Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

here is a video + slow mo of a recent vertical jump video I did

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VqFZdMiTKg

Can you notice the double knee rebend I do in my jumps?

I've long noticed I do a bit of rocking on my foot when I jump, due to this double knee re bend. I wonder if I jump like this naturally or is it from all the olys I used to do?
I dip down with my weight on heels, and then scoop my hips forward, and my knees move forward, and then my my weights shifts onto the balls of my feet. You can see this weight transfer in my shoe's soles. It's not just a basic down and up, but a subtle rotary hip motion

After studying my slow mo Jump vid, I finally figured out why I keep jumping forward on my standing jumps. It looks like my body is leaning forward as I finally straighten up before my body leaves the ground. Very strange.
Could be a result of my tight hip flexors, as it doesn't allow my body to fully extend.


also a link of interest - about the knee rebend in olys
http://www.dynamic-eleiko.com/sportivny/library/index.html

high correlation was found between the strength of the hamstrings and the vertical jump results of weightlifters. Furthermore, the vertical jump results of weightlifters have a high, but inversely proportional connection to the speed with which the knees shift under the barbell. The stronger the hamstrings, the higher the vertical jump of weightlifters, the faster the knees shift under the barbell in the "explosion" (4).


The faster this reaction takes place, the more powerful the "explosion", the higher the results.


Research into improving the speed of joint motion has shown that the relative strength of the antagonist muscle in an antagonistic pair can affect the speed of movement (1). The hamstrings are the antagonist muscles to the quads. These muscles act as a "brake" for the quadriceps during the extension of the leg. This is to keep the joint from being straightened faster than it can be prudently stopped.


According to the research in this area: " When the agonist is stronger than the antagonist, the neuromuscular system limits speeds to that the antagonist can safely brake, even if the agonist can make the joint move faster" (1).


Consequently, the recommendation "To make an athlete move faster, training must emphasize the antagonist"(1). In all probability this is the reason for the practical observation in weightlifting that "A lot of squats adversely effect speed"(16). A significant disproportionate strength development between the quadriceps and the hamstrings is, apparently, the reason behind this observation.


The key role the hamstrings can play in weightlifting technique revolves around the so - called stretch reflex and the positive effect the action of these muscles can have on the vertical forces produced by the quadriceps. In the approximately one second it takes to execute the snatch, the hamstrings are stretched and subjected to significant tension as the legs initially straighten when the barbell is lifted from the floor. Then, in virtually the same instant they come into play to flex the knees as they shift under the bar. Finally, a fraction of a second later, the hamstrings flex the legs for the squat under the bar.

 

[coolcolj]

feel pretty good today, and it's cool and sunny, hoping for a nice session at the BBall courts!

interesting - even my carb and water loaded bodyweight is coming down with the new changes in my diet, while eating more calories. 90kg 198lbs exactly this morning clothed.
90.5kg 199lbs earlier in the week.

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 24th February - Micro Cycle 6 - Week 1 - Day 2

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

funny enough, my bodyweight did end up the same as last week despite all the extra calories and carbs, and not witholding from water.

Pretty crowded today at the courts

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

40 mins 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. Added a few running single leg jumps, apart from the usual layups and dunks off one leg I have done.

again I didn't really feel that explosive today - had that low energy and weak feeling, like when you have low blood sugar
Plus the heat from the Sun started to get to me after a while. I jump best when it's cool and overcast.

So I couldn't jump for crap. Running and one step 2 legged jump was 2 inches lower, but standing was about the same. Jumps dropped off fast.
I did do more dunks on the 8 foot rims though - finally got the windmill dunk going off the dribble, despite my stubby arms and small hands
Although, when you can get nose level to the rim, it's not that big an achievement

running single leg jump seems to be improving from the addition of the single leg exercises in my gym session, was able to take the forces off a moderate speed run well enough. But it's got ways to go when it's 10 inches lower than my 2 legged jump!
A long time ago, at about a similar bodyweight, it was the same as my standing vertical jump, and I could do it off a full speed dribble, so I just need to practise it more, and it should come back up eventually. And maybe even match or exceed my running 2 legged jump when I get much lighter....

 

[coolcolj]

don't feel too bad today - pretty sore calves, hamstrings and spinal erectors.
Landing straight legged on my jumps with my heels off the ground seems to be the cause.
Glutes and upper back/shoulders to a lesser extent

 

[coolcolj]

a quote that fits here I guess -

---

I've been a weightlifting coach at the international level for quite a few years and thought 'd post an anecdote that is relevant to this discussion. This is one of those legendary stories that is pretty well known among weightlifters of that period.
It occurred in the Games village at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. Henry Hines was the top triple jumper on the U.S. team and was one day was involved in an impromptu vertical jump competition in the hallway. Henry had defeated every track athlete there, when along came shot putter Dave Laut. Dave was able to out-jump the shorter Hines, much to his chagrin. Before the event concluded, however, Tom Stock wandered by.
Tom was the superheavyweight on the weightlifting team and weighed 308 lbs. at about six feet in height. He was able to outleap both Laut and Hines, and spectators estimated his vertical to be about 40 inches.
Great story, eh?

Bob Takano


--

a quote found posted by Bob on GoHeavy - from 20 years ago - so the guy is legit

Way back in 1987 I was fortunate to attend the old "All Comers Camp" held in Colorado Springs with Bob Takano and Dan Forrester as coaches.
It was a three week long camp and Bob was taking us through the program used by the Soviet Team to prepare for the 1986 World Championships.
"How did you get this program?", I asked. "It was not hard, he began. "I just asked. You need to know 3 things. In our sport athletes and coaches are always cool about sharing things. In fact the Soviets want us to get better so that they can come over here at compete. Besides what they share with us is 'old' stuff anyway Second. Administrators and officials always have big egos so you'll need to learn how to deal with them and finally, at the end of the day, everyone just wants to lift big weights. We are a small enough sport that we can share information. What is holding Americans back is two bad concepts. We think that a 300 pound snatch and a 400 pound C&J is impressive and amazing. Other countires are focusing on 400 pound snatches and 500 lb C&J's so we need to believe that we can lift those weights as well. We need to stop thinking that we can go into our garage's and do 3 sets of 10 in the snatch and clean and jerk and somehow make those 300 and 400 pound lifts.
If we can hang around people that do 400 and 500 on a regular basis regardless of how they may actually do that. (Insert whatever thought you want here) then we can start doing 400 and 500 ourselves.
Sport is not a vacuum, especially in weightlifting. We, really do, want to see every athlete perform well. If you go out for a 300 pound snatch I want you to get it. But then again I want the next guy out to get 305. We just want to do well."

It would seem that at the top level, all olylifters have hops
The CNS speed and great relative strength does great things

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 26th February - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 2 - Day 1

Pretty decent workout - first in a while. I felt pretty strong.
Dropped the paused full squats. That shortened the workout, and I left without feeling trashed up.

I did that hip flexor stretch + glute activation move I detailed a few days ago today at the start together with my general warmup. And it was awesome!
My hips and lower back felt nice and loose. Highly recommended!!!!

