Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Sunday 27th July 2008

Feel ok. A little achey all over, but CNS feels decent enough.
Feet/lower legs a little trashed up.

waist is still 33.5 inches - around belly button - measured loose
Upper thigh 26.5 inches.
Hip/glutes 39.5 inches
Calves 16 inches

No change in waist size, even though bodyweight is up. So it's just water weight, since my legs and hips aren't any bigger. Hips are half an inch smaller if anything. Funny, because my legs and hips look and feel much bigger!

With this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
it puts me at 13.3% bodyfat

I am eating a bit more now, so it's good that I'm not getting fatter.
But I am puzzled why I was not leaning up a few weeks back when I was eating less...

25 min walk today, and some foam rolling release work

---

I will be making changes to my training. Definitely don't need anymore more lower body muscle mass. I'm weaker than my leg and hip size would indicate.
Volume workout A on the first week will be changed - I'm going to decrease the rep count on each set to 2-3 so I'm working sub-maximally, and staying out of the fatigue/lactic acid zone, but with a lot more sets.

I haven't decided how many sets yet, I most probably will auto-regulate it to start. Leaning towards 2 reps, because from my warmups, I've noticed the 3rd rep with 225lbs is always more tiring and the burn is starting to creep up. 2 reps makes the set time around 7-8 secs, the 3rd rep pushes it over 10. Want to keep it under 10 secs. Resting about 2 mins between each set, but may go down to 1.5mins, I'll see.

As far as what weight to use - not sure yet. Technically I should be using at least 275lbs, but no harm in starting lighter and increasing it each time I do the workout.

Then maybe a set of weighted lat machine sit ups and my upper body crap.

Heavy workout B on the 2nd week will remain as it is, except without the sumo deadlifts, just an all out set on low bar full squats to determine strength levels and help get me stronger. Then I'll do some a set of single leg deadlift and RDL. Plus the side plank holds, and upper body crap.

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 29th July - Micro Cycle 9 - Week 3 - Day 1 - Workout A Volume

Decent workout. Changed my setup as you can see. Moved a few exercises to my other workout, which shortened workout nicely.

You can see some rest-paused/cluster sets/Max-Stim style approach.
Trying to reduce fatigue, and maybe soreness to improve recovery and gains.
While minimising muscle mass addition on the squat stuff to improve relative strength.

I certainly left the workout feeling a lot less tired and beat up compared to before, even with the same total volume.

Skipping was great today - first time I was able to go from 2 legged, to single left left for a few, then right and then alternating legs each rotation without missing a beat! Feet/lower legs felt stronger and CNS feeling better than before.

Body weight at gym - 192lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

3 min moderate speed walk on treadmill

Then did this foam rolling routine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8caF1Keg2XU

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises
behind the neck band pull aparts - green mini-band help 3/4 length 2x8
lateral deep lunge x8
situp complex on swiss ball
single leg RDL mobility + psoas activation walk
short run of low effort prime times

A few sets of hops in place - 2 legged and then single legged
3x10 seconds rope skipping - 2 legged then 5 reps single leg each leg - 30secs rest.

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


Front and Full Back Squats - shoulder width stance - no Belt - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer + Oly shoes

alternating sets between front and low bar back squats, 45 seconds to a minutes rest between each. Then 2-3min rest between each complex

warmups - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer
Front Squats - Bar x5, 95lbs x 2, 135x2, 185x2
Back Squats - Low bar - Bar x5, 95x2, 135x2, 185x2, switched to oly shoes 205x2, 225x2, 255x1, 285x1

Back Squat - low bar - controlled - 2mins rest
1) 295lbs x 2
2) 275lbs x 2
3) 275lbs x 2
4) 275lbs x 2
5) 275lbs x 2
6) 275lbs x 2 --> feeling a little more shakey lowering, and harder/slower

Bar felt heavier on my back then my legs. 295lbs felt a touch too heavy, so I dropped back down to 275lbs, which is around 80-85% of my 1 rep max. Closer to 80% I think. 295lbs must be more towards 90%.
On all sets, the first rep felt a lot easier and faster than the 2nd rep. 2nd rep felt kinda gut busting. Felt hard and slow, but on video, I was blasting the reps up! WTF!! Could be just a low bar squat thing.
Getting better control over the eccentric now.

The volume using auto-regulation turns out to be around the 2x6 I've been using anyway - and around what the Prilepin chart says for that % of my estimated 345lb max
Including my 285lb warmup single off course.
People say to stick to the lower end of the rep range.

