50 Inch Vertical Jumps?? 06/24/2011
 Vertical jump would be the height from his feet to the ground fully extended like in this picture. Although he is "above the rim" it doesn't mean he is jumping 54 inches  Your vertical jump probably isn’t as high as you think. There I said it. Probably not going to make some of you happy but the fact is a great vertical takes a lot of work and is a long term development process that involves multiple factors of strength training, power training, and body composition. The internet is littered with videos of guys you have never heard of that are supposedly jumping 45”, 50” and more and they “prove” this with videos of them dunking basketballs, jumping on high boxes (which has only a partial coorelation to vertical jump) and other things. Funny thing is what you don't see them doing is jumping on the Vertec vertical jump tester…a method which would actually prove their vertical is as high as they think. So now that I have burst your bubble about these internet jump “phenoms” lets break it down and get really specific. Using the pictures above, you need to start by understanding a vertical jump measurement is the difference between standing reach and maximum height of jump. Regardless of how cool it looks that they are playing "above the rim" the vertical measurement starts with how high they can reach and then how much they come off the ground as the jump. In the first pic, while this is a good looking vertical I doubt 54” because the rim is at 10 feet, i.e. 120” and he appears to be fairly below halfway as it compares feet to ground as opposed to feet in relation to rim. It’s almost an optical illusion when you look at a high speed freeze frame like this because you are drawn to his hand stretched out in relation to the rim rather than looking at what a vertical jump actually is. He is 5’9’ tall. The average reach for someone 5’9” is 7’9” which converts to 93” with a differential of 27” between standing reach and height of rim meaning, a roughly 27” – 28” vertical will allow most guys who are 5’9” to grab rim. (Average reach relative to height came from this website - http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?page=averages&year=All&draft=100&pos=0&sort=) And a vertical of, let’s say for sake of discussion 33” puts them a full 6 inches ABOVE RIM. It’s also widely accepted that 5” – 6” over the height of the rim is what is necessary to be able to dunk. Now this is not at all showing disrespect to the guys in these videos. For regular athletes a 27 – 28 vertical is good and above 30 is great. This guy in the video here is probably in the mid-30s and that is great….but it is simply NOT a 50” vertical…or a 45….or a 40 even. The best vertical jump at the NFL Combine is 46" by Gerald Sensabaugh (FS), from North Carolina in 2005. This was measured on the Vertec vertical jump tester. For all the claims here and there of people with 50” verticals there is little to any measurable quantifiable proof. Isn’t that convenient? And if this comes across sounding like a jerk, then so be it, but if NFL prospects, some of the strongest, most explosive athletes in the world don't have a long list of players jumping 50” verticals, I have real doubts that there are these supposed “freak” athletes in every little town across America busting out 50” verticals on a regular basis. If there are they should prove it, there are plenty of schools, sports performance centers, etc. that have legitimate vertical jump testing equipment. Go test yourself, and then post it. Not dunking….not jumping over a high hurdle or on a big box. Test yourself on a vertical jump testing device. If you really want to improve your vertical, don't buy into these crap programs sold on the internet or the silly platform shoes that will supposedly add inches to your jump almost overnight. One program actually claims it will “double your vertical jump”. Well if that were possible EVERYONE on the planet would buy it because even athletes with relatively small jumps like 20” – 22” would now be jumping over 40”. Its B.S. people and I can’t make it any clearer than that. Want a better vertical? You better be increasing your strength through squats and deadlifts, increasing your power with jumping variations and making sure your body composition is in check (i.e., don't get too heavy or have too much excess bodyfat). That's what it takes. Work hard put in the time and although you may not be jumping a 50” vertical (because neither are these guys) you will see improvements in performance. 3 Comments What You Really Need for Speed Training 04/10/2011
