Hey, everyone. My name is Daniel Back; I'm the guy in the video above and the founder of this site. I'm an athletic development coach with a strong desire for knowledge and a passion for helping people become the best athletes they can be. I have been training athletes in person as well as sharing information and helping people via internet since 2009. I take pride in my work, and there is nothing more satisfying to me than developing great athletes.
Over the years, I have learned a lot about sports training through various college courses (I finished my degree in Exercise Science in December 2012.) and my own personal research and experimentation. Most importantly, the experience of training people in person and via the internet has taught me more than any class ever could. It has become very apparent to me that a lot of people are clueless or terribly misinformed when it comes to training for sports. I created this site to attempt to remedy that situation by providing high quality sports training information to the public. Over time, it has developed into one of the best sources of sports training information on the internet, free or otherwise. This site was originally founded to help people with vertical jump training, but all the information can be applied to improving any athletic movement you desire.
THE JUMP-SCIENCE.COM PROGRAM
During my years training athletes, I have observed and discussed training with literally thousands of different people. That experience has shown me that athletes vary greatly in the various physical qualities that determine athleticism. That variation requires that training be customized to the abilities of an athlete. Different athletes should do different training. I used to have a few sample workouts posted, but the problem is they were only appropriate for a fraction of the people that visited the site. This frustrated me, so I began writing programs for all types of athletes. But even then, I had no definite way of communicating who should do what. As I continued to learn, I began trying to classify athletes to easily determine what kind of training each should do. After much trial and error, writing, rewriting, experimentation, tweaking, etc. I finalized a system for evaluating and classifying athletes based on some basic training measures. I then wrote complete vertical jump training programs for athletes that fit into the various categories. I'm just going to be blunt. This stuff is good; it's really good. I spent several years developing this system, and I firmly believe it is the best vertical jump training on the internet. If you are interested in a complete, detailed program, please keep reading. Otherwise feel free to explore all the free information on the site.
MORE ON THE PROGRAM
I've developed a simple evaluation process that classifies athletes into different levels based on strength, flexibility, and jumping ability.
There are 15 different training levels in the program. Two levels are for people without access to equipment. (Sorry folks. Without equipment you're options are limited. However, some of my most incredible testimonials have come from people using my equipment-free workouts.)
The levels span a range from beginner to advanced. If you are able to progress to the most advanced levels, you will be an elite leaper and athlete, simple as that.
The program is broken up into 3 or 6-week segments called training phases. There are 3 different phases for each level for a total of 45 training phases. The phases are designed to create smart adjustments to your training as you progress through the program. The exercises and training strategies are switched up to prevent stagnancy and provide new challenges. Each level of the program has 12 weeks of training. There are 2 recommended rest weeks between phases and 3 weeks recommended at the end, so all together the program is 17 weeks.
If you do not have time to complete the whole program, you can still benefit greatly from just part of it. It is not uncommon for athletes to jump 3 or more inches higher after the first 3 weeks of training.
The workouts include plyometrics, explosive lifts and jumps, strength training, and some hybrid exercises. Warmup, stretching, and some other things to include in your training are also covered.
Listed with the exercises are sets/reps, recommended weights, rest periods, and some other details such as when to add weight or how high of a box to use.
The program is centered around the vertical jump, but it is designed to improve all-around athleticism. Speed, acceleration, quickness, etc. will all be improved along with jumping ability.
The improvements gained from this training will be long-lasting. If the program is done once or twice during the off-season, it will continue to benefit your athleticism for the entire competitive season.
The exercise and stretching videos are already available (tabs at the top of the page). Check them out ahead of time if you want. There are 4 exercise videos that you only get with the program. They are advanced exercises that I do not want just anyone on youtube using without the guidance from the program.
Along with the 45 complete training phases, I have also added an upper body program and some other extra strength training options.
Hopefully, that wasn't too "salesy."
The price for all 45 phases, the athletic evaluation process and other instructions, the advanced exercise videos, a couple bonus strength training programs, and an upper body lifting program is $11. (Am I letting you rip me off? Yes, absolutely. This information is worth far more than eleven dollars. But I'm more interested in getting a lot of people to use the program than finding a fair price or a price that makes me the most money.) I do not have a download page on the site. I just send an email with the documents in a zip file and a link to view the advanced exercise videos. After you make the payment, you won't get immediate access. You have to wait until I send the files. That is often within a few minutes of the payment being processed. I understand this is not the ideal way to operate, but it allows me keep the program inexpensive. You can make the payment by clicking the Paypal button below. Any credit or debit card will work.
I hate sales pages, so I'm not going to spend time trying to convince you that my program will deliver "insane results in only a couple of weeks!" Honestly, training athleticism does not have to be complicated. Nobody really has any "vertical jump secrets" or "revolutionary formulas." Those are just claims made to convince people that a product is worth their hard-earned money. A solid training program is not fancy. It is simply based on good knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics, as well as knowledge and experience in various training methods. It also must address the individual abilities of the athlete.
The training in the jump-science.com program is not crazy or bizarre. In fact it's quite simple in some ways. For example, improving muscular strength is a huge component of sports training. That is not a secret. As one might expect, the strength training in the program is targeted toward improving muscular strength. That's basic logic, right? But for some reason a lot of coaches and a lot of training programs lose sight of the basic goal of making muscles stronger. People use weight lifting to condition athletes, or to mimic sports movements, or to work on balance, or (this one drove me crazy when I heard it) to teach athletes to move with different centers of mass. C'mon people! This is just one example of a way in which training programs can lose their effectiveness. The evaluation process in the jump-science.com program identifies the needs of an athlete and the training directly targets those needs. If you need to get stronger, you lift hard. If you need to get more flexible, you stretch every day. There is no nonsense involved. There is nothing genius about that, but I have had numerous collegiate athletes tell me that my style of training is far more effective than anything they ever did with their university sports team.
Anyway, instead of marketing to you, I just want to encourage you to check out the info on my site and decide for yourself if the science makes sense. There are a lot of important topics covered in the articles; people find them highly informative and easy to understand. If you've ever been confused about how to jump higher or run faster, please take the time to go through the info on this site. It will help. Also check out the exercise and stretching videos. People generally appreciate the clear instruction and attention to detail put into those. If you have questions the best way to contact me is via email at daniel@jump-science.com. Lastly, I try to share a lot of good info via the jump-science.com facebook page. I use that like a blog where I can post training tips, useful links, answers to training questions, etc. You can follow me on Twitter too. I post updates there as well, but you'll also have to deal with a little bit of me being me. I will never try to market anything. Links are in the sidebar.
Rather than getting rich or popular, my ultimate goal is to develop incredible athletes and help educate people on how to train for their sport intelligently. Whether you're looking for a detailed workout program or just good sports training information, you can find it here. Thanks for visiting.