Alright. Hello, everybody. I'm Isaiah Rivera. This is Austin Burke. Austin has a 47 inch vertical off one foot and a 44 inch vertical off two feet.

Depending on the day. I have a world record 50 plus inch jump. So that's gonna give you guys a little bit of context on why you should listen to us about jump training. Today, the superstar is gonna be Austin Burke. We asked our Instagram viewers to let us know what questions they have for him.

And, yeah, he's going crazy. He has 2,000 views in in fifteen minutes, it looks like. About to hit 3,000 views. Great. So Famous.

So should we cut it now?

Or No. I'll just delete it after this.

Okay.

And then we can let him we can let him come in. Then when we get basically, when we get tired Okay. We can stop. Alright. Alright.

Should we start from top or from the bottom? We decide. Bottom. Okay.

Bottom. Definitely bottom.

Alright. First question. Is your dad Michael Jordan?

There's a lot of conspiracies about who my father is. I'm open to all. I'm not sure it's him, but it's someone. So Emily Edwards could potentially be your brother. Possibly.

Possibly.

Alright. First, I guess, serious question. How can you work around not being able to palm a ball?

You're gonna use this. What do I what do I call it? It's just the cuff, basically. Just use the force of the ball or the force of

Momentum.

Momentum. Thank you. Momentum. Yeah. I I don't palm the ball every I'll I'll cuff it, and a lot of times if you see videos of me.

I don't palm the ball either. Athletes who who ask this question, that's usually, like, a sign that they have not practiced dunking.

On low rims at all.

Yeah. Literally. Because you you spend an hour on a seven foot rim, and you're gonna learn how to not need to palm the ball. So get on a low rim, practice, you're gonna learn how to do it.

Yep. Momentum.

Next one. How important is hip mobility for you? For me? I

just don't like to feel super tight, so I'm not a stickler for it.

I hate when you feel tight.

That's a first. Oh, no. Alright. So basically, yeah. No.

I I have to do some sort of hip mobility, whether it's a couch stretch or just overall, you know, hip work, but, I don't really focus or stress on it too much. It's just just so I feel loose. I don't think it's really a solution.

So you feel like the the psychological effects Yeah. Of feeling

Looser.

Looser in your hips Yeah. Helps you Mhmm.

If you jump in.

Because I'm

not overthinking it. I feel faster. I, like I don't know.

That that's something It's kinda

like wearing a good pair of shoes.

You know? That's something I will say, like, specifically, like, recovery modalities. If something makes you feel good, just from the psychological effects alone, it is worth doing. So, like, take icing, like an ice bath, for example. There's been no research to substantiate it, but if it if you personally enjoy it and you feel like you recover Mhmm.

That's gonna help you at the end of the day. Something that hurts people, think, is when there's too much stress Yeah. From trying to do too much. Like, let's say stretching, for example. So you don't get stressed out.

Yeah. Like, if you're stressed out, you're missing your stretching, you feel like you're gonna jump lower and all that stuff, it's probably gonna have negative effects. But if you're in if you have a habit of it, it's part of your routine and makes you feel good, it's probably worth worth doing. Yeah. Definitely.

Alright. Let's see. I'm gonna skip these these dumb ones. These are questions I answer every day. Best way to get your verdict.

CHP. Like, if you're if you're asking me that, you literally have not Yeah. Seen any of my videos. Was, like, at the gym yesterday. There was a guy who knew who I was.

Mhmm. And then he's like he's like, oh, yeah. I watch all your stuff. Blah blah blah. He's like he's like, what can I do to get rid of knee pain?

And I was like, I know you don't watch my shit.

Literally, someone said the same thing to me. At the gym, he was like, hey. Like, I'm having problems with my Achilles too. Like, and I'm like, like, we've we've, like, definitely discussed

this. I literally just told him. Was like, just search up Isaiah Rivera knee pain and watch the videos. Alright. What do your rest days look like, and how often do you take a rest day?

Realistically, I take a rest day once a week. It's typically Sunday or Thursday. Most of the time it's Sunday. I just I make sure I do my ISOs. I do some sort of movement.

