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Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

BigDres said:
Hey, i haven't really been up on this thread, so i haven't thorougly read through it, but what are your goals? how old are you? and is this football training?
Click to expand...

to be explosive I guess :)
Well improve my hops mostly at the moment, I play recreational basketball in the Summer and be healthy and fit.
My goals change all the time now, but now it's to up my hops and get leaner would help that a lot too....

I'm an old fart :chomp:


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First time so far that I haven't felt all that sapped the day after training, and I did step up the volume yesterday too!
Body is adapting, but the higher average amount of sleep over the last 2 weeks is really helping a lot

Achey all over though, my hamstrings, spinal erectors and rear obliques are trashed up the most
 
keep up the good fight ccj. I'll be posting my own workout thread on elite soon since i'm keeping a journal anyway. we have some similar goals so it should be interesting!

any chance of videos to go with your workouts like the old days, once you get back into the swing of things? me and my brother are thinking of grabbing a cheap digital camcorder so we can see our own form on oly lifts and post up our vids. i always enjoyed seeing bits and pieces of your workouts
 
Tuesday 13th November - MicroCycle 2 - Week 2 - Day 1

Both sessions didn't feel that good. Lacked energy and I felt queezy.
Gonna cut back on the jumps. Ever since I upped number to 30 jumps, results and workouts have not been good. I should not feel tired after the jumps, but I am with 30 or so.


Morning 30 jumps 10-30 seconds rest between each

12 at workplace - 2 standing, 2 running and the rest one step jumps.
18 at home 8 mins later - 3 standing, 7 one step, and 8 running jumps

No major change, and some jumps were a little lower... form was not that great all round. Energy and snap wasn't there.
I've also reverted back to my shallow dip jumping form again, gotta keep working on that...I jump higher on running jumps when I bend my legs more.



Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 204lbs
Workout time - 30 mins
Workout rating - 6/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 4 reps each, 3 on presses and jerks

glute bridge with hold x 8
single leg kneeling deadlift - BW x 2 each side

Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 3, 165x2, 195x1

controlled down, paused, explode up - 3.5 mins rest
1) 215lbs x 3
2) 215lbs x 3

Felt crappy and hard


Cool down and stretches

paused split leg Good morning - Bar x 3 each side
8 scapular pushups + push up plus against a bench x 8
bench dip shrug x 12
scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold, x8 reps
dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 4kg x 8, 5kg x 3, 6kg x 8
reverse hypers - BW x 15

lower and upper body stretches
 
The non-powered steering wheel in the van at work felt quite a lot harder to turn yesterday, and I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night! Took 3 hours! Guess my CNS needs recharging...

Feel better today, even though sleep was pretty bad last night. Steering wheel feels easier to turn.

So 30 jumps by itself is fine, but not when combined with weights for me. Esepcially as the squat loads get heavier, but even with the lighter squats, I always put out max force when squatting up, ie like I'm doing a 1RM every rep, so nothing really changes as far as neural recruitment and exertion goes.
And jumping is always max effort, no only in the jump, but the landing is pretty taxing for a heavy fart like me

Gotta pay attention to all these signs....
 
Saturday 17th November - Micro Cycle 2 - Week 2 - Day 2

Jumps not that good, but weights were not bad. Cutting back the jumps to around 20 did the trick.

Morning 22 jumps 10-30 seconds rest between each

11 at workplace - 2 standing, 2 running and the rest one step jumps.
11 at home 8 mins later - 3 standing, 4 one step, and 4 running jumps

Standing and 1 step jump improved 0.5 inch at work. No major changes at home, felt tired, but the jumps I did to try touch the light inside the garage improved a lot since the last time I tried it, within 1+ inch now, whereas before I was 3 inches away. Aiming to touch the ceiling eventually...
Landings felt much better today



Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 207.5lbs
Workout time - 30 mins
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 2/3 length x 1 set

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean - 5 reps each, 3 on clean

glute bridge with hold x 8
single leg kneeling deadlift - BW x 3 each side


Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 3, 165x2, 195x2

controlled down, paused, explode up - 3.5 mins rest
1) 225lbs x 3
2) 225lbs x 3

Felt decent, but not that fast or explosive


Cool down and stretches

paused Good Morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + paused split leg Good morning - Bar x 3 each side

reverse hypers - BW x 15

Low pulley cable external rotation - 10lbs x 9 each side
upper body scorpion hold x 30secs, rest 30secs, x 30secs
leg extension contracted hold - BW x 1.5 mins - just to get the VMO firing.

lower and upper body stretches
 
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I don't feel drained or sapped at all - nice! Just a slight warm feeling in my head/neck, which is not bad considering how much I did yesterday including my part time job

slight achey feeling all over, my hips and glutes are pretty sore -> always a good thing :)
 
measured my waist - it is around 36.5 inches. Up 2.5 inches from before I layed off.... bodyweight hanging around 205lbs, which is about 12lbs up from when I had a 34 inch waist. Falls inline with 5lbs of fat per inch of waist gain...

17.7% bodyfat according to this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/

time to lean down again. Goal is to get back to a 30 inch waist.
6.5 inches = 32.5 lbs of fat to drop. That should get me to a lean and mean 170lbs at 7% bodyfat.
I'm still eating Warrior diet style right now, but with a bit of junk food in there, peanuts and chocoloate, and maintaining my weight, so I just need to cut the crap out, and I should start to lean up slowly

And if I can get my paused fullsquat back up to my PR of 335lbs for 2x3, which is about double bodyweight for reps, then I should be able to powersnatch over my bodyweight with no dip to catch and vertical jump 40 inches.

Goal is still 44 inches though, to allow me to dunk with 2 hands standing under the rim, and 48 inches off the run :)
Might need a high catch powersnatch of 215lbs for that and a 405lb paused squat for 2x3....
 
Power to you man, I just did powercleans today for the first time since i was in highschool 4 years ago.
 
Tuesday 20th November - MicroCycle 2 - Week 3 - Day 1

Both sessions didn't feel that good. Crap sleep last night, neighbours dog woke me up! :/
Time for a deload next week

Morning 22 jumps 20-30 seconds rest between each

14 at workplace - 3 standing, 3 running and the rest one step jumps.
8 at home 8 mins later - 2 standing, 3 one step, and 3 running jumps

Standing and one step jump up 1 inch at work. No changes at home, too tired
Pretty pleased with my jumps at work, I'm touching the highest beam from a standing jump and a few inches more above the bottom of it. A few weeks back I was 2 inches from touching it! :0


Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 207lbs
Workout time - 40 mins
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

Situp complex of swissball

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 5 reps each, 3 on cleans, and jerks

single leg kneeling deadlift - BW x 2 each side


Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 3, 165x2, 195x2, 225x1

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4 mins rest
1) 235lbs x 3
2) 235lbs x 3

Didn't feel too good, or that fast. But the video of it looked quick enough, all concentrics under 1 sec, some as low as 0.8 secs. And that's paised too...hmm power is still good, even though I'm not as strong as I used to be...

I might go back to squatting in Oly shoes. The Nike frees don't feel stable, especially when I walk out. And I can't sit back as much as I want to, or stay as upright

Video
right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/CCJ_FullSquat235_pausedExplosive2x3_20Nov07.mpg


Cool down and stretches

Low explosive RDL - hookgrip - 135lbs x 5, then high hang powerclean to rerack power. Been a while since I used a hookgrip, felt really strange.
The clean shot up like nothing, even though I haven't done anything more than the bar in ages!

paused split leg Good morning - Bar x 3 each side
bench dip shrug x 10
scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold, x10 reps
8 scapular pushups + push up plus against a bench x 8
dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 4kg x 8, 5kg x 4, 7kg x 8
reverse hypers - BW x 15

Lat machine situp - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 15

Snatch grip RDL stretched ISO hold - started at knee and ended at floor x 1min

lower and upper body stretches
 
cool, video

the first 2 reps of the first set were quite snappy on the way up even if they felt hard, after that they were pretty good but not as good as the first 2 reps. you're still strong but your capacity to keep lifting the same load over and over has probably diminished, guess it'll come back quick just like your strength is
 
I don't really care about work capacity in the Gym anymore. I would prefer to have good work capacity on my jumps instead :)
 
i agree it shouldn't be a goal in and of itself, i also think you'll have more fun with these shorter workouts, i've streamlined mine as well and am seeing better results. i used to do heavy o-lifts and squats every time i went to the gym, sometimes deadlifts as well, and neglected form work and variations like overhead squats or snatch deads which are important for me since i want to compete in o-lifting..
 
For my goals you don't need much volume to get results. It's mostly neural after all
I still get sore as hell even then!
 
coolcolj said:
For my goals you don't need much volume to get results. It's mostly neural after all
I still get sore as hell even then!
Click to expand...

the sorest i've ever been in my life was the first time i did aggressive inline rollerblading.. i was a fat sedentary kid and suddenly i was jumping up onto knee high benches, jumping down landing in a squat position. didn't feel like anything at the time but i couldn't go into the squat position without severe pain for 3 or 4 days. i feel like that kind of soreness is your nervous system punishing you for making it work hard ;)
 
Saturday 24th November - MicroCycle 2 - Week 3 - Day 2

Jumps not that good. but weights were OK.
Kinda got 8 hours sleep last night, but very restless sleep. Sleep has been getting rather light lately.

I added some Sumo deadlifts today, will start to get into them more heavily eventually. The wide stance will help balance all this narrow stance squatting I'm doing. I felt it in my posterior chain as expected, but my VMO were working pretty hard too!
That's a nice bonus, because my outer quads are starting to feel like their getting stronger than may VMO since I started squatting more narrow and my feet facing more forward instead of turned out.

Outer thigh - IT band area is feeling achey and tight. That's usually a sign to deload for me. Plus I need to stretch it and do some tissue work I guess.
Aches quite a bit on the jump landings until I warmup and doesn't feel so nice on squats


Morning 25 jumps 20-30 seconds rest between each

warmup - continous jump in place from deepish squat 3x3 - going higher and harder each time

8 at workplace - 1 standing, 2 running and the rest one step jumps.
17 at home 8 mins later - 3 standing, 6 one step, and 8 running jumps

Jumps more or less the same, but at home I managed to touch the light in the garage ceiling! Did it twice on a one step jump, and I hit the light with enough force to make a sound. On one attempt I couldn't touch it though, so I think more from technique than power gains, that's 1+ inch higher than the last time I tried it.

I am starting to muscle my jumps quite a bit though... I try to strain the jumps a lot...
But today my running jumps were a lot more consistent. Most of them were 2 inches higher than my 1 step jump, and 4 inches higher than my vertical jump.


Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 207lbs
Workout time - 40 mins
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

Situp complex of swissball
Back extension - BW x 4 + 2 twisting to each side

single leg kneeling deadlift - BW x 3 each side


Narrow stanced Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 3, 165x3, 195x2, 225x1

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4 mins rest
1) 245lbs x 3
2) 245lbs x 3

Form felt much better, much better flexibility in my posterior chain from those snatch grip RDL stretched ISO holds. Went even narrower in my stance as a result. 245lbs felt pretty slow though, more strained, but overall felt OK.
Not feeling as heavy as 225-235lbs did on my back the last 2 workouts.
I gripped the bar really tight today, and that seems to help make it feel lighter and easier.


Cool down and stretches

paused GM onto toes Bar x 3 + split leg Good morning - Bar x 3 each side

Sumo Deadlift - doubled overhand hooked grip - semi explosive up, semi dropped - 89lbs x 5

reverse hypers - BW x 15

Lat machine situp - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 12

Snatch grip RDL stretched ISO hold - started at knee and ended at floor x 1min

Upper body Scorpion hold - x30secs - rest 30secs - x30secs
for thoracic and external rotation mobility/strength/endurance

lower and upper body stretches
 
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Tuesday 27th November - MicroCycle 2 - Week 4 - Day 1


Last gym workout of this 2nd training block. Then 1 week off to deload, but I may do some jumps later in the week like I did in the last block, just have to see how my legs feel. If I get that light loose feeling in them then I'll jump. That usually happens 3 days after a workout so far, but sometimes earlier or later.

Didn't do my jumps in the morning due to some one's incompetence, and rain...
So I did em in the gym at the start of the workout like before my layoff, but I didn't rotate them with the squats like I would have done then.
Pretty good workout. Lower back felt tight, but after the reverse hypers and stretches they felt ok.

Been eating clean all last week and this week, but Warrior diet type style, and good to see the bodyweight finally going down at the gym. The Tanita scale at home is showing bodyfat% drop as well, but it is pretty erratic.

Body weight at gym - 205.5lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

continuous jump in place from deepish squat 3x3 - going higher and harder each time

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 3 reps each


Jumps

12 total jumps - 20 to 30secs rest between each - mostly one step and a few standing vertical jumps

I've regained all my hops I had before the layoff and then some, especially considering I'm heavier, fatter and way weaker!
I was able to touch the fire exit ceiling so much easier off a 1 step jump, and only 1cm away from touching it on a standing jump. Not only that, I reached my peak jump very quickly, and I was jumping really explosively and without the same level effort compared to back then.
And probably due to the cluster set approach of my mornings jumps, I can maintain my jump height without that much rest. The body becomes it's function as they say :)

The 3x3 continuous jumps in place I did in the warmup are all fairly relaxed, and not that much effort or with any arm swing, yet I can sense my head near the ceiling in the last set and bouncing off the ground really easy. When I start to do these with more effort, I think I might be able to bang my head into the ceiling on every jump :)
Should help my reactivity too, they are more or less like a depth jump.

Did all jumps in the Nike Free 5.0 trainers and that's on concrete, felt good. Might switch from the softer 7.0 trainers in my morning jumps and do them in these. I think my feet and lower legs are strong enough now. And they are harder and thinner so I can put more force into the ground.


Narrow stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 3, 165x2, 195x2, 225x1

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4 mins rest
1) 255lbs x 3
2) 255lbs x 3

Pretty good, and felt faster due to the jumps earlier in the workout, but probably not much faster than my 235lb squat effort 2 workouts back. And the fact I didn't do a morning jump workout has to help.
Hip flexors or something were aching though from the tension when lowering down into the bottom position, and my right hip as well. A definite sign I need a deload.
Good to finally not have anything over 195lbs feel so scary heavy on my back. It still feels heavy but in a good way, like you respect the load.

Will drop the load 20%, when I restart, around 205lbs, and work back up in 10lb jumps. So I'll hit 275lbs at the end of the next block and hope it feels like 255lbs did today and moves at the same speed or faster.
I'll keep doing this until I stall. Hopefully I'll be at 335lbs and leaner/lighter to boot in time :)


Cool down, upper body and stretches

paused GM onto toes Bar x 3 + split leg Good morning - Bar x 3 each side

Sumo Deadlift - doubled overhand hooked grip - semi explosive up, semi dropped down - 133lbs x 3 --> kinda hard
Then one power clean off the floor - easy!

Lat machine situp - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 12,
with a pause at the middle and bottom - 10lbs on chest x 5

reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 8
scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x12 reps
8 scapular pushups + push up plus x 8
inverted rows - over hand shoulder width grip - 2nd lowest latch on smith machine - BW x 8
dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 4kg x 8, 6kg x 5, 8kg x 8
 
Thursday 29th November - Micro Cycle 2 - Week 4 - Day 2


Jumps - Morning

30 total jumps 20-30 seconds rest between each

warmup - continuous jump in place 4 set of 3 - going higher and harder each time

15 at workplace
15 at home 8 mins later

I didn't keep track of the jumps I did. I added a few 2 handed jumps into the mix at work, off a step. It feels awkward, I need to practise it. It has been 4 inches lower reach wise than my one handed jump, lats still too tight. I know it used to be 3 inches lower reach wise. There is a lot of resistance from my lats...

My legs sorta felt better when I woke up, but during the warmups the side of my hips and IT band, especially the right side was aching on the landings. Went away after I warmed up and got a sweat.
Jumps didn't feel that great anyway, I wasn't able to touch the light in the garage at home. And timing on the running jumps was crap, I either over shot or under shot the take off zone. And it wasn't any higher than my 1 step jump, on the few jumps I managed to get right. Running speed was fairly slow too.

Legs didn't feel springy and I was lacking the snap and energy. Definitely not recovered from the last workout, I usually need at least another day for that, but I decided to do this workout anyway, so I get a bit of a overreaching/fatigue effect going into the break. I won't be training again until next Tuesday at the earliest. Similar to what I did in the last training block. Hope I get the same 1.5 inch increase like I did last time though :)
 
are you working out for vertical leap and speed?

if so sweet i'm looking for a workout to increase my vertical leap and quickness..
 
Phaded said:
are you working out for vertical leap and speed?

if so sweet i'm looking for a workout to increase my vertical leap and quickness..
Click to expand...

yeah man... browse thru this thread and you'll see many links and other good info about developing explosive power and vertical jump - it was thanks to this thread that i started training properly for my goals, eventually hooked up with an olympic weightlifting coach and got onto my own path training-wise, but this thread is a great resource!
 
KOArtist said:
Just curious...how good do you think the Tanita scale is at measuring bodyfat accurately? Do you fully "trust it"???
Click to expand...

as far as absolute numbers go, not very, it says I'm 25-27% BF :chomp:
Probbaly due to my greater muscle mass vs normal people. I just deduct 10% off that and it's pretty close to where I am I feel

but for relative numbers it's not too bad, just have to measure at the same time. The numbers it gives fluctuates quite a lot depending on body fluid levels etc

but between that, the mirror/photo, waist size and this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/

you get a good idea where things are
 
Gotcha, that's kind of what I figured. I have seen some scales that say they have "athlete mode" though...do you think this means they take extra muscle into account?
 
KOArtist said:
Gotcha, that's kind of what I figured. I have seen some scales that say they have "athlete mode" though...do you think this means they take extra muscle into account?
Click to expand...


yea but not the extent you'd like. Since it just measures how long the signal takes to to go through your body. Don't bother for absolute values, you need to go in a dunk tank for that. But for relative progress it's not too bad.
 
legs feeling a lot better today, but I'm not training again till Tuesday

measured my standing reach an it's 85.5 inches barefeet or 86 inches in Nike Frees..... 7'2"
damn I have some short arms for a 5'8" - 5'9" person!!
My wingspan is less than my height as well

I've seen some 5'5" guys with the same reach as me.... :worried:
I'm gonna need all 44 inches of vertical jump to dunk it 2 handed :(

I know I need my head to be 12 inches from the rim just to do a basic 1 handed dunk.....
 
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lol his pull is beautiful, perfect powerful second pull then WTF catches it with his arms like a complete novice. good luck to his shoulders
 
Tuesday 4th December - Micro Cycle 3 - Week 1 - Day 1


Starting a new training block today. Will change things around a bit next workout, things not going well right now.
Everything was pretty crappy today, maybe it's due to the calorie reduction, I dunno. Sucks, but I have a lot of fat to drop


Morning 25 jumps 20-30 seconds rest between each

warmup - continuous jump in place from deepish squat 3x3 - going higher and harder each time

15 at workplace
10 at home 8 mins later

Jumps were a lot lower! I was way off touching the garage light at home. I don't understand how I could be so low, when I touched it twice 2 workouts ago... Did too many jumps as well. Out of frustration I guess...


Body weight at gym - 205lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 6/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

back extension x 4, + 4 twisting to each side

situp complex on swiss ball

single leg kneeling deadlift BWx3

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 4 reps each, 3 reps on powerclean and power jerk


Military Press

did this together with the squat warmups

Bar x 5, 95lbs x 5

surprised I could do 95lbs reasonable well, since I haven't pressed in ages, and my upper body is weak as. Must be general strength carry over from the stuff I do at my part time job, and dip shrugs etc



Narrow stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 3, 165x3, 195x2

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4 mins rest
1) 225lbs x 3
2) 225lbs x 3

Felt like crap and heavy as hell! Squats always feel like crap and unstable when I'm fatigue from jumping/sprinting.
My outer thighs/hips were killing me on the worksets, mostly when I sat back more instead of sitting straight down.
Going to have to cut back on squats and concentrate on my sumo deadlifts for the time being. My quads are excessively large as it is as well...


paused GM onto toes Bar x 3 + split leg Good morning - Bar x 3 each side



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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 89lbs x 3, 139x3, 155x3, 175x3

felt good, getting the hang of it. I line the outer edge of my feet on the outer rings. Didn't feel my lower back working at all today, unlike last workout - no pump or anything!
My upper and mid back was hammered though, and my rear obliques/glutes/hamstrings are on fire now.


Cool down, upper body and stretches

reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 10

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x13 reps

inverted rows - over hand shoulder width grip - 3rd lowest latch on smith machine - BW x 3, BW x 8

8 scapular pushups + push up plus x 11

Lat machine situp - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 12,
with a pause at the middle and bottom - 10lbs on chest x 6

dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 4kg x 8, 8kg x 10
 
I'm sore as all over, especially my upper back, quads, glutes, hammies, calves and spinal erectors. I didn't notice my erectors working yesterday, but they are pretty sore today

Feel pretty drained as well, but at least my lips are not dry and swollen
 
glutes feel really powerful though. It's funny but I always notice I can lean over very easily and feel strong when I get up in the morning the day after I train, glutes do all the work, but on any other day, my lower back feels really weak and I need to be really careful first thing in the morning. Have to warmup more ebfore i can bend over and start lifting things. Very strange
 
Saturday 8th December - Micro Cycle 3 - Week 1 - Day 2


Interesting training day today - pretty good overall. Had some pretty good sleep overall the last few days, for me anyway, so that helps.