 Pictured Above -- what USED to be Velocity Sports Performance. I had recently learned that the Velocity Sports Performance franchise in Greensboro shut down. http://www.velocitysp.com/greensboro/articles?news_id=2167 Now this isn’t a blog about why that happened because I don’t know the details so it’s not my place to comment on things I don’t know. I can make some assumptions that their high overhead involved with running the facility, their fairly high price of membership and the current state of the economy had something to do with it. But just as Velocity closed its doors, let’s close the doors on some common misconceptions about speed and agility training. See I get questions from athletes and parents all the time about how to get faster. The problem is I do not always give them the answers they want to hear. These days most people believe that speed, agility and quickness training is what they see on the Nike commercials or in brochures for places like Velocity. There are SPARQ “ratings” which are awesome for helping Nike sell SPARQ equipment but do very little to educate people on how to get faster. Velocity had a very organized program of speed drills…but not much education on how to get faster. So what I want to do is provide a little education about speed training. I don’t want to get into a lot of technical talk about body position and ground force contact and all these things that will bore you to sleep unless you are an exercise science geek like me. Let’s keep it simple. Amongst “real” trainers it’s a generally accepted fact that the best and most efficient way to get faster is to get stronger…specifically increasing your relative strength. Now that’s not what a lot of people want to hear. They would rather hear that running on a silly high speed treadmill or running with a parachute attached to you is the top secret tool for super speed. Being told you need to squat, deadlift and do glute ham raises isn’t quite as appealing. But that’s what works. (side note: I wont get into the high speed treadmill thing here because I have addressed it before but these places who put you on one and get you all excited that you ran 18-20 "miles per hour" just PLEASE understand that doesn't mean much unless you can do that on the sport track or field. Usain Bolt's world record 100 meter dash converts to 23 miles per hour average speed...so you probably werent really going that fast - http://www.elitefeet.com/how-fast-can-humans-run) To coin an old expression you shouldn’t “put the cart before the horse” and that’s definitely true with speed training. Teaching supposed “proper sprint mechanics” to kids who aren’t strong enough to get into and maintain those body positions is pretty much a waste of time and they won’t get much faster. The other thing where all the technique drills miss the boat is that athletes in most sports other than track and field never get the opportunity to run with “proper technique” anyway. It’s hard to run the right way while dribbling a basketball down the court or kicking a soccer ball. It’s even harder when you can’t run in a straight line and have the components of lateral and linear movements (cuts) mixed together and then throw on top of all of that a reactionary component as often your movements are based off reacting to an opposing player’s movements. And there is another gigantic X factor in speed training that involves the athletes directly. And this is CONSISTENCY. I always tell my athletes that CONSISTENCY trumps INTENSITY. Working out hard for two weeks and then not working out at all for another two weeks will not get you where you want to be. Regardless of how good the speed training or strength training program is, the real benefits and gains from a program will not come without consistency in your workouts. I realize athletes, especially the high school level as I deal with the most, have lots of things going on in their lives and it can be hard to balance everything out. But here’s the thing guys and girls…..you get out of it what you put in it. Don’t wonder why your squats not going up or why you aren’t getting faster when your training/workouts are inconsistent and scattered. So, train hard, train to get stronger, train consistently and the speed will come. Watch the video below and you will see some examples of how we get stronger AND faster at Hepler Strength: Davidson County Weightlifting Challenge 03/13/2011