PRILEPIN'S TABLE
Percent..............Reps per Set.......Optimal.......Total Range

70 and below ............3-6 ................24 .................18-30
70-80 .......................3-6 ................18 .................12-24
80-89 .......................2-4 ................15 .................10-20
90+ ..........................1-2 .................7 ..................4-10

http://elitefts.com/documents/prilepins_chart.htm

http://zenprimer.blogspot.com/2006/05/how-to-design-strength-training.html

http://ambesc.com/lifting/prelipins.pdf

http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9433




Upper body/shoulder prehab stuff

face pull to forehead - palms facing with a hold - 15kg x 16 (2-3sec rest between each rep)

close grip triangle Push up on floor - paused top and bottom x 16 (+1 rep)

5kg dumbell x16 (+7 reps) (2-3sec rest between each rep)
elbow on knee external rotation
single arm seated Cuban rotation into press
single arm face down on bench subscap rotation - hold at top


dip shrug - 5sec hold + 3 reps, BW x 15 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep. Hard and wobbly today. Low bar squats and pushups fatigued my serratus.

Lat machine situp
warmup - each rep progressively lower - 3 secs rest between each BWx12
BW+15lbs x 3 paused middle and bottom
felt hard, fatigue from squats and pushups. So stopped there.


Stretching for whole body

 

[coolcolj]

I forgot to mention something amazing happened in today's' workout

when I did the Cuban dumbell press with my left arm - there was no pain on the eccentric!
2 months ago, and even a few weeks back there used to be this painful click/impingment deep inside my left shoulder, but only when do an eccentric Cuban rotation.
Even after a month of foam rolling and release work it was still there.
But the last week or so since I started to hammer the internal/external roation with a cricket ball wedged into my armpit as per my foam roll warmup, along with starting the sleeper stretch as per thess articles
http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_training/it_looked_good_on_paper&cr=
http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_training/fight_the_injury_blues_keep_lifting&cr=
And voila no pain today!!!

I've had this for so many years, it thought my left shoulder was shafted for good - a miracle it's gone!
My left arm doesn't have the same range of motion on the sleeper stretch, as the right, so that is most probbaly the main issue.

 

[coolcolj]

Well the new training changes certainly worked, I feel a little sapped, but nowhere near drained. There is a freshness in my CNS that I haven't really felt recently after a workout!
Joints and tendons feel much better as well.

Going to near failure with higher reps is pretty fatiguing for me CNS wise. And trashes my body
Lets hope this allows me to jump well this weekend.

Didn't do much for soreness though. I am pretty sore, my hamstrings are shredded! Low bar full squats certainly hammer them hard. No need for RDLs and deadlifts.
Quads, glutes, spinal erectors, calves and upper back/cuff muscles are pretty sore as well. But a different kind of soreness for the upper body.

25 min walk today for active recovery. Too sore for foam rolling/release work so none today.

 

[coolcolj]

comparing myself to 2 guys around my height in the NBA draft combine - year 2004

Not too bad. Lighter/leaner than me
And they have way longer arms than me

Gonna get my vertical jump up to Nate's sooner or later and then surpass him hopefully
180lbs will be a nice bodyweight for me as well, eventually...

But he will always have a bigger difference between his standing and running jumps than me

Me
height - 5' 8.5"
weight - 190lbs
wingspan - 5' 10.5"
standing reach in shoes - 7'4"
vertical jump - 30.5"
running jump - 34.5"

Andre Barrett
height - 5' 8.75"
weight - 171lbs
wingspan - 6' 1"
standing reach in shoes - 7'8"
vertical jump - 29.0"
running jump - 34.5"

Nate Robinson
height - 5' 7.75"
weight - 181lbs
wingspan - 6' 1"
standing reach in shoes - 7'7.5"
vertical jump - 35.5"
running jump - 43.5"

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 2nd August - Micro Cycle 9 - Week 3 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 88.3kg 194lbs in shorts and t-Shirt

Damn bodyweight is up a lot. Up a good 5lbs!
I've upped my calories quite a bit. I hope it's just water weight and not fat, but my face is looking more puffy and bloated

Getting a little warmer, so got into my shorts today. Spring is approaching

Went back to that court with the bent rim. I think I will start to rotate courts
each week, keep things fresh, mentally.

Outdoor BBall court - one with bent rim on one side - Nike Free 7.0 Trainer


55 mins total

Played on the non-bent side

1) did some dribbling. Then got asked to play in a 2 on 2 half court game. So did that for 2 games of up to 7 baskets each. 30 mins all up.
Light to moderate intensity. Got me breathing hard and sweating a bit.
Shot pretty badly, but I cleaned up the rebounds and made some sweet drives and post moves
My team won both games 7-2, 7-1

2) did max effort jumps of all types for another 25 mins, resting about a 30-40 secs between jumps. And around 1-2 mins between clusters of 3-4 jumps.

Didn't keep count of jumps, but a little less than normal. Stopped before I tired myself too much. Dropped off an inch or so

My legs certainly felt a lot fresher than the last few weeks with the change in my squat setup and using low bar style. That snappy feel is kinda coming back. Even with an extra 2kg of bodyweight I felt explosive and zippy.

5lbs of extra weight would usually drop my jump an inch, and my running jump while the same as the last time I was here, is down from my recent best, didn't try too hard. But my 1 step jump is up an inch since last time I was here. And my running 2 handed jump is up an inch also, smooth relaxed approach and boom, I just pop up like nothing.

