The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [146]
The vertical jump.
The Vertical Jump
DeFranco started me off with an abbreviated warm-up, videos of which can be seen at www.fourhourbody.com/defranco:
Normal jumping jacks × 10
Seal jacks × 10 (open and close the arms in front of the chest)
Reverse lunge × 5 (each side)
Side lunge × 5 (each side)
Leg swings forward and backward × 10 (each side)
Pogo jumps × 20 secs. (jump on the balls of your feet with legs straight as fast as possible)
We then approached the altar of air: the Vertec.
It is, Vertec’s marketing department forgive me, a pole with sticks that rotate when struck. The highest stick you hit determines your vertical leap.2
“Show me your best.”
So I did. Twenty-one inches. My second and third attempts yielded an equally unimpressive 22 inches.
STARTING POINT: 22 INCHES
As I prepared to receive my first set of instructions, the asshole walked in. Correction: The Asshole.
“Hey, Asshole!” DeFranco shouted over his shoulder.
“What’s up!” The Asshole offered back.
DeFranco looked back at me and explained, “It’s not derogatory at all. That’s just what he is. It’s his name.” Outside the gym, The Asshole is known as Mike Guadango. His story was typical of DeFranco’s acolytes. He had been cut from the University of Delaware baseball team his freshman year. He responded by transferring to William Paterson University and sacrificing his body to DeFranco. Twelve months later, he was first-team All-American. The Asshole could now do 50 consecutive military chins and, at 5′9″, had become a YouTube celebrity for a jump from standstill onto a face-height 55-inch box.3 Not bad for someone known in DeFranco’s clan for his lack of natural gifts.
The Asshole took a comfortable seat to enjoy the spectacle.
DeFranco’s first round of training began with corrections.
Flaw #1: Too Little Shoulder Drive
“Shoulders are prime movers in the jump and contribute up to 20% of your height. Try running a 40-yard dash with your arms by your sides and you’ll get the idea. For the vertical jump, the speed of your descent into a half-squat will correlate to the max height. Really use your upper-body strength and throw your arms down as fast as you can, recoiling with the same speed.”
DeFranco encouraged me to start with my arms overhead like an Olympic diver, using the additional distance for increased velocity downward. This would maximize elastic recoil. My dominant right arm would then be the only arm extended overhead to hit the sticks.
Flaw #2: Pulling the Extended Arm Back at the Apex of the Jump
My arm was retracted at the highest point, as if I were spiking a volleyball, and I was hitting the sticks on the way down. It needed to be retracted on the way up.
Flaw #3: Too Wide a Squat Stance
My squat stance, just outside of hip width, was too wide and decreased my standing height by one to two inches. I needed to place my feet just inside the hips and keep my back flat as I squatted.
I had to keep my eyes on the sticks at all times, except for at the very bottom on the squat.
Shaking out my arms and legs, I ran through the checklist and took a few deep breaths.
Then I jumped again.
3RD ATTEMPT: 24 INCHES
I had just gained two inches on my vertical.
“Who taught you to jump with your feet together?” The Asshole shouted from behind me.
It seemed that, in an effort to start with my arms overhead like an Olympic diver, I’d also stood like an Olympic diver, with my feet firmly together. I didn’t even notice. How had I managed to squat like that?
Four or five things might not seem like much, but it’s a hell of a lot to keep in your head for a maximal-speed movement.
DeFranco pulled out a stretching mat. It was time for more corrections.
Flaw #4: Tight Hip Flexors
“Normally, we don’t use static stretching. The hip flexors are the one exception. The objective is to put them to sleep, as they can restrict maximal leg extension.”
Static stretching is what most people think of as stretching—go into a