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THP is back at it! We go over what's new with everyone and John breaks down what a perfect jumper would like. Connor and Isaiah discuss where their passion for dunking comes from and lessons they've learned along the way.
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Isaiah Rivera, pro dunker, and John Evans discuss anything related to maximizing athletic performance, and in particular, jump training. Strength and conditioning, jumping technique, weight room practices, and general fitness and health tips and advice are shared on this podcast.
What is up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the THP Strength podcast. This is season three. You might be asking why this is the third installment of the podcast. And if you haven't guessed, it's because we got new mics.
Isaiah:I sound so crispy and so nice. We all got new equipment. We wanted to get a little quality upgrade for you guys so that you can get the best listening experience possible. So this is the season three episode one. We got Connor in here.
Isaiah:We got John, and we got Hunter. We're all gonna introduce ourselves just if you've never listened to us and you wanna know what TA Screening strength is all about. But without further ado, let's get it popping. I guess, John, you can you can tell us what's what's up with your life, all that stuff, what's new.
John:Alright. So, yeah, I guess recently I moved. So I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which has been which has been really good. So I have a one of my best friends is my roommate now. Really just focusing on the business.
John:I've been busting my balls on WhatsApp and programming and all that stuff just to make sure that we are delivering the best the best service. So that's been a big part of it. And, yeah, that's probably the biggest thing. Oh, the other part is training wise, currently focusing on getting adjusted to my new spot, and then also trying to improve my two foot vertical. So, obviously, I have the best team to do that, including my own brain, but it's always good to bounce ideas off of Isaiah and Connor.
John:So goal for next session is gonna be to get a lower center of mass position on the penultimate step. And, yeah, that's what I'm working on. I love two foot. I think it looks sick. So, yeah, that's that's that's the plan.
John:He has joined the dark side. It's so fun.
Connor:More like the light.
John:Yeah. For sure. Also, who's breathing in the mic? Don't mouth breathe.
Isaiah:Connor, go.
Connor:Okay. So, yeah, update from your boy, Connor Barth. I mean, I've also been really focused on work. I basically don't do anything else except work related things. If you guys haven't noticed, the website is looking much more crispy now.
Connor:There's a lot more information. A lot of things have happened with how the website actually functions. None of that really matters to you. Our goal, though, is like John said, to bring you better training more efficiently, and not have you have many hassles moving down the road. So, and then within my personal training, I had a knee problem that has basically relieved itself.
Connor:It it it's kind of weird how I I had my jump volume went up, and my knee felt better. But that's actually something that's happened to me before. So, anyway, the big news for me is that my my dunking is taking a seat at the moment, and I'm focusing more and more on beach volleyball. It's something I've actually been debating for, like, half a year now, and I'm just gonna go all in and pursue it as hard as I can and see where I can get. My goal is to become a professional on the AVP tour, and maybe that leads to the Olympics.
Connor:But who knows? I don't know. I just wanna get good at it. So
Isaiah:And then as far as me, I won't update on, like, more work related. So just know I'm always putting in a 100% work to give you guys the best service possible. And then as far as my training, I mean, it's always just try to get that 50 inch vertical. I think I'm, like, on the cusp of it right now. This has been a goal, that I've been actually, like, working towards hard for the past year and a half, I wanna say, since I started working with John, like, like, just full on, like him killing me with actual vertical jump training, not just load management.
Isaiah:And I've been pretty far, but I think over the last, like, three or so months, I've actually gotten really close, tested 48, last time I tested my vert, and, recently just went through the crucible of front squats. Still going through that. I had a back injury and, like, I could literally only front squat. So I got that up a lot. And I'm at a point now with my vertical where it feels like I honestly could test either 49 or 50 just by freshening up.
Isaiah:So other than that, that's pretty much how my training is going. Feeling healthy now. It's kinda dope because all all three of us are feeling healthy and I feel like we're all going to be PR ing, with our training goals soon. That's super exciting. But as far as the point of the podcast today, we asked you guys to ask some questions on Instagram.
Isaiah:We're gonna be working our way through that. There's some pretty dope concepts and stuff that you guys brought up, and we're gonna be answering it to the best of our abilities.
John:Wait. Did we talk about like, did we go into the details about Hunter here? Do we anyone talk about this? Hunter, any questions?
Isaiah:Hunter, who are you?
John:Yeah. Who are you? Why are you relevant? Tell us about you.
Hunter:Yeah. So, my name's Hunter LePair. I was brought on recently to kinda help on the back end of things, make things run smoothly. So if anyone out there has any recommendations for our services or any feedback that they wanna give. I'm pretty sure I've reached out to almost everybody, but, you can send me an email, Hunter@THPStrength.com.
Hunter:Like I said, I'm just here to kinda make things run smoothly for the team.
John:Yeah. Sweet. So we we appreciate everything that Hunter does. And, yeah, I guess we'll we'll kinda get into these questions here. So I guess maybe the the first I mean, there's tons of questions that you guys gave us.
John:But the first one says, what gave you an inspiration to dunking, more seriously and and really start training for it? So I guess each of us can go around and talk about that. Isaiah, maybe you should go first on this one.
Isaiah:Yeah. So this is a this is I've kinda touched on this a lot, but, again, this is season three, and the old podcast don't exist anymore. So, basically, what inspired me to dunk was just having a love for basketball initially. Basketball was my favorite sport growing up. I always describe it describe it as my first love.