So my jump is down an inch overall since I have gained 2 inches a fortnight ago. I'll blame it on the extra bodyweight.

My running approach on 2 handed jumps is much better than when I jump with one hand. Better timing, more relaxed and smoother. I have no idea why...

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 3rd August 2008

Feeling decent. Mild overall achey feel, but much less soreness than in previous weeks, especially in my feet/lower legs.

It looks like playing 2 on 2 halfcourt BBall isn't as intense as my shooting/moves/jumps practise by myself
The jumps you do while playing don't seem to be as hard on the CNS and body and I never notice the landings either.

At the start of the 2 on 2 BBall games yerdatery, I sorta made a lunging move when I was cold and it felt like I semi-sprained my right ankle. No pain of anything afterward or now - cool


waist is still 33.5 inches - around belly button
Bodyweight = 87kg 191.4lbs

No change in waist size, but a big increase in bodyweight. Probably just water weight, and maybe some muscle, since no change in waist size. I look puffy. Eating more carbs.

With this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
it puts me at 13% bodyfat

I put myself more at 14-15% bodyfat.


25 min walk today for active recovery

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 5th August - Micro Cycle 9 - Week 4 - Day 1 - Workout B Heavy

Decent workout. Felt a little tired, didn't get my usual pre-workout nap, but strength is definitely up.
I could tell I would be strong today when I woke up with a morning wood - that usually means testosterone is up
And I certainly felt a certain edge during the day before leading up to the workout. Legs had that loose, kinda snappy feeling as well

Started to drag during the upper body stuff, but didn't feel that tired after the stretching on the way home.

Bodyweight is up - looking puffy, holding a lot of water

Body weight at gym - 195lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

3 min moderate speed walk on treadmill
Eric Cressey foam roll routine

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises
behind the neck band pull aparts - green mini-band help 3/4 length 2x8
lateral deep lunge x8
situp complex on swiss ball
single leg RDL mobility + psoas activation walk
2 short runs of low effort prime times (stiff legged runs)

A few sets of hops in place - 2 legged and then single legged
3x10 seconds rope skipping - 2 legged then 5 reps single leg, each leg - 30secs rest

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


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

alternating sets between front and low bar back squats, 45 seconds to a minutes rest between each. Then 2-3min rest between each complex

warmups
High Bar -
in Nike Free 5.0 trainer - 95x4, 135x2, 185x2, switched to oly shoes 205x2
Low bar -
in Nike Free 5.0 trainer - 95x4, 135x2, 185x2, switched to oly shoes 205x2
225x2, 255x1, 285x1

Low bar Full Back Squat - 295lbs x 7 (+2 reps)--> gut busting grind on last rep

Warm ups felt solid and not as heavy as the last 2 weeks, so nervous system is recovering, and Testosterone is coming back up like I mentioned earlier
So I knew I would be stronger, just how much, I didn't know.
Well I managed to gain 2 reps on 295lbs from 2 weeks ago - Sweet!
2nd rep kinda shifted funny, but the rest were ok. Even the last rep, straining hard didn't turn into a semi Good Morning like it would with a high bar position.

After that set with 295lbs all I felt was a burn in my hamstrings and glutes - a good thing indeed. Even though you lean over more with low bar, I don't feel my lower back doing anything at all.
Contrast with high bar full squats where I feel a big pump in my quads, glutes and lower back. And I noticed the high bar position makes my spine feel bad....

Rep calculator puts my max at 355lbs. Closing in on double bodyweight. Just need to get my clothed bodyweight back down to 190lbs and my vertical jump should be a touch over 31 inches, a gain of 1 inch.
Another 8 more reps, and I'll be able to powerclean this as well, good for a 40 inch vertical jump when that happens

Video of the main workset
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaNmSZGi9AE


rested 10 mins before moving on


Single leg kneeling Deadlift

1.5 mins rest between each side
- 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x50lb dumbbells x 8

Man that was damn hard! Fatigue from the low bar squats I guess.
I dropped the single leg RDLs. I feel like it's not needed anymore, the low bar squats do a good job on the hamstrings. And no longer doing any sumo deadlifts in this workout - or any other workout.


Upper body/shoulder prehab stuff

face pull to forehead - palms facing with a hold - 15kg x 17 (2-3sec rest between each rep)

close grip triangle Push up on floor - paused top and bottom x 17 (+1 rep)

5kg dumbell x17 (+1 rep) (2-3sec rest between each rep)
elbow on knee external rotation
single arm face down on bench subscap rotation - hold at top
single arm seated Cuban rotation into press


Side Plank hold warmup - supported leg raises x 8

1 min 10 secs each side - up 5 secs

Stretching for whole body

 

[coolcolj]

feel a bit sapped/stale, but overall not bad. Didn't get much sleep though last night

achey all over - hamstringds, glutes and calves pretty sore. Upper back/traps/triceps sore as well.
Quads definitely aren't as sore, but you can tell they have been worked pretty good as well

25 min walk for active recovery today

 

[Azinine]

Squats looked great. Nice and deep.