Like, I don't stay super stagnant, you know. Maybe I'll take a walk or I'll do some sort of stretching. And I, the rest of the day, I pretty much act like a vegetable. Just, I just play video games or work or watch a movie. I just try to stay off my feet and let myself recover, not just physically, but mentally.

What's your job by the way?

I work at THB strength.

What do you do?

I coach.

There you go. He's a yeah. Yeah.

Should I have led with that? Like a

No. Because I just realized people probably don't know, like

Oh, yeah. I'm also part of THB. Yeah.

Coach He's at THP. Yeah. So when you sign up, he's one of the three guys you get in a group chat with. It's me, Austin, and John. You can talk to us.

Literally ask us anything.

Yeah. Literally.

Alright. Austin, you're a sexy man. Do you have any tips? Any tips on that? Things that you can control.

Hygiene. There we go.

Make sure you take care of your hygiene. Brush your teeth. Moisturize. Alright. Is that a good one?

Yeah.

And, don't be afraid to try new things to feel good. Alright. There's new hair, piercings, tattoos.

Here we go.

Try things out. There's a haircut and a beard for everyone.

Alright. We're getting now we're getting some some interesting ones.

Okay.

If you restarted your dunk journey, would you focus more on one foot or two foot? You could restart. You're 12 years old again with the knowledge you have now. Two foot.

100%. It's like my two foot, if you put me on a low run, I'm pretty nasty. I just I just Is

it just because of the tricks?

Yeah. Definitely. I feel like for me personally, tricks click better mentally for me off two foot. One foot, I I it feels more natural, obviously, but I feel like if I practice strictly two foot, I could be a freighter.

Like, if you had spent this whole time Mhmm. Going two foot?

It's like, I've always wanted to jump really high off one because it does distinguish me at my height. A lot of people don't jump off one at my height. Yeah. However, unless you're Sutherland, most of the tricks are so difficult that it it it kinda makes my my sessions feel very boring at times. Like Yeah.

Feel like, you know, it's nice to throw a lob and jump as high as you can and just punch a dunk, but then you wanna do a three sixty.

That's why the session yesterday felt so empty. It's like

There was no what?

Like, there was like no trick dunks really made, like, because that that that's one of the most dissatisfying sessions is when you're jumping really high Mhmm. And then your hands are horrible. It's, like, it's so aggravating.

It's so frustrating. Like, eSpace. I don't know. It just all of it

They're so fun to watch, though. Like, I was looking back, like, it was fun to watch.

Yeah. Yeah. No. I I didn't think was as boring as it it would have been, but Yeah. I think it's also two foot's easier to increase

Yeah.

Rather than one foot. There's just way too many factors for one foot.

Alright. Next one. After how long did you basically, long did it take you to get to that vertical?

Since I was like 12. I mean, I've been practicing dunking on a so I had a I I lived in Virginia. There was a hill. My basketball hoop was at the top of the hill, and I sucked at shooting. So when I would break a shot, would go down the hill, and every time I'd have to sprint down the hill before I went into the woods.

So I lowered the hoop and I would just dunk on it, and that's kinda how I started. I couldn't throw lobs, which kind of explains today. Like, right now, but yeah. Like, probably then, and then I tried every single program known to man throughout high school. And yeah.

So I've been training for a long time. Training with THP, it's been, like, five years, probably.

You literally have done every program. Yeah. Kinda crazy. And some

new stuff, like, newer renditions. Like, people ask me about PGF. I only know initial PGF. Like, I don't know now PGF or Yeah.

I try to It's actually wild how many options there are. Mhmm. Today, someone asked me on Instagram. They were like I'm I'm not gonna name the programs, but they were like, which one do you recommend? Mhmm.

Yours or this one or this one? And I told them, I was like, that's a ask that's like asking McDonald's if Burger King's better.

Yeah. Literally. Like, why would I ever say it? I always try when people ask me stuff like that, try to be as unbiased as possible and try to find, like, the pros in different things, but it it's kinda yeah. I mean, literally, like, we're we are the best.

Mean Yeah.

Like, there is no there is no direct, like, competition, like Yeah. In terms of quality and results.

Alright. When did you get your first dunk?

