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Air Alert ReviewAir Alert describes itself as the Number 1 of ALL jump programs which is a pretty big call for a program that many people claim causes more injuries than it does help you improve your vertical. Is it really the very best there is? Um, no, not really. Read on to find out why.
 Quality of InformationWhere do we start with this....The premise behind Air Alert is that by doing many, many repetition's of various jumps it will become second nature, or as they like to call it "habitual". They claim that by doing many repetitions you are "creating instinctual, unconscious jumping ability which is built slowly over time. You are helping the leg muscles develop vertical memory as opposed to horizontal memory achieved by running or walking." In theory this sounds great. To get better at jumping you need to practice jumping right? Well yes this is true. The problem is that many athletes are just not physically ready for so many jumps. Air Alert, suffers from the same thing that nearly all jump programs suffer from. Not enough consideration for the starting abilities of the athletes. This is where we suspect the many complaints you see on internet forums etc stem from. There are other problems associated with a high volume jump program such as Air Alert. Firstly, a requirement to do all those jumps is that it encourages sub-maximal effort, i.e. endurance, not power. Doing 100's of jumps per workout versus 50-80 high intensity, high quality reps is the same as a 100m sprinter going for a 5 mile (8km) jog and claiming this is better for his performance than doing 10-15 x 100m interval sprints. It just doesn't work. Secondly, it can easily lead to injury and over training. Jumping is a stressful activity on your joints and body. 100's of repetitions several times per week has a high risk potential to tax your body beyond its ability to repair and recover. The result is that you leave yourself exposed to repetitive stress related injuries. The exercises themselves in Air Alert are actually all reasonable choices for improving your vertical jump. It is just the volume we have an issue with. Sadly, for a program that does prescribe such huge amounts of jumping, its recovery section is very limited.
CustomizationThere is no customization available in Air Alert. It is very much a one size fits all approach. They provide the program as it is and you go and do it. Once again, for a program that prescribes so many jumps in its program it really should make some effort to understand where an athlete is starting from.PresentationAir Alert is very professionally put together. It has an excellent DVD that comes with it as well as an easy to read and understand training manual. In fact, in terms of presentation, it is actually one of the best available. It is just a pity its program is so bad.Value For MoneyAir Alert only cost $29.95 which is a reasonable amount to pay for a jump program. However, we still can't say that it is particularly great value for money on the grounds that the program is not very well thought out. The huge volume of jumps prescribed is just too big a hurdle for us to get past. ConclusionThere are just so many things wrong with Air Alert that we simply cannot in any way shape or form recommend it to you. If you want to do the program we would suggest replacing the middle workout with some low volume explosive weight training and doing only half the volume of jumps per workout. Alternatively you could just do 2 workouts a week instead of three.Even then we would suggest that you take your recovery very seriously. Get plenty of sleep, stretch and foam roll, and eat enough food to ensure you are adequately fuelled for your workouts and your recovery. COMPARISON TO VERTICAL MASTERY
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