My First Podcast!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Brady Goodman, a radio host from Kansas City (https://www.facebook.com/bradygoodmanradio/).

Back in October 2017, he made a $1000 bet with his co-host that he could DUNK within 1 year.  Brady had never dunked before, and being in his 40's, winning this bet was going to be tough to say the least.

Throughout his journey, Brady recorded several "BG Dunks 2018" podcasts.  On August 31st, Brady recorded with Andy Nicholson (a.k.a. "Over The Hill Dunker").  Andy was one of the only 40+ dunkers that I had found when I was first trying to dunk again... and has taken his dunking journey to the next level in 2017-2018 by creating a documentary, and launching The Dunk Camp (https://www.thedunkcamp.com/).

I'm connected to Andy on several social media platforms (Instagram/Twitter/Youtube), and Brady found my profile via that connection. Brady found a lot of similarities between my dunk journey and his own... and asked me to join him on his BGDunks2018 podcast.  I had never done a podcast before, but it sounded like a cool thing to do - and really, when else would I ever get to chat about my dunking???

Anyway - we recorded the podcast episode back in September.  You can find it on iTunes etc., or at this link: 
https://997thepoint.radio.com/media/audio-channel/bgdunks2018-ep-18-bruce-cavers-beecee-40-and-dunking-midlife-vertical-mp3

Thanks again to Brady for reaching out... he ultimately lost the bet (October 2nd was the dunk day - and he didn't manage to get one down), but vowed to continue his journey.


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A few other quick updates:

• I've been doing much better at working out recently... down to around 210 lbs (!!!) from 230-235 lbs earlier this year.
• I'm turning 42 in a few weeks, and based on some successful dunks in the past few months, I should be in good shape to keep dunking at age 42 (look for some footage once I get one down).
• One of my low rim dunking spots (the playground at my kids' school) was renovated... the 9'6" rims are gone, and the new court has rims that go above 10ft (10'2"-10'3") because of some sloping on the ground.  I did manage to get some final dunks in on the low rim, including this one with a bounce alley-oop my daughter:

Hitting the Reset Button (AGAIN) in 2018

Almost 1 year since my past post... but, like I've done with the start of almost every new year recently, I'm going to re-focus on some key goals.

A few updates:

• I have an issue in my right foot, and this has thrown my whole right leg out of balance (I can feel a bit of pain in my ankle, knee, and hip).  This is forcing me to train a bit differently: less treadmill/running, and more exercises that won't cause strain on knee/hip.
• I'm still playing rec league basketball, and still getting in dunk attempts on a regular basis.
• I was maintaining a weight around 220 lbs (stayed between 220-230 for all of 2017), but had too much food and booze over the holidays... I was an even 230 lbs on the scale on New Year's day.

So, here's my stats for the start of 2018:

Age: 41
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 230 lbs (as of January 1st... but already I've shed a couple of pounds in the past 2 days)


One cool thing I was able to do near the end of 2017 was play in a corporate 3-on-3 event at the Raptors' old practice court at the Air Canada Centre!  Here's a pic of me attempting a dunk on that court:

For 2018, I'm also going to expand the content on this blog to focus on various dunking and basketball topics BEYOND just my dunking journey.

Also - as a reminder, you can follow me on various social media platforms:

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/bdcavers/
Instagram:  bee.cee ("Bruce C.")
Twitter: @MidlifeVertical ("40 and Dunking?")

Hitting the Reset Button

It's been a few weeks since my last post, and I've spent most of that time with some nagging injuries (ankle, knee).  I haven't been exercising as consistently, and I've put on 10 pounds from my recent low of 215 lbs.

But, my knees/ankles are coming back slowly, and I am still committed to dunking in my 40's.  I've decided that I need to re-focus on my main goals, and track them more closely.