I was 15. I don't know if the rim was 10 foot though. Now, looking back and on all the things I knew. Yeah. Because I just I never knew there was a difference in heights.

I just thought it was a good or a bad jumping day. I got my first dunk when I was 15. I was able to dunk

How tall were you?

I think I was like five seven. But then that's another thing that begged to begged the question of how high the hoop actually was. Yeah. So I would say, actually, let's just bump into sixteen. Just to like it doesn't get me into jail.

And you were for sure, like, in a basketball court. Yeah. Yeah. I would get in game dunks, mainly off adrenaline. I was a big adrenaline guy.

And I wasn't able to do a two hander until college. I could do a one hander and a windmill sometimes, just because my hands were good from low rims.

Yeah. Alright. How come, how does it come that you can jump higher off one foot? Did you just practice that way more?

That's just what came naturally. That's how I touch rim for the first time. It's just, you know, when you're a kid and it was it's instincts, someone's like, oh, touch the backboard.

And just

ran up off one and just kept doing it. Obviously, does come from practice. Like, you can obviously get better at anything. Anatomically, some people are more predispositioned to jump off one or two foot. I do have long legs for my height.

Yeah. But, yeah. That that answered the question. Alright?

Yeah. Okay. What is your current weight?

I am one sixty three. My best jumping, I'm around one fifty eight, actually.

Mhmm. So And then, what's your squat to body weight ratio?

What what's my max squat? I only do half half squat realistically.

You know, four zero five. Right? That's your best ever?

Zero well, I did four zero five for two recently with you.

Okay.

But that was quarters?

Those were they're like third squats. I I would consider them half squats.

Okay. So, like, four zero five ish, 400 to four ten. Somewhere like four 10.

Let's say yeah. Yeah. Let's say 415. And then you're +1 63?

Yeah.

So his so that's 255.

That's it. Squad. That's depressing. 2 crazy. Is it?

Yeah. I want it to be like safe.

255. Let's let's do mine. So let's sum +1 83. Yeah. It's like me squatting four sixty six.

What is your ratio? That's actually a good question. Like, yours is probably, like, 2.8.

One eighty three. My ratio is 2.73.

Oh, shit. Yeah. We're pretty close in terms of Mhmm. Relative

strength. Let's say how are you white with so much bounce?

Your skin color does not matter in terms of bounce at all. At

all. Yeah. Your skin pigment pigmentation. Yeah. This is not Does not This is not oh, I don't.

Yeah. Can you strip on camera? You can say no.

No. Alright. Yeah. No. I thought about it.

You thought about it? I

I wait. If we if we did it all live with, like, a setup where there's live donations, I I think maybe.

Yeah. Imagine. Oh, gosh. Yeah. I'm trying to do ones that are, like, more specific to you instead of just general Yeah.

Ones. Can I still dunk if I'm skinny fat?

There's a lot of factors that how high are you jumping currently. Mean, yeah, you can. You just have to train right and get your body composition right. Mhmm. Skinny fat to mean, means you just don't work out.

Yeah. Like, you know.

Or you don't don't have a good diet. You don't have your diet under I control. It's

assume skinny fat though, when I assume skinny fat, it's just like out of shape, but like skinny, you eat whatever you want. Yeah. You just don't work out.

Like Yeah.

A lot of people I know are skinny fat. Mhmm.

How to improve your jump technique off one?

Practice. Just keep practicing. Make sure you relax into the plant. Don't overextend. I I don't stomp.

I tend to do both of those things.

Yeah. What do you tell yourself?

Relax.

Are there any cues?

Yeah. John's actually been helping. I used to get mad at John because it made me overthink.

Yeah.

But yesterday in the session, for example, I was overextending on my plant really early and my hip was giving out. And I stopped doing the ISOs for my hip. I was having some hip issues. And he kinda told me to keep my chest upright, and just do shorter plants. Mhmm.

And even though it wasn't that much shorter, like, when you look at it on video, it was enough that it didn't make my hip pop out. Yeah. Like, or not pop out, but, you know.

Yeah. I like that. Have you ever tried to become a speed jumper?

I have.

I

actually am off my right foot, if I want to be. Like, but I I'm I yeah. No. Not off my left. Yeah.

