Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

woo finally hit 85kg 187lbs on the dot yesterday afternoon, although I was quite dehydrated. But still fully carbed up diet wise. So even my carbed up bodyweight is heading down - the walking is doing something even on higher calories

A little heavier today though, I'll see how much I weigh before I head out to BBall, but still lighter than last week. Almost a pound drop.

I hit a few dance moves earlier today, and that light footwork and feel for the groove is coming back. When I felt like a clutz last week. I think it might be due to all the walking - enhancing lower body reactivity

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 10th May - Micro Cycle 8 - Week 3 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 86kg 189.2lbs in shorts and t-shirt

wanted to head to the court with the 8 foot netball rims, but like last week it was overtaken by little girls playing netball comp....grrr then had to drive in frustrating traffic to the other court!!

Outdoor BBall court - one right next to park with a bent rim - Nike Free 7.0 Trainer

50mins hours total

did some dribbling, a few shots and some moves with moderate effort jumps in them for about 20 mins.
Felt pretty good, snappy and light on my feet. Dribbling is getting decent.
Much better than last week...energy and power wise!

Then started jumping harder, and was disappointed with my lack of hops, but it seemed I just need a long time to warmup, because after a while my legs started to feel powerful. Feels a lot more explosive and solid when I jump now

Did 20 or so max effort jumps, mostly running and 3 step jumps, with a few one step, running one legged and standing jumps.
All about the same, but my one step jump has gone up an inch on this court, very easy to get up without having to put much effort and speed into it. while my Running jump is shocking now, no higher than my one step jump

Something doesn't feel right as well, I was jumping much better when I was 200lbs, relative to my bodyweight. I can't put my finger on it. Just lacking oomph. I'm gonna have to go back through my log and see what I did back then. I know I was jumping more back then with my 2 a days training sessions for a while, and I did a lot of paused explosive squats. Although I was stronger, could do 245lbs for 9 reps paused, so about 40lbs stronger than I am now.
Still didn't think it would make that much difference.... I also jump off the balls of my feet now, whereas back then I rolled from heel to toe.

Left before I exhausted myself and get injured. Hamstrings were still a little achey today.
Knees felt great, right knee is about as good as it's gonna be, close to 100%. Left knee about 90%. No aches when I jump or land.
I had a massive foam roll session on Thursday and pushed myself past the pain barrier with my trusty cardboard roll
Definitely noticed it today, both upper and lower body felt much more supple and loose.

 

[coolcolj]

11th May 2008

feel decent - a little achey in my posterior chain, lower legs/feet and upper back. Spinal erectors as usual are sore. I don't know if it's from BBall or my Part time job, where I have to lift and carry stuff quite a bit. Or both...
But overall I feeling better and better today as the weeks roll by, with the foam rolling, mobility and flexibility work, and lighter bodyweight.

8 hours sleep + 2.5 hours lying in bed = nice sleep, and rare thing for me - that helps

weighed 85.3kg 187.7lbs this morning
waist is 34 inches measured loose, 33.25 tight - down 0.25 inches

sweet another 1/4 inch off the waist from last week and at least a pound of bodyfat dropped. Still got some gut (visceral fat), but the visual changes are getting more and more noticeable. Collar bone is starting to stick out more and more

With this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
it puts me at 14.5% bodyfat. Down 0.4% from last week

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 13th May - Micro Cycle 8 - Week 4 - Day 1

Solid workout! Didn't feel the greatest, but it went well.
When my bar complex warmup goes well, and those power cleans snap up the workout tends to go well

Body weight at gym - 194lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

5 min moderate speed walk on treadmill
My hip flexor/glute activation move
1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises
scapular pushup on bench x 8
behind the neck band pull aparts - green mini-band help 3/4 length 2x 8
lateral deep lunge 1x8
situp complex on swiss ball
single leg RDL mobility + psoas activation walk

3x10 seconds rope skipping - 30secs rest

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, GM onto toes, high hang powerclean, military press - 5 reps each


Full Front and Full Oly Back Squats - shoulder width stance - Oly Shoes - no Belt

alternating sets between front and back squats, 45 seconds rest between each. Then 2-3min rest between each pairing

warmups
Front Squats - in Nike Free 5.0 trainer - Bar x5, 95lbs x 3, 135x3, switched to oly shoes 135x2, 185x3
Back Squats - in Nike Free 5.0 trainer - Bar x5, 95x4, 135x4, switched to oly shoes 135x4, 185x4

controlled
Back Squat - 225lbs x 10 --> hard grind on last rep

Decided to switch back to squatting in oly shoes on this "heavier" workout, as the Nike Frees don't feel so stable. And for a different stimulus, you certainly have to focus more on sitting back as you go down, but you can use a narrower stance without overtaxing your ankle mobility.

warmup sets didn't feel so good, so I wasn't that confident on doing anything great. But the 225lb main work set went well. Slow controlled eccentric, no bouncing at the bottom (some reps were almost paused) and minimal rest between each rep at the top, except before the last rep, took a 2-3 breaths to brace myself for the big strain. I went all out here and just made the last rep. Slight quad pump, but massive glute pump - not good for bodybuilding but great for jump power
Lower back did get worked pretty hard on that last rep, but clean form, and no good morning.

