Adarq.org

He obviously has good genetics for the SVJ. I understand your point though, but I was merely complementing him--not putting myself down in any way.

IMO what seems like a complement is backhanded belittling.  Complementing someone while mentioning their genetics is implicitly suggesting that their results are less a result of their training/hardwork and attributing it to their genetic advantage.  As a mixed-race track and field athlete I heard this all the time...  I would run a fast time, people would be impressed, and then ask "what are you?".   I cannot tell you the amount of crestfallen white people who would say "oh.... ok well impressive but THATS why".   This defeatist idea of racial speed superiority is IMO why almost every fast white american sprinter I have come across is a natural - because if they were not fast to begin with racial stereotypes got in the way of their self-belief to develop speed... 

I am a geneticist.  It's what I do.  I am not claiming that genetic variation doesn't play a part in our performance - but I am saying that suggesting that we have absolutely no way of knowing the component it plays in any individual and it's a waste of time to make such claims. 

I was not belittling my own genetics, but clearly having a 40" SVJ is something most people cannot accomplish through hard work.

Sorry, I'm not going to agree with something that you state "clearly" but have absolutely no way of knowing.  Consider what kingfish has done and consider what evidence you have for your claim.  When I see a longitudinal study that takes a large group of healthy 25 year old men and subjects them to almost daily heavy pause squatting, an almost flawless diet, daily heavy back extensions, mobility work, and positive belief that it is possible (basically the kingfish protocol) for five years and tests their vertical THEN we can make claims about whether or not a 40'' SVJ is something most people cannot accomplish through hard work.   Until then we do not know whether this statement is true.  CLEARLY a 40'' SVJ is something that some people cannot accomplish through hard work.  The question is how large is this group?  If we take 100 subjects will 20 of them accomplish it?  Will 40?  60?  I do not know and neither do you.  I will admit that because I train athletes and believe that the mind and belief are an extremely large component of your performance ceiling that if I had to guess how many athletes could achieve it I personally would err on the side of overestimating the percentage of people, but in truth we don't know and such a study is not likely to happen...

The study isn't likely to happen because it takes an extreme amount of work and dedication and it's a lot to ask of people.  In fact it's quite clear that KF's biggest advantage over the average trainee is not his genetics but his lifestyle.  He is lucky to have a job which has a gym and a squat rack and a schedule that affords him the ability to squat daily and be as focused as he has been.  He is lucky to earn enough money to satisfy his nutritional needs and not have to travel often for work so he can be focused.  Of course he still has to put in a ton of work.  And for that he deserves a lot of praise.

Really, for you the only question is what can you achieve if you put in the work?  Maybe only 5 out of 100 men would get a 40'' SVJ after 5 years of dedicated training...  Maybe 70 out of 100 would...  But all that matters is whether you are in that group of 5 or 70.  I don't know the size of the group or whether you are in the group that can achieve it.   BUT what I do believe is that even if you are not - the belief that you may be is paramount to your success - and it's not binary - failure has a few levels.  Maybe you believe 100% that a 40'' vertical is within your capabilities and put in the work that KF has.  Maybe your wrong and after five years you top out at 37'' or 38.5'' in the SVJ.  But that's not to shabby now is it?   But a not to shabby failure will only happen with the positive belief that you can achieve much more.  That's my two cents.

Kingfish you indeed have FREAKISH genetics, but if you don't mind me asking, what were your starting SVJ numbers before you starting lifting? I just want to see what can be accomplished through hard work. Thanks!

thanks.

before lifting, there was already road biking since i was 10 yrs old that gave me very thick quads. SVJ at mid 20s.
i remember because the bball net  had 3 colors and i can standing jump the bottom of the top color. 

lol talking about genetics with a geneticist. 

relax. i'm just mentally tough. i can take a lot of beating. i'll keep on going. 

Mar 13-19, 2015

Full Squats - Paused - Maintenance
455 #186 | 465 #4 | 470 #1| 475 #7

BW  184-186lb.

Sun Mar 13

morning
315s-365-405
situps 25lb x20

* will start work this coming wed night. finally some break from the 2x/day lifting.

afternoon
315s-365-405
situps 25lb x20
seated alt shoulder db press 55lb x10

* this leaner weight at 184-186lb for the past few days is tiring me faster.

Mon Mar 14

morning
315s-365-405
situps 25lb x20
dips bw x20

afternoon
315s-365-405
315x8 no-pause
jump squat 45lb x10,10 | 95lb x10 | SVJ x4
situps 25lb x20

* PRd on SVJs based on the mark i had on the air vent on the no-bball court 24hr gym. will start to measure SVJs once i get comfortable with 95-135lb loaded jumps.