It was the same issue. Used to have a long jump too.

So, one of this is this question's so common. Mhmm. Is it they're asking how are you able to jump higher off one than two? I think a lot of guy a lot of you guys are confused about that. The science behind behind it is he he went into it a little bit.

It's practice. Right? So how much do you practice? If practice more one foot than two foot, you'll probably end after a long time, you'll probably end up jumping higher off one. And then your tendon properties also decide which plant you're gonna be able to benefit from more.

So if you have extremely stiff tendons, those tendons are really hard to stretch. So you need stuff that is like really quick, a lot of speed on the approach, and that's gonna lend itself to one foot jump. Because you can sprint really fast, go on one leg, that's gonna be a ton of eccentric forces that are gonna be enough to to stress that tendon. That's why guys with stiffer tendons lend lend themselves to jumping higher off one foot. And then, even more so if you're a speed jumper versus a power jumper.

So Austin's kinda like two foot and then one foot power jumping power jumping hybrid. So for him, it's like he a lot of max strength where it kinda transfers over.

Mhmm.

So, yeah, he I would say he has for for one footers, if you could, have, like, a gradient, he would be on the lower end towards, the more compliant side of tendons. But, he probably has stiffer tendons than your typical two foot jumper who only jumps off off of two feet. So that's kind of the science behind it. There isn't a right question to which one has more potential. I will say one foot jumping is more dictated by genetics because it has lower ground contact time, so it's harder to improve.

But, if you have the genetics for it, it's worth obviously doing. I know anecdotally a lot of one foot guys though have transferred over to two foot. John's in the middle of that. Jordan Koganan started off as a one foot jumper. I think Lee Peck hit his first dunk ever off But two foot is just so much more easier to improve because it's more reliant on force.

And strength training is the easiest way to do that.

I've been thinking about converting just to for tricks. Because my low rim is crazy. My low rim and jumping is, like, dunks are crazy.

And it's way easier to stay healthy for it. Yes. Way easier to stay healthy

for There's so many, like, weird landings with one foot. It's odd. And and the people taking you out when you're playing games. Yeah. Which we made a pact.

We're not playing games for a while,

by the way. Yeah. We're done we're done hooping.

Got murdered, like, three times.

Yeah. We were trying to we were trying to play, and we just kept getting hit out of the air. It was crazy. Alright. This guy says, tell Austin my only goal in life is to jump higher than him.

Also, he's hilarious.

Thank you. And I hope you do. I really hope you do.

And then this guy just said, big dog Austin in all caps. Bro. We're almost we're almost to the end. What pushed you at that height to strive to be such

a great jumper? That's a good question. I was just obsessed with it. I thought it was so cool. Like, I I just enjoyed it.

And it just I gravitated toward it. And obviously

And you were naturally good at it too. Right?

Yeah. I was naturally jumped I jumped more than most and better than most. Yeah. But, yeah, being around Isaiah too, I mean, this man is crazy. But you work your ass off too.

So Yeah.

It's kinda like, it just pushes me. I don't think anything I do is good enough. And it keeps me it makes me train harder and keep going.

Yeah. How are you I mean, you train you were training pretty hard though even before we moved in together. Right?

Yeah. Yeah. I was training with John, in co like, I was a his first initial athlete. And the training was way harder than I kind of was a test dummy, but my recovery was crap. Yeah.

I was in college and I was partying. I was out till two, but then I had class at eight. So I'd wake up at like six, five, six and go workout, shower at the gym and then go to class every day, which as we know is terrible for recovery. Yeah. And I was still making progress, but I worked very hard, for sure.

It was just a goal of mine. It's like, I always wanted to be like the person in the gym. They I walk in and they're like, he's the highest jumper here, which never happens anymore.

What has what what has kept you motivated? It was obviously easy to fall off and quit and stuff like that. And I know I know you were, privy to experiencing dunk depression. Oh. And you had, like, injuries and stuff, but what has it allowed you to keep pushing?

I think the community, like having you and John, as well. Yeah. And just overall obsession. I think it just accepting the fact that I loved it. Even on the bad days or just loving the prog process is what really made me I keep would say, it's also I have this obsession with just maxing out on potential.

