I got my squat and deadlift and bodyweight up quite a bit in the last couple of years. I would practice jumping frequently during all this, and I would occasionally do a few months of dedicated weightlifting. I even incorporated jump squats and such. Vertical stayed the same.
could you elaborate on your actual gains in squat/deadlift/bodyweight? would be nice to know in understanding the "puzzle" a bit more.
I put on the power jumper on Jack Woodrup's recommendation and got immediate results. Did one session per week as my "dynamic day" and a month later I was jumping 5 inches higher. Broad jump was 13" farther.
Started a thread on SS about it and immediately got into fights. One of those fights about what exactly the jumper improved. Someone said technique and I rejoined along the lines of "technique if by technique you mean raw speed in the descent."
I think the overspeed eccentric did a lot more for me than resistance in the concentric phase. It's my understanding that I could have gotten an overspeed effect from drop jumps, but the bands gave this effect without making me have to land on a hard surface after a fall. This is no small matter with someone with beat up knees like mine.
you kept everything the same, and simply incorporated the lifeline power jumper, during that month?
Maybe I'm being a little greedy, but I want even more gains, despite getting 5" in a month. I'm at 28" now and I just want to crack 30" because it's a nice round number and where most people consider getting beyond average. The power jumper's effects seem to be waning, however. Meanwhile my squat strength seems to be picking up (I currently squat high bar without a belt but with loose knee wraps). I just have a feeling I can squeeze more inches out of my current (and improving) strength levels. I'd say I have plenty of strength for a 30" vertical (~350 high bar without a belt at 180) and I need more speed.
whatever you did, it seems to have decreased your explosive strength deficit (ESD), allowing you to utilize more of the strength you already have, in that crucial time frame for vert.. MAX STRENGTH - EXPLOSIVE STRENGTH = ESD.. so if you increase maxS without increasing exS, deficit increases.. to me it sounds like you bridged that gap better during that month, somehow, though i'm not sure how you got 5 inches SIMPLY from incorporating LLPJ'r 1x/week.. if you incorporated it 2-3x/week then it would make more sense as a stimulus, that's why im wondering what you did with the other aspects of your training, ie your lifts.
What I wonder is if I'd be better off keeping the overspeed eccentric and eliminating the extra resistance at the top. That is to say, replacing the power jumper with drop jumps. I got heavier bands for the jumper and they don't seem to be helping any. I think I may be adding too much of a strength component with the resistance after the quicker eccentric. The only way to get the quicker eccentric without the band resistance in the concentric is to drop from a box, right?
Thanks for reading.
depth drops & depth jumps would definitely be a huge graduation from power jumper.. the only difference between those exercises and LLPJ is "how the tension is received", any time you add bands, it "changes gravity", so, it's a slightly different stimulus for the body.. that said, the biggest eccentric contractions you will experience, would come from depth drops or depth jumps.. make sure you can land "quiet" from a box height before you try and depth jump it.. you want a nice quiet smooth landing without much change in center of gravity AFTER you make contact with the ground.. depth jumps should provide a much better stimulus for exS gains, even maxS gains, just progress carefully considering your knee comment...... 4x5 from 12", then 18", then eventually 24-30", but that progression should happen over a few months at least, 1 month being spent on 12 or 18", then transitioning into more intense work if capable.
intense depth jumps cause supramaximal "protective" contractions, which then teach your body how to recruit those motor units WITHOUT the need for it to be a protective mechanism...
beyond that, make sure you're lifting with speed.. every "transition" from ECC TO CON, should happen as explosive as possible, that is the most crucial aspect of any lift..
peace man
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