Now if you think that's all there is to it my friend, you've got to think again.

Most people fall into the trap of thinking that the time they spend working out is all it takes. What about the other 22-23 hours in a day?

With that in mind I was able to grill CHEK Practitioner Elliot Hulse who wrote the book Unleash Your Primal Edge and Owns the Institute for Strength & Vitality in Florida. Elliot's unique approach to improving your vertical delves into treating the body as a whole and learning through many unique assessments what you actually need as far as exercises and nutrition goes. Basically Elliot helps you learn if you are hunter (ready to maximize your vertical) or hunted (in need of readiness exercises and diet changes before you can proceed). This was amazing as we forget way too many times that what we do the other 23 hours a day away from the gym is vitally important to our performance. Who has the CHEK method helped over the years? How about that little team that won 6 NBA championships: Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls!

So forget what you are doing in the gym for the moment and think to yourself am I eating right, sleeping right, handling stress and living right so that I can maximize what I do in the gym and on the court. Doing Elliot's assessments will surprise many of you and certainly lead you in the right direction.

Virgil Aponte brings over 12 years of experience as a Personal Trainer, High School PE Teacher and Strength & Conditioning Coach. He has trained hundreds of people including elite professional athletes of the Women's National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. He earned his Master's Degree in Physical Education from Brooklyn College and is an American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness Instructor. Based in Brooklyn New York he is considered by many fitness industry experts as the authority on stair exercise training and is the author and creator of the Ultimate Stair Exercises for Athletes.