Training Harder Will Make You Jump Higher
What is up, guys? Welcome back to the THB Trank podcast. In this episode, we're gonna be talking about my training. My name is John Evans. I have a 40 to 43 inch vertical.
John:This is Isaiah Rivera. He is one of the highest drummers in the world with a officially tested 50.5 inch vertical, and not any of that BS where he's hanging the shoulder down. We're talking. He's really, really reaching. And if you guys are interested in getting coaching with us, there is a link in the description for the coaching.
John:If you purchase six months, you can get six months free as well as a potential six week challenge where you put a deposit down. And if you increase your vertical by two inches in those six weeks, you get your money back. So really no risk to you. The only thing is you have to do all of the workouts, and you have to measure your vertical before and after. And we also have a free week of training that we will give you guys as a pre pretest to see if you're if you're fit, if you got the right the right mindset to be successful on this.
John:Did I miss anything?
Isaiah:That a lot.
John:That was a lot. There's a lot to offer. I'm trying to give you guys a lot of options. So that's it. Let's get into it here.
John:So I have been doing a new mesocycle. And prior to this, I was, well, even more prior to this, I was very out of shape as you guys saw, and I lost a lot of weight. Started really just training on kind of a very unique, more experimental program. I was doing a lot of step up jumps. I was doing a lot of isometric work to try to work on my ability to amortize.
John:I think that I'd kinda lost that. My eccentric strength was still pretty good. My propulsive strength was still decent, but I wasn't very good in elastic conditions. I'd kinda lost the sensations that I needed to jump really, really high. So lost, what do you think, 15 pounds or so?
Isaiah:When? The at the very beginning?
John:Yeah. Probably, like, the last six months.
Isaiah:I have no idea. I remember it initially initially.
John:I was up to one ninety at one point. Yeah. And I got as as low as first when you, like, got Like, April, like, when Fabian
Isaiah:was here. Months, like, a year ago, two, six months ago. Right?
John:No. Yeah. So, like, I would say at the start of when I started training hard again. So, like, Fabian right at the start when I started training with Fabian, maybe even prior to that, I think I had got up to one ninety, and I was like, okay. This is this is bad.
John:I think Fabian was here in April or March. So I think I had started training and losing weight. I think I lost about five pounds there. When Fabian was here, I lost about two or three more. And then I wanna say it was probably, like, May to June, that period of time, I lost a ton a ton of weight.
John:I think I lost, like, 10 pounds during that period. I was intermittent fasting. I had stopped eating poorly. At the time, I was dating someone that did not value my personal athletic endeavors, and I kinda, like, put my goals to the wayside. And, you know, it's it's obviously on me partially.
John:You know? It's not their fault. I could have made better decisions and and been more disciplined, but I found it way easier when I was single to control those variables. So it was like, you know, I'm not eating crap when I'm out. I'm not finishing their meal, which was something that I was regularly doing.
John:I was intermittent fasting, you know, more regularly, so I wasn't just, like, eating a meal during the morning because they wanted to go get breakfast or something like that or, you know, eating two dinners or something like that. Like, I was very, very dialed in on what I wanted to do. So, yeah, lost a ton of weight. I would say during that time, my vertical probably went up, like, six to eight inches during that, like, sixty day period from June to July. And then after that, kind of maintained, had a little couple hamstring flare ups while I was still kinda, like, losing weight and stuff like that, and then made a cuff windmill on 10 feet outdoors in my Kobies, which is really good because the Kobies don't have any heel on them.
John:So my reach is, like, an honest, honest seven eleven. And then, you know, really started was like, okay. What's next? You know, I need to to take steps to to really improve and and stay healthy. And I had a conversation with Isaiah where I posted my best dunk session ever, which we could we could briefly pull up.
John:I'll pause it. So this was easily my best session ever. And so I showed this to Isaiah. Yeah. But, Isaiah, what was your what was your response when you tell tell the people what you basically basically told me, and it inspired me.
Isaiah:I I mean, I had the the reason I had even asked we we started the podcast. We we mentioned our verticals, and I see a lot of people hate on John. Like, a lot of people in the comments. So he doesn't have a 40 or or 42 or whatever. And I I texted John one day, and I was like, hey.
