We Think Jeff Can

Support Jeff dunk a basketball and get in shape while helping homeless youth

Jeff Gillis
Volunteer, 5 years

Support Jeff's Campaign!

Donate





The total I've raised pays for:
  • 1 housing assistance
  • and 1 night of outreach
  • and 1 meal for a client

Donations

NameAmountLocationDate
Kate Shaw, Friend$150San Francisco, CA02/01/2012
Go Jeff go! We want to see the video!
Sean Daily, The Mars Blackmon to your Michael Jordan$50San Francisco, CA02/24/2012
Big ups Jeff! I'll double the donation if you dunk over Victoria's 1993 Honda Civic Hatchback.
Jean-Paul Labrosse, Friend$50Altadena CA, CA02/24/2012
Go Jeffro! Good luck with this and say hi to Rob G for me too - JP
Jean-Paul Labrosse, Friend$50Altadena CA, CA02/24/2012
Go Jeffro! Good luck with this and say hi to Rob G for me too - JP
Anonymous, Friend$1002/24/2012
Thomas Finck, Friend$50South San Francisco, CA02/25/2012
While I believe there may have been some sandbagging in the video (not enough grunting),I still am quite impressed with this stack of goals. Good on ya, mate. Schluter would be proud.
Christos Apartoglou, Friend$25San Francisco, CA02/26/2012
Go Jeff!
Chris Kawaja, Friend & Foe$100San Francisco, CA02/28/2012
1. Negative reps. 2. Plyometrics (for hops). 3. Interval training to get weight down - makes pullups easier!
Bianna Karatov, Friend$25Arlington, CA03/19/2012
Proud of you buddy!

Goal

6 measurable goals:

1. Dunk a basketball (currently: I can touch the rim)

2. Bench press my weight (current weight: 210. current max bench press: a bunch less)

3. Get waist size to 34 (currently: a few sizes bigger)

4. Do 10 pull ups (currently: can do 4ish)

5. Press palms to the ground with legs straight. (currently: I can wave to the ground)

6. Do 55 push ups without stopping (currently: can do 35ish)

I'm also setting a goal of raising $2000 for ATC. I will also attempt to bench press Rob Gitin.

I chose this goal because

I've spent a lot of time on a basketball court, but never felt great about a dunk. And recently, I spent a lot of time sitting at a desk and got out of shape. Before I get too long in the tooth, let's give dunking a crack and get in shape. So, in order to support ATC, I'm going to challenge myself to get in better shape by taking 4 months from Feb 20 until June 20 to complete 6 measurable, physical goals. Where possible, they will be documented with video or photos along the way.

I'm helping because

"Think globally, act locally" is a great saying. To me, At The Crossroads checks the local box really well. Rob's organization is one of the best examples of effective, local action: helping at-risk youth in San Francisco. And, the I Think I Can Campaigns also make positive change in the lives of those who undertake them, like me. I'm proud to be associated with At The Crossroads.

About At The Crossroads

ATC walks the streets of San Francisco, reaching out to homeless youth and young adults on their turf. We work with young people who others have given up on, who would not get help without us. Since we started 13 years ago, we have worked with more than 5,000 youth, helping them build outstanding lives.

Updates

Posted by Jeff on 05/10/2012

It's getting hot here in Sevilla - was apparently 95+ degrees yesterday.

Good news. I'm up to 6 pull ups. Can't even believe it. Adding on like 1 per week - slow going. I have a friend here who does two sets of 15 while I'm struggling with 5-6.

Push ups, still hovering around 35 dammit. But I've stepped up the training to do 30 everytime I walk in the door of my place here in Sevilla. Hope to hit 40 by May 20.

Resource for jumping that is helping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsmQNoPumzA&feature=g-all-f

I've been dialing into this guy's site:

http://www.jumpoutthegym.com/

No gym ceilings have needed raising anywhere near me yet. The dunking is going to be the hardest, but most rewarding part of all of this. Currently, I'm concentrating on squats and just building leg strength, squatting like 150-175 lbs, 10 reps, 3 sets, daily, and doing calf raises. Need to step all of that up. Will post some vids soon.

rob wrote:

The fact that you are sticking to this while in Spain is pretty incredible. Shocking, in fact. And damn impressive.

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Posted by Jeff on 04/19/2012

After a short hiatus, regular updates are back. Pictured is the hoop that I was trying to rattle outside my NYC apt. However, I just started some unexpected traveling in Europe until the end of May, so I've pushed my finish date back since it's a little tougher to work out and eat great over here. I'm based in Sevilla Spain, home of flamenco, manchego, serrano and iberico ham, and lots of excuses to eat patries. I've joined a gym and located some basketball courts, and haven't slipped but am still holding steady at:

--35 push ups

--3.5 pull ups

--not dunking

--fatter waist than 34"

--bench pressing around 180

--able to touch toes, just barely

Vamos. Vale la pena. More to come.

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Posted by Jeff on 03/16/2012

Thanks for all the donations so far! Really helps the motivation.

A few weeks in and this is so far a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. I'm still at 35 push ups, 2-3 pull ups and the rest is pretty much status quo. As you can see from the attached photo, the floor is still a ways away. That being said, I've been hitting it daily, and have started doing more Crossfit including weight training to get the legs stronger. Just gonna keep plugging along.

Flam wrote:

/ Between me and my husband we've owned more MP3 ayrleps over the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few years I've settled down to one line of ayrleps. Why? Because I was happy to discover how well-designed and fun to use the underappreciated (and widely mocked) Zunes are.[]

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Posted by Jeff on 02/22/2012

And we're off. First dunk attempt = a layup. I'm a little rusty to say the least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMefrd9Dda8

Rob wrote:

I've never seen anything so pretty in my entire life.

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