Since I've started doing this move, I no longer need scorpions, any of those twisting type dynamic stretches, glute bridges or reverse hypers, and plain lower back stretches anymore!
There is no need. My lower back feels untouched no matter what I do now, glutes do all the work. Lower back is no longer getting pumped, tight, or achey!

This will serve to make my back stiffer than my hips - as per the Eric Cressey recommendation. Although glute bridges still makes a nice warmup exercise for a lower body day sometimes.


Body weight at gym - 199.5lbs
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
with green jumpstretch band held 3/4 x 1 set, then 1/2 length x 1 set

lateral deep lunge 2x8

situp complex on swiss ball

single leg kneeling deadlift BWx3

single leg RDL mobility walk


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 89lbs x 3, 119lbs x 3, 155lbs x 3 205x3, 243x3, 273x2

did a few bodyweight full squats x3 and low 9 inch box jumps x3 inbetween the earlier warmup sets

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

Felt pretty good today - stronger than I have felt in a while. Form was a bit sloppy on a few reps, but I never felt my lower back work at all as I mentioned earlier. Pretty quick - slowest rep was the first rep on set 1 - just a touch over 1 second. Fastest reps were around 0.9 seconds. Making progress.

May have done 1 set too many - I wasn't sure if I was gonna do a 3rd set.

Now that I don't have any squats in the workout I can feel which muscle groups are working better - plenty of glutes, mid upper back, rear delts and forearms, then a bit in the hamstrings, VMO, calves and upper traps.
All the right muscles for jumping power I guess

video of all 3 main worksets
right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj3/Movies/CCJ_SumoDeadlift_293_3x3_Explosive_26Feb08.mpg


Extra stuff, 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, 2x4kg dumbell x 8
single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x6kg dumbell x 8

increased load by 2kg each, felt good, will go up in weight next week

Lat machine situp - toes pressed into floor, knees as far forward as I can get em - progressively getting lower each rep BW x 12
These felt even better as a result of that hip flexor stretch move.

 

[needtogetaas]

Wow nice to see you back bro.

 

[coolcolj]

thanks

--

I feel a bit sapped today, but nowhere near as drained as i was this time last week, and I did use heavier loads and a bit more deadlift volume.

Nowhere near as sore or heavy in the legs. Squats always makes my lower body feel heavy, and make my adductors tight/sore. Didn't get that feeling today.

My upper back and traps seems to be the most sore. Hammies slightly less so, and glutes, erectors, abs and quads about medium soreness.

 

[coolcolj]

I played BBall yesterday for an 75mins - pretty cool day, but sunny
couldn't jump for jack, I look to be down 3 inches across the board


And I don't appear to be getting any leaner - 88.8kg 195.4lbs this morning, waist 35.5inches. Still at 16.8% BodyFat --> http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
I pretty much "starved" a few days this week as well - sigh

can't jump and not getting leaner while not eating much, which means my power also sucks.
Maybe I do need to squat (full paused squats) for my hops, or I need some eccentric work that the dropped sumo deadlifts don't provide....

On the positive side, I don't feel as beat up today as I have been in the past after BBall. Mostly in my calves and feet/ankles.

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 4th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 3 - Day 1

Fairly easy workout today - dialed everything down, just need the mental break and the diet has been cranked up, so I'm less likely to be lifting well anyway. Bodyweight is back down again. I want to be at 194lbs this weekend at the BBall courts!

Nice and short, left feeling pretty good

Body weight at gym - 198lbs
Workout time - 45+ mins
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

My hip flexor/glute activation move

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

single leg RDL mobility walk

did a few back and front squats with the bar


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs x 4 x 2 sets, 155lbs x 3, 205x3

did a few bodyweight full squats x3 and low 9 inch box jumps x3 inbetween the earlier warmup sets

semi dropped down - 4mins rest
outer feet lined up with outer rings.
1) 243lbs x 3
2) 243lbs x 3

normally I'd do these as explosive as I can, but today just lifted it however.

Then did some wide stance squats to parallel - Bar x5, 135lbs x 5


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

bench dip shrug x 10
scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps - felt much easier, I think to the active isolated type scapular/serratus type stretch I've been doing everyday -> roll shoulders back and down and release etc

1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x8kg dumbell x 8
single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x10kg dumbell x 8

increased total load by 4kg and 8kg respectively, felt good, still not mega hard, but my posterior chain and VMO are starting to get much more pumped up now.

a couple short burts of rope skipping

Heavy Bag work - 5 mins of punching the bag, the lighter of the 2 heavy bags at the gym. Started easy and focused on my jabs and hooks, getting the body behind the punch and twisting into it properly. Then more intense and more combos, but not punching mega hard. Not that much footwork. Still I was breathing hard at the end and sweating like a pig!

Stretching for whole body - my hybrid active isolated type stretching
Just experimenting and it felt good, left the gym feeling different to my usual static type stretches. Less tiring in a way, and it seems to "warmup" and loosen and refresh all at once

 

[coolcolj]

Felt like crap this morning - poor sleep, dog woke me up twice

Not drained, but a little sapped...I barely did anything yesterday - relatively speaking
and I'm pretty sore - hamstrings and upper traps especially!

yeah I'm always sore, I don't think I've ever been sore free after a workout ever since I started training, no matter what I did

 

[KOArtist]

So have you been staying away from oly lifts recently?

 

[coolcolj]

So have you been staying away from oly lifts recently?

yes to save time and energy, and I don't think I really need to do them anymore with all the jumping I already do. You only have so much CNS reserve and adapative capacity, so you have to spend them wisely - go for the bang for you bucks stuff

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 8th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 3 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 89.2kg 196lbs in shorts and t-shirt

well I didn't reach the bodyweight I wanted to be...but I am carb loaded right now, large serving of spaghetti last night...so in that regard this is the lightest carb loaded bodyweight at BBall so far

pretty warm today - I warmed up fast, didn't need to do as much dynamic warmup stuff and drills as usual. Partly because I'm fresher as well from taking it easy this week. The heat started to get to me towards the end.

Lots of little girls playing netball around the place - and just me playing bBall in the middle

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 some jumping - some standing, more one step and plenty of running jumps. Added a few running single leg jumps, apart from the usual layups and dunks off one leg I have done.

I played in my Nike Free 5.0 trainers today for the first time - been using the 7.0 trainers which have a thicker more spongy sole - more cushion. And the 5.0 trainers felt much better, harder, more solid, lighter and I felt like I had better control and instant response to what I wanted to do. Just floated around the court with the ball on a string, direct mind to concrete connection

The stuff I did in the first 30mins felt great, shooting was much better. My upper body mobility feels better, I can do hook shots now without feeling resistance from my lats, and I'm no longer getting a impingement ache in my shoulder.
Foot work, speed, agility quickness and dribbling were awesome. Felt snappy as hell. So I am definitely fresher - it could be the 5.0 trainers as well....
I did some awesomely explosive double clutch moves under the rim and made the shot. Lots of "hang time"
I did those moves planting my feet left - right, but when I did the windmill dunks on the 8 foot rim, I plant right - left. My body seems to adjust itself depending which side I approach the rim etc.
But I do a running jump for max height without the ball I always plant left-right and it feels funny and not too smooth...