Morning 35 jumps 20-30 seconds rest between each

warmup - dynamic stretches etc, jump in place 3x3 - going higher and harder each time

8 at workplace - 3 standing, 5 one step jumps
2 at a low portable rim at a car park - 3 mins away - standing and one step
25 at BBall court nearby - 5 mins later

I think jumps were the same, hard to tell. Work capacity is better though.
I did 2 jumps at a car park in some office complex where somebody had setup a portable hoop chained to a pillar on the way back home. It must have been really low because I could get my forearm all the way up the rim :D

Decided to do the rest of the jumps at a nearby schoolyard BBall court, on the way home. No one there.
Even though the court is concrete, it felt easier on my body compared to jumping at home, on the pebbled sloped garage. So I did more of em.
It feels really different to do running jumps on a court, so it took a while to get the hang of it. The flatness of the court meant I can accelerate into a running jump much faster, and I find my timing and maybe my body can't handle full speed just yet. Plus there was sand here and there, slippery....might need to bring a broom with me next time....
Jumps seem to be 2 inches less than my recent best, but that's probably all down to the extra 10lbs of fat/bodyweight I'm carrying. Not too bad, when I'm so much weaker.

Last lot of jumps at the court were running jumps done interval style, almost like HITT, non stop. Got my breathing and sweat up. I wasn't jumping max effort, about 90% and staying fluid and relaxed, but I didn't seem to loose much jump height even then, about 1.5 inches. That's pretty cool, it feels much less tiring to jump like this.


Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 205lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

back extension x 4, + 4 twisting to each side

situp complex on swiss ball

single leg kneeling deadlift BW 2x3



Narrow stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 4, 185x3, 225x1

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4 mins rest
1) 225lbs x 6

Pretty hard, felt heavy on my back, last rep was pretty slow and strained. Sat back more, probably due to the sumo deadlifts changing my motor patterns. I guess I can do about 8-9 reps with this weight regular style.
So 1RM about 300lbs, and at least 80lbs off my personal best.


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs x 3, 155x3, 185x3, 218x3, 243x3, 273x3

Felt good. Did more load and volume, due to these not having much time under tension or eccentric. 273lbs was starting to feel fairly heavy.
I would guess my 1RM is somewhere around 300-350lbs.
Personal best is 455lbs on conventional deadlifts with hookgrip in olyshoes, but I'm no where near that now.

I like sumo, it suits me much better. I can use my legs and hips better, good for explosiveness hops me thinks. Whereas in conventional deadlifts, it's more lower back and hammies, especially with my short arms.

Video - fastest concentric around 0.8secs, slowest was the first rep with 273lbs of just above 1 sec. The other reps of that set were faster though, so there must be some stretch reflex action going on. Will inch up to 315lbs while keeping the rep speed to 1sec or under.

right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...Deadlift_185-273x3_Explosive_4sets_8Dec07.mpg


Cool down, upper body and stretches

snatch grip EDL stretched ISO hold - BAR x 1min - start at knee and end at the floor

Lat machine situp - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 12

upper body and lower body stretches
 
yeah they feel pretty good, much better than convential deadlifts or snatch grip deadlifts. I do have short arms, so these put me in a better position.


Well yesterday was the hardest day at my part time job in terms on length and volume of work. I did more jumps, I used heavier loads and more volume on the Sumo deadlifts... yet I don't feel drained, and barely sapped at all....
Unlike how I felt after the Tuesday workout. I think all the extra upper body work I do then is draining the crap out of me.
Logically I should put them on a separate day, but I hate training upper body and I'm not so motivated to go to the gym just to do 30mins of that stuff!

Don't feel that sore either compared to the other workout. Just an overall achey feeling. Upper back, upper/lower traps, and calves the most sore. Then spinal erectors, rear obliques, VMO and glutes to a lesser extent.
The lack of eccentrics in the Sumo deadlifts helps a lot.
I have strained something in my right neck/trap area though, it's not too bad.

Waist is down 0.5 inch since I started eating clean. 36 inches now
Bodyweight was 202lbs this morning straight out of bed in underwear.
So according to this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/ I'm now down to 17% bodyfat, yay :)
Tanita scale reads around 26.5% or 16.5% with correction
 
Tuesday 11th December - Micro Cycle 3 - Week 2 - Day 1


Didn't feel too bad, some soreness in my spinal erectors and hammies, but jump is well down. So I decided not to go to the gym today.
Still not recovered yet from the last workout. Need another day or two.

Starting to accumulate some fatigue, so will have to make some changes to the volume.


Morning 30 jumps 20-30 seconds rest between each

warmup - dynamic stretches etc, jump in place 3x3 - going higher and harder each time

10 at workplace
20 at BBall court nearby - 5 mins later

Cool day, so took longer to warmup. Jump was lower at workplace.
And same for at the BBall court. My running jumps wasn't too bad, about the same as last training day, just timing wasn't so good, I had at least 5 mistimes and aborted jumps. Standing jump was horrible though, way lower. I think about 2 inches lower. I tried hard, but the lift wasn't there.

That's probably the biggest difference between my standing and running jumps I've ever had, about 5 inches. I hope when I recover and my vertical jump goes back to where it was or higher, my running jump will maintain this difference... :)

Jump felt different today, definitely using my posterior chain more and not dipping down as much.
 
Tuesday 18th December - Micro Cycle 4 - Week 1 - Day 1


Started a new Microcycle today, will be more of a recovery block, relatively speaking. The week off helped, I feel much fresher in the gym session than I have in the past few weeks, but I'm not really all that recovered even then, so it will take a few more weeks to get back out of the hole from all these weeks of being overreached.

Balance was really good today on the single leg kneeling deadlifts, better than it has been since I started doing them! Balance goes to crap when I overreach.

Big drop in bodyweight, really tightened up the diet.
I thought the weights feeling heavier were due to the diet, but it was just me being overreached... I'm much lighter today, and yet I felt stronger than the last few weeks

Morning 35 jumps 20-30 seconds rest between each

warmup - dynamic stretches etc, jump in place 3x3 - going higher and harder each time

10 at workplace - 3 standing, 5 one step jumps
25 at BBall court nearby - 5 mins later
last 8 jumps were done continuously HITT style

I probably did a bit too many jumps today. Really went for it.
Jumps were half an inch or so higher, but I didn't maintain that 5inch difference between the standing and running/3 step jump, just 4 inches, which is ok. Bodyweight down a bit, so that helps as well.
Feeling quite a bit of stretch in the hamstrings at the bottom of the jumps.
A school kid was watching me :)

The potholes on the BBall court were filled, and the sand swept away - nice.
Now I discovered that that the side I was jumping on is much higher than I expected, that's why I said my jump was 2 inches lower than my recent best before my long layoff. Today the sun was in my face, so I used the other side and it's 2 inches lower. But it looks like both rims are mounted 2 inches higher on the backboard. So one side has the backboard 2 inches higher and the rim 2inches higher on top of that. And the side I used today has regulation height backboard and rim 2inches higher. So 10'4" and 10'2" I think!
I have jumped on the lower side last year, so now I have a better reference.
If I can dunk these rims, I can dunk it anywhere :p


Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 201lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

back extension x 4, + 4 twisting to each side

situp complex on swiss ball

single leg kneeling deadlift BW x3

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 4 reps each, 3 reps on powerclean and power jerk


Narrow stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x8, 135lbs x 5, 185x3, 225x1

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4 mins rest
1) 225lbs x 8

Did all these inbetween the earlier sets on the Sumo deadlifts
I did some big jumps on the warmup sets, unusual for me, just didn't feel as heavy as before. managed to get 2 more reps than last time before having to strain a bit on the 8th rep. Not too bad after all the jumping today.
Still feels hard though. Can probably get about 10-12 reps without the pause
So 1RM is about 335lbs


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 133lbs x 3, 177x3, 218x3, 243x3, 273x3, 309x3

felt easier than last time, solid. Had to strain a bit of the 309lb x 3 set. Still felt semi-fast, but definitely within the 90% zone, so I guess 1RM around mid 300s. On that set I had to really drive my legs into the floor, contract the glutes and extend the hips to get the bar up. Something you just don't get with conventional or snatch grip deadlifts. Even squats too in way...
Surprised how hard that set worked my calves, they were tired and pumped after that set! I feel it in every muscle in my body just about.
Certainly works all the right muscles, but it remains to be seen if upping the numbers on this will improve my hops. Not going to be squatting too much in this block, so I'll get a good idea.
Who knows, these and jumping could improve my squat strength :)


Cool down, upper body and stretches


reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 8

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x15 reps

inverted rows - over hand slightly wider than shoulder width grip - 3rd lowest latch on smith machine - BW x 3, BW x 9

8 scapular pushups + push up plus x 10

Lat machine situp - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 12,

dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 4kg x 8, 8kg x 9
 
Well I'm pretty achey all over. Glutes damn sore, followed by calves, hamstrings, upper back and VMO.
Feel pretty sapped, and midly drained. Lethargic...

I'm probably going to be only doing weights once a week in this block - On Tuesday, and just Jump/bBall on Saturday. May or may not keep the jumping on Tuesday morning, with lowered volume.
I need to recover from all this fatigue, which might take 3 weeks of reduced training.

Hope to get a nice rebound effect to slingshot gains
 
Saturday 22nd December - Micro Cycle 4 - Week 1 - Day 2

Just BBall today - no weights.

Kinda overcast and wet. So I decided to try out the local indoor court complex. Cost money, but they are finally free all day.
I wanted to see if the springy wooden floors actually help my hops, and get a reference to a regulation court.

Still not really all that fresh. Felt kinda crappy today and hammies still sore from the last workout. That last session worked me over pretty good!

Bodyweight = 200.5lbs in shorts and t-shirt


BBall - Indoor court

Did some mobility work at home - then some dynamic warmup drills at court

15 mins warmup - 30mins of moderate effortcontinous moves/shooting and max effort jumping.

There was one group playing full court on one of 2 courts and 2 others playing on one rim in the first 20mins, but they all left after that, and so I was able to workout alone :)

Upper body mobility is not so good, quite noticeable when I do hook shots.
Ball skills and shooting rusty has hell.
Have to relearn jumping with the ball in my hands. I've learnt a new way to do running jumps, which is totally different to how I used to do it with the ball!

