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Program 51 Review: DO NOT BUY THIS PROGRAM UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Written by Jack Woodrup for VerticalJumping.com

I have been tossing up whether or not to write a review of Program 51 but as the one year anniversary approaches of when I first bought it, I figured you should hear the saga in all its awfulness. Read on to find out why we cannot in good conscience advise anyone to buy this program.

The Story Begins

In March 2007 we ordered Program 51 and it looked very promising. A few weeks later it arrived. It contained a self assessment question sheet, a copy of some functional movement screens, some movement sequences to do if you have trouble with the screens, and a DVD. The functional movement screens that come with the program are as far as I can tell taken directly from Gray Cooks excellent book, Athletic Body in Balance (see our Recommended Reading page), only the Program 51 version wasn't as clear nor did it have the excellent pictures.

Problem 1

Right away there was a problem. The DVD didn't work. I emailed them and they advised me to let them know the serial number printed on the disk and that they would send me out a new one straight away. This was a year ago. The new disk still hasn't arrived.

Problem 2

The next problem I encountered was after waiting 4 weeks, I emailed them again asking about the whereabouts of the replacement disk (again providing the serial number of the original). Again, as is typical of Program 51, no reply.

In the meantime I had been told that my assigned coach was none other than Jamillian Momon himself, the founder of Program 51. You would think that you might be able to get some decent customer service out of the guy who owns the program right? WRONG.

About the same time I emailed asking about the missing replacement disk I also sent an email to Jamillian asking for a few tips on how to better use my Lifeline Power Jumper. (Jamillian offers a testimonial on the Lifeline site stating how he increased his vertical from 39 to 51 inches in one summer using just the Power Jumper and a medicine ball - given how good this device is, I actually don't doubt this claim. It is however just about the only thing I do trust from this guy though). Again, no response.

Problem 3

The next problem that occurred was 4 weeks later (so 8 weeks after I first paid my money), I FINALLY got a response from Jamillian Momon about my training program stating the following:

"Hello, Sorry for the late reply, I have been swamped working with NFL teams, the first thing I want you to do is reverse calf raises to help get rid of your shin splints, instead of transitioning from heel to toe like a normal calf raise, I want you to transition from toe to heal so you will finish the movement on your heels, I also want you to go through all of the stretches in the movement screens manual for 14 days, I have included a copy of the program manuals and the program I want you on for 4 weeks, record the results then get them back to me so I can create your program for weeks 5-8 also if this program aggravates your shin splints let me know so I can tweak it for you."

To give you an idea of just how useless this advice was you need to know this vital piece of information. I didn't have shin splints. On my self assessment I had written in the question about PREVIOUS injuries that I had suffered from them in the PAST, but there was no mention that I had them at the time.

The next part of the useless advice was that the program he attached was basically the original movement sequences that came with the program to help people with imbalances who couldn't do the movement screens (again these sequences are straight out of Gray Cooks book but with out the clear photos and well written descriptions). The problem here is that he was asking me to do work at improving something I could already do. What was I going to report back?

"Hi Jamillian, 8 weeks ago when I signed up I could do all the movement screens successfully, and now what do you know, another 4 weeks later I can still do them! Well done super coach, what's next, should I do the self assessment again?"

It would be like asking someone with a 2.0x bodyweight squat to go away for 4 weeks and work on their squat until they could lift 1.5x their bodyweight. They are going to say "Huh? that does not make sense."

In fairness to Jamillian he had requested I do these movement sequences because I put down a 5 for my flexibility on my self assessment. In hindsight this may have been a bit low, but in reality, it shouldn't have mattered. My self assessment was subjective. The movement screens are not. He was offering a solution to a problem that didn't exist. This is something he would have known had he bothered to read my movement screen results properly.

Also, and this is the recurring theme of Program 51, he too promised to arrange to have a new DVD sent out the next day. Again, it still has not arrived a year later.

Problem 4

On March 20, 2007 I advised my DVD didn't work. They told me a new one would be sent out straight away. On April 26th 2007, I emailed again. No reply. On May 25 2007 Jamillian Momon himself told me he would arrange a new DVD. On June 18 2007 they responded to my APRIL email requesting I resend my shipping details and they would get a new one out to me straight away. After advising them of my shipping details do you think I have seen a new DVD nearly 9 months later? No. Nothing. Nada.

In fact this was the very last email I received from Program 51 (despite sending them a very polite email request for an update on my disk every 2 months and finally a request for a refund in December, all of which were ignored) until in late December 2007 something extraordinary happened.

They Requested We Do A Review!

Yes that is correct. We received an email request from Program 51 direct to this site. They commented that they liked our honest reviews and no bull advice, and wanted to know if we would do a review of their Program. They told us to let us know our postal address and they would, you guessed it, send us out a copy.

Clearly at this point they had not realised that someone who they had blatantly and consistently been ignoring was also one of the founders of this site. Now, I am a very patient person so I was actually fully prepared to write an balanced review of Program 51 despite my many previous god awful customer service experiences. After all, if it can help you jump higher, we should let you know about it. So I responded by saying I would love to review their program and providing my postal address.

So guess what happened then? Absolutely nothing. I even emailed back a few weeks later and asked if they still wanted a review done. Again, no reply, and, not surprisingly, still no disk has arrived.

Conclusion

If you go through our reviews you will see we generally try and have something positive to say about most programs. However, we also do not say something is good when it isn't. In this case, the customer service we received from them, as well as the clearly rushed and irrelevant advice from Mr Momon demonstrates loud and clear that until he changes his attitude towards his customers, you would do well to steer very clear from Program 51.

Also for the record, I do think that Jamillian does actually know quite a bit about vertical jumping and isn't just some marketing guy. I also agree whole heartedly with him on the use of a Lifeline Power Jumper as an essential jumping tool. What I don't agree with is treating your customers with such little respect and as such would recommend to anyone considering this program: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.

Have you used this program?

Have you used this jump program? What sort of results did you see? Did you feel you got your moneys worth? Was the review made by VerticalJumping.com helpful and accurate? The reviews here are just our opinions and we would love to know your thoughts on this program to help others make a more informed decision. Please share your experience with your fellow vertical jump enthusiasts.

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