And I I I I've said this multiple times. I feel like I wanna max my potential, like financially, creatively, intellectually, and Yeah. Athletically. And if I was to quit right now, I would never let it down. Like, I'm gonna probably keep going until I can Yeah.

Max it out or tap it out to the best of my ability.

There's a quote. I think it's let me see if it's Aristotle. Aristotle

working out. Maybe Aristotle's my father.

Oh, maybe it's not Aristotle. Is it Plato? It's either Aristotle

What is the quote? Plato.

Ah, Socrates. Alright. This is one of my favorite quotes ever. It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit. He's basically saying Take care

of yourself.

And then this is another variation of it. No matter no man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. That that quote was freaking fire. And I kinda live by that.

It's like

It's also discipline too. Like, we always we always talk about discipline. I feel like you and I have very high levels of discipline.

Mhmm. This is something I used to talk about it a lot more. I have I haven't really as much recently, mainly because I don't live with my family anymore, so I'm not, like, in direct contact with that, like, every day like I used to be. But if you guys didn't know, my my two siblings, my two younger siblings are in wheelchairs, and that was something that I always, like if you have a body that's healthy and that, you know, you're able, like, it has the capacity to be able to train, like, there's people out there that would kill to have that. Mhmm.

Like, if my if my little brother my little brother's obsessed with dunking. My little brother would've definitely, like, freaking trained and stuff like that, but he's not. Like, he's literally incapable of it. And I think literally how he says it, like, I think it really is a shame if people are able-bodied You're squandered. Don't and don't max out their physical capabilities.

It doesn't have to be dunking, obviously. That's just, like, how I'm choosing to express and how you're choosing to to express, I guess, like, human potential, human physical potential. But I think everybody it's, like, such a, I don't know. It's like human nature to kinda push yourself to the Yeah. To the physical limits and yeah.

Don't take it don't take it for granted. But I used to be I used to like, literally every day because, obviously, I would help my my siblings and stuff, and I think that's part of the reason I am so disciplined and stuff like that. Because it's like, even on bad days, when you're at your absolute worst, it's like, you still be grateful.

You can can move. Yeah.

And think about bro, imagine if, like, tomorrow, like, knock on wood, but you were to get into a car accident and then you're and you get paralyzed. Think about how, like, you would think back and be like, damn, like, on bad jumping day. Yeah. I would love to just I would love to have a bad jumping day.

I would love to touch the backboard. Basketball. Like, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So I don't should always always be great for that and just go absolute hardest in this short amount of time we have on this earth. What's the hardest dunk you've made slash attempted? And what's your dream dunk?

Alright. So the hardest dunk I've made is definitely the inverter. I'm the shortest person ever to hit that dunk actually.

Inverter is a Oh.

East Bay off The same foot you jump off of. So left foot and then Or

it's a J ridge.

It's a J ridge. Do the same. Yeah. So it's like Yeah. I've done that dunk a few time two times, I think.

But, my dream dunk, it's it depends on one and two. I definitely have both. Off two, it's changed. I wanna do a three sixty under both. Oh.

Really bad. Three sixty East Bay. Those two dunks off two. One foot, I wanna get a clean punch free throw line. And then under both.

And then I also want to do a double elbow.

Bro, your height, three sixty under both would

be much. I was thinking about it with my form. It's like, I could I can get my two like, have to practice. Like, remember before COVID,

when I was

getting close to 360 East Bay? I think I Mhmm. Like, I'd have to just

Yeah.

Just do two foot. I used to do two foot majority. And then I would do one foot here and there. Would do a couple of jumps. I'll do the East Bay or whatever.

No. Yeah. It would be like, just do two foot and lower in the time.

Yeah. And I I think I could. Mhmm. Just because my hands are really good. But, yeah.

Those are my dream dunks. Yeah. I won a double elbow so bad. Chout out Sutherland. I think that is the most dominating dunk of all time.

Yeah.

I'm just like and I think it would look ridiculous with how high his feet look off the ground

when he

does it? And how high my feet would look. Unless I grow.

Because oh, I I just thought of something cool. Mhmm. You can keep this up, and then on the next one, we'll I'll put the video, like the link to the video.