Well the floors are pretty springy, but I don't think it helped me jump any higher. I had my spongy Nike Free 7.0 trainers on, I probably should used the harder 5.0 trainers. Spongy shoe + springy floor = soggy feeling...
Made the landings feel cushioned though compared to an outdoor concrete court. Much nicer playing in Nike Free trainers compared to clunky and hot BBall shoes - I feel airy and fleet footed.

Warmed up real fast, I didn't have to do any jumping drills or anything.
Max effort on all jumps. Jumps were where I expected based on the lower of the 2 rims at the schoolyard court I have been using, so that lower side is regulation height backboard wise, but rim is 2 inches higher.


I was able to touch my head on the net off a 3 step jump. It's under 9 feet but above 8.5 feet and I'm 5'9" in my Nike Free shoes. So I know I can jump at least 33 inches off the ground.
Kinda sucks that lots of people can dunk with their heads barely clearing the bottom of net and their taller than me. Curse my stubby arms!!

I'm still down an inch overall from when I was 196lbs.
Not that happy with my hops, but this makes a nice starting point considering how fat and heavy I am! I should fly when I get under 180lbs... :o
 
Feel pretty decent today - no sapped or drained feeling, don't even feel that tired...that's a first after a BBall session! Granted I didn't play that long, but I did jump as hard as I could.

Not as sore as I expected either - my quads and hips don't feel that achey, feet, lower legs hammies do a bit. My shoulders and upper back are more sore, but my spinal erectors are trashed! Probably not used to the dribbling and quick moves in a bent over position.

I look leaner today than a few days ago. That BBall session felt like it chewed through a ton of calories and upped my metabolism a bit in a HITT manner.

Waist is 35.5 inches, down another half an inch since the last time I measured it, 2 weeks ago. Weighed 199lbs straight out of bed in underwear, down 3lbs.
According to this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/ Bodyfat % is now 16.4% down from 17%

Just gotta keep it up and things will fall into place....
 
Tuesday 22nd December - Micro Cycle 4 - Week 2 - Day 1

Gym was shut today, and tomorrow. So I had no choice but to BBall and jump. And I'm glad I did, since I hit some huge jump PRs, despite being way heavier from the Christmas lunch pigout!

Went to that outdoor court that has plenty of regulation courts with some 8 foot rims on the back.

Will have to do weights this coming Saturday instead of BBall, since gym will most probably be shut on New years - have to find out....


Bodyweight = 203lbs in shorts and t-shirt


BBall - Outdoor court

Did some mobility work at home - then some dynamic warmup drills at court

15 mins warmup - 30mins of moderate effort continuous moves/shooting, plus dunks on 8 foot rim, and then 15 mins of max effort jumping - some standing, and one step, but mostly running jumps

Fairly cool day today so it took a while to warmup. I wasn't feeling that great or that fresh, but once I got up a sweat, things did feel pretty loose and easy. Did a lot of drills and stuff to start off to get me sweating, and amazingly my timing, jumping with the ball, ball skills and shooting etc are just about all back since the last session!

Then I started jumping and shocked the hell out of myself! Not only did my jump move back up to where I got to when I was last here at 196lbs, but another inch or so above it!! All my jumps were up 2 inches or so.
Holy crap I really felt like I was floating up there effortless. I wasn't muscling things, or bending my legs a whole lot, and the running jumps had more speed and flow than I have had before.

Was able to maintain my new higher running jump for about 3-4 back to back attempts, before it started to dropoff back to my recent best.
Funny thing is even at the end I didn't really feel all that tired compared to the other jumping sessions and I did do a lot more....

The last time I was on this court, I have severe shin splints. No issues today, Nike Free Trainers felt awesome, so smooth and light. No knee problems either, landings felt like nothing. But my right hip socket seems to take a beating though with how I tend to land sideways towards the end, and I tweaked something in my right shoulder - gonna have to work harder to fix my crappy shoulder mobility if I am to ever throw down some hard dunks....

Overreaching a bit and then backing off the weights with just speed/explosive work is a good way to get your system to rebound and be light/snappy. But this is the first time I've been able to get it to work, even while I'm dieting! Maybe there is another inch or 2 left in a weeks time...
Now to consolidate my gains and build on it
 
BTW I think my standing Vertical jump is 33 inches now just based on how high I was getting with my reach - not sure though

not bad for a fat fart like me :chomp:
when I lean down to 170lbs and regain my previous strength levels... :eek2:
 
48 inch jump off the run is around where I'd like to be as my ultimate goal.

this is what a 50+ inch jump looks like at 1min 15sec in the vid - 5'9" dude getting his head above the rim!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a3DzQU9oXtY

He doesn't even jump his max in the games, nice to have a 12 inch reserve....

anyway goal for this coming year is to get lean and mean, and touch my wrist on the rim with a standing vertical jump. That would be at least a 40 inch vertical jump for me
 
Thursday 27th December - Micro Cycle 4 - Week 2 - Day 2

Felt like jumping, and was keen to consolidate my gains, so I headed to the BBall court, even though another day of rest would have been better.
Didn't feel that great, but I'm glad I went as things have improved since the last session 2 days ago.

Went back to the outdoor court with the 8 foot rims at the back along with regulation ones.

Lost the 2.5lb food weight from the Christmas lunch pigout 2 days ago, so that had to help

Bodyweight = 200.6lbs in shorts and t-shirt


BBall - Outdoor court

Did some mobility work at home - then some dynamic warmup drills at court

1 hour total - 30mins of moderate effort continuous moves/shooting, plus dunks on 8 foot rim, and then 30 mins of max effort jumping - some standing, and one step, but mostly running jumps

A lot warmer today. Didn't feel that great, and dunks on 8 foot rims were crappy, but my jumps in the last half surprised me yet again!

I managed to improve my running jump another half inch, and I was able to maintain this for over 10+ jumps with only 30-40secs rest!
Same deal for my standing VJ, matched my last session PR, but could do it several times. Feels like I can jump another inch higher all round at least.
I did it on 2 different rims, just to make sure the one I have been using wasn't lower - just couldn't believe how much higher I was getting!
The rim just doesn't look as high now, when you can get up there so much easier. Feels freaky, like I can't believe my body is doing this :D

Got a better idea of my jumps today based off my reach.

Standing Vertical jump = 32 inches
One step jump = 33 inches
Running jump = 35+ inches

One step jump should be higher, it's usually 2 inches higher than my standing jump, but maybe form was not as good today, I didn't really dip down lower and force it out like I normally would. I was just doing this smooth relaxed style jump today. Running jump may be as high as 36 inches as my arm is always at a slight angle, I'm never directly under the rim unlike my standing jump. Technique on running jumps is getting pretty good with decent speed.

Now, how I can vertical jump 32 inches and yet be nowhere near a double bodyweight squat or deadlit for that matter, and on the fat side...? good question :p
Because there are quite a few people who are pretty lean with squats much higher than mine and they can't jump higher than me.... ratios don't always apply...

Today and in the last session, my jumps has this really strange smooth, "cushioned" type feeling when I dip down. Hard to explain in words, but it feels really smooth and effortless, and I just spring up. First time I've had this feeling, especially on my running jumps, feels like your running on a bed of clouds in bare feet or something :)
You can't discern any specific muscle group working, just this feeling of oneness. I guess this is what happens when you have good mobility in your ankles and hips, and everything is firing properly. And you can't feel the landing forces either.

That's probably why I don't feel as beat up and tired afterwards.
Although my legs are feeling it now and my spinal erectors have been feeling pretty trashed up today and the last session.
Also stretched my lats a lot, using a single arm, underhand cross body method. They feel much looser and I didn't get any pain in my shoulders today when hanging on the 8 foot rims after dunking em.

---


Got my fill of jumping now, best to take a break to keep yourself from burning out mentally. Will head to the gym on Saturday for some lighter explosive Sumo Deadlifts with 253lbs as I work my way back up to 319lbs x 3 in a couple of weeks. Maybe some paused squats as well like I have been doing. Should be easier without any jumping in the morning, especially core wise.
 
Work schedule has been really easy, thanks to Christmas and New Years coming, that really helps my recovery lately. Should gain some more jump inches and strength/power hopefully
 
Tuesday 31st December - Micro Cycle 4 - Week 3 - Day 1

Didn't lift on Saturday like I had planned, I went to the BBall courts instead and shot some hoops, and did a few jumps. Didn't do much though. Feel decent today, although a bit sleepy, and since the gym is gonna be shut tomorrow, I had to workout today.

Not having any jumps this morning sure made a big difference, with the gym session. Felt much better, although not being overreached has a lot to to do with that as well.....

Bodyweight back up again, very strange, even with all the BBalling...

Bumped into a some guy I got to know a while back who trains really hard, and does some wrestling. He used to be really skinny the last I saw him, he says he still weighs 81kg, but man has he put on some size! He's doing a Westside hybrid he tells me...although he has shoulder issues from speed benches he was rehabbing today :)
Said his squat went from 295 to 350lbs and deadlift from 450 to 500lbs. He's got long arms, way longer than mine, so he's built to deadlift.

Body weight at gym - 203lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 8.5/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8

back extension x 4, + 4 twisting to each side

situp complex on swiss ball

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 4 reps each, 3 reps on powerclean and power jerk

single leg kneeling deadlift BW x5


Narrow stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

did these inbetween the deadlift warmup sets

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 3, 185x3, 225x1

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4 mins rest
1) 235lbs x 9

Squat were really good today, no aches and pains, and form was solid. Weights felt way lighter on my back, warmed up much faster, and I cranked more reps. Although I did do 1 rep too many, too much strain and bar speed way too slow on the 9th rep, form was starting to get shoddy as well.

Slight change in form, felt it in my hammies a lot more, but still quite a lot of quads and glutes
Without the pause, maybe I can do 13 reps, so that puts my 1RM around 345-365lbs I think. Maybe my squat strength ratio does correlate to my vertical jump :)
Won't know for sure till I use some heavier loads though...


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 133lbs x 3, 198x3, 243x2

5 mins rest
1) 253lbs x 2
2) 253lbs x 3

Sumos didn't exactly move as fast like they have been in past workouts, perhaps the big jumps in the warmup sets didn't get my CNS firing the same way. Or maybe the jumps in the morning do help..... or just too tired from the squats.


