The Stefan Holm Project

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on July 2, 2010
in OrbitSeeker news and Track and Field
. 1 Comment
BEIJING - AUGUST 19: Stefan Holm of Sweden com...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Who is Stefan Holm? Some of you olympic and vertical enthusiasts may know who he is. He is a Olympic champion high jumper from Sweden. Stefan was a unique jumper in the fact he was of average height, 5′11″, actually rather short for a high jumper, and he had a 28 inch vertical leap…?…WHAT!…You read what I wrote and will write once again – 28 inch vertical leap! How could a 7 foot 10 inch high jumper at 5′11″ have a 28 inch vertical? Shouldn’t of Michael Jordan easily broken the word record in the high jump with his 48 inch jump? How does a 300 pound NFL Offensive lineman have the same  and even greater vertical as a world class high jumper like Stefan? Read on…

Standing vertical and running vertical are two distinct skills and use different physical abilities. My conclusion is that Stefan had the ability to coil his lower extremities into a spring with every step he took,  meaning, each step and approach forced his muscles to compress into a ball of energy until his all out effort maximized  into a rocket launch. It is the same comparison on why NFL athletes have a much higher vertical jump in the combines than their NBA counterparts. Strength/power vs Elastic spring. Which is better? Neither, or rather both. It all depends how you use it. To asses on how to improve your vertical ability, it is best to test both your standing and run approach jump, therefor you can make the necessary adjustments and train the weaker aspect of your vertical.

If you can produce a 30 inch standing vertical, but only a 33 inch run approach, there is obvious elastic strength deficiency which can be developed by use of plyometric type training. If you can produce a 24 inch standing jump, but a 33 inch running jump, then lack of pure strength and power is inhibiting your full leaping potential. Conclusion: Test your abilities and focus on both your weaknesses and strengths to develop your body as one powerful unit. In the next article I will focus on the different muscles that are used for the standing and running jump. You will be surprised on how each movement is affected by a different muscle group.

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Glute Ham Raise

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on June 4, 2010
in Exercise and Vertical Leap and Speed Training
. 0 Comments

No, its not some exotic sandwich form Southeast Asia. It is actually one of the best exercise you can do to develop your entire posterior backside from your calves to your lower back. This exercise will help in vertical jump development and most importantly exercise the muscles that are so common in sports injuries (the Hams) while running down the court or to the goal. It is especially  beneficial for speed development. Try it!

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Dead-Lift your way to new Vertical heights

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on March 19, 2010
in Exercise and Vertical Leap and Speed Training
. 4 Comments

Most of you know that I am a big believer in Squats in its ability to develop strength and power in the lower body. But there are many other important exercises that contribute to athletic success. I am going to list at least one exercise per week and how it relates to vertical jump developmentnt. So today I bring you the dead-lift.

Start                                                            Finish

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The deadlift is a pure overall total body strength developer. From neck to toes, your whole body will benefit with a dead-lift strength building routine. And that is the key! Total body strength will help contribute to power development and vertical leap increase, but more importantly, the dead-lift targets many muscles used in vertical jumping that many overlook. Lower back, and ham strength is a big contributor to vertical jumping, and especially, sprinting speed. The dead-lift targets the lower back and hamstrings directly, along with the quads, shoulders, and upper back.


As in the photos,the starting positing of the dead-lift is similar to a starting position in a vertical jump. It does not take a genius to see that. Dead-lifting is a fantastic exercise that needs to be incorporated in any training program. But be careful. Use common sense and start with a low weight and higher reps to condition your body for the heavier weights to come. Do not Max out! You are not in a strength competition. Build strength gradually, and increases in overall athletic abilities is guaranteed. I dead-lift twice a week. 1 Day, a light session with reps in the 10-12 range, and 1 Day, a heavy session with a rep range from 3-5. But if you have never dead-lift before, I would do at least 3-4 weeks of light dead-lifts to build a base and to condition the tendons and joints, especially the lower back,  for the heavy work to come. A good dead-lift target is to lift at least one and half to twice your body-weight. This is elite strength.

 

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Vertical Jump Programs that will take you to Orbit!

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on February 14, 2010
in Vertical Leap and Speed Training
. 5 Comments


Programs that are PROVEN to increase Vertical Jump and overall Athletic Ability.