Okay. For what?

For this, the q and a.

Oh. Cool.

Do you have back issues?

I do not. A lot of people do think that I have back issues, because of my mobility when I lift. People always mention my lower back.

Yeah.

But I don't have any issues at all. Yeah.

What? Why are you the most inconsistent dunker in the world? Who said that? David Cordy.

I don't know, man. I don't know. I've been trying to ask that. Some days like Isaiah says, like, I'm a I'm a freak.

I actually don't don't think you're the most inconsistent dunk in the world. I think

I think I am.

No. Because you've been jumping really high the last few times. I think it's just you weren't you weren't training super, super, super hard.

Yeah.

I think when you're when you're training

I I

when it's like load management setup type stuff, like, feel good lifting, I think jump base can become more consistent. But I think right now, your, like, baseline has,

like

Mhmm. Increased a lot.

I I also, I think it's And in you, like, you have to think like pre COVID going off. Yeah. Then I sucked. And then I started getting good, and then I sucked. Yeah.

And then I was good in 2022, and then I started sucking last year. Yeah. Now I'm getting better again.

Think Yeah. Now

It's injuries.

I think now that you know how to warm up your hip and then the knee Yeah. Like, even if it's, like, flared up, you can kinda warm up. But now that you know that, it it it's like, that kinda takes inconsistency out. Because I think a big reason you were inconsistent is, like, your hip gives out on jumps, and then you get in your head, and then My hip now you know it's like, yesterday, your knee was bugging you.

I couldn't barely dunk. Jump. One of my warm up dunks.

And then, just regressed it back. For those of you guys, just so you have background on what I'm talking about here, I have this thing, it's called, dude pain guided jump sessions. And at THP, have a guide that explains how to do it. Mhmm. But the cliff notes of it is basically, don't up the intensity until you feel zero knee pain.

And if you're feeling a two or a three, you need to drop the intensity down, stay at that intensity, and then never jump up in intensity by more than like 10%. By intensity, I mean effort level. So let's say you feel like a three out of 10 when you do a 50% effort jump, Drop it down to 40% effort to where you feel a two, stay there until it's pain free. And basically, when you're pain free, that's your body giving you

permission to try harder. This works. Like, this works. This Yeah. I've done it twice now on sessions that I didn't think I could dunk.

And then I ended up jumping because the knee pain. Yeah. I I would warm up. My knee knee just flare up, and my hip gave out. And, normally, I would

have just cut it.

And then the next week, it would happen again, then I would have cut it. That's two weeks going without jumping.

Yep. Yeah. But now, yeah. I I think that's a big reason you're inconsistent, but like, it's like you have that tool in your belt now. Mhmm.

And I think you're you're gonna get way more consistent.

I think so too. I think

the low rims That stuff helps with the lifting too. Mhmm. Like, it's same it's essentially the same thing with, like, squatting and that type of thing. But, yeah. I I think That's a that's funny.

That's funny question.

Because now, I do agree with that sometimes. I'm like, I'm so good sometimes.

I'm just, like,

so fast sometimes. Don't

Alright. I think that's a pretty good place to cut it. Let me see. Let me see.

Is there any random funny ones in there?

Let me see if some more came in. Bro, it's at it's about to hit 6,000 views. Strip on the That's actually crazy.

Tell him to give me his

verdt. Damn. Alright. Yeah. I think we covered covered a good amount here.

Alright. Cool.

Cool. Alright. Christmas.

So, if you enjoyed that and you're on YouTube, like the video. And then, if you're on any of the podcast platforms, please give us a five star rating. If you're not on THP, but we have helped you increase your vertical, that's the least you can do for us. Help helps us get the podcast out there, the YouTube videos out there. And then finally, if you do want to train with us, have us coach you to jump higher.

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We're gonna go out to eat at least twice this month. There's your THP subscription. Jump higher. You get to what? Six workouts a

week? Yep.

Six workouts a week. We've got a while over though. Six workouts a week, $99 a month. Yeah. Tell your girlfriend you're eating home tonight.

It's okay.

And we are increasing prices again soon. This is your chance to get in early. Next video is gonna be Monday. Back on the grind. Peace out everybody.