Cool down, upper body and stretches


reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 8

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x12 reps

inverted rows - over hand slightly wider than shoulder width grip - 3rd lowest latch on smith machine - BW x 3, BW x 10

8 scapular pushups + push up plus x 10

Lat machine situp - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 12,

dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 4kg x 8, 8kg x 8

Lying side external rotation - 2.5lb dumbell x 8 each arm
Bench supported face down subscap rotation - 2.5lb dumbell x 8 each arm


upper and lower body stretches
 
I feel a bit sapped from yesterday

not too sore though - mostly in my upper back, arms and spinal erectors. Some aches in my glutes, calves and upper hammies in the glute/ham tie in area ---> thanks to the change in squat form - I do a shallow eccentric good morning as I start to lower down
 
Saturday 5th January - Micro Cycle 4 - Week 3 - Day 2


I think I was pretty fresh today, definitely no longer sore from the workout 5 days ago, but this week I've been feeling crappy for some reason.

Going to drop the BBall'ing and concentrate more on pure jumping like before..


Bodyweight = 201lbs in shorts and t-shirt

BBall - Indoor court

Did some mobility work at home - then some dynamic warmup drills at court

30mins total - mostly moderate effort continuous moves/shooting, plus dunks on 8 foot rim, and a few max effort jumping

Jumps were like 3 inches lower across the board!!! WTF
Just didn't have the ommmph today for some reason.
My computer had a power supply meltdown during the week, and that stressed me out for a couple of days.
That probbaly did the damage.... didn't stay very long at the court.

So much for consolidating my gains....now I'm even more depressed :(
 
I hope...

maybe I just don't jump as high in an indoor court, due to the spongy wooden floors...

right shoulder is trashed again..... and my spinal erectors feel so beat up, I don't know why either, probably due to how I land from the jumps, I don't bend my legs much, and currently not absorbing it on my calves, land flat footed

other than that, not too bad - good to see my quads and hammies don't as sore from jumping anymore. Upper back is pretty sore though, from doing stuff with the bball and my part time job.
 
body feels a lot better today, considering how crappy I felt yesterday. Maybe just the fact I had yesterday off, and today as well, from my part time job helps that much. I'm still getting the same amount of sleep, but just having to get up really early in the morning certainly does something negative, plus the workk off course.
I finally get a couple of days rest, after working 10 days straight because my boss went of a holiday! Might be another reason why my jumps are down even though the workload has been easier during this time due to Christmas and New Years....
 
Tuesday 8th January - Micro Cycle 5 - Week 1 - Day 1


new Microcycle today. Barely got 4 hours sleep last night thanks to my Neighbour's freaking party!!!
Funny thing, is that I don't really feel all that bad, workouts went great and my body felt good - that supple, loose feeling.
Work capacity is up a notch too...

Usually I feel pretty hammered after my morning jumps, and the weights session in the afternoon doesn't feel so good, but today this was not the case! I felt like I didn't even jump at all in the morning relatively speaking and I could walk downstair normally. The new jump session warmup I think is responsible.

Morning School Yard BBall court

warmup - dynamic stretches etc

12 sets of 3 "box jumps" onto stair cased brickwall - from 9 gradually going up to 40 inches. 40 secs or so rest with 5 ankle hops inbetween each set

A few sets of 5 speed hops on a 9 inch step here and there

40+ jumps 30-40 seconds rest between each
a few standing and one step, mostly running jumps

Overall jump was up an inch the last time I was here. Not a PR just since I was last here. It should actually be up 2 inches, but lack of sleep probably is the cause. Running jump didn't feel that good form and slow wise.

Did way more jumps than before, lost count, but at least 40 jumps, which started to dropoff on the last few jumps. When I can get up to 50 jumps with minimal dropoff, that's more than enough work capacity for my needs. Then to do it 3 times a week and not fall apart :)

I decided to warmup on the court instead of at my workplace like I usually do, before heading to the court. Noticed the court has this stair cased brickwall behind the rims - ding, why not do box jumps on em.. so I did, and it went well. There is a wire fence directly behind the wall, so I can spot myself by holding onto it when I jump up. Surprised myself, the highest section of 40 inches was fairly comfortable - I think it's 40, as it comes up to my waist.
at 9 inches there is no dip, and as I progress up I have to jump harder and get into a more fullsquat at the top. Nice progressive general warmup

Still takes 5 regular jumps before I get near my max height though. I usually start jumping semi-cold, and that tears up my muscles and joints. Felt great afterwards, and probably why I was able to do so many jumps. Nice springy feeling when dipping.

This court is pretty sweet now, it's secluded, quiet, and even has a place for doing depth jumps off now ;)
only thing is the rims are higher, 2 inches on one side and 4 on the other...
I forgot to add some continuous jumps in place in the warmup. Next time I'll put some in after the "box jumps"


Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 202lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8

back extension x 4, + 4 twisting to each side

situp complex on swiss ball

single leg kneeling deadlift BW 2x3

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 4 reps each, 3 reps on powerclean and power jerk


Narrow stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 185x4, 225x1

controlled down, paused, explode up
1) 245lbs x 3

Squats felt good. Moved all concentrics with 245lbs in around 1 sec. Some progress here, and that's after a whole lot of jumping earlier


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

Paused good morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + split leg good morning - Bar x 3 each side

explosive up, semi dropped down - 133lbs x 3, 177x3, 218x3, 263 x 2 singles

4 mins rest
1) 283lbs x 3
2) 283lbs x 3


Felt solid. And made some progress, all reps with 283lbs in 1sec or less. First reps the slowest in just under 1 sec. Foot stance was slightly narrower I think, looked and felt different.


Video of squat and Deadlift main worksets

Right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...45x3_SumoDeadlift283_2x3_Explosive_8Jan08.mpg


Cool down, upper body and stretches


reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 8

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x17 reps with hold at top

inverted rows - narrow grip - 3rd lowest latch on smith machine - BW x 3, BW x 10

8 scapular pushups + push up plus x 10

Lat machine situp, toes pressed into floor - progressively getting lower each rep - BW x 12, BW x8 paused middle and bottom
machine I used has no foot rollers, so knees pushed as far forward to stretch the hip flexors and toes driven into floor.

dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 15lb x 8, 20lbs x 5

Lying side external rotation - paused middle and bottom - 3lb dumbell x 10 each arm
Bench supported face down subscap rotation - - paused middle and bottom - 3lb dumbell x 10 each arm
 
Got a slight sapped warm buzzy feeling - CNS recharging, but not really all that sore considering the volume of work I did yesterday, mostly in my upperback and glutes. Lower legs and feet feel barely touched - amazing considering I'm landing on concrete with my heels off the floor most of the time on over 40 jumps and all those extra hops
 
I felt crappy last week and had more sleep, yet this week with poor sleep I feel better
I don't know why, but the last few days my body has been feeling great - that nice light and loose feeling. Non-powered steering wheel much easier to turn, comapred to last week. Work capacity is up as well
Even today 2 days after training I feel pretty decent and most of the soreness is gone.

3 things happened recently - I ran out of fish oil, so not taking any right now.
Started taking my super multi-vitamin again
Part-time job is easy right now, but it was even easier last week...

Maybe my body doesn't like fish oil? I thought it was supposed to help...
I would like to have this feeling most of the time, but with more sleep....
 
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had an interesting dream last night, of me back at my old high school, surrounded by my a few of classmates at one of the BBall rims we have there, and me do doing a few jumps and getting easily over the rim one and 2 handed :)
I actually consciously controlled some of my dream decisons as well - felt like I was nearly awake....
 
Saturday 12th January - Micro Cycle 5 - Week 1 - Day 2


Bodyweight at home - 199.5lb in short and t-shirt


BBall and jumps at Outdoor Court- 1 hour total

did some mobility drills at home

then went to another outdoor court I haven't been in awhile. 10 mins warmup, then lots of Bball moves and shooting at near medium to heavy intensity.

Last 15 mins was all jumping.

Felt pretty good today, but a little sleepy and tired from my part-time job this morning.
On the highest standing vertical jump, I could curl my finger tips over the rim edge. I've never gotten that high here at this bodyweight. Last year, I could only touch the bottom of the double layer rims.

I video'ed some of the jumps. The rim is a little lower, as you see with the tilt the structure. I didn't get my highest vertical jump on the video, this one I only touched the rim top. I put a timer on the jumps as I was editing it, and I got a hang time of 0.8 sec on the vertical jump and 0.867 on one of the running jumps

Using this formula
(square root of hang time) x 4 = vertical inches in feet

I get 30.72 inches on the vertical jump in the vid, so the highest today would be around 32 inches as I expected from my 7'2" reach. And 36 inches for one of the running jumps. But the video is hardly one of high frame rate so it's not that accurate, but it gives me an idea and it's pretty close to my estimates using my reach :)

right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj3/Movies/CCJ_Jumps_OutdoorBBallCourt_12Jan08.mpg

I don't seem to use the energy from my run up very well, I brake a lot, but I think that will take care of itself as I get leaner and lighter down to the 170-180lbs area. 16-17% bodyfat right now. Otherwise depth jumps are in order when I get down to that bodyweight and things don't improve.

Probably should have video'ed some of my BBall moves as well...oh well :)
 
bodyweight was 199lbs this morning straight out of bed in underwear and waist still 35.5 inches, so no change. BF% still at 16.4% according to this
http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/

Thought I looked leaner, but I guess not...

don't feel too bad, I'm no longer getting drained from BBall. Legs and hips not too bad. Spinal erectors don't feel trashed either, just sore calves, upperback and shoulders.
 
Tuesday 15th January - Micro Cycle 5 - Week 2 - Day 1


Jumps were horrible...I think it's because I "starved" myself yesterday...only ate about 1000 calories in 2 meals, one small one in the morning and one huge one at night... Sleep wasn't that great either...

Added some boxing bag work at the end - shoulders didn't hurt! :)

Morning School Yard BBall court

warmup - dynamic stretches etc

12 sets of 3 "box jumps" onto stair cased brickwall - from 9 gradually going up to 39 inches. 40 secs or so rest with 5 ankle hops inbetween each set

15 jumps 30-40 seconds rest between each
a few standing and one step, mostly running jumps

Jumps were a lot lower today. 2-3 inches, and I just didn't feel energetic :(
So I didn't do too much.

I measured the schoolyard court rim this morning, the lower side - set the steel tape measure to 10 feet+3inches for the base of the tape measure, and it only reached 1 inch higher over the rim so that one is definitely 10'2"
Bottom of backboard is 9'6" though, one of those higher ones not the usual 9 feet. Rim is mounted 2 inches above the square

Other side of the court is even higher, so chances are it is 10'4" like I thought, and bottom of backboard at 9'8". Like I said before, if you can dunk these rims you can dunk em anywhere :)
The first time I came here after the layoff, I thought they were regulation and was depressed by how low I thought I was jumping :D
It's good though, when I go to a normal court, the rims look so low!