Isaiah:I was obsessed with it. I would play three, four hours every single day throughout my childhood all the way until I was, like, 16. Dunking was always my favorite part of basketball. And I just kinda, like, was obsessed by it when I first saw Michael Jordan was the first person I really saw that was, like, dunking a lot. And then I was super into the NBA dunk contest.
Isaiah:Like, that was my favorite time of the year. It was the NBA dunk contest, just seeing them fly up and, like, it's, like, kinda it's kind of a time where it's just all eyes on one person, and the dunk is the only thing that matters. Usually, a dunk is just a part of the basketball game, and it's exciting, the most exciting part. But the dunk contest, it's like it's it's strictly about dunking. Like, that's what the basketball world revolves around at that exact moment, which I I always just found fascinating and, like and I've always had a general love just for it, just explosion in general, like any any kind of activities that show explosive strength, whether that be like running fast, jumping high or far, things like that.
Isaiah:And then later on, when I was around 14, 15, I started training, to get my bounce up. I knew I would be able to dunk one day. That was never I never had, like, a doubt in my head even though I was, like, short and scrawny. I had a tall family, so I felt like I was gonna be a late boomer. And I don't know.
Isaiah:I just kinda always knew that I'd be able to dunk. Started training for it. And by the time I got my first dunk, shortly after I discovered the world of professional dunking, and that's kinda when I just, like, changed my goals. My my goal used to be try to be an NBA player, but that started out panning out the way I wanted it to. So switched to just trying to be the best dunker on the planet.
Isaiah:Like, that was always my number one goal. And then, obviously, the story is a lot more detailed. If you want if you want the full details, just type 24 to 36 inch vertical on YouTube. And I go really in-depth about it. But, yeah, that's basically it.
Isaiah:And to this day, I'm still obsessed with that.
John:Yeah. I, I think the thing that I'm most related to is the way you described, dunking, like, all eyes on you. Whenever I got into, like, high jump and even dunking too, like, pregame or whatever, it's kind of the same thing. Like, when I was 14 or 15 or whatever, and it's like, people are just waiting. You know what mean?
John:Everyone's just staring, like, watching. Like, what's he gonna do? And then you go up and you just, like, just freaking yam. People are like, that just happened. Like, I think they're they're always, like people are always impressed by that.
John:So that's definitely, I think, the thing for me that actually drew me more towards it. Honestly, just as someone that didn't really get any attention in sport growing up as a kid, like, I was never inherently good at, at basketball or inherently good at football or anything like that. Like, I didn't the sports didn't come easily to me. And I've talked about this before on the podcast, but I really firmly believe that if you or if you're, like, super talented early on, it's it's actually more so because your parents or coach or something like that are investing more time in you. So when you have these scenarios where, like, kids grow up and the attention is if it's all about them on a team or just in whatever setting it is, you're more likely to want to pursue that, and then you spend more time practicing coaching.
John:But you know what mean? It's like a positive feedback cycle. The more attention you get, the harder you practice so you can get more attention. And dunking was like the first thing that naturally like, grabbed room in seventh grade, I was like, oh, this is sick. Like, people are amazed by this.
John:I was like, oh, I'm just gonna get better at this. And that's, I think, where I really started taking it more seriously. And then HighJump obviously played a big role. So, trying to honestly get a college scholarship because we grew up with, like, no money. And it was made apparently apparent to me and my siblings that the only way we were gonna be able to pay for school, if we were gonna pay for school outside of, like, our just, like, pocket money was if we got a college scholarship.
John:So I was like, well, I'm gonna make this my goal. I didn't know about financial aid or anything like that. So I was like, if I'm gonna pay for school, it's gonna be through athletics, and I need to train really hard if I'm gonna get a scholarship. So that's really, for me, where it started. Yeah.
John:I don't know. It's kinda my my story. But, Connor, I guess you can you can start on why you got into it more or less and what made you take it more seriously.
Connor:Yeah. So I think, like Isaiah, and I think this is true for a lot of dunkers, I grew up loving basketball. I was obsessed with basketball. And, actually, it's funny because I I was I was before I was obsessed with basketball, I was obsessed with volleyball. I actually liked volleyball more than I liked basketball, but they didn't have volleyball in Texas where I lived, really.
Connor:So I had to stop doing that. I started playing basketball, became obsessed with it. And I didn't realize this the entire time I was doing basketball, but that the one thing I really loved about basketball was jumping. And kind of like Zay again, like, would I would spend, like, multiple hours after practice just jumping, trying to touch rim. And, like, I I developed a lot slower than a lot of people.
Connor:Like, in high school, I wasn't some super freaky athlete. And, like, midway through high school, I could, like, barely dunk. And then, like, after high school, like, I could dunk okay, but it wasn't wasn't crazy or anything. And I guess I was just a late bloomer. But when I was, like, 22, 23, I I, like, got way more athletic all of a sudden.
Connor:And all I had done up to that point was jump. And I started seeing Isaiah and Stephen Selly and Jordan Kilgannon and Chris John and, like, all these people doing all these trick dunks. And I had no idea that that even existed before then. And, I was getting pretty fed up with basketball at the time because, like, for some reason, I just didn't have fun, but I couldn't stop playing because it was the only time I had fun. And when I started trying to dunk and do tricks, I realized, like, I just wanna jump.