Tue Mar 15

morning
315s-365
jump squat 45lb x10,10 | 95lb x10
situps 25lb x20

afternoon
315s-365-405
jump squat 45lb x10,10 | 95lb x10
situps 25lb x20
bw chins x20

Wed Mar 16

315s-365-405
situps 25lb x10
dips bwx30
one arm cable rows 75lb x10

Thur Mar 17

315s-365
squat jumps 45lb x10 | 95lb x10,10
dips bw x10,10
bw chins x20

Fri Mar 18

315s-365-405
squat jumps 45lb x10,10 | SVJ x2
dips bw x10
one arm cable rows 75lb x10

Sat Mar 19

315s-365-405
dips bw x20
chins bw x20
situps 25lb x10

* chins added fatigue to abs. situps was hurting already at rep 10. could get to 20 but it will really get me sore.  skipped 405 on thursday. got my sleep pattern adjusting to the night shift. i could have gotten the 405 with more coffee but i was more concerned  about finishing my 13hr work day in one piece.

Mar 27 - April 2, 2015

Full Squats - Paused - Maintenance
455 #186 | 465 #4 | 470 #1| 475 #7

BW  184-186lb.

Sun Mar 27

315s-365
situps 27.5lb x20
chins bw x20
one arm cable rows 75lb x10

* legs tired from the jumping the other day.

Mon Mar 28

315s-365-405
situps 27.5lb x20
chins bw x20
one arm cable rows 75lb x10

Tue Mar 29

315s-365-405
situps 30lb x10,10
chins bw x20
decline bench 95lb x20 | 135lb x10

Wed Mar 30

315s-365-405
situps 30lb x10
chins bw x20
decline bench 135lb x10, 20
one arm cable rows 75lb x10

Thur Mar 31

315-315-315
situps 30lb x10
chins bw x10,10
decline bench 135lb x10 | 155lb x10 | 185lb x10
incline bench 95lb x10,10

* resting leg. accidentally triggered gout on left foot eating hummus.

Fri April 1

315-315-315
situps 30lb x10
chins bw x20
decline bench 135lb x10 | 185lb x10 (4-4-2s)
incline bench 95lb x10,10

* left foot not very swollen from gout anymore. will give it another day or two and go back to my 405s. decline benching hits like dips but with a lot more comfortable form.

* i was trying to really focus on not arching my back on the incline benching but even at this little weight, i can feel my lower back arch a bit on the last 1-2 reps. i hate back arching. need to really get some shoulder work but not tire my back. i guess its back to flat benching with feet elevated. its not so bad.

Sat April 2

315s-365
situps  27.5lb x20
chins bw x20
decline bench 135lb x10,20
flat bench 135lb x10,20

April 10-16, 2015

Full Squats - Paused - Maintenance
455 #186 | 465 #4 | 470 #1| 475 #7

BW  184-186lb.

Sun April 10

morning
315s-365-405
chins bw x20
inclined bench 135lb x10,8,2

afternoon
315s-365-405
chins bw x20
inclined bench 135lb x8,6,6

Mon April 11

morning
315s-365-405
chins bw x20
situps 30lb x20

afternoon
315s-365-405
jump squat 45lb x10 | 75lb x10,10 | SVJ x4
chins bw x20,10,10

* upperback soreness bothering me on the squats. first few singles with 315 is painful on my back. skipped bench for now until my back is not broken anymore. (too much benching got my back strained)

Tue April 12

morning
315s-365-405
jump squats 75lb x10,10,10 | 95lb x10 | SVJ x20
dips bw x10,10

* upperback still beat. had to stand with the 315 a little longer to numb the pain for the heavier singles. did some bw dips to get good blood flow to upperbody. might help with recovery.
* felt very explosive and did a lot more SVJs than I normally do. was close to getting both wrists on the rim on double hand SVJs.

afternoon
jump squats 75lb x10,10,10,10,10 | SVJ x14
situps 30lb x10,10

* resting upperback. skipped the paused squats.

Wed April 13

morning
315s-365
jump squats 75lb x10,10,10,10 | SVJ x10
chins bw x20

* upperback still beat. won't matter anyway this morning. my legs are tired from the jumps. i'm doing the SVJs using a jumping platform. its a square ~ 4x4 board with 2" shock absorbent material on the bottom. makes the landings easier. its like a trampoline but with less bounce. my company gym has all sorts of things.

afternoon
315s-365
jump squats 75lb x10,10 | SVJ x4
chins bw x20

Thur April 14

315s-365
jump squats 75lb x10,10
situps 30lb x20

* easy rest day. upperback still broken. jump squats are feeling more and more natural. i will increase the weight to 115-135lb soon. feeling very explosive with these.

