I have done a lot of vertical jump programs over the years, from weight lifting to plyometrics, used funny platform shoes and gimmicky devices that I am sure you have never heard of. By far the quickest improvements I have ever seen in any program that I used is in the Athletic Speed Program. Stick with me here as I have actually done the program and no it is not a scam.
I bought this program almost 10 years ago, I thought I would give it a try, although I have tried many things to increase my vertical jump and speed that when I bought this, I had not been interested in increasing my vertical jump anymore. It was more for speed and quickness so I could keep up with the competition.
I was wanting to improve my speed at the age of 30 and at that time I was losing my first step. These younger basketball players were getting too fast for me on the court. At the time I did the program (which was around 6 years ago) for the first two weeks, it was challenging. But later started to become easy and at my own fault did not increase the tension. So I didn’t see any more gains more on that later. What is this program about?
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Isometric Training
When an athlete wants to get faster or jump higher, depending on their weaknesses they may use jumping exercises such as plyometrics or strengthen exercises like weights.
The training that you see in the athletic quickness programs are much different.
The Author, Dr. Van Such uses isometric holds for a set time of 10 to 15 seconds using training bands for tension with your legs.
This is known as isometric training and is described in the manual as ” the sustained contraction of a muscle over a certain period of time where the length of the muscle remains unchanged.”
An example of this can be doing a squat with or without weights and holding the bottom position at parallel.
With the program, there is no need for bulky expensive equipment such as weights or other gear.
Isometric training has been around a long time, you might have heard of this type of training before.
It is a term often used in the fitness industry, and many professionals believe it’s undervalued and underused.
Pros:
- Takes less than 15 mins to complete
- Can do it in-season
- can do it anywhere
- improve your first-step quickness and speed along with vertical
- Affordable
- Comes with bands so you can get started
Cons
- Need stronger bands as you get stronger
- Need a good anchor for bands
- If you stop you may lose gains
Speed training challenge
The first time I discovered the Athletic Quickness program was when I found their Youtube Channel.
On the channel, they have a speed training challenge in which they give you one exercise to try for two weeks, they ask you to measure your speed before the training routine.
Complete the two weeks and you should see faster speed times.
They wanted to prove that in fact, their program worked because that one exercise they were promoting was enough that you would increase your speed.
This is how they sold people on their program. How much more would it work with the full program hitting all parts of the legs. Did it work? Yup
I remember doing the speed challenge and only after a week I bought the program because I felt much faster on the basketball court.
I did not measure my times but was beating players one on one with my faster first step. I was definitely much faster and decided I would buy the program for 30 bucks.
The problem was I didn’t really use the right tension after the initial gains, I got stronger and the bands became too easy.
This is why I stopped, it was my fault I didn’t follow the directions. So 6 years later I decided to pull it out of my closet and bought better bands and try it again.
Give it a try before you buy it, you can even check the comments section and look at some of the results. The most recent comments are troll comments so beware.
The Workout
There are a total of 10 exercises in AQ. Your workout out consists of 5 exercises each alternating between two different workouts 4 days a week.
The program requires you to perform isometric holds with 70 to 80 % of your maximum strength for 15 seconds using the band’s tension.
If you can go longer than 15 seconds then you need stronger bands and tension, as this is considered easy.
This was the problem I had the first time doing the program after two weeks, I needed to apply more tension but didn’t have stronger bands to do so.
You may have to double the resistance bands if you find the tension too easy.
In-season
If I could go back in time during my high school days this would be the program I would have definitely used.
The Isometric training exercises in the program did not make my muscles sore the following day.
Whether you would get the same amount of gains as you would during the off-season as you have more rest is a different story.
With a busy schedule of basketball and school, it may be difficult to find the time and the energy to do a workout.
But the Athletic Quickness workouts only take around 12 minutes to complete the entire workout and you can pretty much do it anywhere, as long as you can anchor the bands securely (I use the legs of my couch or bed).
Is the Athletic Quickness program another gimmick?
Over the years there have been all sorts of vertical jump programs on the market from jump shoes to ankle weights etc.
AQ is not a gimmick but uses scientific principles to increase speed or vertical using isometric exercises. and it has been around for over 10 years.
If you go to the Athletic quickness website they have a number of programs that use isometric training techniques that many athletes have reported excellent results with.
Anywhere from track athletes to basketball, they have over 150+ testimonials that you can read for yourself.
The program I completed was their speed program but they also have the following programs for sale:
- Run Faster
- Jump Higher
- Kick Farther
- Drive Longer
- Swing Faster
- Serve faster
What comes with the program?
At the time of purchasing the speed program, it came with the program manual and two bands.
It appears they no longer offer the bands and you have to purchase your own. You can purchase them from Amazon or Walmart.
They no longer sell a paper manual like I have, but do sell the programs in the form of an ebook. This means you can have access to the programs immediately.
As you get stronger you will find after a couple of weeks you will need to up the tension. This is why you will need to purchase multiple bands and not just one or two.
They are still relatively inexpensive. Well worth it for the price as you can use the bands for other exercises, not in the program.
Here are the bands below that I have, you can click the image and it will take you to Amazon.
Who is the program for?
Really anybody who wants to improve their speed and quickness. They have a lot more testimonials of their Speed program than their vertical jump program.
I emailed the Athletic quickness to ask what the difference was and their response was there were several different exercises between the two programs.
Makes sense, two different types of explosive movements. I have not used or seen the vertical jump program, but I am doing some training right now for increasing my vertical jump as I am building up my strength base, I will be incorporating some of the exercises in my program.
Why Should I order?
They give you an unconditional no questions asked money-back guarantee. You even get to keep the E-book free. I mean you really have nothing to lose.
My Results
In as little as one week I saw results both times that I have used the program, I am not kidding.
The reason I believe I saw good results immediately is that one particular exercise that they give you strengthens the hip flexors and that alone will help to make you faster.
The hip flexor is a common underdeveloped muscle that athletes have. Strengthening this muscle you will start to feel lighter as you run, it’s as if your hip flexors are pulling your legs off the ground.
You can take this how you want but in my second run-through of the program years after I purchased in as little as a week I saw an increase in my speed. Although I did not measure my times I judged it on the basketball court.
What I can say is that I am in my mid-30s and blowing by guys 10 to 15 years younger than me on the court.
My legs felt young once again. I definitely had a spring to my step and could remember resting on the bench during my basketball game and turning to a friend while telling him my legs feel amazing.
My lateral quickness has always been terrible but I was able to easily keep up with the competition on defense.
I didn’t expect these kinds of gains so soon again. The kicker…. I still was 10 lbs overweight.
I could only imagine that the results would have been even better. My legs didn’t feel like jello. I was able to play the majority of the game and I wasn’t exhausted at all.
After that I had never been excited to do a workout, then, unfortunately, covid happened and I wasn’t able to test or play basketball again.