Connor:Like, I didn't even care about the basketball as much as I just wanted to jump high. So, that's when I made an Instagram and started trying to become a dunker, and things escalated quickly. So It's funny.
Isaiah:And it's funny that that you say that, like, you you realize that jumping was the part of basketball that you found fun because, like, I even had I had a moment like this, when I was playing basketball two days ago, the the YouTube video I just uploaded where I played with Briz. And there was a moment where everybody on the court was, like, arguing. You know, those big arguments that happen in pickup games or they're, like, arguing over a call and stuff like that. And then I'm just sitting there on the side, like, I just wanna dunk. Like like, I don't I could care less about this argument.
Isaiah:I'm not invested in the turnout of this game. Like, I just wanna dunk on somebody or just have my session, like, while they argue. It's just kinda always been like that. Like, I've always been fascinated by the jumping aspect of the game. And, like, every moment that I'm playing basketball, I was I was telling you guys this before the podcast.
Isaiah:Like, I'm just going I'm trying to jump as high as I can every single possession, like, running as fast as possible, like, down the court, trying to be everybody on the court. Like, I just love the explosive aspect of it. Like, I think that was just the fun the most fun part. It's like the
John:flashiest part. You know what I mean? Like, when you if you're, like, watching a basketball game or something like that, right, and you're even just, like, between, like, the games that they're showing highlights or whatever, it's not like they like, what are they showing? They're showing dunks. Like Yeah.
John:It's the best part. It's like And the more show touchdowns, you show home runs, you show dunks. Yeah.
Isaiah:And it's like, the more strength and, like, explosive strength is involved in the play, like, the more, like, fascinating it is for me. Like, my favorite part of, like, basketball is, like, if someone, like, blocks a dunk, like, like, smacks the shit out of it and, like, where you can hear it and, like because it's, like, it's, somebody just jumped high as hell, but then someone also jumped high as hell, and they were stronger than you. And, like, the time like, I don't know. That's just, like, is awesome.
John:What Lewis did you? Like, what Lewis did you? Where he was, like, stronger and more
Isaiah:I don't know what
Connor:you're talking about. Like, blocked you? You say that. I could've heard that's what's happen. Is Shannon Brown blocking that guy.
Connor:I don't remember if
Isaiah:he blocked, but he
Connor:just that was, like, the nastiest basketball play of all time just because of how he did it. And, like, he just stood there and stared at him. But that's I feel the same way. Like, you kind of talked about how it's, like, all eyes on you. And Yeah.
Connor:And this is something I've been told a lot. And for a long time, I, like, I took it as, like, not a compliment. I took it as kind of an insult. People are like, you're being, like, you're a show off. And but now
John:I kinda take it Point of dunking.
Connor:Exactly. Like like, yes, I am a show off. Like, I like like, these physical specimens of people, I wanted to be one of them. Like, I wanted people to freak out when I did stuff.
Isaiah:There's there's also, like, there's also another element, like, another layer on top of that, though, because it it isn't just about showing off. I know a lot of people, like, their main motivator is because they wanna stand out above the crowd. And, like, that might be why someone initially gets into it. But, like, there's also, like, a love behind it as well of just, like, of just jumping. Like, I had, my first session I had after my back was, like, really messed up was outdoors.
Isaiah:My neighbor, he it's his kid. He he's always, like, shooting around outside. And he brought his hoop out, and it was, like, 8PM, completely dark. And I'm over there, like, shooting around with him, and, I hadn't dunked for, like, six weeks or something like that. Like, it was, like, five or six weeks.
Isaiah:And then I went up and jumped, I realized, like, like, I felt good. And then I started having, like, literally just a dunk, like, full on dunk session at 8PM. I wasn't recording at all. I was jumping high shit, punching behind the backs and all this stuff. And, like, it just brought it back to being, like, 16 again in my driveway, like, not doing it for the cameras or anything like that.
Isaiah:Nobody around me. And, I remember my neighbor was like, oh, like, you're showing off. And I just remember just being so locked into the session that, like, I just didn't register that. Like, I was just like, you don't like, you will never understand this level of passion at the level like, I can't even try to describe it to you because it's not showing off. It's literally just like love, and I'm addicted to it.
Isaiah:What? And so, yeah, it's like, I don't know. There's just another layer to it. Yeah. I think we Connor.
John:Connor Connor's officially gone. No.
Isaiah:And I feel bad because he
John:was gonna say something. He was about to, and then he just disappeared. Yeah. Maybe maybe Hunter Shimotext. But, yeah, like, I will say that the same way too.
John:Like, even yesterday when I was at the gym and, like, you know, working on two foot, which I actually got a question, and Max Maritato was like, no. But for real, like, why are you interested in two foot? And I was like, because it's fun.
Isaiah:Yeah. But
John:I think that, yeah, there is, like, a level of I don't know if it's adrenaline or if it's, like, just enjoyment when it comes to just, like, putting your max effort into something. And Mhmm. It's almost like it's almost like when people get really anxious or they have, like, know, you whatever. And then and then they go to, find a box like a go to a boxing ring or whatever, and then just, like, find a heavy bag and just start wailing on it.
Isaiah:Yeah.
John:Can you see? Oh, there's Connor. So, like, you you find that exact same almost satisfaction when you dunk. It's like, hey. Look.
John:I'm gonna try as hard as I possibly can on this, especially on two feet. Two feet, like, one foot, you get it, especially on, like, the actual punch of the dunk, but it's less like, it's so much more fluid almost feeling. Like, it's not effort thing.
