Today I had my second workout since starting my quest to dunking. Doing a combination of strength and plyometrics because I think I need a combination of both.

Here is my workout for the day:

Warm Ups
Light Squats to warm up
4 Sets of 8 reps of 255 1/2 squats
3 Sets of 15 reps of squat jumps
4 Sets of Barbell Calve Raises
3 Sets of Step Ups with 2 20lb dumbbells


Was going to do more but was my body told me that was enough. Didn't want to over do it. Going to have my next workout most likely sunday.



My goals:

Dunk Cleanly! (Probably Need About 8 Inches)

Took a few days to recoup after an intense basketball session on friday night. Yesterday I dislocated my finger so I have to be very careful with my finger. I am going to have an intense workout session tomorrow. Going to up my squat numbers and do some depth jumps this week. Hopefully my recovery time is a lot shorter this week!

Intense workout tonight as well. Here it is:

Stretching
High Jumps 3 Sets of 10 Reps
Half Squats 275 pounds of 3 sets of 6 reps
Depth Jumps off 20" height. 3 sets of 8 reps
Step Ups with 30lb dumbbells in each hand. 3 Sets of 8 Reps
Squats jumps with 30lb dumbbells in each hand. Sets of 10 Reps
4 Sets of Calve Raises


Depth jumps don't seem to be doing as much as I had hoped. Maybe Im not doing it right cuz i don't feel anythin from them. Please feel free to give me tips. Been watching videos and I feel like I am doing them right. Just not getting fatigued or sore from them. Maybe I need to go higher then 20"

Hey man, looks like you are on your way. I totally agree with Ineedtodunk above about the jump squats, you don't need to do more than 6-8 max, and definitely get a pure jumps session into your week, you'll be surprised how much that helps early on. Also, if you are fairly new to athletic jumping like this, I wouldn't bother doing depth jumps yet, they're pretty advanced. Just develop your leg strength, and rely on the jumps sessions and low-level plyos stuff like pogo jumps and maybe tucks, short acceleration sprints etc for your explosiveness. Once you get really strong (1.5xBW on your full squat) and you feel ready, I'd incorporate some depth jumps then.

Last point, are you gonna do anything for your hamstrings like deadlifts, 45 deg back extensions or glute ham raises? I'd suggest doing some of those as well.

Keep it up!

You don't NEED to do full squats, half squats are fine since you're trying to do jump higher.  What Acole meant was, before you get into depth jumps and want to make them effective for you, your strength level has to be at a point where your strong enough to full squat 1.5x your BW.  Half squatting 1.5x BW means you are not strong enough, since that will equate to a much lower full squat.  I see your max half squat 300lbs and your weight 170lbs so that's 1.76xBW.  I guarantee that your strength level on a full squat is lower than 1.5xBW. 

Regarding using lower weight to move the weight faster, save that for jump squats.  That's where you want to focus on maximal bar speed and explosiveness.

Yes get at least 1 p-chain glute/hamstring workout.  Especially since your a 1 foot jumper.  It's needed more for us 1 foot jumpers. 

And yes, jump sessions help tremendously.  You gotta make your body adapt, and basically send it a message with frequent jumping motions telling it, "I need to be optimal at this".  Keep working on form and technique as well if yours is not good already.  Lots of people start to jump higher just from jump sessions.  It's arguably the single best thing you can do to increase your vertical.  To just go JUMP.  But of course, it can only take you so far.

I like your hard work during your workout sessions, but remember, you don't necessarily HAVE to destroy your body on each workout, leaving you exhausted and sore for the next few days.  And if you're going to do explosive workouts AND heavy strength workouts on the same day, explosive stuff should be done FIRST.  Remember what I said earlier, when doing explosive stuff, every rep and set should be your 100% maximal explosive potential.  If these are done after heavy squatting, obviously they won't be as explosive.  I like to keep them on separate days.  Doing explosive stuff hinders my strength exercises, so I gotta separate the days.  Others can handle it.  Depends on the person.

I would recommend making a schedule more structured and consistent.  For now, focus on getting stronger, and having frequent jump sessions.  Having frequent jump sessions will be hard, if you're totally burning yourself out on your workouts.  Remember you don't need tons of volume and soreness to improve.  Just because you didn't spend 2 hours working out and are sore for 3 days after, does not mean you didn't workout well.

Good luck and keep it up.

Not bad, I think you might need to change the order a bit though...I think it's usually best to do the explosive part of your workout first because you need to be fresh for those exercises. For example, I'd do day one like this:

Stretching
Static hip flexor stretching
Rim Jumps - 2 Sets of 10 Reps
Rhythmic Lunge Jumps – 2 Sets of 10 Reps
maybe another exercise like tuck jumps 3x8-10

then:

½ Squats 4 Sets of 6-8 Reps
Weighted Step Ups 2 Sets of 6 Reps
Glute Ham Raises/or Lying Hamstring Curls 3 Sets of 8 Reps
Calf Raises 4 Sets of 20 Reps

But that's just me. Also, your overall workouts seem to be favouring more plyometric exercises, which are great, but remember that these are designed to express the strength you have right now more effectively. Ultimately, you need to push that squat weight up, get super strong hamstrings etc. so maybe you should address the balance of heavy weight/plyometrics exercises. I would strongly recommend you check out the JackM split, it sounds perfect for you I think.

http://www.adarq.org/forum/program-review/jackm-split/

I looked over that program like it a lot! It seems very easy to follow! Did my first workout today, let me know what you think. Must have pulled muscle in my ankle because it was sore the whole workout and it still hurts.

This was my workout:

Stretching
2 Sets of Pogo Jumps
1 Set of Rim Jumps
1/2 Squats - 5 Sets of 5 Reps of 280lbs
Lying Hamstring Curls 3 Sets of 10 Reps
Standing Barbell Calf Raises 4 Sets of 20 Reps


Doing something like this two days a week while improving my strength numbers should definitely help right?