Bryan Johnson, 48, wants to dunk a basketball for the first time. He's got stiff tendons, weak fast-twitch muscles, and poor coordination working against him. His plan: three weekly training sessions targeting a 35-inch vertical jump and 14.5 ft/s takeoff velocity.
I am 48 years old and I am training to dunk a basketball. The problem is I've never dunked in my entire life, and at my age, the risk of injury is 5 times higher. So for the next few months, I'm training like an elite athlete to see if I can defy the odds. Welcome to episode 1 of Can Unc Dunk? How are you feeling about all this? Well, the bad news is I have little fast-twitch muscle, stiff tendons, poor coordination, and slow force development. The good news, We have a plan. 3 training sessions every week following a format designed for athleticism, timing, rhythm, and rate of force. At 6 feet, 180 pounds, my vertical will need to be around 35 inches, which means I need to hit some key benchmarks like a takeoff velocity of 14.5 feet per second and a 0.2-second takeoff time. It's a crazy goal, but if I'm going to live forever, I might as well be able to dunk.