Isaiah:The one foot's definitely more relaxed, especially after having done it, a couple weeks ago. Like, the best one foot jumps are just like it just kind of flows. Two foot is just more like it's just violent and aggressive.
John:So high jump, I will say high jump is way more violent. Like, when you're speed jumping, it's like it just feels like like a corkscrew out there. Like, I don't even know. It's just like, boom. But if you, but like two foot, whenever I do two foot jumping, it's like that.
John:It's like, you know what I mean? You're just and I know you're supposed to stay relaxed and stuff, and I'm working on that, but it definitely gets, like, a level of aggression out when you do it. Yeah. So, yeah, I I definitely find that. It's just fun.
John:It's it's jumping is fun. I don't know why, but it is. It's like
Isaiah:It's more from this thing, like It's max effort, but it's not like like something that I hate, for example, is jogging, like endurance work. Like, like, it's just, like, drawn out and, like, lasts a long time. Dunking is just like like, you could be fat and have a dunk session. Yeah. I
John:heard it the other day. Was like yeah, someone was you don't just like walk into the gym day one and you're like, put 03:15 on the bar. Let me squat it for ten. It's like everyone walks into a gym with a basketball court and they're like, put it up to 10 feet. Like, that's regulation.
John:I'm ready to dunk
Isaiah:on this.
John:It's like, you don't that's not how it works. Like, I guess for some people, like, some people are inherently strong. Some people are inherently tall and can jump, but, like, it's not generally how it goes. And it's the same like you said, like, if you're fat as hell and you just, like, walk up, like, seven foot hoop, you can probably dunk on it. Even if you can jump this high, just lower the hoop.
John:Yeah. But, yeah, it's hilarious. Connor, you were gonna say something about dunking before you
Connor:Yeah. So before I accidentally clicked the wrong button and hung up the call, I was gonna say that, like, kinda what Zay was talking about is, like, for a while, I was actually pretty scared that, like, I was dunking only because I wanted the clout. That only came into play, like, when I started actually getting known for it because before no one knew me, and then I went to dunk camp and things kinda, like, popped off because I didn't think I was very good. And then I found out I was much better than I thought. And, like, I just before that, I had basically just dunked by myself all the time, or I dunked between games at twenty four Hour Fitness.
Connor:And Yeah. Since then Your video quality had dunked terrible.
John:I used to hate watching your videos on Instagram because they were all, like Oh, I know.
Isaiah:Super hot.
Connor:So there was, like, a window, and I would just put my, like, iPod touch in this window every day. And I would just film the exact same angle.
John:Yeah. Yeah.
Connor:And he's, like, he's and
John:he's, like, yeah. He's super good. Wait till you see him dunk. And I, like, go to his Instagram, and it's, 20 feet away, just, like, waist up videos. And you can only see, like you can't even see his feet near the ground.
John:And I'm just like, what is this?
Connor:Like, what is How far we have come?
John:Yeah. And then he met me
Connor:at dunk camp and
John:in a room with Connor.
Isaiah:It's funny.
John:And then I was
Isaiah:like He's a freak. Like, I actually knew about Connor, like, like, literally at the beginning of his dunk journey. I don't know if we should. Should we say specific jump programs at all? Like, is that what is?
John:Probably stay away from it, but our friend our friend's jump program.
Isaiah:We were we were in a Facebook group, alright, where we, like, shared progress. Right? And in this Facebook group, like, like, Connor literally joined it, like, at the beginning of his dunk journey, basically, like, when he started, like, training for it. And I, like, I just remember seeing Connor when he was, like he wasn't doing any tricks. And then, like, I remember him working through, like, get being able to East Bay, and I think he got to the point where he could like, he hit his first East Bay or something like that.
Isaiah:And then, just started jumping
Connor:around. Hit my first ease bay right before dunk camp.
Isaiah:Yeah. Yeah. So I knew Connor. Like, he could ease bay. Like, that was his best dunk.
Isaiah:And then and then saw him at dunk camp, and he just freaking, like, crowns and, like, gets his head at the rim and all this stuff. And I was like, what the hell is going on? And he dunked that.
Connor:It was I was like, my mindset was like, I'm in front of all these people that I look up to, and I was like, I am not walking. Like, I am not going to this. Also, I spent every penny I had to go to dunk camp. Like, I literally was broke. And so I was like, if I'm going to this, I'm going to make something of myself.
Connor:That's literally my mindset. So the whole thing was like a contest for me. Like, I wasn't going for fun. I was going to, like, prove something.
John:Well, that's yeah.
Connor:But yeah. Like, with that with with, like, the love of dunking thing, because I meant to end on this, was like but since since that dunk camp, I've constantly dunked with other pro dunkers and, like, traveled to dunk with people. Like, I've never just dunked by myself. And, like, even, like, even in the propensity of, like, someone is there filming me. Like, I didn't just dunk.
Connor:For the first time in, like, three years, basically, I dunked by myself last Friday, and that was some of the most fun I've had in, like, a long time. It's different. Like, it's so different. And and no music. Like yeah.
Connor:And and I didn't like, I haven't posted anything from that session. Like, I don't care. It was so good.
Isaiah:Yeah. There's it's different, like
John:pressure sometimes
Isaiah:for me. Yeah. Like, the first two years, I didn't dunk. The first time I ever dunked with somebody was with Steven Sully and and CJ, and that was when I was, like, about to turn 18. So I I would say for the first two years or a year and a half, it was, like, no sessions with people.
