add in additional training to this you’re not going to make progress no matter what you do so dont waste your time.  You can probably handle 2 days per week of intense sport before you have to make dramatic adjustments.

This also doesnt mean that you cant work on your skills.  Anything you do at relatively low intensities isnt going to kill you so its perfectly fine to go out and work on your skills as often as you like. What you want to try to limit is hours upon hours of running up and down a court, field, as well as other high intensity activity.

If I have the option of doing a leg curl or glute ham raise which should I choose?

I recommend you use the glute-ham raise.  Keep in mind you can replace a leg curl with a glute ham raise in any of the programs where a leg curl is listed.

If I am very sore and tired before a workout should I push through it anyway?

It really depends. Id give you the option of either taking the day off and completing the workout the following day or doing the workout and then reassessing how you feel after you’re into the flow of things.  Generally speaking the better you feel prior to a workout the better youll perform in that workout but thats no always the case.  If you start your owrkout and find your performance isnt going anywhere I recommend you either:

A:  Cut the normal volume by 50% and complete the rest of the workout. 
B:  Go home and try again the next day.


If I miss a workout should I attempt to make up days?

One thing you should never do is make up for missed days.  If you miss a day then dont worry about it just pick up the program on the day of the next scheduled workout.


Can I add in upper body workouts?

Yes you can add in upper body workouts.  You can either do the upper body along with the lower body workouts or you can train the upper body on separate days.  I recommend you try combining everything together initially.  For upper body you might add in a pushing movement like bench press, a pulling movement like a chinup, a shoulder exercise like dumbbell presses, a biceps exercise, and a tricep exercise.  Thatll be about all you need.

When I complete program can I advance right on to another program or should I
take some time off?

I recommend you take at least a week off between programs

I need to lose body-fat. Can you give me an example of activities that will improve my “general fitness” without stimulating unnecessary endurance adaptations?

Yes, you can do low intensity cardiovascular exercise at around 60% of your maximum heart rate for 20-30 minutes 3-4 days per week.  To find 60% of your maximum heart rate subtract your age from 220 and multiply that by 60%. If you’re 20 years old youll ge120.  That means you can do any cardiovascular exercise as long as your heart rate stays below 120.

You can also do short interval sprints (10-30 seconds per sprint) at 60-70% of your top speed.  For example you could do 3 sets of 5 x 100 yard sprints at 60% of your top speed. Rest 30-45 seconds between sprints and 2-3 minutes between sets. If you really need the extra activity you might do 1-2 days of low intensity cardiovascular exercise and 1-2 days of intervals.



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