There are a lot of vertical jump training systems around and many of them work. The real question is. “what kind of program are you looking for?”
At least for me, when I was looking around, that was an important part of my decision making.
I was sure that I didn’t want to use any of the fancy equipment. I’ve been lucky enough to see some of my friends use them and was able to borrow a few of those for short periods.
They didn’t work for me!
I was also sure I didn’t want to do thousands of jumps to see an increase in my vertical leap. I’ve injured my knee before during a game and it took a few months to fully heal so I don’t want to be sidelined by something like that again.
Vert Shock Review
In the end, I did chooseAdam Folker’s Vert Shock System. In reality, this vertical jump program is a collaboration between Adam Folker who’s a pro baller and his buddy Justin Darlington, who many consider as the best dunker in the world. If you think that’s an overstatement, you might want to see the video below.
The reason I chose the program was I knew that the people behind it were real jumpers and dunkers and not just someone trying to scam me. The 3 other things that made me choose Vert Shock in the end was:
The program was only 8 weeks long. Two months is a long time, but compared to other jump training programs this was one of the shortest. I have issues focusing my attention and the longer things go the more distracted I get to looking at other things. So I thought this was best for me.
It did not force you to do lots and lots of jumps. This was one of the more important points for me. I didn’t want to over train or injure myself. And making hundreds of jumps can do that to your joints. So I was going for quality not quantity.
There was no weights needed. I don’t have a gym at home, and don’t have a gym membership. I wanted to be able to do a program where I didn’t have to travel far to train. This will also work better if you’re still growing and are afraid weights might get in the way of your height potential.
8 Week Results and Looking Back – Vert Shock Experience
The entire system consisted of an 8 week schedule. I made sure that I found a 2 month period where I knew I not only had the time to do the exercises religiously but also be able to eat and rest properly. I wasn’t taking any chances that things can get in the way of my training and derail any potential gains.
In the end, I’m very happy, actually ecstatic is a more appropriate word about my results. In total, I gained 9 inches in my vertical leaping ability.
Before doing the program I could get to the rim with the ball but when I tried dunking I’d only be able to back rim it. At the time I thought it was because I could not palm the ball. But after the first 2 weeks of training I was able to legitimately dunk it. So it have a vertical height issue.
A lot of my gains came early, I guess the system “shocked” my body. Close to 7 inches came before week 5 was done, with the rest in the remaining ones. Maybe I got cocky and didn’t train as hard in the end after seeing nice gains early. I’m not sure.
Comparing with the other reviews and testimonials from those who used Adam Folker’s system, my gains were still quite modest. Most on them saw 9 to 15 inches improvements in their vertical jumps.
A Review of My Experience
As I said earlier, there were no weights needed. So I didn’t have to do any lifting like squats or deadlifts like in the other programs. Instead the Vert Shock focused on improving the way you jump and its explosiveness.
For me, there was a bit more science to it. Though I think that those who are familiar with weight lifting and training may already know this. What they focused on were our fast twitch fibers. These are the fibers in the muscles that are able to contract very fast. They’re important because they’re the ones that give you power. By power, I mean the power for a higher jump and also a more explosive jump.
By focusing on this I needed to do less jumps and still got the results I did. The focus of the program was plyometrics. I did a bit of reading up on plyometrics and made sure I was careful in order to avoid injury.
The exercise videos were very helpful since I knew that I was doing them correctly. What I liked about the program was it was also very clear. You had a clear list of things to do on any single day.
The bulk of the training were the middle 6 weeks which is the Shock Phase. That’s when most of the jump training happened.
What You Can Expect from the Vert Shock System
The Vert Shock program will lay everything out for you from Week 1 to Week 8. It will show you everything you need to do and how to do them.
But, it won’t do the work for you.
This means you have to set aside the time and put in the work. Just as importantly, go in ready each time.
It’s not going to help you if you’re going to do the exercises haphazardly. Or, if you’re going to be sloppy.
You might get some results if you just finish it for the sake of doing it. But, you won’t see the results other people are. Make sure you come in with full intensity for each workout. Then rest and eat enough to recover.
Conclusion
Jumping is a combination of physical and mental ability, it also includes science. You use your body to get stronger and jump higher, but when you train you mind has to be focused. You mind also has to be aware of what you should and should not do during days you don’t train so you don’t waste the time you spent working out. Where Vert Shock comes in is with the proper science so you work less but more efficiently and get an increase in your vertical jump. For a look at our top jump training programs see our review here.