But the jumps I did at the end were even lower than last week
I was probably too fatigued by then, but I'm just lacking the ompph right now. The diet perhaps is killing my hops, but quickness, agility and snap is much better - so it is weird. Explosive strength is down, but quickness and agility is much better. Funny.
I seem to be reluctant to bend my knees much, when jumping, and especially when I land. Totally straight legged landings.....got some sore calves now.

I finished before I killed myself like last week. I didn't have to do any static stretching afterwards. All those hybrid active isolated type stretching I've been doing is working well, during the week, everyday just about.

 

[coolcolj]

Feel surprisingly good today - a litle achey, but upper body is not feeling as sore it was after bball. The extra mobility is helping a lot.

Achey spinal erectors, hamstrings and feet.

I think I will not focus too much on my max effort jumps until I get to my target bodyweight and BF% and get off the diet. Just focus on my BBall moves, dunks on the 8 foot rim, and BBall style jumping. For some reason the jumps feel different the jumps I do within a BBall context, even though are both max effort, the BBall style jumping seems to be more relaxed and less taxing on the body. I feel a lot more explosive and snappy when I do them, I feel god like
And a lot less frustrating mentally....

I forgot to mention that running around in the Nike Free 5.0 Trainers feels a lot better, you can run on the balls of your feet like you should. A lot like how sprint spikes force you to run on the balls of your feet.
For some reason the 7.0 Trainers make you to run heel-toe and the cushioning sole makes it hard to run on your forefoot. You would thick the thicker sole would make it better to run on, but it doesn't for me...

I am thinking of returning to my protein powder + fruit based Intermittent fasting/Warrior style diet hybrid. I dropped weight fast back when I used, and it was reliable and kept me pretty full. For some reason eating more real food makes more hungry right now. Time to spend some money of a large bucket of complete proetin blend again... whey doesn't work well as it doesn't mix thick and keep you full.

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 11th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 4 - Day 1

Cranking up the volume and intensity once again.
Workout was surprisingly good even though I did feel a bit tired, and didn't get a chance to nap before training.
Felt stronger all round, compared to the last months worth of workouts, and that's on a calorie deficit too!

Didn't feel too tired as well, when I left the gym, surprising given the loads I used today.

Bodyweight down a pound from last week and I looked leaner too in the gym mirrors

Body weight at gym - 197lbs
Workout time - 75 mins
Workout rating - 8.5/10

General warm up -

My hip flexor/glute activation move

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

lateral deep lunge 1x10

single leg RDL mobility walk

3x20 rope skipping

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



Rotating sets between each exercise, complex style
3 to 5 mins rest inbetween each on the main worksets


Clean grip Front Squats Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

warmups - Bar x 5, 95lbs x3, 135x3

controlled
1) 185lbs x 3

Been a while since I front squatted, but I still have the feel for it, and feels even better now with my greater mobility. 185lbs was quite taxing on the upper body though, but didn't feel too hard.


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
1) 185lbs x 3
2) 225lbs x 3
3) 255lbs x 3 --> hard strain on last rep

Squats much better! Feels really different - mostly felt it in my glutes and abs. I could arch my butt back at the bottom quite easily. Something I've always had problems with. Must be due to the hip flexor/glute activation move I've been doing 2-3 times everyday
Upper back felt stronger and more solid from all the sumo deadlifts I've been doing as well.

Had to strain quite a bit with 255lbs, so not that fast. But it was a good type of strain, unlike last time I did 255lbs...



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

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

did a few bodyweight full squats x3 and low 9 inch box jumps x3 inbetween the earlier warmup sets

explosive up, semi dropped down - outer feet lined up with outer rings.
1) 205lbs x 3
2) 243lbs x 3
3) 293lbs x 3
4) 333lbs x 3

Felt solid and much stronger than before. The squats didn't even tire me at all, even though 255lbs on paused squats was close to maximal. They seemed to help more than anything. 293lbs flew up, and 333lbs was way easier than the last time I did it, felt pretty fast. I didn't video it, but it felt close to a 1sec concentric.

Last time I did 333x3, it felt like a max effort lift and my upper back collapsed forward make my pecs ache. So time to increase the peak load to 343lbs next time, and my main loads to 303lbs and try and get that to 0.8 to 1 sec concentric time.


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

bench dip shrug x 10
scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, BW x 20 --> solid and easy!

1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x10kg dumbell x 8
single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x10kg dumbell x 8

fairly tough as expected after the squats and deads


Stretching for whole body - hybrid active isolated type stretching and some static stretching

 

[coolcolj]

feeling sapped and a little drained, which I expected.

Achey all over - really sore glutes and hamstrings, and mid upper back, followed by calves, VMO abs and rear delts

 

[coolcolj]

remeber that 5'9" guy I posted before with the 46 inch standing VJ and 50+ running? I finally got a video of him jumping!!! Really impressive
LOL finally we seem him on video jumping!

Really impressive!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zizMVDaiBhU


--

old stats

from a running jump

stats -

5'9"
201-208lbs depending on what time of day.
squat raw and top of thigh to parallel 740
front squat 545
powerclean 384
olysquat over 600lbs

and from a standing jump...

 

[lanny]

how do u jump that high? =.=

 

[coolcolj]

how do u jump that high? =.=

look at his strength and power stats relative to his bodyweight

and it's not natural either, he had to work for them

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 15th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 4 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 88.7kg 195lbs in shorts and t-shirt

down another pound, things are looking good here. Felt full and carb loaded too

Energy level was much better today - I canned the fruit and meat I normally eat before, and had some veges and fresh raw nuts - macadamias, ones you have to crack the shell. Steady energy and blood sugar levels for hours after the meal


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

1.25 hours total

started with shooting and easy 2 handed dunks on the 8 foot rims .
Then plenty of jumping.
A few standing, one step and lots of running 2 legged jumps with 40 secs rest between each attempt

At the end I did - 1 min rest between sets
1) 2 sets x running 1 leg jumps, alternated with running 2 leg jump each rep - 3 reps each with a reset
2) standing 2 hand jump x 5 with a brief reset
3) standing 1 hand jump x 5 with a brief reset
these stuff got me huffing and puffing!

Been a while since I got this much jumping volume in.
I didn't do that much shooting today as my upper body felt tired and weak from my part-time job.

Jumps felt much better this week, a lot more solid and stronger. I'm not as fresh as last week due to the heavy deadlifts and such, but steady blood sugar made for a more productive session.