Afternoon -

Body weight at gym - 200.5lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8

back extension x 4, + 4 twisting to each side

situp complex on swiss ball

single leg kneeling deadlift BW 2x3

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 4 reps each, 3 reps on powerclean and power jerk


Narrow stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 185x4, 225x2

controlled down, paused, explode up
1) 245lbs x 9 --> medium strain on last rep

Seeing as I had no speed due to crappy jumps, I decided there was no point working on explosive squats so I just repped it out to see where I stood. Still looked pretty quick on the video. Knees go so far forward now, even though it doesn't feel like it, due to the narrow stance, good ankle mobility.

Strength looks to be going up then - how I don't know - all I'm doing is one main workset of explosive paused squats a week, plus 2 for explosive sumo deadlifts, and a whole lot of jumping. And it's not like I've been doing any high rep work, so I'm not just getting better at repping these paused squats from better strength endurance! 1RM paused squat is probably 335lbs, and normal maybe 375lbs? Goal is to hit 335lbs for reps paused, but if I can do 9, then I'll be way stronger than before!!

Video
Right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/CCJ_PausedFullSquat245x9_15Jan08.mpg


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

Paused good morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + split leg good morning - Bar x 3 each side

explosive up, semi dropped down - 133lbs x 3, 177x3, 218x3

3 mins rest
1) 253lbs x 3
2) 253lbs x 3


kinda hard after the squatting



Cool down, upper body and stretches


reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 8


Boxing bag work - 2 x 1min rounds - 2 mins rest

Gym just finished a new boxing bag/exerise room. It's got a 9 feet ceiling and plenty of space so I can even do some running jumps here, until I hit a 40 inch jump anyway, and floor is nice for medball thows too. Well it's been years since I hit a punching bag. So first time in a while, and finally no pain in my shoulders! Shoulder/scapular work and lots of stretching of upper traps and lats is paying off.

Video of 2nd round - feel a bit gumby after squats and deadlifts :)
I've always been able to punch fast, but I seem to be hitting a lot harder than I last remember. Putting some force behind the flurries. It can't be my upper body, becuase it's pretty weak these days, I hardly train it. It's all in the legs and hips - my core and calves got a pretty hefty workout. Paused squats, explosive sumo deadlifts and lots of jumping does the trick! :)

Right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/CCJ_PunchingBagWork_15Jan08.mpg


scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x15 reps with hold at top

inverted rows - narrow grip - 3rd lowest latch on smith machine - BW x 3, BW x 6

8 scapular pushups + push up plus x 5

Lat machine situp, toes pressed into floor, knees as far forward as I can get em - progressively getting lower each rep BW x 12, BW x5 paused middle and bottom

dumbbell curls with a pause at parallel - 15lb x 5

Lying side external rotation - paused middle and bottom - 3lb dumbell x 10 each arm
Bench supported face down subscap rotation - - paused middle and bottom - 3lb dumbell x 10 each arm
 
sleepy was pretty crap last night, but I dont feel all that bad. Not much soreness either!
That's pretty amazing as squatting to near failure always kills me...
 
nice jumps!! the weather looks totally beautiful there, here in new york it's drab and horrible right now, not even any snow to make it pretty
 
Jumps are getting there, another 6 inches and I'll be very happy :)


quite a bit more sore today in posterior chain and upper back......
 
weighed 89.8kg 197.5lbs this morning!
That's pretty light for 4am in the morning after 2 fairly big evening meals with carbs for me.
Nice, bodyfat dropping is getting back on track. I look much leaner too, especially around my face/chin area, but didn't measure my waist to confirm

looking forward to finally hitting 85kg 187lbs. That should move me down from 16% to around 12-13% bodyfat
Hopefully by then the drop in weight plus some extra strength/power gains will net me a 4 inch increase on jump. Move my vertical jump up to 36 inches, one step jump to 38 and running jump to the big 40 :)

Then on down to 8% bodyfat...
 
Saturday 19th January - Micro Cycle 5 - Week 2 - Day 2


It was raining, and the indoor court was booked out all day. So I had no choice but do my jumps in the gym and hit the weights today.


Body weight at gym - 200lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8

single leg kneeling deadlift BW 2x3



Jumps


1) 20 jumps did a variety of jumps - half of em running jumps in the boxing area

2) continuous jumps in place - 3x3, 2x2

Jumps felt ok, maybe not that explosive. It doesn't seem like I'm jumping any higher than the last time I was here, and I'm 7lbs lighter! Guess my diet is killing my explosiveness. Jumps do feel more effortless though, I don't really need to jump that hard to get the same height.

on the continuous jumps in place, I could bang my head easily into the ceiling and pop the panel up a good 3-4 inches on the first jump, but the rest of the other jumps are way lower. Measured the ceiling, and it was 8 feet exactly, so me being 5'9" in Nike Free 5.0 trainers means I jumped around 31-32 inches on the first jump, but could barely touch it with my head on the 2nd jump of the last set. Couldn't touch it on the earlier sets. So I jumped 27 inches on that 2nd rep. Either my reactivity is really poor, or my arm swing adds that much! See the video below of that last set, you can hear me bang my head through the ceiling panel on the first jump, but not on the 2nd jump. Arm swing not as good on the 2nd jump either.

I got a hang time of 0.8 second on the first jump and 0.734 secs on the 2nd
(square of hang time) x 48 = vertical jump in inches
first jump = 30.7 inches
2nd jump = 25.9 inches
seems off by an inch in each case, thanks to the low frame rate of the video

Ground contact time was 0.333 secs between the 2 jumps. Certainly a long time, long enough to use a lot of force/strength unlike sprinting. I jumped a little quicker in the earlier sets, but I don't get as high when I do that...
I would like all jumps in the set to be the same height...and maybe when that happens, my running jumps will be much higher...


Medium stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, bar x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 185x4, 225x2

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4mins rest
1) 255lbs x 3
2) 255lbs x 3

didn't feel all that easy, or that fast, but not too bad. Used a slightly wider stance than I have used so far


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

Paused good morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + split leg good morning - Bar x 3 each side

explosive up, semi dropped down - 133lbs x 3, 177x3, 243x3, 279x3, 318x3


318lbs x 3 sure felt hard, first rep took a slow 1.2secs, the rest of the reps were much faster at between 0.8 to 0.9 secs. Felt more like a 90% zone max effort set. The jumps and paused squats may have something to do with that, but it was easier than the 309x3 I did a few weeks back, and without the pec cramp - I think due to my shoulders rolling forward.


video of last jumps in place set and 319x3 sumo deadlifts
Right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...Place_SumoDeadlift318x3_Explosive_19Jan08.mpg


Cool down, upper body and stretches

reverse hypers - BW x 15

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x10 reps with hold at top

Lat machine situp, toes pressed into floor, knees as far forward as I can get em - progressively getting lower each rep BW x 12, +15lbs x5 paused middle and bottom

supported straight legged raise x 10

prone upper torso cobra hold 2x20secs
 
achey posterior chain, calves and upper back, but overall it's not too bad. Don't feel all that sapped either, CNS in good shape.
Seemed to have a mild sprain on my right ankle somehow!? Right ankle has never been the same since I stuffed it up real bad many years ago landing on a BBall. There is so much scar tissue and crap inside :(


weighed 89.7kg 197.3lbs straight out of bed this morning.
Waist measured at 35 inches, finally down another half an inch
Puts me at 15.5% bodyfat according to this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
Was at 16.4% a few weeks back, so things are moving slowly but surely

Puts my lean body mass is around 166lbs, holding steady here. Upper body looks skinny as hell though, except my upper back and shoulders. Legs and hips still huge as usual
 
Tuesday 22nd January - Micro Cycle 5 - Week 3 - Day 1


Won't do any weights this afternoon, gonna let my body rest and see if I can jump better at BBall this Saturday


Morning School Yard BBall court

warmup - dynamic stretches etc

12 sets of 3 "box jumps" onto stair cased brickwall - from 9 gradually going up to 40 inches. 30 secs or so rest with 5 ankle hops inbetween each set

6 warmup jumps - with 2x3 and the 1x2 continuous jumps in place inbetween each jump

30 jumps - 40 seconds rest between each
a few standing and one step, mostly running jumps

Jumps still lower than it should be. Pretty cold this morning so it took a while to warmup and the court had some damp patches which limited what angles I could jump from. Noticed there is a wasp nest right under the rim where it connect to the backboard - LOL

With the continuous jumps in place, on the first jump I can slap the 9.5 feet backboard easily, but on the 2nd jump I'm like 4-5 inches lower and miss it, and then on 3rd jump I'm another 4 inches lower still..... really poor reactivity!! Gotta keep working on these until every jump is the same height.

video of the 2 highest sets of my warmup boxjumps about 40 and 37 inches - it's in real time so you can see how long I rest inbetween the sets and those hops I do between all sets.
Right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...p_BoxJumps_BBallcourt_37_40inches_22Jan08.mpg
 
I've been thinking about my running jump and how it doesn't feel that smooth now compared to the way I used to do it

before I would run smoothly and then do a small hop into the jump landing right - left, left leg slightly in front. It was quite smooth - like in this clip on a lower rim, although I land into the jump with both legs together instead of a right then left sequence

right click and save first
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj3/Movies/CCJ_BBallJump_5May05.mpg

Now I run up and then do a big right step plant which brakes/slows me down a lot and then step left - right, right leg in front. It feels really awkward, especially with the ball in my hands or when I go fast

Gonna try and retrain myself back to the first style, because I don't slow down as much, so I should be able to jump higher in time when I ingrain the technique and improve my reactivity. And I noticed all the 5'7" to 5'9" guys with the running jumps in the high 40s jump like this as well...!

keen to try it this Saturday - I'll do some my current way and then try and get as high with this better way...
 
sweet hit 89.4kg 196.7lbs this morning! Finally under 90kg clothed as well.

Recent changes to diet is working well so far. But really I don't eat much these days, starve yourself enough and you lose your appetite real quick :)
4kg lighter since the layoff, and almost back to what I weighed before the layoff, just another couple of pounds and an inch off the waist, but I don't feel any lighter. Now this time I hope to hit 85kg 187lbs, instead of plateauing around 195lbs...
 
Saturday 26th January - Micro Cycle 5 - Week 3 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 198lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Felt decent today.


Outdoor BBall Complex - one with 8 foot rims at the back

1 hour total

started with shooting and easy 2 handed dunks on the 8 foot rims .
Then lots of jumping - some standing, more one step and plenty of running jumps.

With the running jumps I did half with my old style and the rest trying the new style. Then did more running jump drills at the end with my new jump style. Makes my brain all confused switching between the 2 jumps styles....
I still jump 2-3 inches higher with the old style for now, but new style is much smoother.

