PacoDunks Blog #5: Riding the Highs

Yes, hello. This blog is not dead. After dealing with so much reel and content creation on Instagram, I just took a small hiatus from writing. Now that It's a rest day, I don't have to post any training footage today. So, I decided to sit down, reflect on my progress and how I did these two weeks, and give you guys an in-depth look at how my life is currently–what I post on Instagram is only the tip of the iceberg, so like I said last blog, you are getting the inside scoop of what's going on my head if you've stumbled on this humble page of mine. 

I want to start with the podcast I had with my guy Cameron last Sunday, aka Camydunks. Like all the guests I've had in the past, Camy is a super humble and down-to-earth guy who made me feel super comfortable and chilled when talking to him. One of the major takeaways we discussed is the importance of having a good coach like John Evans and his team of THP coaches. I'm not tryna to 'glaze' the THP service, but it was night and day having a structured coaching program, compared to trying to figure out this "jumping higher" thing by yourself. We also talked about the value that dunk camp brings, both from a "learning technique to jump high" standpoint and how cool it is to meet the dunkers and coaches in person. 

Paco and Cameron on The HangTime Podcast

Moreover, I was featured on my guy Juan Pescador's podcast "Beyond Bounce," along with co-hosts Jayden and Darshil. It. Was. Awesome. It's my first time being a guest on a podcast and being interviewed about my life and dunking journey. Jayden had a straight vibe, while Darshil made me feel welcome, and Juan, well, Juan is Juan. Amazing as always. During the podcast, I was hit with question after question, which felt low-key and overwhelming since I usually ask the guests questions. 

One of the questions stuck with me: how did you grow your social media following naturally through your reels? It comes down to two things: authenticity and consistency. You shouldn't put on a facade when it comes to putting yourself out there in public (well, internet personalities like speed are exceptions, of course). But if you're starting, putting your true self out there is essential to attract the right people who resonate with your core beliefs. For consistency, I made it my personal goal to make at least one reel a day, whether that's my training journal or even some more informational content such as weight loss or just funny everyday memes that I often came up on the spot. Having a consistent content flow helps with retaining your audience, as well as creating your image and self-identity for your audience. 

For training these two weeks, it's been generally smooth sailing. My lifts have been going up, getting more explosive on my jumps, and most importantly, my mental health has been at an all-time high. However, since I'm on a new cycle, I miss the hang and power cleans I used to spam all the time. Coaches will likely program a power movement next week, though. Other than that, I returned to the first court I started THP on, a 9'8 low-ish rim that I used to struggle with dunking a small ball; now, I can dunk it using just a drop step–kinda amazed at how much I can improve in 6 months. I also taught one of my old teammate proper jump technique; even though I need to work on my arm swing and penultimate myself, I feel like I can provide some value to him since he kinda reminds me of a younger version of me who was struggling to find the proper training to jump higher, so I'm glad he reached out to me and trusts my advice, and it means a lot to me.

However, I also made some mistakes that I could've made better last week, especially with the excessive amounts of jump days I did outside the program. I did 4. 4 FRICKIN jump sessions in 2 days. I'm glad my knees made it out that week alive, man; I would've thought it must've flared up by session 3. Even though jumping is such a fun part of training, I need to have some self-discipline if I wanna make it far in this sport, and having four sessions in one week is NOT IT, except if your tendons are made of steel.

Paco in a photoshoot on Saturday's Jump Session

For my personal life, I don't want to expose too much, but it's been going well. I just got a new PC, which makes editing so much more convenient and smoother, and that helps with the content creation process a ton. I'm grateful to my parents for trusting my passion for this sport and knowing that I'll go far in my journey, which is one of the main reasons they decided to shell out on this machine. If you're reading this, Dad, thank you so much, you're the GOAT.  However, I've been kinda loose on tracking my calories, as well as tracking my weight–ever since I've achieved my dream weight, I've been getting less disciplined in tracking my food, causing me to lose even MORE weight, which is no bueno as I'm already relatively light for my height. So, I need to lock in on my nutrition and EAT. 

I'll end this blog issue here. I've made some good progress in this short period, and if you're reading this, thank you. Your support really means a lot in my journey. I will feel it even if that is just a like on a story. I'm getting too sappy, so I'll see you all next week if things go as planned.