So, here's my "reset" stats:

Age: 40
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 225 lbs

Standing Reach:  8'1"
No-Step Vertical: 23"?
Max Vertical: 30.7"

I need to re-measure my standing (no-step) vertical and max (running) vertical, as I haven't tracked those in a while. To try and be accurate with these stats, I bought a pretty cool new "toy" called VERT:
https://www.myvert.com/collections/vert/products/vert-wearable-jump-monitor

I just opened the package today, and tried it out in my basement.  The device works very easily (clips to your shorts just like an old pager), and the app tracks all of your jumps and calculates average/max jumps per session.  Today I only got to a maximum of 26.6", but I'm pretty sure that I can beat that on a real court instead of a carpeted basement floor.  I will make sure to try a few jumps on a proper basketball court next week to see where I'm at.

UPDATE:  I tried out the VERT tracker on the court today, and the results were much better.  I had several jumps in the 28"-30" range, and a Max Vertical of 30.7".  Unfortunately, I had forgotten to measure my no-step vertical, so I'll have to do that next time.

40 (minus a day) and Dunking

One day from turning 40, and I managed to get 2 lefty dunks down after my rec league game.  I was worn out from the game, so I gave up after a few attempts and didn't film anything tonight.

The NBA season kicks off on Tuesday (my birthday!), and I figured that I'd celebrate my 40th by making a list of the Top 40 Dunks of all time.

My Top 40 list is going to include:  Pro Dunkers, NBA Dunk Contest, In-Game, and any other dunks that I've come across on YouTube etc.

Here's a teaser from the best dunking #40 ever:  Shawn Kemp.

40 and DUNKING!

ok... ok... I'm not officially 40 yet.

But, I'm only about a week away, and decided to try and get some dunks down this week after my rec league game.

My vertical is definitely down a few inches, but I've discovered a new "trick": lefty dunking.  With my Left-Right two-foot takeoff, I can get more extension with my left arm.  And, lucky for me, my hands are big enough to palm with my left hand.

So, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances of being a 40-year-old dunker... just need to stay focused for another one or two weeks.

Another cool video came out this week:
Vince Carter throwing down a windmill in practice at age 39.... enjoy!

More Updates...

It's been another couple of months since my last update.  Here's what I've been up to...

• I've lost over 20 pounds since the start of the year!  Down to 215 lbs from 236 on Jan 1st.  My FitBit really does make a difference -- I'm focused on physical activity every day.
• Haven't been doing much dunk practice, but I have been keeping up some plyometrics and other jump training.  I can touch my 10'3" basement ceiling on a depth jump now!
• Just trying to stay healthy and improve my conditioning a little bit every day.

In other news, I just discovered that Sports Illustrated had a long form article "Learn To Dunk" last year:  http://www.si.com/longform/2015/dunking/.  This article describes a very similar journey to my own, right down to the Tim Grover training guide ("Jump Attack") and searching for local playground rims to practice on.

For those that didn't see it, TNT just finished airing "The Dunk King", which featured most of the world's top dunkers.  I felt that Jordan Kilganon was robbed, but still enjoyed the series.  Clips can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU6BYY1Lu_ffetIxMhH_hZOkr41U4ADbL

39.5 and Dunking -- some updates

So, it's been about 4 months since I posted to my blog... here's some updates:

• Sprained an ankle in November, and tried to avoid dunk practice/etc. for several weeks.
• Ate and drank too much over the holidays, and had my weight balloon to 236 pounds!
• Got a FitBit for Xmas, and have been using it religiously to tracking my progress back toward my weight and general fitness goals.
• Haven't attempted as many dunks in 2016, mainly because the practice rims at the facility I play at once/week were changed (and now have "no dunking" signs on all of the backboards)

Progress in 2016 so far:

• I've dropped 12 pounds in about 12 weeks!  (236 back down to 224)
• My vertical is coming back... I'd lost probably 4-5 inches from my peaks of last year, but I'm getting close to where I was.
• I'm only about 7 months from the big 4-0.  That is now my one and only goal for this year:  DUNK AT AGE 40.

I will try to post more frequent updates as I progress toward my 40th birthday.  I still haven't found too many people out there dunking in their 40's, which inspires me to keep going an be somewhat unique in my goal.