So today was the big test day finally and after 3 weeks of not squatting heavy, i was being driven nuts wondering when i was finally going to test my standing and running vjs for a local strength coach and his coworkers/assistants. it was a windy day outside (20-30mph plus gusts) and the test was to be done outside, but this didnt factor in much. my reach was measured post warmup and jumps and it was .5" higher than usual, maybe due to spinal decomprestion from lack of squatting, not sure. but it was 7'5-1/2". my plyos and jumps in practice were higher than ever. i used a new approach, approaching much faster and i abandoned my jump stop technique which i used post injury, for my old left right plant. it allowed me to come in much faster and also allowed me to jump straighter up instead of up and out. this seemed to help. my previous official prs were 46.5" standing and 51" running. i wanted to beat those and another goal of mine was to touch 12". i knew i couldnt be far off. the guys were cool and let me take as many jumps as i wanted, and its a good thing because i suffer from "one more time" disease and i took over 15 standing jumps on the vertec and 15 running jumps on the vertec. my squat strength has been high before deload and my jumps have felt great. my first jump i hit a 48.5 standing. now i knew that 50 standing was possible. it took another 10 jumps to hit 50. then i realized that my reach hadnt been measured yet and what if it was higher for some reason. i took a few more jumps and hit 50.5 which ended up being a 50 when my reach was measured. i had been doing plenty of reactive work prior to this and knew my running would be good, i just wasnt sure if 12 feet was realistic. i hit high 11's for all jumps and nicked the top of the vertec at 12 feet. there was some controversy as to whether i made contact or not, so i just said screw it, ill just do it again. the next jump i hit it cleanly and there was no dispute. the guys were cool about everything and just wanted to make sure things are accurate and i respect that, and when i proved to them that a standing 40" vertical was possible and then did a 50" they admitted they were wrong and gave me credit. i respect them for that. after that my wife arrived and i did get some pics of me jumping relative to the rim. i posted some pics below. the guys took pics and i think some video of the vertec jumps, but not sure. i will email but i know they took pictures for sure, and i saw one guy with his camera phone.
    the reach was funny, they stretched me like crazy and rightfully so, and as i stated my reach was .5" more than before.
    i am on cloud nine after todays jumps. for the guys to come threw, for the weather to hold up, for me to be fresh and peaked, and for it all work out was awesome. if i never jump again (dont worry i will) i would be completely satisfied with what i accomplished today. i am very proud of what i was able to do and glad the testing is over. I hope the guys who came got the info they wanted and that they now believe that big things can be accomplished. the main S and C guy said that it was nothing personal, he was just researching and said that he didnt think a legit 40" vertical excistsed much less anything more than that and he figured either he is proven right or he would see some great jumps and that it would be worth the drive for him. he must have thought i would be able to jump that high, otherwise he wouldnt have brought his assisntants/buddies. i did feel though that they were rooting against me at first but once i started getting some big jumps in, they were pulling for me as much as anyone.
    my knees hurt, i did over 50 maximal effort jumps between the vertec and rim jumps, and i feel fried. now enough of the jumping stuff, and time to get faster and start squatting heavy again!!!!
    train hard,
    AC

read the squatdr thread linked in here, you've been mislead.. AC Barch Jr is basically a "magician", you got fooled.