Jump is back up a bit, but still 2 inches lower than my best a few weeks back. It should higher now with the drop in bodyweight, but poor sleep and diet is killing my hops I guess
My one legged running jump is up a lot though, 4 inches higher. It's now 6 inches lower than my 2 legged jump.
Form felt good and my heels never touch the ground while doing them, the Nike Free 5.0 Trainers sorta force that. But my feet and shin don't complain and I feel solid and stiff, nice powerful sharp jolt. Feet and lower legs much stronger these days

 

[coolcolj]

feel surprisngly good given the effort and volume of jumping yesterday! And on low calories too.
Certainly I don't feel drained at all.
Not really all that sore in my feet/calves like last week either, upper back and cuffs are a little achey, partly from part time job. Spinal erectors as well.
Knees a little tender walking downstairs though....especially my left one

-----

weighed 87.7kg 192.9lbs this morning!!!!
Finally broke the fat loss plateau
Waist was 35 inches measured loose and 34 tight. So down half an inch from 2 weeks ago, which goes with the 2lb bodyweight drop. I always get around 2kg or 4.4lbs per inch of waist size decrease

http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
says I'm 16.1% or 13.9% bodyfat depending on which waist size I use. That's down almost 1%. Tantia scale says I'm around 23.5% down from the mid to high 24% I was getting before

well I certainly feel lighter and more airy

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 18th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 5 - Day 1

Felt sorta tired/sleepy and out of it, so I did a "light" workout today. Pretty tiring in a energy sort of way.

I've changed my workout structure. From now on, every second week's weight training session will be a lighter one - with no deadlifts, a few front squats, lighter higher rep squats and with the single leg exercises.
The next week I will go back to the explosive Sumo deadlifts, each time will vary in load - heavier one session and lighter but higher volume the next time, along with heavier low rep paused explosive squats and a few warmup front squats, but no single leg work.

see how that goes, but I may still throw in a real easy deload week every so often ontop of that

Body weight at gym - 198lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

My hip flexor/glute activation move

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

lateral deep lunge 1x10

single leg RDL mobility walk

3x20 rope skipping

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



Rotating sets between each exercise, complex style
2 to 3 mins rest inbetween each on the main worksets


Clean grip Front Squats Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

before each fullsquat warmup set - controlled - Bar x 5, 95lbs x3, 135x3, 185 x 3



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

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

controlled down, paused, semi explosive up
1) 205lbs x 8
2) 205lbs x 8 --> medium strain on last rep

felt good, good form, but hard in a tiring sort of way, 1-2 reps in the tank on each set. Lowered fairly slowly. Hard to breath on the later reps.


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

scapular dip shrug - 10sec hold + 3 reps, BW x 22 --> damn easy!


1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2 x 27.5lbs dumbell x 8
single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2 x 27.5lbs dumbell x 8

increased the loads up from 44lbs, pretty tough after the squats. Damn my core/abs were taxed! Glutes took a hammering on the single leg kneeling deadlifts. Upper body/back got worked as well.


Stretching for whole body - hybrid active isolated type stretching and some static stretching

 

[coolcolj]

I feel sh*tty - definitely gonna have to cut back to one squat work set next time

moderately achey all over

 

[curvymommy]

WOW! You have really kept this journal going Mr. Steady! That is great. I didn't read the whole thing of course since it's a book but I just started my own journal in the women's section and it's really helpful to my accountability.

Anyway, WTG!

 

[coolcolj]

WOW! You have really kept this journal going Mr. Steady! That is great. I didn't read the whole thing of course since it's a book but I just started my own journal in the women's section and it's really helpful to my accountability.

Anyway, WTG!

thanks

 

[coolcolj]

holy crap I hit 87.8kg 193lbs today clothed!
Just been pissing so much water out today for some reason - damn lightest bodyweight in ages, and my face really looks leaner

been leaning up much faster lately and I haven't done anything much different other try and get more naps in everyday...

 

[needtogetaas]

This thread has more Views then any thread I have ever seen.

 

[coolcolj]

This thread has more Views then any thread I have ever seen.

only because it's the longest

 

[needtogetaas]

Who is the young girl in the avi? Can we bang her?

 

[coolcolj]

that's my girlfriend...... and that's her dad BTW....

 

[needtogetaas]

that's my girlfriend...... and that's her dad BTW....

ok I was thinking the old man was you. I was thinking you werr rich as fuck and thats why she was with you lol . No disrespect bro. Nice thread you got going here.

 

[coolcolj]

definitely not me, I'm Asian

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 15th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 4 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 87.8kg 193lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Holycrap, 2lbs lighter than last week with no changes in my diet plan, something is working different now, but I don't know what

decent energy levels too today

Outdoor BBall court - one right next to park with a bent rim

1.25 hours total

started with shooting and some easy jumping.
Then plenty of intense jumping. A few standing, one step and lots of running 2 legged jumps with 40 secs rest between each attempt. And 5 running one legged jumps.

A series of fake, dribble - alleyopp off the backboard drills at the end - gets the sweat pouring!

Played at a different court today - one side has a bent rim, that's where I played
measured about 9'8" on the lowest part at the front and 9'11" at the back. Bottom of backboard was 9 feet exactly though. First time in a while playing on a 9 foot backboard rim.

Shooting was good for a while, but jumping was crap. Jumps felt good, power and intensity wise, just not getting up as high as I can, even with a lighter body
Standing jumps were not that bad, but running jumps are way lower than they should be. On my highest standing jump, I could get my wrist 2 inches above the bottom of the backboard, and with my 7'2" reach = 31 inches.
I really should be jumping around 33-34 inches now.....

When I hit my best jumps a 2 months ago, I was around 200lbs and jumping higher... Also training twice a day - jumping and weights twice a week

I'm gonna put it down to the dieting, so I guess I should just not worry about my jumps in the meantime. But my squat strength is down as well, so that doesn't help either. May need to go back to weights twice a week, with low volume, but leaves the problem as to where I can do some jumping without wearing my body down... sigh

 

[bw1]

Holy shit

 

[coolcolj]

Holy shit

???

 

[coolcolj]

feel ok today, just some achey feet, glutes, spinal erectors and upper back. Erectors a bit tight

CNS feels decent.

Bodyweight back up to 88.1kg 193.8lbs fom the 2 pigout meals after BBall yesterday, still a nice net loss overall.
Still can't believe how much fat I'm still carrying though!! So much loose skinfolds and fat rolls to grab

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 25th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 6 - Day 1

Good workout, left the gym not feeling too tired.