 The 1st Annual Davidson County Weightlifting Challenge took place this past Saturday at Hepler Strength and Conditioning. Over 30 athletes representing 4 area schools competed in the Challenge. Before I get into the specifics of the competition, I want to thank my volunteers who helped make this happen and run even smoother and on time than I had anticipated. So thank you Steve Bell and Jimmy Lamour for judging. Thanks to Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins, Daniel Price, Jeffrey Beck, Jonathon Skeen and Derrick Campbell for loading weights, Jordan Isom, Miranda Cumpton and Erin Bell for scorekeeping, Melissa Skeen for keeping track of everything and Carly Murphy, Cindy Murphy, Alyssa Harvell, Summer Pope and everybody else who helped. Also thanks to Coach Adams from Ledford and Coach Hoover for attending and supporting their athletes. I think everybody had a good time and really enjoyed the competition of this event which was unlike anything else they have ever had in Davidson County for high school athletes to show off their strength and compete. The athletes competed in three lifts, power clean, bench press and deadlift. Total of all three lifts was added up to get final scoring and award championships. Top 5 For Male Division: 1st Place– Brandon Hurt – Central Davidson 1,175 total 2nd Place– Matt Meadows – Central Davidson 1,090 total 3rd Place– Deshannon Greene – Ledford 1,040 total 4th Place – Elliott Springfield – East Davidson 1,030 total 5th Place – Saig Skeen – Central Davidson 1,015 total As you can see 2nd thru 5th were all extremely close, I am also proud of the fact that 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th place were all claimed by Hepler Strength and Conditioning-trained athletes. Brandon and Matt also broke a long-standing gym record both getting a 560 deadlift. Top 3 for Female Division: 1st Place – Chelsea Turner – East Davidson 475 total 2nd Place – Tiffany Causey – Central Davidson 360 total 3rd Place – Breanna Walton – Central Davidson 165 total 1st place female Chelsea is also a Hepler Strength Athlete and broke the gym record (which she already had) for female deadlift with 255. All in all it was a great event, I appreciate everyone who came out and supported us and congratulations to ALL the athletes who really stepped up and showed what they had.       What Cutting Edge Training Really Means 02/18/2011
 One of the big pieces to the puzzle of training athletes is the program itself…what you actually do. A good program is periodized, meaning it’s planned out with specific and measurable goals, milestones and schedules to be at your best when you need to be at your best. That’s what I get paid for. Having the gym facility with reverse hyper, glute ham raise, bumper plates and all the other “goodies” is cool and all but without the program, the “game plan” if you will, none of it matters that much. The value of the training I provide comes from my knowledge of programming and my practical experience with coaching the programs and getting the best out of my athletes. I spend countless hours reading, researching, networking with coaches and trainers and experimenting with workout methods, programs and philosophies. I often will use the term “cutting edge” when I discuss our training. And the fact of the matter it’s not just advertising hype, it really is cutting edge. The upcoming March issue of Muscle and Fitness magazine is going to feature the Juggernaut Training Method. Those of you who come to the gym know this method and some of you parents may have read about it in the January newsletter. This is a top notch programming methodology to increase multiple facets of strength development. It was created by a guy name Chad Wesley Smith, a former elite level shot putter who now competes in powerlifting and runs a strength and conditioning facility in California. I had been talking to Chad and his partner Nate Winkler (a native NC boy so we know he’s a good guy!) even before the book came out. I was highly interested in it and especially how to include Olympic style lifting into the mix. Chad was very helpful in explaining how to set it up on a weekly schedule and between his help there and then the book actually being published, we started using Juggernaut Method Training. The results have been astounding. I won’t bore you rattling off a bunch of lifting numbers and stats, but let’s just say that guys are taking weights that were their previous 1-rep max and repping them 3 – 5 times or more. We are getting stronger and stronger everyday using this method, so I give huge props to Chad for this system. And when you see the story in Muscle and Fitness and guys in gyms all over the country start talking about it and trying it out, know that we have already been doing it over three months now. Outside of that I would also like to go back to the fact that I spend so much time working on these things. As I said before that is what I get paid for…to know what to do to get the results my athletes and parents are after. I don’t want to come across sounding arrogant but this may offend some….