Best of my jumps were up since the last time I was here - one step jump up an inch, can touch the rim now on that type of jump, before I could only nick the bottom of the thick area at the rear of the rim.
Old style running jump up also, 0.5 to 1 inch. Can get 2 knuckles to the rim, before only one knuckle.
Standing vertical jump - hard to tell, about the same, but I didn't get a good jump in.

Nice, lower bodyweight helps, and some extra power/strength gains. Can't wait for another 6 inches! That will put my wrist at the rim. 1 inch gain each 3-4 week microcycle would be pretty sweet progress.
All my jumps dropped off real fast though, I could only hit my peak for only a few jumps. I think due to my energy/blood sugar levels dropping off rather than fatigue.
 
Sleep could have been better, I still feel kinda tired an drowsy, but overall don't feel too bad. Some slight sapped feeling. Body not all that sore either, feet and lower legs feel pretty good. Quads and hips not bad either, some mild aches in my posterior chain and upper back.

When I first got up my spinal erectors felt pretty trashed up, but now not so bad

there were quite a few times yesterday where I landed with hardly any leg bend and my heels were completely off the ground and my ankles didn't collaspe and my calves didn't even complain. That's pretty good eccentric strength and force absorption dropping from over 34 inches high

A few times I jumped with my heels off the ground as well, not sure if that's a good thing though....
 
I have a feeling when I get another 6 inches on my jump, as well as leaner (goes hand in hand), coupled with my strong feet and good force absorption/reaction in my lower legs, I'm gonna be blazing when I sprint without having done much actual running :)
 
Casio's new super high framerate camera

just the thing to use when you want accurate sprint timing or to measure your vertical jump hang time. I sure could replace my current 640x480 at 15fps Fuji camera right now... :)

In the movie department, the camera can record 512x384-pixel video at 300 frames per second, 432x192 at 600 frames per second, and 336x96 at 1,200 frames per second, Casio said. The camera also can record high-definition movies at 1920x1080 pixels at 60 frames per second, has a dedicated movie button like Canon's PowerShot S5 ultrazoom, and has an HDMI port to watch videos on an HDTV.
Click to expand...


http://extratech.blogspot.com/2008/01/casio-new-ambition-fast-frame-rate.html
 
Tuesday 29th January - Micro Cycle 6 - Week 1 - Day 1


starting a new microcycle today. More of the same for now
Didn't feel like jumping this morning, so I did em in the gym. Bad idea, as the workout was not productive as a result... plus it made it longer.

Added some single leg moves at the end, not that heavy, but definitely challenging. Posterior chain is feeling it now!

I've been doing a lot of underhand single arm horizontal lat stretches. They certainly help, but also started doing an active stretch where you reach above with both hands, turn your hands like your doing a chin and then flex your upper traps to pull the arms back to stretch the internal rotors and lats etc. Kinda like a standing 2 hand version of the reach, roll and lift move.
I hold each stretch for sets of 15 secs everyday so far. Really help loosen up my tighter internal rotors, and also strengthens the opposite muscles.
ROM has improved and shoulders feel way better. Still damn tight there, hopefully I'll be able to get my upper arm totally vertical and be able to touch my hands together in an over and under reach. I used to be able to hold my hands together, somehow I got really tight over time :(
It's the only left to fix before I have healthy shoulders once again.

Body weight at gym - 201lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8

single leg kneeling deadlift BW 2x3



Jumps


1) 20 jumps did a variety of jumps - half of em running jumps in the boxing area

2) continuous jumps in place - 4 sets of 3

didn't feel all that explosive, jumps no higher than the last time I jumped in the gym. Still stuck one inch from touching the high ceiling on a standing vertical jump! Sooner or later I'm gonna get it....

continuous jumps in place getting better, not as much of a height dropoff bewteen eacn rep.


Medium stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 185x4, 225x2

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4mins rest
1) 255lbs x 3
2) 275lbs x 1

hard as a bitch and crap form above 225lbs. Fatigue from jumps I think.


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

Paused good morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + split leg good morning - Bar x 3 each side

explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs x 3, 155x3, 205x3, 243x3

4 mins rest
1) 263lbs x 3
2) 263lbs x 3


hard, but solid form - didn't even feel my lower back work at all!



Cool down, upper body and stretches

reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 10

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x10 reps with hold at top

Lat machine situp, toes pressed into floor, knees as far forward as I can get em - progressively getting lower each rep BW x 12, +15lbs x7 paused middle and bottom

Pushup plus - BW x 10

low pulley external rotation - with a hold - 10lbs x 8

single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 8

single leg RDL - dumbell in opposite hand - 2 sec pause at bottom - 15lbs x 8
 
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feel pretty sapped from yesterday - mild aches all over. Posterior chain is on fire - mostly glutes and upper hammies, calves, abs and upper back the next most sore

when your glutes are the most sore thing after a deadlift workout, you know things are going well as far as glute activation goes, and not using your lower back to do the work
 
Saturday 2nd February - Micro Cycle 6 - Week 1 - Day 2

Thought about going to the BBall court, but it was raining, and I thought to myself will this make me better the next time I jump - I figured no...so I headed to the gym. The Sun did come out after I finished...all the water dried up too - sucks - oh well :)

Had a bit of headache before heading to the gym and felt sleepy, and a bit tired from part-time this morning, but workout turned out well - jump is up, bodyweight is down, deadlift not bad, but squats felt terrible.
I'm finally getting the message, squats suck after maximal effort jumps, especially as my jump continues to go up!

finally under 200lbs at the gym!

Body weight at gym - 199lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8


Jumps


warmed up with 2 sets of 20secs rope skipping, low hops, low altitude drops, and easy running jumps

1) 15 max effort jumps did a variety of jumps - half of em running jumps in the boxing area

2) continuous jumps in place - 3 sets of 3


WOOT! Standing Vertical jump is finally up at the gym, I finally touched that high ceiling at the gym! Did it twice in a row, missed on a 3rd attempt later on, went to the fire exit and tried there, and couldn't touch that ceiling, later focused on keeping the weight and pressure on my big toes, dipped down super fast and nailed my finger through the fire exit ceiling! Went back and did the same on that high ceiling and touched it no probs again.

here is how it happened- I did a one step jump in that high ceiling area at first - there is a bit of structure that hides the ceiling from the general dumbell area where this gym instructor was standing. So he only saw my lower body, and said "that's a big jump" :)
I told him I haven't been able to touch this ceiling yet off a standing jump. Then I did a standing vertical jump and touched the ceiling, and told him I finally did it. Then he came over and I did it again, and he said "how on earth did you touch that?!"
He tried 4 times and only got within 6 inches off it. No hops :)
We compared reach height, and while I'm taller than him by 2 inches, his reach is 5-6 inches higher than mine - mofo!
I can out jump him by 11-12 inches though and he's way lighter and leaner than me :D

Running jumps felt explosive as well, got my elbow within 3-4 inches of the 8'10" ceiling in the boxing area. My elbow in that type of jump is about 3 inches below my head, so my head is reaching about 8'9" I guess. Getting to 9 feet will put my jump in the 40 inch area
Still mostly using my old style running jump, new style not getting as high or as fluid just yet.... hmmm maybe the old style isn't so bad, AUT (Air up There) does it the same way...stepping left-right into the jump...and he hits 46 inches...

continuous jumps in place improved again, height dropoff between each rep within a 3-4 inch bracket.

I haven't been pushing my squats too much - so it would seem jumps in place, explosive sumo deadlifts and recent single leg work is doing the biz on my jumping power, along with leaning up as well...
I'm 3lbs heavier compared to where I was before the layoff, a bit fatter, and a whole lot weaker on squats, I was cranking reps over 300lbs before, and yet I'm jumping higher now. Go figure, maybe squats after a certain level is overrated...and I'm doing no oly lifts right now, unlike before....
It's all in the GLUTES!!


Medium stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 185x4,

controlled down, paused, explode up - 4mins rest
1) 225lbs x 2
2) 205lbs x 3

felt horrible! Everything above 185lbs felt unstable, hard and uncomfortable as hell. Lower back felt "bad". When something doesn't uncomfortable there is no way you can apply max force. Slowly I'm switching out on squats...will keep them in for now, but light, as they help me warmup for sumo deadlifts....


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

Paused good morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + split leg good morning - Bar x 3 each side

explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs x 3, 155x3, 205x3, 243x3

4 mins rest
1) 293lbs x 3
2) 293lbs x 3


hard, but decent, felt semi-fast. Lower back was feeling it a bit, and my right hamstring was a bit gimpy, has been for a while now, sorta comes and goes.


Cool down, upper body and stretches

reverse hypers - BW x 15

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps

back supported leg raise BWx3, 5 reps in a locked out dip position - sort like a gymnast doing a hold, though I'd kill 2 bird with one stone - working my scaps/serratus and abs/hip flexors etc :)
BW x 10

dip shrugs, I do em to help offset the upper trap useage in deadlifts, keep my shoulder girdle down etc
 
Feel ok, just a mild worked feeling. Not too sore, mostly in my calves, posterior chain and upper back as usual, but hammies and spinal erectors are more sore and glutes less so.

weighed 89.4kg 196.7lbs this morning, but waist still at 35 inches
BF% still at 15.6% according to this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
My tanita scale read around 24% - I always remove 10% off that, which comes to 14% .
Has been hovering around the 23-25% range, down from 28-29% a few months ago.
 
Tuesday 5th February - Micro Cycle 6 - Week 2 - Day 1

Pretty average workout, crappy sleep last night doesn't help. Just didn't have the ommmphh. Jump is back down again, still not recovered from last workout.

Body weight at gym - 200lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8 + band dislocates x 8.
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8


Jumps


warmed up with 3 sets of 20secs rope skipping, low hops, low altitude drops, and easy running jumps

1) 15 max effort jumps did a variety of jumps - half of em running jumps in the boxing area

2) continuous jumps in place - 3 sets of 3


Vertical jump is back down again, and inch under the ceiling...
No major change in the continous jumps in place. Running and one step jumps not too bad.


Medium stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 185x4,

felt crappy, stopped it there



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

Paused good morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + split leg good morning - Bar x 3 each side

explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs x 3, 155x3, 205x3, 243x3

4 mins rest
1) 263lbs x 3
2) 263lbs x 3


felt fairly hard


Cool down, upper body and stretches

reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 10

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, x12 reps with hold at top

Lat machine situp, toes pressed into floor, knees as far forward as I can get em - progressively getting lower each rep BW x 12, +15lbs x7 paused middle and bottom

Pushup plus - BW x 10

Lying on side L-Raise external rotation - with a hold - 2kg 2x8
Lying on back subscap rotation - 2kg x 8, 3kg x 8

single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 10
single leg RDL - dumbell in opposite hand - 2 sec pause at bottom - 15lbs x 8

left leg is pretty stable on these single leg moves, right leg not so, might have something to do with my busted up and scar tissue filled right ankle...
 
