Okay, you haven't done any previous training. Unless you are a natural high-flyer, you are probably sick of people dunking on you and making fun of your vertical. Not for long. You will experience rapid gains from this program. You can reasonably expect gains of about an inch per week.

Do the weight exercises Monday and Thursday. Do the jumping exercises Tuesday and Friday. Weekend is for rest and practise on your game.

IMPORTANT!!! Quality of the exercise is MUCH more important than quantity. 5 reps of proper form will get you in the air much higher than 20 reps of poor form. Also, if you want an explosive vertical (who doesn't!), you must train that way! Do every exercise as explosively as possible and go for maximum height. You're vertical will improve like you never thought possible if you go for more distance on every jump. This is telling your body that you need to get HIGHER.

Your workouts should not last more than an hour. If they are, don't rest as long. You should rest 2 minutes in between sets. Pick a weight for each exercise that you can do no more than the set number of reps with. If you can do any more, you are not getting the best possible workout. It is very important that you progress with the weights (and with jumping-the reps) as much as possible. If you don't increase the weights and reps, you're muscles think they don't have to get any stronger and your vertical won't get anywhere.

Use a training log. Keep records of the exercises, reps, sets and weight for each exercise. Make sure that you are increasing the amounts regularly. Also, it is a good way to remember what weight and reps you use for each exercise.

 

Weeks 1-3 STRENGTH TRAINING

Weights - Mondays, Thursdays

1. Squats/Jumps - 3 x 10, 20 touch jumps after each set

2. Calf Raises/Jumps - 3 x 10, 30 mini-hops after each set.

3. Lunges/Jumps - 3 x 10, 10 one leg jumps after each set.

4. Presses - 2 x 20 (quickly as possible)

5. Shrugs - 2 x 15 (quickly as possible)

 

Jumping - Tuesdays, Fridays

1. No Arm Jumps - 2 sets x 15

2. One Leg Hops - 2 sets x 10 (each leg)

3. Squat Jumps - 2 sets x 20

4. Tucks - 2 sets x 20

5. Slow Squats - 1 set x 10

6. Calf Hops - 3 sets x 25

 

Weeks 4-9 SPEED WORK

Weights - Mondays, Thursdays

1. Squats/Jumps - 3 sets x 10 - 30 touch jumps

2. Lunges/Jumps - 3 sets x 10 - 10 lunge jumps

3. Calf Raises - 3 sets x 10 - 50 mini-hops

4. Leg Presses - 2 sets x 20 (do quickly)

5. Presses - 2 sets x 10

6. Shrugs - 2 sets x 10

 

Jumping - Tuesdays, Fridays

1. Squat Jumps - 2 sets x 50

2. Laundry Jumps - 2 sets x 20

3. Chair Jumps - 2 sets x 20

4. Stair Jumps - 3 sets (one stair at a time)

5. Slow Squats - 1 set x 10

6. Calf Hops - 3 sets x 40

 

Weeks 10-15 - POWER WORK

Weights - Mondays, Thursdays

1. Squats - 3 sets x 8

2. Calf Raises - 3 sets x 10

3. Leg Presses - 3 sets x 10

4. Leg Extensions - 2 sets x 20

5. Lunges - 3 sets x 10

 

Jumping - Tuesdays, Fridays

1. Line Jumps - 5 minutes

2. Squat Jumps - 2 sets x 75

3. Chair Jumps - 2 sets x 30

4. Depth Jumps - 2 sets x 15

5. Box Jumps - 2 sets x 20

6. Reactive Jumps - 2 sets x 15

 

*IMPORTANT* Remember that the suggested reps are a suggestion for the starting reps only! Everyone is different. If you are throwing up after a session, decrease the reps. If you're not stiff the next day or aren't feeling a lot of burn when you do the exercises, increase the reps. You should definitely be able to increase the reps every week (by 5 is a suggestion) in the jumping drills. In the weights, if you can do one extra rep past the suggested reps, increase the weight. DO NOT INCREASE THE REPS IN THE WEIGHTS EXERCISES!

Good luck!