Body weight at gym - 196lbs
Workout time - 1.25 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

My hip flexor/glute activation move

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

lateral deep lunge 1x8

single leg RDL mobility walk

3x20 rope skipping - 30secs rest

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



Rotating sets between each exercise, complex style
2 to 3 mins rest inbetween each on the main worksets


Clean grip Front Squats Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

before each fullsquat warmup set - controlled - Bar x 5, 95lbs x3, 135x3, 185 x 3



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

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


185lb set felt bad. I've been thinking about going totally front squats along with Sumo deadlifts. Some days back squats don't feel so great...
I figure if you can frontsquat around double bodyweight you should be able to powersnatch bodyweight with no dip to catch it, then your vertical jump should be around 39-40 inches. I've front squatted 315lbs before, so when I get down to 160-170lbs, I won't be far off that


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 89lbs x3, 155lbs x 3, 205x3, 243x3, 293x1

explosive up, semi dropped down - outer feet lined up with outer rings.
1) 303lbs x 3
2) 303lbs x 3
3) 303lbs x 1, bar rolled forward - 15 sec reset - 303lbs x 3 --> felt harder/slower

Sumo deadlifts felt good, pretty strong and fast. Slowest reps around 1sec, fastest around 0.9 sec. Felt harder than it looked on the video. Getting stronger and making progress on these somehow, even though I'm dropping bodyweight. Same speed as the 293lb 3x3 workout I did a month ago

video of the 303lb worksets
right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au..._SumoDeadlift_303_3x3_Explosive_25March08.mpg


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

1) Heavy bag punching - 5mins work of various combos, hitting at max effort, after a few warmups
rest 5mins
2) scapular dip shrug - 5sec hold + 15 reps
rest 2mins
3) Heavy bag punching - 3mins

getting better at the bag work, hitting damn hard and fast!
Definitely a whole body explosive move at max effort - felt it in every muscle in my body.

Stretching for whole body - hybrid active isolated type stretching and some static stretching. Hybrid = 20sec static stretch of the musclegroup, then 20 reps contracting the opposite muscle group briefly to stretch further

 

[coolcolj]

feel a lot better today than I have after other weights sessions, a little surprising considering I did deadlifts. I don't feel drained at all, and not as sore. Mostly in my spinal erectors. Although when I first got up, my traps/neck area was on fire!

The heavy bag work didn't kill like I expected, shoulders feel ok too.

maybe splitting off those single leg work to another workout did the trick. They are more taxing than you would think...

 

[KOArtist]

CoolJ, are you using any supps for either fat loss or CNS stimulation (I guess they're often one and the same)???

 

[coolcolj]

CoolJ, are you using any supps for either fat loss or CNS stimulation (I guess they're often one and the same)???

Nope, I just eat a lot less. As long as I have hunger pains from morning till afternoon then I know I'm on the right track
I just 3 small meat and fruit/vege meals during the day, and sometimes not even that. Then I pigout for 2 meals at night, or after training, anything goes basicly.
500 calories during the day, and 1000-1500 at night

Diet is more powerful than anything you could take or any cardio you can do.
Simple, but true...

 

[DJLegacy2k1]

BURN THE FAT FEED THE MUSCLE, the keys to MOST peoples diet and healthy lifestyle would disagree.

Cutting cals too low is much worse than creating a SMALL cal deficit and working the rest off through cardio and lifting.

But everyone is different, if it works for you thats all that matter. I eat 6-7 smaller meals through the day. No "pigging out" or anything. No hunger pains, lots of fat loss and LBM gain.

-Legacy

 

[coolcolj]

I have to get down to 160-170lbs, currently 193lbs, was 220lbs, there is no time for slow - it's already been years - got no time left
1lb a week isn't really that fast anyway, about normal. Still it's gonna take me another 6-7 months to get lean.

cardio just cuts into recovery and turns you into a slow-twitch person

my maintenace calories are around 2000, maybe less, I have a slow metabolism, so not being hungry isn't an option, and I do eat every 2-3 hours, I just eat more at night and after training. Instead of eating tiny meals throughout the day, I get to feast like a king and sleep well
And I can eat some junk food too if I want.

 

[DJLegacy2k1]

For some reason the Math isnt adding up to me. I lose about 2lbs of fat per week with a SMALL cal deficit and cardio/weights.

The way your diet looks to me it looks like youd be losing alot more muscle mass along with fat, making the ratio not change much in body composition.

Plus if your worried about "slow-twitch", throw in HIIT for cardio. Cant slow-twitch sprints :-D

Sorry there are WAY too many pages for me to READ ALL of this log lol.

But like I said if it works for you, keep it up!
Im cutting right now also so I feel your pain

-Legacy

 

[coolcolj]

Maybe because your young and have a faster metabolism. I'm old and have a slow metabolism - lose lose
I know when I was 18, just walking would lean me up while eating 6 bowls of cereal+ milk a day along with regular meals! If I did that now I'd be 220lbs again in a month, which is how I got to 220lbs in the first place!

1lb a week for me is around a 500 calories deficit, so like I said my maintenace must be around 1800-2000 calories with an average 1500 calorie day.
2lbs a week requires a 1000 calorie daily deficit. That's about as fast as human is likely to loose fat, unless your obese, then you can drop a more. But your unlikely to be able to maintain that rate once you get close to 10% bodyfat.

I have no problem keeping muscle mass on the bits I train, my body is effecient, and I don't even average more than 100g of protein. Genetics I guess, I've got some pretty big legs and hips, but I don't care about musclemass, and strength is not going down anyway. It's actually going up in some cases.

I've sprinted a ton before, didn't do jack, I still hit a plateau, and it also killed me with shin splints, drained my CNS and kills your lower body recovery, and tears up the hamstrings in a bad way if you have problems firing the glutes.
Sleep and recovery are really important to me, I get up real early and I have a physical part time job so I have less leeway to be overactive.

 

[DJLegacy2k1]

LIPOFLAME ;-) ... Not a CNS Stim and should CLEANLY give you a little boost! Just a suggestion, Ive been using it on and off for 2 years along with ECA, its a GREAT clean boost and def seems to add some thermo to your cardio workouts.

-Legacy

 

[KOArtist]

I just 3 small meat and fruit/vege meals during the day, and sometimes not even that. Then I pigout for 2 meals at night, or after training, anything goes basicly. 500 calories during the day, and 1000-1500 at night

How do you manage 3 meals including meat and fruit/vege to only total out to 500 cals? Are we talking only a bite or two of meat and a few pieces of veg/fruit for each of those meals?

 

[coolcolj]

only small bits, and some raw nuts. I just eat enough to feed the brain. Since I'm sitting on my ass most of the day I don't need the fuel and I'm so occupied with things most of the time I forget I'm hungry

it's basicly like this you get 10 units of food to eat to be 500 calories under your maintenance. You can either eat 2 units at every meal spread throughout the day or eat 4 during the day and 6 at night like me. It feels more satisfying with the later, because you get a reward at the end of the day and you can sleep well. There is no difference in fat loss, total calories are the same

Sometimes if I'm not hungry I just don't eat, allows me to eat more at night. You can also plan ahead, if you want to eat something nice at night, or maybe you have a party or something, cut back during the day. The beauty of this is that you really enjoy eating those night meals when you have cutback during the day

and when you pigout after training, it's definitely all going to your muscles and for recovery

honestly a lot of is by feel, I don't even count things anymore

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 15th March - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 4 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 87.8kg 193lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Same weight as last week. Felt decent today. Spinal erectors and glutes were tensed up and overactive last night and all morning - uncomfortable...