Isaiah:Can I, like, see the this session? Like, I never really I saw it at the time, but it's it's been a while since I had seen those jumps. And, yeah, they were crazy. So, like, when you look at his highest jumps there's two jumps specifically that I like.
John:I think it's this is where I started jumping higher because the first ones were just off the dribble, and this was 10 feet, like, measured. Like, that one was pretty high, and then I guess these jumps just got progressively higher. Like, each one just felt better and better and better. I think the next one might be a throw in. And it felt like yeah.
John:It just felt like I was on a trampoline. Like, that one, felt like I just kept going up. Like, it just, like, did not stop. My timing was really good. I mean, I've never really been good at at trick dunks and stuff like that.
John:I think we're all kind of aware there's a throw in there, and I just I really wasn't missing. Like, that jump specifically is the highest jump I've ever had. You know, I'm falling away from the rim. My head is, you know, basically right there and basically just repeated it again. And then I think I just, like, punched the shit out of a one hander here.
John:Yep. So, yeah, I think these clips, you saw them, Isaiah, and you were like, what the like, where did this where I've never seen this before. And I was like like, I was trying elbows on 10 feet, and I don't really have the spacing for it. But, you know, that's always been like a dream dunk, and my elbow is very high. So it would be hard for me to do.
John:I think that's the end of the session there. But so during that, Isaiah basically said to me, like, hey. You know, I need to see this in person again. Like, I've never seen you jump, you know, that high, maybe outside of, like, one maybe one outlier session.
Isaiah:Yeah. There there's been a a cup. I think there's been, like, two, like, two sessions where I saw you, jump close to that.
John:Yeah. And those periods, I was like, unlike you, Isaiah, I can't. I have to have more volume to jump really, really high off one foot. And prior to that, I was trying to hit an East Bay, which if you guys go to my YouTube, you can see the videos that CJ edited. There's, like, three or four that he did that have, like, around 2,000 views, but they're really, really good videos, and they're funny.
John:And it's a standard CJ edit. So we, I was training really hard. Like, I was sprinting three days a week. I wasn't missing any general days. I was doing, you know, bodybuilding circuits and did a full progression of accentuated eccentrics.
John:There was a period in there where I was just getting my concentric strength up, did a whole cycle of plyos, went to dunk camp, didn't jump, like, extremely well at dunk camp. And looking back, I think it was just an immense amount of fatigue. And then went to had, like, a a little bit of anxiety, went to California with Isaiah to do a podcast, ended up hitting my first East Bay on September, which was, like, a major, major milestone. Think a little bit before that in September had the session that we just watched. So it was, you know, objectively the best that that I've ever dunked.
John:And, you know, after that, came back, was dunking really well with you guys at at Goldenrod, but it's Goldenrod, I don't really count it because I'm like, yeah. This is just this thing's so low. And there was definitely some some good jump sessions. Like, on that nine eight and a half side, I my head was, like, at the rim or over the rim, which was really good from a from a distance dunk on the day that we played. And then I started to detrain a lot and gotten that relationship and then really, you know, kinda lost a lot of my fitness.
John:So coming back in to to go full circle, I've been doing a lot of very intense volume. So one of the things is is the accentuated eccentrics. So I the other day, we did true squats, and Isaiah was I was like, hey. Like, I'm you know, what did I do last time? And I was like, oh, four four fifty five.
John:And he was like, oh, yeah. Just or I was gonna go four seventy five, and then I was like, no. I'm going 500. I'm just gonna suffer underneath the weight of this belt squad. Dude.
John:So we threw that on there and lowered it for three reps. And, like, yesterday, I was I mean, it's week three. So as you guys know, week three is always gonna be, like, the most intense. It's always gonna be the most volume. It's always gonna be yeah.
John:Isaiah is also on week three. And, yeah, it it just absolutely throttled me that session. Like, today, I went out, did my general work, I was like, dang. I'm, like, still really fatigued. Like, you know, kind of brain fog, not super sharp.