Fri April 15

315s
jump squats
- 75lb x10,10
- 95lb x10,10
- 115lb x10
- 135lb x10
SVJ x4
bw chins x20

Sat April 16

315s-365-405
jump squats
- 95lb x10,10 (20%RM)
- 115lb x10 (25%RM)
bw chins x20
dips bw x10,10

* upperback almost pain free now. 25% discomfort but good enough for me. did 405 routinely. more jump squats but will cut the volume of max SVJs if I don't have landing mat thing. il do it this way, cut until i'm at my dunking weight (like before) at mid-high170s, then thicken up as long as I can maintain the dunking.
* the balls of my feet are getting tender from the last 2 weeks of volume jumping.

does it measure vert or is it just a launch pad?

launch pad only. i can do more max SVJ landings with this tool.  the landing stress is reduced significantly.

http://www.gerstung.us/gerstung_resilient_boards.html

April 24-30, 2016

Full Squats - Paused - Maintenance
455 #186 | 465 #4 | 470 #1| 475 #7

BW  180-184lb

Sun April 24

315s-365-405
hammerstrength inclined press 45+25lb x10,10
bw chins x20

* going to vegas for a 3 day vacation. 24hr supersport there is about the same here. will enjoy some good buffet again. added the squat foam on the jump squats to protect my upperback. did it yesterday and seems to do its job. upperback is not as beat this morning.

Mon April 25

morning
paused full squats 315s-365-405
bw chins x20
situps 27.5lb x20

afternoon
paused full squats 315s-365-405
paused full jump squats 95,115,135,185lbx4 | 225lbx2 | SVJx3
bw chins x20
inclined hammerstrength press 45+25lb x10,10

* the 225lb jump squat primed my SVJ very well. i was able to get to the high 30s today (cold. no pickup game). i got both palm to the rim on the first 2hand SVJ, 1" under wrist on the 2nd. thats 38 and 39" jumps if this 24 hr gym rim is legit 10ft (most are). i use the side rim as these are usually higher than the center rims.
* bw still leaning out. vegas has very good buffets but i usually go for the sea bass and king crabs. i drop weight on sea foods.
* my inclined press on the hammerstrength is also getting stronger. i could add 20-30lbs more and still get to 10s but i just do these so i can balance my pulling work. no need to add upperbody mass. i also do these seated inclined press with my feet up on a 30lb dumbbell for max isolation of the upperbody while really killing the lowerback from joining the motion.

Tue April 26

morning
paused full squats 315s-365-405
bw chins x20
situps 27.5lb x20
seated inclined hammerstrength press 45+35lb x10,10

* last day in vegas. had some really good buffet last night at bacchanal. breakfast today at hash house was also very good. might lift early afternoon again before the flight back.

afternoon
paused full squats 315s-365-405
bw chins x20
seated inclined hammerstrength press 2x45lb x10,10


Wed April 27

morning
paused full squats 315s
bw chins x20,20 (16-4)

* jet lagged. will recover more sleep today and lift again later before work.

afternoon
paused full squats 315s
bw chins x20
situps 30lb x10

* upperback tender from the volumes of upperbody inclined pressing. so much pain racking the . did 4+ singles of 315 but the pain is too much to go 365-405.

Thur April 28

paused full squats 315s-365-405
bw chins x20

Fri April 29

paused full squats 315s
single leg press on kaiser machine 225-275-315-365x4, 405-440-475x2, 495 x2,x2,x2 | SVJ x2
bw chins x20

* used this machine doing single leg press for speed-strength work. did not do them with both legs to protect my lowerback from rounding.  using the leg press while my upperback recovers from the jump squat beatings (again). 315 was already to painful today. skipped the back squats.


Sat April 30

paused full squats 315s-365
bw chins x20
seated hammerstrength inclined press 45+25lb x10,10 (8-2) | 2x45lb x4

* upperback still wrecked. very certain its from the heavy jump squats a few days back in vegas. I need to concentrate on keeping tension on my upperback on jump squats. this is getting annoying. cant even unrack 405.

Quote from: Kingfish on April 14, 2016, 11:34:21 pm

launch pad only. i can do more max SVJ landings with this tool.  the landing stress is reduced significantly.

http://www.gerstung.us/gerstung_resilient_boards.html

Which one do you have of those two? I'm seriously interested in ordering one. My ankle/shin could really use something that reduces the stress of landings. Thanks!

the one on the right that looks like a regular wood board.