Mild achey feeling all over. Feel like crap, tired, and a sapped feeling.
I usually get that light loose feeling in my body and legs around Friday, so I tend jump well on Saturday even after my part time job.

Hopefully it will be fine on Saturday so I can jump at the BBall courts. Has been raining everday for a week already!
 
Woohoo hit 89kg 195.8lbs clothed just before my first pig out meal today - getting back on the fatloss track. Waist should heading on down to 34 inches soon. About 88.5kg 194.7lbs naked then, that's around where I was before I plateaued before the layoff
Just in time for another jump PR this Saturday I hope :)
 
Saturday 9th February - Micro Cycle 6 - Week 2 - Day 2

Still raining, so no jumping at BBall court :(
But the sun decided to come out as I type this...
Been raining for almost 2 weeks straight! Next Tuesday, isn't looking good as well forecast wise....

Another average workout, but better than the last one, a little fresher. Felt sleepy/tired and I thought about having another meal and nap before heading to the gym, but decided not to, would have helped as I felt like a zombie at the gym

Jump is still down, even with a way lower bodyweight. No big deal, next week I drop all the weights and focus on jumping and power/reactive work to freshen up. Hopefully a new jump PR at the BBall courts next Saturday will show. Then next block I drop the frequency of weight work to once a week to keep the unloading going. And might separate the jumping from the weights.

If I can keep this weight drop going, and not have my strength levels nosedive, I'll be doing a few reps with double bodyweight on a few things - who knows I might be able to get my weight down to 160lbs, I'll be back to where I was in High school but with bigger legs/hips and leaner :p

Body weight at gym - 197lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7.5/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge x 8


Jumps


warmed up with 3 sets of 20secs rope skipping, low hops, low altitude drops, and easy running jumps

1) 15 max effort jumps did a variety of jumps - mostly one step and standing jumps

Vertical jump still an 1+ inch down despite the bodyweight drop
Dropped the continuous jumps in place. The jumps were more for testing, no pop in my hops.


Medium stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warm ups - bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 165x4, 195x3, 225x2

controlled down, paused, explode up
1) 255lbs x 3

smaller jumps on warmups, plus dropping the continuous jumps in place, made the squats feel much better. Still not great, but much better form and stability today. Those jumps really fatigue my core and CNS.


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

Paused good morning onto toes - Bar x 3 + split leg good morning - Bar x 3 each side

explosive up, semi dropped down - 4 mins rest between each set - 133lbs x 3, 177x3, 207x3, 243x3, 273x3, 303x3, 333x3

333lbs felt close to maximal and not that fast - around 1.3 secs for the first rep and 1.2 for the 2nd, slightly faster on the third. 303lbs was fairly quick


Video of 333lbs set - right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/CCJ_SumoDeadlift_333x3_Explosive_9Feb08.mpg


Cool down, upper body and stretches

reverse hypers - BW x 15

bench dip shrug x 10

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, 2x12 reps with hold at top

1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x2kg dumbell x 8
single leg RDL - dumbell in opposite hand - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x4kg dumbell x 8
Right side much more stable today, maybe the dumbbells help

Lat machine situp, toes pressed into floor, knees as far forward as I can get em - progressively getting lower each rep BW x 12
 
Don't feel too bad today, mild sapped feeling and mild overall achey feeling, Mostly in my traps, posterior chain, calves and VMO. Might get more sore later in the day though.

weighed 89kg 195.8lbs this morning straight out of bed. Nice and I ate a lot of carbs last night

Waist is down half an inch to 34.5 inches as well since the last time I measured it a couple of weeks back.
Using http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/ puts me at 14.7% bodyfat
My Tanita scale spits out around 24% bodyfat - I usually take off 10% off that so it's fairly close :)

I'm getting there.
 
I can tell my body is still recovering from the last workout, so I'll be resting till Saturday where I'll heard out to the BBall courts and test my hops
 
I only started to get that nice light and loose feeling yesterday - Friday - amazing how long it takes me to recover from last Saturday's workout! Although there is some residual fatigue from previous workouts too.

Looking forward to jumping well at the bball courts today - but things not looking good as far as rain goes :(

And when bad things happen they come in bunches - had trouble sleeping as early as I wanted to because of fireworks and some Chinese New years Lion dancing drumming going on at the nearby primary school. Then at my part time job this morning, I had to take on extra work because someone didn't do their share! And my usual workload just had to increase for today....

Now I don't feel so crash hot and m,y lower back is pretty tired and strained feeling.. argghhhh
 
Saturday 16th February - Micro Cycle 6 - Week 3 - Day 3

Bodyweight = 89.5kg 197lbs in shorts and t-shirt


Outdoor BBall Complex - one with 8 foot rims at the back

1 hour total

started with shooting and easy 2 handed dunks on the 8 foot rims .
Then lots of jumping - some standing, more one step and plenty of running jumps.


Didn't feel that great today, low arousal levels. Felt lead footed. A bit rusty too, thanks to the 2 weeks of rain :(
No major change on my standing and one step jumps. I didn't feel comfortable doing em, I need to be hyped up with good energy to get good results on em. Body preferred to run up or take a few steps into jump today

9.5 feet Backboard tap with ball off a dribble improved an inch, 2 handed backboard tap running jump improved by an inch as well. Was able to semi-grab the rim better on my highest running jump, but I could only do it once and then I started dropping inches fast...
On the few jumps that I was able to relax and not think about it, I jumped well, the rest I tried to muscle it and jump too hard and ended up lower.

It's funny that I can jump well with a right-left plant when approaching with a dribble of a step with the ball in my hands, but when doing a running jump like that I'm lower and the timing feels off. I much prefer to jump with left-right plant without the ball.

Overall disappointing, better luck next week when I start a new block.
Hope to get my weight down to 195lbs by then.
Some tendonitis I had is gone thanks to the break, that tells me I need to dial back the jumping frequency and slowly build back up again.
 
Good sleep last night. Feel ok, no sapped or drained feeling, but I do feel fatigued

sore feet/ankles, hamstrings and upper back.
 
Sculelos said:
I noticed your putting up pretty decent numbers, what are your goals out of the program your on?
Click to expand...

current goal - get huge hops and dunk a basketball :Chef:
and be agile, quick and explosive :)
 
I don't think I'm measuring my waist right - I suck mine in too much and pull the tape too hard

When done properly I get a 35.5 inch waist, instead of 34.5, and I weighed 196lbs this morning straight out of bed. So that means at 16.8% bodyfat according to this http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/

Gotta get it to 30 at least, but 29 would be nice
 
Tuesday 19th February - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 1 - Day 1

Starting a new microcycle/block - this one will be longer than previous ones

Felt spaced out and moody today - so pretty average workout, no power or intensity.

Bodyweight back up over 200lbs, I'm fully loaded with carbs.

Body weight at gym - 200.5lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 8
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge 2x8

back extension x 4, + 4 twisting to each side

situp complex on swiss ball

single leg kneeling deadlift BWx3


Medium stance Full Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

bodyweight x 8, 95lbs x4, 135lbs x 4, 165x4, 195x3, 225x2

This might be the last time I do any squatting with a reasonable amount of weight for a while.
Did some jumps inbetween the squat sets. Couldn't jump for crap, way, way lower!



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

explosive up, semi dropped down -89lbs x 4, 139lbs x 4, 176x3, 226x3, 243x3

explosive up, semi dropped down - 4mins rest
1) 273lbs x 3
2) 273lbs x 3

243lbs felt good, 273lbs was not bad, but had to work a bit.


Cool down, upper body and stretches


bench dip shrug x 10

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, 2x12 reps with hold at top

1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x2kg dumbell x 8
single leg RDL - dumbell in opposite hand - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x4kg dumbell x 8
Right side much more stable today, maybe the dumbbells help

getting easier now, will go up in weight next week.
 
pretty drained from yesterday - feel like crap

really sore mid upper back and upper hamstrings, glutes, abs and calves to a lesser extent
 
Feeling much better today, still a little sore though.

I've haven't feeling too good the last couple of months. I suspected it might be the diet.
Started eating more fatty foods and carbs in my 2 evening "pig-out" meals of my current modified Warrior style diet since last week, and the last couple of days, cut back on the fruit and upped the meats a little in the earlier part of the day, and even more calories in the evening meals - starchy carbs mostly.

And I feel much better today - I can tell my hormones and testosterone is higher. I haven't had much sex drive and response the last couple of months. But today I definitely feel a lot hornier :)

Only downside is that my bodyweight is up from all the carbs and water, and my muscles feel tight and bloated/full.

But maybe I'll jump better this Saturday despite all this. With the higher hormone levels, I should be "stronger", so power should go up....
 
Lower back release - glute activation tip


Here's something I've done recently that works really well for release lower back tension/strain and activating the glutes.


do a quad/hip flexor stretch like this at medium intensity
golf_stretching_quad.gif


after about 20secs, you should feel your hip flexors start to relax, then you start to contract your glutes and extend the hip/thigh back at moderate intensity for a brief moment, and repeat 15-20 times. By then you'll feel your hip flexors relax even more and your hips/glutes warm up.

then do the other leg.

Works much better than glute bridges!
For one you can do them anywhere, anytime and the problem with glute bridges, and other variants like bird dogs, is that your lower back is still active when you do them, so it kinda defeats the purpose. Plus the effort in those moves is quite a bit higher.

When I've been sitting a while and I do this move, straight after, my lower back feels all relaxed and nice and my glutes take over an do all the work when I stand or bend over. Where I normally might have my lower back feel all tensed and strained. Everyone can benefit from this move as we all sit quite a bit...
This morning I did it before my part time job, where I lift quite a few moderately heavy things off the floor, very early in the morning, where your lower back is at it's weakest and it felt great. Glutes do all the work, instead of my lower back

Works great before a squat and deadlift session to get the glutes firing. I haven't tried it before jumping or BBall, but I'd imagine it would be awesome, as you relax the main antagonist of the jumping muscles, the hip flexor, and activate the prime jumping muscle, the glutes. It's probably why my spinal erectors have been feeling trashed after jumping/landing because of my over active lower back and tight hip flexors, and somewhat inactive glutes.

Will try it out this Saturday at BBall, I just might jump better and reach my max jump height earlier :)
 
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