And that also means not adopting things as “cutting edge” just because they say they are cutting edge. Some things are cutting edge, some are just trendy, and some are just stupid (see picture below because nothing demonstrates stupidity much better than this pic). The better you can understand the difference than the faster path you will be on to massive gains in speed, strength and power.  My Programs Are a "Waste of Money" ??? 02/03/2011
Yeah, that’s someone said on Facebook in reference to a vertical jump training clinic I have coming up this weekend. The funny thing was, this kid said it without having any idea who I was; had never trained with me and doesn’t know anything about my training methods. His basis for why my clinic was a “waste of money” is because he had done a program in his “advanced basketball” class (whatever that is LOL) and it only increased his vertical by 4 inches. So I sent a message back explaining that maybe he didn’t exactly have the best program if he wasn’t happy with results. Now honestly unless his vertical was comparable to a 5th grade girl a 4” improvement isn’t too terribly bad. It’s all relative to where you start. But the fact is likely if it was a program that took place in some high school gym class they don’t even have a real vertical jump tester so not only did this kid have no idea what his true vertical was, there was probably no thought and planning put into the program. So all of this got me to thinking about what I tell parents and athletes all the time who come into my facility to ask about training with me. It’s all about the RESULTS. That’s what I get paid for and that’s what people come to me for. Because results are the undeniable end product of what I and my athletes are working for.
I won’t even get into the fact that he says you can “find all these exercises for free on the internet” but yet he probably has never heard of 50-rep rhythm squats, band resisted KB swings or why you should stretch your hip flexors before jumping (all things you will learn at my vertical jump clinic this weekend). The real fact of the matter is he was unhappy with the results of the program he did, not my program. He didn’t get RESULTS and therefore he associates all programs as being a waste of money or time simply because the one he did was a waste. So let me say again, RESULTS are what matter. If your training program isn’t producing the results you want, maybe you should be training differently. I train athletes from most small local 2A schools and when you don’t have a whole team committed, the team is only going to do so well. But individually my athletes have stacked up some nice accomplishments in the past few years:
If you are training and you are still at the same level you were 6 months ago, 12 months ago….then what you are doing isn’t working. Look for a program that gets RESULTS. P.S. This weekend the Vertical Jump Training Clinic is here. If you’re ready for results, if you are ready to stop being average, then come and check this out. You can sign up here: http://www.heplerstrength.com/vertical-jump-clinic.html Football Combine Clinic 01/10/2011
I will be hosting a clinic "Preparing for the Football Combines" on Saturday, February 19th at Hepler Strength and Conditioning. This clinic is for players, parents and coaches. If you are a high school player who wants to go participate in the high school combines and be looked at by college scouts, you need to attend this clinic. I will be presenting along with my good friend Jimmy Lamour of Lamour Training Systems. Jimmy is a former Guilford College standout player who, when participating in combines himself, ran a legit 4.3. 40 yard dash. Jimmy knows his stuff. I am also happy to announce that Michael Dowdy, the Training and Events Director for Schumans National Underclassmen Combine will be there speaking. Schumans NUC is one of the biggest combine events in the country and we are honored to welcome Mr. Dowdy. This is the REAL DEAL guys. If you are serious about playing college ball, get yourself to this clinic. Register here: http://www.heplerstrength.com/combine-clinic.html There is always great debate on the Internet among coaches about the benefits of Olympic Lifting versus other types of explosive movements. I see points on both sides of the issue and I use methods from both in our training programs here. We have recently started incorporating much more explosive work through med ball throws and jump variations into our training sessions. We use these movements because they are a virtually foolproof method of training triple extension. To understand the benefits of the jumps and throws you need to first understand what triple extension is and why it is important. Triple Extension Movements involve three majors joints: hip, knee, and ankle. All the force, speed and explosiveness required for sport can be attributed to Triple Extension Movements. Extension movements make up the main factor of explosive strength, which is the greatest amount of force in a specific time frame. This is the most important piece of the puzzle for speed-strength training. Speed-strength training is a combination of maximum speed and maximum strength, when combined produce a tremendous amount of force. Triple extension movement is most often thought with the Olympic Lifts and their