John:After my workout, I feel a lot better. But, yeah, this morning, I got out bed, and I was like, oh, I feel like I feel like crap. Like, feel terrible Yeah. Which is good. So Isaiah, on the other side of that, had you posted the video, but it was
Isaiah:a Yeah. It wasn't fun. It
John:wasn't a bit. Fun. Was that entertaining?
Isaiah:The when I when I told John about the session, like like, how I felt about those jumps and stuff, John was basically like, oh, let me give it one more one more go. One more hard push.
John:But the thing is, like, once you start, it's like I mean, it's more time consuming for sure. Like, I mean, at each session, I'm losing an hour of my day additional, you know, an an additional hour of my day. It's probably, I mean, an hour on the general days, maybe more an hour and a half some days. And then, you know, on the sprint days, it's probably another, yeah, hour or so. And then, you know, filming everything and and editing it for for YouTube takes quite a bit of time too, but it is it's massively fulfilling.
John:You know, I kinda forgot what it was like to really to to get after it and and do, like, full warm ups and full volumes. And, like, we were talking about discipline the other day, Isaiah was, like, you know, two of the things that I've noticed with discipline is, like, do I meditate every day and do I train every day? Like, do I do those two things?
Isaiah:Yeah. It's like it's the two things that I am strict with because we were talking about how it can be a problem to be too, like, anal, for lack of a better word. It's about everything. But I have two of my nonnegotiable things that I'm gonna be disciplined about. And by discipline and nonnegotiable, I mean, like, there will not be a missed day.
Isaiah:I don't care if I'm traveling. I don't care if I'm sick. I don't care if I'm busy. I don't care if somebody in my family, like, this is morbid, but, like, you know, unalive. Like, those are my two nonnegotiables is I will meditate that day and I will train and not and specifically, I'm gonna do the whole workout.
Isaiah:And if I do those two things, everything in life kinda falls into place, and I can kinda transfer the I don't have to try to be disciplined in other areas of my life. Generally happier if I do those two things. You know, relationships are better. Friendships are better. I'm can be happier eating.
Isaiah:Like, there's a lot a lot of benefits to it, but, yeah, it was, like, my two nonnegotiables.
John:Yeah. And I also noticed, like, in in that vein of that kind of same context was if I do a full warm up every day, that is my form of discipline because it's easy to get into the weight room, do ISOs, do a barbell warm up, and kinda just, like, do the lift and be done. You know? Like, that's a very low threshold for me because I'm used to I know what it's like to train twenty hours a week. I know what it feels like.
John:I know how hard it is. I know how disciplined you have to be to go to the track every day, skip for a mile, you know, of different skips, do your dynamic flexibility in its entirety, do the sprint drills in its entirety, and then sprint, and then come to the weight room, do your same barbell warm up you would do on a day where you're not as disciplined, and then get into the lift and really push. I think for me, that kind of cyclic consistency and that routine sets up my success in every other area. I'm gonna eat better. I'm gonna feel my body better.
John:I'm gonna make sure that I do the little things and then slowly but surely improve. And, you know, we were kind of talking about the other day, there's there's a guy online that doesn't believe in training at all. He's like, just, you know, weigh nothing and jump every day. And I'm like, you know, he, like, fast for seventy two hours or something like that. And he's like, I'm the only one getting better at 26.
John:And I was like, I am gonna prove you wrong, my friend, because you can't dispute evidence. You can't dispute progress, you know, and you and specifically peer reviewed evidence. And for me, it's like all of the things we do are are based in evidence. And I've had these periods where I've gotten better, you know, and we talked about this yesterday, but, like, you have to stay consistent with the training if you wanna maintain. That's just to maintain.
John:If you wanna get better, you've gotta train harder than you've ever trained. You have to push intensity. You have to push volume. You have to push workload. That's, you know, that's the only way you're gonna get better.
John:If you just wanna stay the same or around the same level, then just stay healthy. And Isaiah, you know, you've seen that probably, what, the last, like, six months or so. You know, it was really just that was the focus. Was like, okay. Let's stay healthy.
John:And I think there's a time and place for that. You know? Like, if you're doing a lot of events or, you know, you you have worked really, really hard for a long time and you kinda wanna just, like, enjoy the fruits of your labor, your labor fruit as we call it. And, you know, it's okay. But if you if you do that for too long, you're gonna you're gonna start to get worse.