My trusty rep calculator has me at a 300lbs max, but I tend to squat 20lbs more. Especially with the way I repped today with minimal rest and controlled reversal. So 1.65x bodyweight squat.
No wonder my standing vertical jump hasn't changed much as I have gotten lighter and leaner. I've always been able to hit 385lbs before at 200+lbs, 1.8x BW.
Getting back up to that ratio should move my VJ up to 33-34 inches, I hope.
385lbs at 180lbs would be even better, 385lbs at a shredded 155lbs would be wicked. 40+ inch vertical jump wicked

My frontsquat max is always around 80% of my backsquat, so 255lbs should be my max. No wonder 225x2 feels so hard, and the 185lb sets today not so easy.

rested 10+ mins before deadlifting


Sumo Deadlift - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - doubled overhand hooked grip

3-4mins rest
explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs 2x3, 161x3, 198x3, 243x3

explosive up, semi dropped down - outer feet lined up with outer rings. 4 mins rest
1) 293lbs x 3
2) 293lbs x 3

I had planned to just use 263lbs for the main sets since I was sure I would be tired from the squats.
Legs and glutes felt like jelly, and lower back pumped from the squats during the earlier warmup sets, but when I reached 198lbs I seem to get a 2nd wind, and 243lbs felt good.
Slapped on 50lbs and just blew up the 293lbs sets like nothing!! Felt so "light" and fast, like I could have squat cleaned em. Surprised me!

Squats warmed me up nicely, but seemed to jack me neurally even though I went right up to failure on em. Granted I did rest a long time - didn't feel like it though.


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches


dip shrug - 5sec hold + 3 reps, BW 17 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep

Upper body/shoulder prehab stuff 3kg dumbell x9 (+1kg)
Push ups on bench x6, on floor x 8
Lying L-Flye cuff rotation
single arm Cuban rotation
single arm lying on back subscap rotation
single arm lying on side cross body raise
low pulley cable row to stomach with a hold - 30lbs x 9 (+5lbs)


Side Plank hold
warmup - each side x 5 reps

35 secs each side - still hard....but a little easier

Leg lowering AB exercise - slow tempo
warmup - supported leg raise x 8
1.5 mins rest - 2x6 reps (+1 rep each set)
could get my legs all the way to floor without my lower back coming off the floor for 2 full sets of 6

Stretching for whole body

 

[coolcolj]

moderately sore and achey all over, but not sapped or drained - that's good. I did just the right amount of work. I think I could have avoided doing that 10th rep on squats though.

Did some self massge on my legs and hips a couple of hours after the workout, that may have helped. Foam rolling on Thursday - which I have been doing every week.

 

[coolcolj]

oh yeah - anything I can full oly squat for 13 reps I can powerclean, so I guess that means I can't even powerclean 225lbs anymore...



Powerclean PR is around 245lbs with a fairly high catch - so I got some work to do strength wise.

13 reps with 245 = 365lbs + 20lbs I always max out over the rep calculator = 385lbs

 

[coolcolj]

had a massive fullbody "foam roll" session with the cardboard roll
Did just about every single major muscle group.
Overall, it doesn't seem to be as painful now

man it took a whole an hour, almost a cardio workout in itself! Should burn a few calories
So tired now. Upper body feels like it has done a few sets of pushups, from propping yourself up as you roll out the lower body. I wonder if a proper foam roll might be better here?

The cardboard roll is good for manual pressure on the top of your thighs and lower legs, and using it for the upper body against the wall. Which I don't think a proper foam roll is so good for

Might have to split up the foam rolling into separate upper and lower body days.

 

[coolcolj]

revelation this morning - I could reach directly upward and touch my hands together with elbows locked painfree in both shoulders!
Plus my feet point directly forward now without forcing it, and no tension in my lower back and hips.

I bow down at the altar of "Foam Rolling" !!!

Man months of stretching, cuff and scapular work helped to a degree, but the pain and tightness remained. 2 hardcore, painful sessions of foam rolling, self massage on my pecs and neck/traps improved things dramaticly! The improvement in range of motion is pretty amazing.

Upper body feels a lot stronger too - CNS must be shutting down the muscles before, from the all the scar tissue and adhesions jamming everything up.
My throwing, pain free range of motion has increased a lot. Should help my BBall shooting a ton as well.

I wish I had gotten into regular foam rolling a lot earlier, would have saved me a lot of frustration the last 2 years. My body was mess a month ago and getting worse every week.
Now I feel confident I can reach my goals! Feeling almost as good as I did in my teen years, a few more weeks of this and more mobility work and stretching, and I should be back there

articles
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=475832
http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1303.cfm


vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEfs08PvIk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT7QMW6Qebs

 

[coolcolj]

new version Do Win oly shoes - these have a lower heel height, so inline with the Addidas and Power Firm shoes.

Might get me a pair to replace my worn out Addidas - they look sweet in black

 

[coolcolj]

16th May 2008

new lowest bodyweight today, just before my first pig out meal.
Dehydrated off course.

84.5kg 185.9lbs

Like clockwork, down 1lb from last week! Progress is nice so far, since I started the 25min walking, consistent
Still pretty flabby, around 14% Bodyfat at a guess, but I think time for some new progress pics.

Man can't wait to hit 80kg 176lbs! At this rate I might end up at my high school bodyweight of 70kg 154lbs if I don't regain anymore muscle mass. But I'll be a whole lot leaner, ripped to shreads! LOL, wonder if I'll be able to fit back in my old high school clothing whne I get there, especially the shorts, which I haven't been able to in sometime

Looking forward to tomorrow..... lighter bodyweight + stronger legs + improved tissue quality from foam rolling = more hops?

Forecast is for late showers, so gonna have to hit the BBall courts early!