variations: Cleans (Power & Hang), Snatches (Power & Hang), Clean & Jerk, etc. But triple extension can easily be trained with various types of jumps and throws. From a coaching perspective these exercises have several advantages over the Olympic Lifting variations: #1. Very small learning curve. Its very hard to do a box jump or a med ball throw wrong. #2. Its easy to run large groups through a series of throws and jumps as compared to doing cleans and snatches, changing weights, etc. #3. Throws and jumps train triple extension and also allow development of absolute power, meaning there is no deceleration. No matter how much power you apply to the bar in a power clean or even a bench press or squat for that matter, you have slow the bar down and stop at the top of the movement. You can just let go of the bar and let it fly! But with jumps and throws there is no deceleration component so you develop absolute power by just being able to let go of ball (med ball throws) or you jump as high as possible (jump variations). Here is a video of many of our athletes doing different types of jumps and throws in their workouts. You will see box jumps, seated box jumps, hurdle jumps, approach jumps and all kinds of med ball throws. Also jumps and throws can be performed with ease and are scalable for a wide range of athletes from middle school thru high school and college, male or female, doesn't matter. Elite Athlete Challenge 2010 06/02/2010
 One of Hepler Strength and Conditioning's top female athletes took home the prize this past Saturday at the annual Elite Athlete Challenge held at West Davidson High School. Taylor Alexander was the overall winner for the female division. We also had some very impressive performances from the other Hepler Strength athletes who competed - Chelsea Turner, Addie Grubb, Dylan Gallimore and Elliot Springfield. I will be posting a video soon showing some pics from the event as well as the training that led up to it. The Elite Athlete Challenge was started in 2008 as a way for the high school athletes in this area to display how well-rounded they are and to compete in an avenue that is different from the typical setting. The Elite Athlete Challenge pits athletes against one another in 11 different events: Standing Broad Jump, Vertical Jump, Sit-and-Reach, Bench Press, Bleacher Run, 40-yd Sprint, 300 yd Shuttle, Medicine Ball Toss, Multi-Agility Drill, 3-Cone Drill, and 400m Sprint. Each athlete competes in every event and receives a score based on his or her performance. At the end of the event, each athlete receives a total score. Prizes are awarded to the top three female and male athletes. Some notable numbers from our athletes for the day:
You can check out their website at www.eliteathletechallenge.com One of Our Athletes at Parisi Combine Camp 03/08/2010
Congratulations to Dylan Gallimore for putting on a great performance this weekend at a Parisi Combine Camp in Greensboro. Parisi Speed School started in NJ and now have franchises throughout the United States. They specialize in speed and agility training and in fact, most all of the methods I use here at the gym are taken from the Parisi system. We were interested to see how he would do since most of my beliefs and training methods on speed and agility have been learned and adopted from the Parisi methods anyway. And since Dylan has already been to combines before so we had already trained for many of these events. They didnt laser time the full 40 but only the 20. He also said that for some reason everybody was sliding and had hard time with traction on the pro agility and 3 cone even though it was inside on Parisi's artifical indoor turf. Here are his best stats from the day: 39.5 inch vertical jump -- this was awesome as it beat his previous best at my gym by 5.5 inches. 2.8 20-yard sprint 9" 2" broad jump All in all it was a good day. We picked up a couple of additional technique tips and more than anything else, it was a good demonstration or proof that our system of Defranco Conjugate periodization works. If you are not currently a member of our gym and training this way you might be missing out. If you are a guy who is serious about wanting to improve your strength and speed for football, or take your game to the next level and play college ball, you need to be training with us. Our programs build maximal strength, speed and power. In addition we do specialized combine training for high school football players to get you ready for the combine events. Here are a couple clips of Dylan working out : Late Night Workout 02/24/2010
Late night workout here from a couple weeks ago. Just to show you what kind of dedicated and determined athletes I have, this workout started at 9:00pm on a school night after one of these girls had already had a 2-hour basketball practice. So obviously this was an in-season workout and we were not going really max effort on anything…although I was impressed by the 45 pound GHRs. Workout: 1. Bulgarian Split Squats with barbell 3 sets at 8/6/3 reps per leg adding weight each set 2. Weighted Glute Ham Raises 3×10 adding weight each set 3. Abdominal circuit 4. Conditioning circuit: Squat thrusts Med ball slams Sprints/running back and forth length of gym 30 seconds of each x3 total circuits |
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