Outdoor BBall court - one normal and 8 foot rims at the back

50 mins total

started with shooting and easy 2 handed dunks on the 8 foot rims .
Then some jumping - some standing, more one step and plenty of running jumps. Didn't get a chance to do any running one leg jumps

Jumps were disappointing at first. Just couldn't turn it on, too relaxed. Then I started to run up harder and put my oomph into the jump, and it started to get better. But still 2 inches off my best and that was at a much heavier bodyweight. Now I tried a 3 step jump and could reach the same height as my run up jump. Then off one step, and dipping deeper and faster down I got up the same as well and matched my highest one step jump ever on this court...!

It looks like I'm just not getting fired up enough, and then not dipping down as low and fast as I used to. I keep doing this half hearted 1/8 squat depth dip on my jumps, when I should be dipping another 1-2 inches lower! I get up 2 inches higher with the extra dip depth.
May need to take some stimulants or caffeine to jack up my system as well.....

When I landed from that high one step jump, There was pain in my left knee, sorta of a deep down dull ache rather than a sharp stabbing pain. It hurt a lot to bend the knee. I thought it might have been my meniscus at first. Thought about doing more jumps, but wisely went home. Sucks, because I was feeling fairly good and light on my feet and was keen to get some higher jumps with a deeper dip. And do some running one leg jumps, but this will allow some better recovery for my weights session on Tuesday

Now at home, the pain has decreased a lot on the way back home. I can bend my knee with no major discomfort. It doesn't feel like my meniscus, it's higher up, Just from touch it, seems to be around the quad tendon that attaches to the rectus femoris mid quad. Must have just strained it, pretty odd.
Other than that I also have a "jumper's knee" type ache in both knees under the patella depth wise. Need to get back on fish oils... has started to flare up when I went off them many months ago. Man I need to cut back on jumping that means, but my technique needs so much work!!!

my IT band and outer hips were all tight and achey last night as well, made it hard to sleep. It's probably related to these knee issues. If only I had a foam roller

Guess no squatting on Tuesday, but I'll see how it feels. It's my light week anyway, and I think single leg kneeling deadlifts will be fine.
As per Kelly Baggett's article, I'm on a mission to make my glutes as big as and strong as I can and they're already big
http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/noglutes.html
My abs tested weak though - only got down to 45 degrees - so some work needed there. I definitely have anterior tilt

 

[coolcolj]

Feel ok today, moderately sore in my spinal erectors and glutes to a lesser extent. Not as much elsewhere.
Left knee/quad tendon didn't feel too bad when getting out off bed, ie squatting up. It's aches a bit walking downstairs though.

---

I weighed 87.4kg 192.3lbs this morning
Lightest in years, but not much lighter than a couple of weeks ago, but I am holding a fair bit of water. Waist is still the same at 35 inches.

Upper body looks frail, legs still look huge

I took some cold measurements straight out of bed
Wrist - right 6 6/8 , left 6.5 inches
Forearms - 12 1/8
Arms - 15.25
Neck - 15.5
Hips/Glutes - 40.25
Thighs - 26.75
Knee - 15
Calves - 16 1/8
Ankle - 8.75
My left arm is actually leaner than my right side, hence the different wrist size

compared to back when I was around 215-220lbs
Wrist - 7
Forearms - 13
Arms - 16.75
Waist - 39+
Hips/Glutes - 43
Thighs - 29.75
Knee - 15
Calves - 16 - 16.25
Ankle - 9+

Big decreases everywhere. Some of it is muscle, but mostly fat. My upper body is smaller since I don't train it that much, mostly in my chest, but there is still a fair bit of muscle there. Legs still look pretty big.
I'm at the halfway point now, and will probably have a 5.75 - 6 inch wrist when I get down to a 29-30 inch waist. Yeah I have some pretty small bones and joints, almost like a female....
My dad's frame and bone structure literally dwarfs mine.....he's like a mesomorph. Guess I take after my mum, but I got my dad's legs and calves. Better for jumping and explosiveness I reckon


4 months or so after I started training - 2nd August 2002

around 180+lbs
Height - 5'8.5"
Wrist - 6.75
Forearms - 12 - 12.25 left/right
Arms - 14 7/8 - 15
Neck - 16
Waist - 33
Hips/Glutes - 39.5
Thighs - 25.75 - 26
Knee - 15
Calves - 17
Ankle - 9

 

[coolcolj]

lost some of the water weight overnight and hit 86.9kg 191lbs
d**n so nice to see a 86 on the Tanita scale, but only just

Don't think I'll be seeing 90kg 198lbs ever again even after a large meal
220lbs seems so far away, but I've still got a ton of weight/fat to drop.

I found my thick cardboard roll yesterday and foam rolled the crap out of my IT band, outer hips and quads. I rolled on it as well as used it manually with hand pressure and it helped a lot. The aches and tightness is gone. Freaking hurts like hell!!!
Should help get rid of my Jumpers knee in time.

Will add this to my daily mobility and active flexibility/activation work. Will also start foam rolling my tight lats as well.

 

[coolcolj]

Yeah I foam rolled quite a bit yesterday - takes a while, 30 mins....
did my hips and IT band again, and then some thoracic work/upper back, my pecs, front delt and deep into the shoulder where the cuff impingement area usually is.

Big difference this morning! Now my the bottom of my feet, side and back of my calves and hamstring feel tight in comaprison. So I need to do those today.

Man it's like I'm a new person or something. There are days when my body feels better, but never what I call good. This morning it definitely felt good for a while at least
The IT band and Hip foam rolling seems to make squatting down feel like my joints are oiled up etc. Just might revive my leg/squat strength....
There used to be a sharp stabbing pain in my right knee if I squatted up from sitting in particular stance width and sitting height. It's so much better now, could have been due to my tight IT band pulling the knee cap across

left knee area still hurts from the strain on Saturday, so I'll see how it feels today after I warmup before I decide what to do at training today

 

[coolcolj]

BTW I have thinking the best way to figure out if your in good atheteic shape and mobility is to ask yourself if your in good breakdancing shape or not...
well I definitely am not right now...so that answers that

I used to do breakdancing BTW, so I got much more fat and weight to drop and mobility to regain before that can happen again

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 1st April - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 7 - Day 1

Good workout, but fairly tiring. Those single leg exercises are taxing! And the boxing bag work was brutal as well!

Nice drop in gym bodyweight

Body weight at gym - 194lbs
Workout time - 1.25 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

My hip flexor/glute activation move

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

lateral deep lunge 1x10

single leg RDL mobility walk

3x20 rope skipping - 30secs rest

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



Squats - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt


worked up to 95lbs on both front squats and back squats for 5 reps each set. Left knee hurt too much so I stopped there.

I then did frontsquat walkouts

unrack slowly walk back, hold for 10secs while pulsing up and down with 1 inch knee bend, then slowly walk back and rerack

135lbs, 185lbs x 3 sets with 1 min rest inbetween

just strengthen my upper body supporting strength and my thoracic muscles.
Damn it feels much harder than when your squatting! Will slowly build these up to 315lbs so my upper body will be ready when I'm good to front squat again.