There is no need to bombard you with all the different Vertical Leap training programs out there. They all work… but when it comes down to it, the two listed below are the BEST. No matter which one you choose, either program will benefit you tremendously in your quest for Athletic Supremacy… and you will become an OrbitSeeker!

Which is the Best Vertical Leap Training Program for YOU!

Overall, Kelly Baggett’s program is my personal favorite. It is a great program to develop your overall Athelitic Ability and the cost of the program is reasonable. This is suited for those who are not naturally athletic, not genetically gifted or not fully trained. This program will help you to achieve your full genetic potential.

Go to Kelly’s site to learn more about the Vertical Jump Bible!

kelleybag

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Luke Lowrey’s program is a little more expensive but gets into more scientific depth in increasing vertical jump and speed. This program is better suited for 2 types at extreme ends – The Very Hard Gainers or the Natural Athlete’s who are at, or almost, to they’re full potential. If you been training a long time, play a variety of sports, genetically gifted from birth – always the fastest kid, etc. and are in overall great psychical shape with great strength, this program is more suited to you as it will take you over any plateaus that may be holding you back; and If you cannot achieve a great vertical with other methods of training despite long and hard work, then this program would be best.


Go to Luke’s site to learn more about the 3 module system!!

luke

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CROSS TRAINING IS THE KEY!

Play a variety of sports and don’t be afraid to experiement.

The way I start any intense training is to balance my body first to prepare it for what is to come. THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF MY TRAINING PROGRAM AND WILL HELP TO CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR DEVELOPMENT OF HOPS, SPEED AND POWER.

A Runner’s Yoga routine. Runner’s Yoga is to me the most beneficial of all beginner’s training because of its carry over to the more intense training ahead. It will help to increase balance, coordination and flexibility. This will keep your body and mind in sync. When your body and mind are in sync, any action you perform, whether physical or mental, will be more efficient and grounded. When you run or jump, you use all your muscles at once. Yoga will sync them to work together in one smooth motion. Try it. I was a doubter, but could not believe how it helped me in my lifting, running, jumping, and keeping me energized, alert and injury free.


Go to Runner’s Yoga to learn more

Runner’s Yoga is also fantastic – and highly recommended – for teens under 16 years of age who are still in a growth stage, as it will keep muscles loose for bone growth to fully develop. Common sense states that restricted muscles will not maximize full bone development potential. Keep your muscles flexible and loose in early life and you will be less prone to injury and pain during adulthood.

I guarantee that if you do runner’s yoga for 1 month without any other training, your vertical leap will increase, as well as your overall strength. This is not due to actual increase in ‘muscle strength’, but because of better balance, coordination, and synchronization of the whole body. COMBINE THIS WITH THE OTHER PROGRAMS AND YOU WILL LEAP TO THE STARS. And you don’t need to do any chanting and such. Runner’s Yoga is geared more to fitness enthusiasts.

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The Power Clean

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on October 26, 2009
in Exercise and Vertical Leap and Speed Training
. 2 Comments

Great exercise. It helps develop the drive phase of a vertical jump and helps develop speed strength which translates to power, speed, agility on the playing field, court, track, etc. The Power Clean must be done correctly to be beneficial. I would not try to lift heavy amounts of weight. Yes, heavy power cleans are impressive but it will not fully develop your power. Strive for a good medium weight and an explosive lift. Your feet must always leave the ground for the power clean to be beneficial for vertical jump development. Cleaning a heavy weight where your feet are fixed to the ground during the entire lift will develop your traps and shoulders more then the explosive ability of your entire body.


The video below clearly demonstrates how a Power clean should be performed. You can see at 0:14 how this athlete’s feet leave the ground. This is the correct way. Be careful before starting a power clean workout. I would recommend to familiarize yourself with the proper movement by cleaning just the barbell for the 1st 2-3 weeks or so, even you are already highly trained. Do them at the end of your workouts. Once you familiarize yourself with the proper movements, build a steady base of strength increasing the weight in small amounts every workout. I would recommend doing power cleans at the beginning of any workout. All power clean sets should be performed at 3-5 reps with no more than 3-4 sets.

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Pistol Squats

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on October 24, 2009
in Exercise and Vertical Leap and Speed Training
. 3 Comments

Probably one of the most beneficial and proven exercise to build power and strength in your thighs…and the greatest benefit is it can be done anywhere at anytime –  no gym required! No excuses!