Isaiah:And I would record maybe half half of the sessions. And I don't know. To this day, like, when I dunk, like, by myself and it's just and and not worrying about recording, like, I don't know. It's almost like a safe space. Like, it's like it's like a thing that's, that nobody else like, I can share with nobody else.
Isaiah:Like, I don't know. It's hard to describe, but it's definitely it's awesome, though. Like, that's my best best feeling.
Connor:Also, those dunk sessions by myself are where I've invented every single dunk anyone seen me do. Like, any of the crazy tricks I've done were invented just dunking by myself. Yeah.
John:Yeah. I mean, that's how every I feel like the majority of mine till Austin Eli showed up. Also, we should probably get into some of these questions, by the way.
Isaiah:Yeah. Yeah.
John:Now that we've just discussed the
Connor:Now that we've passioned all
John:of us getting into the the detail of how we did that. So the the question that, I guess, Hunter Hunter wrote here, what
Connor:are the what
John:are the fixed characteristics characteristics beneficial to vertical jump? Jeans, limb lengths, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So I guess I'll give my
Isaiah:Let's build our the prototype dunker.
John:Alright. So if I had if I was, like, on Madden and I was like or let's say that dunking had a video game, maybe, like, the old school and one dunk, like, game, and you could you could, create your your perfect character. And let's say you knew everything about the physiology of that person too. I'd be like, alright. Let's see.
John:I want you to be about six foot four. Actually, you could say as tall as possible, but that's just, like, not as fun. So I'd probably say, like, six three, six four with super long limbs. Like, I want I want, like, Chris Staples build. You know what I mean?
John:Massive hands, super long arms, you know, whatever else. This is this is for a two foot guy, I would say. And then I want someone who has some sort of sub Saharan African, genetics, for sure, if I could, best case scenario, have that. I would want super stiff tendons. So if I could have, like, you know well, actually, for a two foot guy, you actually don't want to the far extreme of stiffness in a way of tendons.
John:So I would probably have someone with, like if it were a continuum and, like, high jumper or sprinter is, like, the very end of that continuum, and then you would move down the continuum and maybe have, like, long jump, and then you would have, like, I don't know, maybe maybe triple jump, I guess. And then before that would be, like wait. So sprinting, long jump, triple jump, high jump, and then it would be, like, two foot jumper. It would be, like, what I would assume. Maybe triple jump and like two foot jumper are kind of the same.
John:And then I would probably max out type two fiber, type two x fiber, or type technically, it'd be type two b. Get as much of that as possible. I would boost their testosterone levels. You want as much testosterone, as much human growth hormone, all of those, as much as you possibly can.
Connor:A beard at 10 years old?
John:Yeah, as much as you can. Let's see. What else what else would I probably do? I I don't know. The Achilles tendon length thing is kinda, like, difficult to say.
John:Would seen, like
Isaiah:I would say from people who just being around co workers.
John:More to do with the stiffness of it. And, like Yeah. Generally, people that have longer Achilles tendons actually have somewhat more relatively more compliant. Like, even when that when I was with pro sprinters, you don't see that, like, 20 inch Achilles tendon. Like, long jumper, do.
John:But, like, when I was with Andre, like I mean, Usain Bolt is pretty long, I guess, too. I don't know. It's tough. That that that
Hunter:John, real quick. You say when you were with with professional sprinters. What do you mean? Like, when were you with professional sprinters? Who's Andre?
John:So okay. So when I was in Phoenix, when I was in Altus in Phoenix after, it's weird. Hunter brought this up to me. He's like, wait. This is your resume?
John:Like, if you go to the website and you look at my resume, like, was like, Yeah, can you send me your resume? And I was like, Yeah, sure. I'll send you my resume. And I just assumed that people know this, but I guess not everyone does. But yeah, I guess it was during my second year of grad school or between the two years.
John:So after my first year, my mentor at the time was like, yeah. You need to, or I was asking him. I was like, how do I get more experience? Like, I'm looking to get make my resume even more polished. And he's like, well, if I could go anywhere in the country, I would go see these three or four coaches.
John:And he listed off, like, Texas', like, Longhorns. He listed off their coach. For the multi, he listed off. And I emailed him, and then he never really got back to me. So shout out him.
John:I can't even remember who it was. And it was, like, Lauren Seagrave in I think he was with IMG at the time, which if you guys know anything about IMG, that's where, like I think LaMelo Ball played basketball there. Right? Is that right? No?
John:I think he did his last year.
Connor:Yeah. That's that's correct.
John:Yeah. That's what I thought. So, like, you know, it it has, like, star studded, like, basically, the nicest high school facilities you can get. It's like a private school that you pay to go to, I believe. I think their football team is even better now too, but they weren't at the time.
John:Anyways, their track program was good. So he's like, you go there or you can go to Altus. And I was like, what is Altus? And he's like, well, it's basically Dan Paff who's, like, this legendary track coach. Like, he's coached, I don't even know, tens of whatever Olympic medalists, including Donovan Bailey, who I believe was with Dan when he broke the world record, but don't quote me on that.
John:I can't remember. But he was a Canadian sprinter, super fast. Dan coached him. He coached Greg Rutherford, who was obviously the gold medalist in 2012 for GB and, like, basically came out of nowhere. Like, he was, like, injured, not really doing great, and, like, wasn't having a lot of success with his coach.
