I'm 5'7". And I want to slam dunk a basketball

[rpandya89]

Hi all,

 

My dad came to the United States in 1982 as a graduate student from India.  The first thing he ever watched on American television was Moses Malone, Julius Erving, and the Philadelphia 76ers defeat Larry Bird's Celtics in the NBA Playoffs.  My dad was studying at Syracuse, became a huge basketball fan, and basketball has been in my blood ever since.  I've never dreamt of hitting a home run, I don't want to run marathons or triathlons, I don't care about having six-pack abs.  I just want to dunk.  

 

A little about myself:

- 25 year-old male

- 5'7", 176 lbs

- Body fat hovers between 18-22%.  I go through periods of unhealthy habits (I live in New York City, so going out drinking several nights in a row can lead to less sleep, unhealthy late night meals).  Trying to cut down (not eliminate) drinking to going out maybe once a week, and perhaps having a glass of wine or two if I'm on a date or meeting a friend during the week.  

- Exercise: I have been doing stronglifts 5x5 for several months.  I'm not a cult believer or anything, but it's easy to follow and measure progress.  I don't measure max, but my 5x5 stats are as follows (just trying to make sure people have an accurate idea of where I am at) in lbs

 

Squat: 215 5x5

Deadlift: 245 1x5

Bench: 135 5x5

Shoulder press: 95 5x5

Bent over row: 95 5x5

Power clean: 95 5x5 (though I feel like I can do more, I just want to get really consistent with my form, which feels like an area I can improve in).

 

I can about 8-9 chinups, or three sets of four if I rest in between.  So I feel like I'm in decent shape, but obviously have an ambitious goal, especially given my height.  

 

Any advice or experiences from people who have worked either with vertical jump improvement or other performance improvement (almost typed enhancement and realized that means something else) would be greatly appreciated.  Here are some of the questions I've been asking, but maybe these are the wrong questions and I could change those as well:

 

- How much do olympic lifts really help with explosiveness?  There have been mixed studies on this.  Does anyone have experience using them to improve vertical jump/sprinting/other athletic performance?

- My thinking has been to prioritize being able to squat 1.5x my weight on 5x5 before moving on to plyometrics.  Am I thinking about this the right way?  Instead of 1.5x bodyweight at 5 sets of 5, should I be focused on just getting my max to that level?

- Besides the obvious (meat, veggies, fruits, etc), are there dietary tweaks that can unlock more of this muscle explosion?

- If I eliminate beer (of which I consume 6-7 in a week) and only drink wine, whiskey, and tequila and  those sparingly (3-4 glasses of wine a week, maybe 1-2 glasses of whiskey on the weekends), will that be enough?  Do I need to cut alcohol out completely?

- I'm quite inflexible as well and have started taking yoga.  Is there any type of yoga in particular that may help me on my quest to dunk?

- Anything else I should be thinking about?

 

Thanks guys.  I like this blog quite a bit and am excited to make my first post!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

You're already pretty advanced in your fitness, and you are right that tweaking is all that is needed at this point. I don't see how deadlifts and squats can hurt your vertical leap. I would suggest starting some box jumps (literally put a box on the ground and jump on top) similar to the 5x5 lifts you are doing. Once you can jump on a 24" box, move up to the next size. That, in my opinion, would be the best way to increase your vertical.

[rpandya89]

Thanks for the reply Tanktimus.  What I'm worried about with regards to box jumps (or any plyo work) is if it will hamper the 5x5 progress?  Should I do plyo (and I've also considered adding in HIIT sprints) on rest days or at the end of my workouts?  Have you combined plyo work with lifting?

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

That I couldn't answer. It depends on what's more important to you. You may want to ask that question in the Lifting Knowledge Base section of the Weightlifting and Powerlifting boards.

[Hyperion]

Box jumps are more of a nervous system work. So you can do them at the end of a bench day For example. At the end of leg day it will be useless. Hiit is so demanding that i suggest you do it at rest days or in the morning hours.

[rpandya89]

They're both important though...I need to be able to squat a ton of weight while also improving my reactive strength.  vegeta, I usually do full-body every day I lift.  I suppose I could do plyo right before or in the mornings?