Adarq.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaI8DsdGcgA


I was bored a couple of days ago and posted this.  It is really interesting... I think, how quickly he gets to his forefoot in the concentric phase of the takeoff.  I feel it has to do with his body setting an optimal firing length for the gastroc/achilles complex in regards to the total jump.  Stay flat footed and you loose the final punch of the calves at the end of takeoff.  I would imagine an athlete with a VERY good nervous system such as Green does this naturally... but maybe the rest of us mere mortals just don't pick up on it?  Seems like some other really good dunkers like T-Dub jump like this as well. 

What do you guys think?  Should we all start doing "burnouts" from Air Alert again?  Am I just crazy?

Best rep range for the banded swings would be under 10 reps.  They are shown being done horrendously incorrectly on many pages.  You can do them well, but you need to really work hard on "hike passing" the bell between your legs.  You should feel the bell tickle your ball hairs, it needs to be that close!  Well, not really, but I thought it was a funny analogy.  Many people make the mistake of taking the bell between their knees on the swings, but this f@#ks the exercise all up.

I'll have part II up soon where I talk about how to do the swing with more material on incorporating it in a workout program... but simply.. you can do swings every day, they aren't all that taxing... just awesome!

Vlad, let me know how the KB training helps you in your upcoming dunk contests!

Raptor,

Without trying to put words in Brandon's mouth, I feel that the 1/3 recommendation is due to the swing almost being more of a plyometric/low inertia training modality, rather than a "lift".  Obviously an athlete who is incredibly strong can use more weight, but the book "easy strength" where I found a lot of my original material talks about many athletes who have found great results without heavy bells.  Donnie Thompson, who has the WR in powerlifting in the superheavy and squats well over 1,000lbs "only" uses a 100lb bell for his training.... which is just under 1/3 of his bodyweight I believe. 

Obviously the 1/3 bodyweight bell is a general recommendation, but I would imagine for the majority of trained athletes who squat around 1.5-2.0x bodyweight and SVJ 25-35" it is a solid solution.  Not to mention, even if you are incredibly strong, the swing is all about speed!  Even if you squat 3x bw, you can't turn that strength on quickly enough to reverse the bell faster than someone who squat 2.5x or 2.0x bodyweight.... providing it is a light bell.

An anecdote was given in the book about a guy who was 5'9 and had a 2.5x bw squat... maybe more, who went from grabbing rim to dunking by using a 50lb bell I believe?  The weight doesn't have to be high... of course, stronger people can use a bit more weight... maybe 1/2 maximum I would say, while weaker athletes would probably want to go more around 1/4... but I think the 1/3 range is where most athletes can benefit the most. 

Finally, that weight... 1/3 was the "sweet spot" where most athletes could produce the highest force on the force plate. 

Joel

Hey everyone,

I just finished a great article on the science of Kettlebell swings which you can find below

http://www.just-fly-sports.com/1/post/2012/07/eccentric-overloading-methods-for-jumpers-kettlebell-swings-part-i.html#.UBK9vrRQ6Ag

With studies out there that have shown kettlebell snatches to be 3x as effective as plyometrics and anecdotal experiences of 3" vertical gains in 45 minutes, this is a great topic and a great read.

I would love to hear your comments, questions or experiences with this type of work.  It has added a great new element to my own training this summer.

Joel

Hi Raptor, you are correct, I did base on in that Dan Pfaff video you uploaded, thanks for doing that it was excellent.
Our throwers at the school have been doing heavy cleans and snatches in the morning the day that they throw and really love doing it; we learned that from the video as well, very useful. 

Hey guys,

I haven't posted in forever, but I think you may like my new article:
http://justflyperformance.blogspot.com/2012/03/30-commandments-of-vertical-jump.html

Even if you don't learn all that much from it (or maybe you will), it is worth a few laughs, and I had fun writing it.  Tell me what you think!

Joel

Mutaz Barshim who just turned 20.....

7'8.5 in this video, won't be long until he is making 7'10.5"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKMTzabiy-A

not at all, I did upper body on the plyo days the last two years I did it and had no problems.  i would usually split my day up though, and do lifting in the morning and plyos in the evening or vice versa