John:And then Dan shows up and is like, hey. What's up? Let's make you a world champion. And he did. Like, you know, which was just crazy because no one saw it coming.
John:So he, like, obviously was I mean, he coached all over the collegiate scene for a while and mentored a lot of the coaches even to this day. Some of the best track coaches he's mentored. So he was mentored by Tom Toles. Tom Toles is Carl Lewis' coach. We should all know who Carl Lewis is.
John:So, yeah, he, you know, is pretty much a legend. And then there was Stu McMillan who was coaching the sprinting group at the time at Altus. And Stu was mentored by Dan as well, Canadian guy, had, like, some Charlie Francis influence because Charlie Francis is Canadian sprint coach. And so I was like, well, I'm gonna apply, and I'm gonna go there. And so I go there, and there is, like, tens of twenties of, like, just all these Olympic sprinters, Olympic caliber sprinters training for the twenty sixteen Olympic Games in trials.
John:So you have, like, Oh,
Isaiah:not to cut you off, but I hear someone's phone vibrating.
John:That might be my gain, maybe. Let me turn my gain down. Is that me? Is that me? No?
John:I hear, like, white noise. Oh, I do hear someone's phone vibrating. Yeah. Might be Hunter. Anyways, so, yeah.
John:So at the time, there's, like, there's, like, Ellen Nelson. What if it's your phone, Isaiah? It might be. Your phone is the one vibrating?
Connor:Yeah. You might just have to take it off your desk.
Hunter:Oh, never percent be cutting this out.
John:Anyways, so there was there was no. We'll just keep it in. People love it. So there was Ellen Nelson. She's, like, the fastest sprinter in Australia, right, at the time.
John:She's, like, one of the fastest girls from Australia ever. There was Andre DeGrosse, was the second fastest guy in the world or third fastest guy in the 100 meter dash that year. Went Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin, Andre DeGrosse in 2016. We ended up getting third in a 100 meter dash. He's, like, one of the only guys ever to run sub 20 and sub 10 in the 100 meter dash in one day, like, the same day, which is crazy.
John:I think he I think I don't know if he's the only person ever to do. I'm not sure. I can't remember. But crazy fast. Right?
John:And then you have Javed Best, who's, like, previous NFL running back there, like, one of the fastest guys in the NFL when he played, transferring over to track, training for the Olympic trials. Jeremy Dodson, who was, like, he ran for he was like a Samoan athlete, went to Colorado State or something. If I screw this up, I'm sorry, but I'm trying to remember the best of my ability. BJ Lee, who went to USC with Andre, who's one of the fastest guys in the NCAA the year prior, two years prior. Curtis Mitchell, who's, like, a previous 200 meter national champion in the 200, like, on Aries Merritt, who was the world record holder in the hurdles was there.
John:So Greg Rutherford was there, like I said, who's, like, you know, training for to defend his title at the Olympics, like, long jump, for Breeze Lapierre. Like, just freak after freak after freak after freak. Anyways, that all said, back to the Achilles, all of them had differing Achilles lengths. Like Andre de Grasse, not a long Achilles. Big soleus, not a huge pretty long gastroc.
John:I mean, all tapered down when it came down to the calcaneus, but everyone's Achilles does that. So you had Greg, fat calves, fat soleus, fat gastroc, don't like Barth. Then you had, like, Andre, same thing. BJ, same thing. Javed, same thing.
John:Jeremy had, like, a pretty decently sized length Achilles tendon. Like, Fabrice Lapierre had a pretty long soleus. Like, all these guys had, like, long soleus. Like, it wasn't like and then you have Curtis Curtis Beach. Curtis Beach has, like, the freaking mass most massive gastroc ever in a super long Achilles tendon.
John:And he's, like, a distance like, his he has a world record in the in the 1,500 and the thousand for the decathlon. Right? So it's, you know, you you see all these varying, like, builds and stuff. And then it's like, you see two foot jumpers, though, like Isaiah at Dunk League. Right?
John:And, like, talk about their Achilles legs.
Isaiah:Yeah. At Dunk League, so me me and Jordan, we were, like, sitting down and, like, everybody was just, like, it was, like, warm. It was right before we had a competition or something like that. And then I was just looking at everybody's, like, Achilles' center. I was like, yo, like, look at everybody's Achilles.
Isaiah:And then everybody just literally had the longest freaking Achilles of all time. Like, like, I have a really, really, really long Achilles. And, like, they made mine look, like, normal. Like, it was crazy. And then Jordan, his Achilles is I think it was a little shorter than mine, but his was still, like, like, pretty long.
Isaiah:CJ's is, like his is super long. So it's like everybody every dunker in there had just a long ass Achilles. And, yeah, they all jump they all jump high as shit. And then there's there's a couple exceptions, obviously, like Connor. Connor has a a short Achilles.
Isaiah:But, yeah, at Dunk League, it was like yeah. Everybody just had the same calves, basically.
Connor:Yeah. Repping out the jumps for the short Achilles fam.
John:What's so weird is, like, people talk about it like they know. And I'm like, where where is this research? Like, where are you seeing this research? Because all I've seen is that, like, it has to do with what the tendon is made of. So, like, sometimes that just doesn't really make sense to me whenever people are like, oh, it's definitely this.