Mastering the Pistol Squat will add significantly to your vertical leap, power and speed. It is an exercise that should be mastered before embarking on a heavy weight training program as it will build the stabilizers, and balance leg strength. Take it slow, follow the advice as stated in the video below. Build up to it. Once you can do 10 pistols on each leg, you can move on to a more difficult weighted pistol. Your vertical will increase, guaranteed, just by doing pistols alone; combine with other training, and you will leap to orbit!

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Stretch to Leap

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on October 24, 2009
in Vertical Leap and Speed Training
. 0 Comments
I always heard of this guy but never really appreciated his jumping, I guess since he is not from the USA his popularity is not as common, of course till youtube came along and makes international stars for some good and not so good talent (hear me Fred )…Kadour is amazing, but more amazing is his rather scrawny frame. He dos not look like  a jumper or an explosive athlete.  I believe he states that his jumping is due to stretching. Can stretching make you jump higher? Anything helps, but I believe a direct style of stretching that is beneficial is Dynamic stretching. Static stretching will lengthen the muscle but Dynamic stretching will lengthen and contract it hard, and prepare the muscle for those explosive full range contractions. The contractions of a muscle is what sets off explosive movements.
Stretching is important but Kadour is obviously genetically gifted with the right muscle fiber type and his stretching just made him better. Most likely, he would get better at jumping doing anything. The key to increasing jumping and athletic ability is to know your body and focus on your uniqueness and take advantage of it. We all have unique qualities but it is up to us to take full advantage of it.
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Usain Bolt’s Vertical Leap

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on October 23, 2009
in Track and Field
. 4 Comments

usain-bolt-jogs_791213c

It has not been officialized, so my vertical leap assumption is based on Usain Bolt’s speed, body type, and genetics on why I believe his vertical has to be close to 45″ -50″.

There is a strong correlation between speed and vertical leap. Usain Bolt is built for sprinting and jumping: long legs, short trunk, wide shoulders, narrow hips, and speed beyond anything ever seen on two legs. And most likely his strength to body weight ratio is naturally high, even without weightlifting. This is an important key in vertical – and horizontal explosiveness. Get your strength level to double your body weight and keep a low body fat ratio. Sprinters have less body fat than marathon runners. Will you run as fast a Bolt if you follow this advice? No, but you will run faster than you ever have, and maybe surprise the world one day.

Bolt recently broke another record, this time at a seldom run event, the 150 meters. He destroyed it by more than half a second on a wet track.

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Goals

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on October 5, 2009
in Vertical Leap Fun
. 0 Comments

I checked out this average Joe’s site and found it most interesting…and a fantastic lesson can be learned from it.

This guy is on the verge of becoming 30 years of age so he set it upon himself to reverse the psychological age barrier (if you hit 30, you know what I am talking about) by focusing on a rather revered ‘youthful’ movement or activity, whatever you want to call it… He promised himself he will dunk before the age of 30. He set up a website to chronicle his progress. I say – thumbs up!

Goal setting and working at it is one of the most beneficial task you can do to feed your mind, body and soul for yourself as a human being. It carries over to all aspects of your life and makes you an all around being. Check out his site it is fun, hardly any training tips, but dunk attempts and fun vertical leap measuring tactics.

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More Bolt News

Published
by
TonyOrbitman
on August 17, 2009
in Track and Field
. 0 Comments

I am still in awe at Bolts ridiculous terror on the track. But what is more interesting, the day after, is the analysis of the race which I found very peculiar. Bolts top end speed in MPH was no different than the other great sprinters of our time. He hit a peak of 27.7 mph. In fact, that is not the fastest recorded; I believe Donavon Bailey hit 28.2 mph in his world record run years back. So why the difference? Why Bolt manages 9.58 and the others 9.7 – 9.8?  Simply….Bolt hits top speed earlier, at 35-45 meters, and runs through the tape without slowing down. Most other world class sprinters hit their peak speed at 50-60 meters and slow slightly at the 90 meter mark.

The advantage Usain Bolt has over the others is there has never been a tall, long legged sprinter with the turnover of a shorter sprinter. The stride/turnover combo is the ultimate. More importantly, speed maintenance is the key, not top speed. This will forever change training and assessment for speed athletes.

Source

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