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

semi-explosive up, semi-controlled down - 89lbs x5, 155lbs x 5, 205x5, 255x5

felt good


Single Leg Lifts

1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x30lb dumbells x 8

single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x30lbs dumbell x 8



Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

Heavy bag punching - 2 min easy warmup

2 mins rest - moderate to max effort
1) 2.5 min round
2) 1.5 min round
3) 1 min round
4) 1 min round

Man that was tough - sucking air hard! Felt much better though, technique, and fluidity and shoudlers felt good. Foam rolling helped.

dip shrug - 5sec hold + 5 reps, BW 15 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep

Leg lowering AB exercise - slow tempo
2x5 reps with 1.5 mins rest
really tough, I could get my legs down to 1.5 feet from the floor before I lost my arch, so it's a little better now


Stretching for whole body - hybrid active isolated type stretching and some static stretching. Hybrid = 20sec static stretch of the muscle group, then 20 reps contracting the opposite muscle group briefly to stretch further

I do my hamstring stretch with a single leg type leg raise while lying on the floor, so that hits the hip flexor and abs as well.

 

[coolcolj]

A little achey all over today, but it's not so bad. Slightly sapped feeling
Abs not sore, which I expected them to be!

86.5kg 190lbs this morning
I'm consistently under 88kg now anytime of the day. Will measure my waist this weekend, hope isn't finally moving down.

Sleep was pretty interrupted last night. Same for the last few nights, probably need more carbs in my evening pig out meals, serotonin.
Plus I got the flu last week so all the coughing doesn't help.

 

[KOArtist]

BTW I have thinking the best way to figure out if your in good atheteic shape and mobility is to ask yourself if your in good breakdancing shape or not...
well I definitely am not right now...so that answers that

I used to do breakdancing BTW, so I got much more fat and weight to drop and mobility to regain before that can happen again

Haha, nice...hell yeah, I was probably in the best shape of my life back when we used to break all day.

I actually had a few too many cocktails Friday night and suddenly found myself windmilling on my buddies kitchen floor!

 

[coolcolj]

I never did the spinning and stuff on floor, just the stuff you do on your feet

 

[KOArtist]

I never did the spinning and stuff on floor, just the stuff you do on your feet

But that was the fun stuff! I used to grab my junk while I windmilled, lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leg3WJnttfc

 

[coolcolj]

LOL that's old skool, things have evolved since then

this is what I mean... pooping and locking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvX3eF0Jvyk

but yeah for BBoy you need good mobility and realtive strength
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkIAQwMOkSs

 

[coolcolj]

I'm finally starting to feel "light" when I move around, walk, get in/out of a car etc. Well it's taken a 30lb drop in bodyweight before I finally feel it....

even lighter this morning, even with extra carbs last night. 86.4kg 190lbs on the dot
It's probably gonna rain on Saturday, and I don't know if my left knee will hold up so I won't be able to test my jump most likely this weekend.
Might sneak in under 190lbs by then....

 

[the_alcatraz]

This thread MUST be the longest thread in the history of EF.

 

[coolcolj]

what can I say...I'm dedicated

 

[coolcolj]

I was walking around the shops today looking for something, and I noticed in the shop windows reflections, that even though I've lost 30lbs, I still look pretty chunky and "big" at 190lbs compared to the average person on the streets....

Face looks way trimmer though, but my ass is still darn massive
Still got to lose at least another 20lbs of fat before I start to look athletic I think.

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 5th April - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 7 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 87.3kg 192lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Bodyweight is down, but above what I was weighing a few days ago - my body decided to bloat up with water overnight

I took a teaspoonful of dry coffee straight into the mouth before I went... bad taste... Didn't jack me up, but I felt more alert and energy was good. It helped for sure. Will get some caffeine tablets for next week.

Switched from the usual Nike Free 5.0 Trainer to the 7.0 Trainer version for today.

Outdoor BBall court - one right next to park with a bent rim

40 mins total

started with shooting, dribbling moves etc and did some jumps at the end.

I felt pretty good, fairly explosive. I was stylin some sweet moves!
It was pretty crowded today, so I didn't really get a chance to do any jump technique work.

My left knee was ok for a while, but it started to act up towards the end so I left before anything bad happened. Right knee had some jumpers knee as well like last week.
I was only able to get 3 decent max effort running jumps. The last one I was able to get an inch higher than when I was here 2 weeks ago. Felt strong and explosive and got a good grab on the bent rim, but I could tell I had another couple of inches in me. I was only just getting started and warmed up, as each of those 3 jumps were higher than the one before.

Jumping with people around puts the pressure on to perform, so that made my timing feel much better
Didn't think too much like I usually do, and spook myself out on the approach. Maybe the coffee helped here with that.
All these skinny and light looking guys can barely get off the ground. I think they were probably surprised by this chunky and "fat" guy getting up higher than them

My knee started to feel real good around Friday, so it is healing. Maybe if I take a break from all jumping and squatting for a 2-3 weeks, it will be ready to go. Definitely can't squat for sure right now.

 

[coolcolj]

feel pretty good today, I didn't do a whole lot of max effort jumping, so not much CNS drain there. Posterior chain and lower back is trashed, traps and upper back sore as well.

I pigged out last night.
Bodyweight was 87.1kg 191.6lbs
Waist is still 35 inches.....! WTF
http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/ says I'm 16% bodyfat. Looks about right.
Bodyfat % on Tanita hasn't changed much in the last month still around the 24% area.

Puzzling.... don't know where the weight is coming off, because I do look leaner.

 

[coolcolj]

body feels pretty good today, knees much better.
Fishoil and foam rolling the crap out of scapular and glute minor/medius area really helped
Left knee is still strained, but the general jumpers knee ache is much better.

It looks like my knee issues are due to a tight and knotted up glute medius.
yesterday I foam rolled the crap put of it, up high on the outter glute area. Some parts were so painful, I had to hold the foam rolling for a good 40secs before the pain would ease up a bit! I noticed an improvement straight away.

I know when I sit down for long periods that area does get tight, along with my IT band.

also I used to get a pain deep inside in my glute/groin area when I did side to side hip swings with my left leg. It's all gone now! It never bothered my regular movements, but I ain't complaining that's it gone

My feet can also point directly forward now without much effort when standing. If I point my toes inward I can feel a lot of tension in my glute medius, so it's probably the main culprit in a lot issues in my body.

http://www.michaelboyle.biz/joomla/dmdocuments/anterior_knee_pain-9_2006.pdf

 

[coolcolj]

http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_recent/20_things_im_thinking_about

I first started thinking about the role of the psoas after viewing Michael Boyle's "Functional Strength Coach" DVD series. Shirley Sahrmann also states in her Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes that a weak or inhibited psoas can lead to issues with the tensor fascia latae (TFL).

If your primary hip flexor can't do its job (i.e. psoas), then others (like the TFL) are forced to take over. It's very similar to how an athlete can strain their hamstrings or adductors when their glutes aren't firing correctly.