John:Like this, this, if you have a longer Achilles, it's better. And then I'm like, you literally, you do not know that. You actually have no idea if that's the case. But we know that if you have a softer Achilles tendon and you have more composition of that tendon, then yes, likely that it'll be more effective. So for example, if you have a rubber band, tendons are basically extension springs.
John:If your Achilles is anchored at the calcaneus, which is like your heel, and then it's anchored at the gastroc and soleus, if you have more cross sectional area of that extension spring and it's longer, you would hypothetically have more total volume of the tendon. If that tendon is made of the stiff components, then hypothetically, you would have a stiffer tendon. So I think there was a research study that briefly discussed this. Generally speaking, if you had a shorter Achilles tendon but it was thicker, that it was stiffer. And then vice versa, if you had a longer Achilles tendon and it was a little bit thinner, that was a little bit more compliant, which I think kinda makes sense.
John:But that's the closest I think I've seen, and I can't even remember exactly where that research came from. So that's off the top of my head. I just remember reading that, and they had like some diagrams. And so back to the perfect build for someone, right, when you're looking at the way that those that the Achilles tendon, functions, if you have a more compliant tendon and you're a two foot jumper, then your gastroc and your soleus is actually able to pull more tension, pull the slack out of the tendon and pull more tension on it. So basically, like, your calf is contracting and pulling and extending that spring.
John:You're able to store more energy in the tendon. So where people previously thought is, or what people previously thought is, oh, it's an eccentric muscle contraction, which means the muscles, you know, if you your muscles are like I don't know if, you know, if you're listening to this, you can't see, but I'm crossing interlacing my hands. Your muscle can lengthen and it can shorten or it can stay the same length. So people thought when you're on the down phase or when you're loading your jump that the muscle is actually lengthening, but it's not. The muscle is actually there's research from the Albrecht, I think is her name.
John:But basically the tendon stays, or the muscle stays the same length, and then the joint, because it's angulating, is stretching the tendon. So what can even further augment that process is if, say, your calf then contracts. So now your calf is contracting, which is further going to augment the energy stored in that tendon, because it's gonna pull the tendon apart more, which means you're pulling apart a tendon because your calf is contracting. So it's pulling it concentrically, which is the up phase, even though you're loading the jump. It's So kinda counterintuitive and pretty complex, but ideally, wanna find the right compliance in the tendon.
John:And I think the same is true for the patella. So, like, peep if you can jump high, you should be able to run fast. And I'm like, no. Like, not necessarily because the time intervals for those things are grossly different. And, like, you look at Isaiah and I run or, like, race against each other.
John:Right? Isaiah, like, early on before you I mean, you've been springing for a while, but, like, when you came and did that training camp with me, right, I mean, you got way faster. Were you running, like, four twos? Or like No.
Isaiah:I think I think that's a that's a big misconception. And a lot of dunkers are delusional about how fast they are as well. Know for I know I used to think, like, I was really fast, but when you measure objectively, like frame count, like like a 40 yard dash or a frame count, a 100 meter dash, we did online, you realize that you are not that fast. Like, if you were fast, you would be like, you would be a world class sprinter. Right?
Isaiah:Like, or or something like that, most likely. So, yeah, I think I think there's a lot of delusions about about how fast dunkers are. Basically, every dunker thinks they're fast until they get objectively measured or they or they yeah. Or put them on a runway against someone that's actually fast. What's crazy too is you you can look
John:at guys that do both. You can look at guys like Dax on track, or you can look at guys, like, that are actually track and field athletes. Oh, Connor's connection died. Or you can look at guys like Dexton, or you can look at guys like, Jordan Wester, right, that, like Mhmm. Are freaky, freaky jumpers on a court.
John:And then and then you you put them on a and then you and then you put them on a track or whatever else. Right? Like, only sprinting. So they're track and field athletes, but they're not they're not winning the 60. They're not winning the 100 meter dash.
John:Yeah. They're not winning long jump. Things that they jump far, they jump high, or they're fast, but they're not, like, just because you're the best jumper I mean, we're talking about some of the best jumpers. They would blow any sprinter out of the water. Right?
John:But then you put them on a track, and it's not the same.
Isaiah:So Yeah. Like, you they're not they're not world class elite in speed. So like, good, a good, a good dunker, a good jumper is going to be fast, but they're not going to be like elite level fast or
John:world going You're run sub 10 in the 100 probably. Like, probably not. You know? People don't realize how fast it is, but you're probably not gonna
Connor:Plus you have to work into that, like, jumping and sprinting or techniques. Like, it's a different skill. So Yeah.
John:No. I agree. And but that's the thing too is, like, Isaiah came and ran every day or not every day, but three times a week for I mean, how how long were you It was
Isaiah:a solid I wanna say, like, it was, a solid, like, two, almost two months I was like, I didn't miss a sprint session. For years.
John:Yeah. But you've also been doing it for the past three years with me. Right? Like, you've been doing sprint training. It's not like you haven't been doing it.
John:And so it's crazy where you like, it's like, yeah. That's definitely true. Like, there's definitely a technical component to it, but it's not like it's not like Isaiah hasn't been sprinting. Like, he's he's been sprinting, and he's been doing it for a while. And, like, he got faster for sure.
John:But how much faster? Not, you know, to the point where he's even probably running sub seven in the 60, which is like I mean, Jay Clark ran, like, six eighty or something like that or faster. He's, like, super fast. I think there were records, like, six forty or something like that by Coleman. So just to put that in perspective, like, you're talking about 10 in a sport where at the highest level, you're separated by point 1%.