John:You know? And and Fabian's starting to feel that, you know, as well. He was telling me today, know, I had a call with him, and he was like, I it's just training monotony. Like, I've just been doing the same thing for eight weeks. And the goal of that was to get his ankle healthier, so it was worth it because we achieved that goal.
John:But now it's time to push again because that's the only way that you can get better is do different things, do harder things, challenge yourself in a new way, you know, find ways to to spur on adaptation. So that's where I'm at now. I'm I'm three weeks in. I did have a little bit of a hamstring tweak a roo, which is funny because Isaiah, you literally were like, yeah. As long as you don't pull your hamstring, I think I think you'll be okay.
John:And then the first session, I was like, hey. Tweak my hamstring. Yeah. But
Isaiah:I mean, it's I I think that's the the limiter because, I mean, I've seen you train now for a lot, like, many, many years, and that's the one limiter. Like, you'll get I think for you, hard is the easy part. It's an injury will come in that prevents you from working hard. And it was I mean, the the same thing happened to me with, like, my CFO and stuff like that. So I think it's like, in our world, success comes from knowing your body well enough that you can push hard while staying healthy.
John:It's like a double edged sword. You know? The thing that makes us so successful is also the thing that can be our demise. Like, we wanna
Isaiah:You're balancing when you're balancing like a like a pencil on your finger. Like Yeah. It's you have to ride that that line.
John:Yeah. But I've definitely been better about it. Yesterday, I was able to do twenties. You know, I'm kinda debating when I wanna jump and figure out what I'm gonna do next. But, yeah, it's been it's been super rewarding and a ton of fun.
John:And if you guys, you know, you you've done it, then you understand. You know? And it's it's hard to see yourself go the other direction. I think that's the other thing too. It's like seeing yourself get worse is one of and not not because you're training hard and it's training fatigue, but you're just flat out detrained.
John:You know? That is, like, probably one of the worst sensations, you know, where you're just like, what am I doing? Like, I need to get I need to get back on the horse, and I need to really stay focused here.
Isaiah:So I I think I I have I think I have a what what's the word for, like, a neur like, a neurosis? Like, I have
John:Yeah. Neurosis. I'm kinda yeah. Have I have a Neurotic.
Isaiah:Neurotic freaking behavior about getting worse. Like like, I get that feeling when I start dipping even, like, a little bit. Like, I just
John:yeah. So I can only that one session?
Isaiah:When you were, like, when you were deep, you know, when you said you were, like, one ninety and stuff, like
John:You feel like shit about yourself. I just think I just think about that time that Sutherland called Austin fat and, like, he talks about it, I'm like, that's what it feels like. Like, you just, like, feel so shitty about yourself. And Yeah. Because one fun place to be.
Isaiah:But when you've seen the mountaintop and then you're back down, like, it it's a crappy feeling. Some are getting hurt, like, getting an injury or something like that. Like
John:We always say the first day is the hardest. The first day is always the hardest.
Isaiah:Yeah. Day one.
John:Day one. That first day. Like, it's like the day it happens and the next day.
Isaiah:It is amazing. Like, let's say you are overweight. Let's say you're twenty pounds overweight and you feel horrible every day, you feel like a slob. It is amazing how quickly you can feel good. Like, if you just work out for a week straight, like, the fact that you're on the trend upwards, like, feels amazing.
Isaiah:Like, even, you know, last six months, I wasn't I was just maintaining. Last month started, like, dipping down, had a lot of bad sessions in a row, probably three, like, two or three. As soon as we started week one of training hard, it's like, oh, this is good.
John:Like, this feels good. You literally look at me and you're like, oh, yeah. I can tell this is gonna make me jump higher. Yeah. I feel it in my bones.
John:Yeah. And that's the best. But, yeah, that's the that's the episode, guys. I hope you enjoyed it. If you're interested in coaching, check out one of those three options.
John:Six months six months free. You can do the challenge, or you can just get one week of free training. So check those links out. We'll pin a comment with each of those, and we'll see you guys next time. Bye.