John:That's like Isaiah being, like, comparing his vertical, like, at his level in the 60 compared to, like, you know, Usain Bolt or Christian Coleman or whatever. If you were to compare that to, like, vertical jump, that'd Isaiah having forty forty eight inch vertical, and then you see a guy at, like, 40, you know, or or, like, 38 or 39. Basically, me. Like, it's like, yeah, he's good. He's really good.
John:He jumps super high, but he's not. There's levels to this shit. Yeah. There there are levels to this shit. That's definitely true.
John:But, yeah, as far as the best build, I think that would be you can get someone that has all of those attributes, I feel like and you get the leverages. This is the last piece, is where the disc like, internally, you would want really big moment arms, in the sense of, like, where your bones are located. So, like, you get a really high patella, or you get a really like, your calcaneus is super long and super far away from the actual axis of your rotation, like the actual joint axis. At the hip, don't have that stuff on lock, but you would want the bones to be far away from the axis of rotation because that's gonna give you more internal leverage If you were to actually, like, look at the biomechanics or you were to take someone apart, that's maybe the only way you could actually do that to get better internal leverage.
Connor:That that would be such an interesting thing to see, by the way, just as a side note. Like like, if you took all the pro dunkers and looked at how long their bones were in comparison to, like, what their births were
John:the depth, though. Because, like, for your knee, like, I don't I don't have anything really here to, like, demonstrate this. But, like, for your knee joint, it would be the center of the axis of rotation. So, like, the center of your knee joint and would be the distance to the tip of where the where the, patella inserts or originates, the patella tendon inserts or originates. So you're basically looking at, like, the distance, right, from and then you also have to look at where the muscle attachment point is and where the origin is too, to look at basically all of those things combined.
John:Or I think it's actually where I have to go back and look at this, but the line of pull was relative to how the tendon runs. And then it's where that starts essentially, I believe, is where the tendon starts. That's how you get. So it's basically the depth of the space between where your tendon starts to the if you went deep down into the center of your knee. So if you took a pin do you ever see how people tell the thickness of ice or whatever they drill a hole?
John:Like and then they what how do they do it? They how do they check that? They, like, drill a hole, basically?
Connor:Yeah. They just have, like, a drill that is a circle, and they just drill down and pull the ice.
John:It's a But you can tell, like, the thickness of the ice that way somehow. Right? Imagine if you could do that with the human body. You just drilled straight down to the center of the joint and you were like, Oh, it's this much depth. That would tell you basically or give you an idea to some of the internal moments.
John:And then as you move dynamically, that leverage also changes. But generally speaking, that's one way that you can look at leverage. So, yeah, that we covered really two questions here. Yeah.
Connor:And I was super in-depth. Yeah.
Hunter:And just to bring this full circle for, like, the normal people listening, there's levels to this just like there's levels to coaching. And this is why when we get all those questions, does x cause y, or is this exercise the best for this result? It is just completely dependent upon where you are as an athlete and your training experience and all these variables that he just went into about your body. Like, all of this matters for your coaching and your training. And that's why, you know, those questions are so hard to answer.
Hunter:So Yeah. Only that,
Connor:but that's why training has to be personalized to individuals. You can't just give people a PDF sheet and expect everyone to have good results from that.
John:Yeah. There's yeah. We keep saying this, but there there are levels to this. And it's like, you know, I didn't I didn't go to Altus and be like, oh, the way that Andre DeCrohaas is coached is exactly the way I should be coached. Like, no.
John:I mean, are there are there certain things that are, like, consistencies in that? Of course. You know what I mean? And I say this all the time. If you're, you know, if you're one year, if your training age is one year or better yet, let's use Isaiah as an example.
John:Isaiah's training age is probably what, like ten plus years, maybe thirteen plus years or something like that. I don't even know. My training age started
Isaiah:lifting at 15. So eight eight years, like a solid, solid that that's like solid eight years of like, of lifting and then jumping a lot before then, if that counts at all.
John:And then and then you, so and then if you were to add in the level of, like, when you started training intensely, that also plays a massive role. Like, when did you really start training intensely? So those are all, like, again, play a huge role. It's like, yeah, your training age might be eight years, but mine's thirteen of which eight of those years are super high level programming. So it's like Yeah.
John:That also plays a major role. Like, of those eight years, how much of that training was super next level? But, yeah, I think we're gonna actually close this out because Hunter Hunter's gotta, do some other responsibilities. But, anyways, guys, thanks for listening. Thanks for tuning in with us.
John:Go to our website, thbstrength.com. Sign up for coaching there. The first month is 50% off right now. So if you guys are interested in trying out our coaching and you wanna see what we're all about, that's the first place you need to start. Go through the coach bios.
John:Go through the FAQ page. Find out if it's right for you, and and sign up. But thank you guys for listening. And, yeah, we'll be back with another episode soon.
Isaiah:Yep. And make sure you go check out our YouTube channels. This is gonna be put on John's YouTube. You can literally just type in John Evans on YouTube. John Evans dunk.
Isaiah:John Evans dunk. You'll find it. It'll come right up. And then I have a YouTube channel, Isaiah Rivera. Connor as well.
Isaiah:Connor Barth. Again, just type in our names. You'll be able to find it. You can also find us on social media. And, yeah, without further ado, that's pretty much it, guys.