So what does this have to do with anything? Anterior knee pain is a huge cause of concern. I frequently work with people who have soft-tissue problems in their TFL/IT band and their rectus femoris. Want to know what they typically have in common? Their psoas is slacking on the job!

Here's how it looks:

Weak psoas -> overactive TFL -> excessive tension on the IT band -> lateral knee pain

Or...

Weak psoas -> overactive rectus femoris -> excessive tension on the quad tendon/patellar ligament -> anterior knee pain

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 8th April - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 8 - Day 1

Good workout. Felt pretty strong and explosive. Glutes were hammered!

Body weight at gym - 192lbs
Workout time - 1.25 hours
Workout rating - 9/10

General warm up -

My hip flexor/glute activation move

1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises

lateral deep lunge 1x10

single leg RDL mobility + psoas activation walk

3x20 rope skipping - 30secs rest

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


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs x3, 155x3, 205x3, 243x3, 283x3, 313x3, 343x3

so damn fast and explosive today - 243lbs flew up like nothing! Fastest rep was 0.7secs on the 2nd rep.
Slowest rep was the first with 343lbs, a touch over 1 sec. 343lbs felt good, but close to max effort, I could feel my shoulders getting pulled forward.
313lbs was pretty fast, slowest rep was 1sec, so that will be my new working weight for my volume week.

video of the 243 to 343lb sets - plus a small bit of my heavy bag boxing work
right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...ift243-343x3_Explosive_BoxingBag_8April08.mpg


Front Squats walkouts - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

unrack slowly walk back, hold for 10secs while pulsing up and down reactively with 1 inch knee bend, then slowly walk back and rerack

1.5 min rest
95lbs, 135lbs, 185lbs, 195lbs

Felt so much easier than last week, maybe due to doing these after deadlifts - I dunno. Just one top set with 195lbs, next week I do more sets for volume. That's how it is, one week is peak load. The next week volume.



Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

Heavy bag punching - 3 min easy warmup

2 mins rest - max effort
1) 1 min round
2) 1 min round

Pretty fast and fluid today.
Man I was trashed after 2 rounds! Rear- right leg rectus femoris was all tensed and aching after that - not sure why. Core and upper back/scapulars was worked real good

half of the first round in the video above - ran out of memory

dip shrug - 5sec hold + 3 reps, BW 15 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep

Leg lowering AB exercise - slow tempo
warmup - supported leg raise x 5

1.5 mins rest - 1x5 reps, 1x3
could get my legs all the way to floor without my lower back coming off the floor - huge progress!! Lower back came off on the 3rd rep off the 2nd set, so called it a day there.


Stretching for whole body - hybrid active isolated type stretching and some static stretching. Hybrid = 20sec static stretch of the muscle group, then 20 reps contracting the opposite muscle group briefly to stretch further

 

[coolcolj]

I had problems falling asleep last night, body and CNS too jacked from training I think

Apart from bad sleep I feel Ok. A tiny bit sapped, but not drained. More from lack os lseep than training I think. Surprising, must be a first for me after deadlifts

A littel sore all over, mostly in my glutes and upper back/traps

 

[NoGainWithoutPain]

holy crap this is long ..haha well done bro.. one day ill start one!!

 

[Azinine]

Nice vid, nice journal.

Based on your previous avatar, I thought you were an older white dude with a receding hairline... I was wrong.

 

[lanny]

cool log man... the jumping and stuff.. jumping makes one taller aye? how do i train jumping? just natural jumping or wut?

 

[coolcolj]

thanks guys

I already said that old dude is my girlfriend's dad
She's half asian.

for jumping read this - off course you need to do a lot of jumping...
http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/verticaljumpfaq.html

 

[coolcolj]

As per Kelly Baggett's article, I'm on a mission to make my glutes as big as and strong as I can and they're already big
http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/noglutes.html
My abs tested weak though - only got down to 45 degrees - so some work needed there. I definitely have anterior tilt

Big strong glutes

Mr world record probbaly has the biggest set there
Hamstrings are pretty small in comparison

 

[lanny]

whoa.. lots of reading.. thnx mang!

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 12th April - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 8 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 86.8kg 191lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Down another 1lb. I really dropped the calories a bit harder this week. Nice to see the BF% on the Tanita finally moving down. But that killed my power today I think.

Didn't feel the best today, not as much sleep last night, and lower average this week.

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

1.5 hours total

Pretty crowded

started with shooting, dribbling moves etc, then did lots of jumps in the middle. At least 20 max effort running jumps.
Finished off with another 15mins of continous all out moves, shooting and lots of tip ins. Sweat was pouring after that and I was huffing and puffing!

Not that explosive today, but I was wheeling and dealing some good moves and I felt springy.

Wasn't jumping much higher than last week on my running jumps, still 2 inches down on my current best, standing jump is pretty horrible too, but some types of jump are well up. My 2 handed jump off 3 steps was higher than I remembered. I could get both my wrists an inch above the bottom of the 9 feet backboard, and not factoring in the forward lean/reach which should add another inch or two. So I should be able to dunk 9 feet 2 handed pretty easily off a step and dribble, and grab 9.5 feet with 2 hands. Just need another 12 inches to do 10 feet
One step 2 legged jump up 2 inches from last week as well, matching my running jump today on the highest jump.

Landings felt a lot lighter/softer. Guess it's due to my body in better alignment from all the foam rolling and mobility/activation and posture work.
Knees felt so much better than last week, my left knee didn't really ache much at all, unlike last week where it felt like I tore something! Right knee still has that ache deep inside the kneecap, but much less than last week.

I figure my knees should be good to go in a few weeks time - as long as I keep doing the stuff I'm doing in the gym, plus stretches and at home keep foam rolling my IT band, glute medius, hips, calves, outer lower leg and rectus femoris, and my usual mobility/activation work.

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 13th April 2008

feel OK. I don't feel drained, and I don't even feel tired/sapped. Interesting, I did a hell lot more jumping yesterday and lots more BBall specific moves and jumps/rebounding/tip in etc.
And I always go all out too.

A little achey all over, but it's not too bad. Right knee a little tender walking downstairs.


Weighed 86.2kg 189.6lbs - sweet cracked 190lbs
Plan to get some new progress pics at 85kg 187lbs
Finally my waist goes down! Down half an inch to 34.5 inches measured loose.

Tanita scale gives me a 22.7-22.9% bodyfat reading that's down from an average of 24% before.
http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/ puts me at 15.4% bodyfat

dropping the meat during my low calorie part of the day did the trick. I just eat fruit and raw nuts during that period. For a few days of the week

 

[coolcolj]

much to my surprise this morning

85.8kg 188.8lbs
22.4-22.6% Bodyfat on the Tanita scale

nice

Serratus starting to show pretty clearly now when I raise my arms overheads. Outline of abs etc as well, still pretty fat though in the scheme of things.
Considering the amount of work I do on my serratus for shoulder health prehab/rehab - they're not as big as I thought...

 

[coolcolj]

decided to take the rest of this week off, since I just finished 8 weeks of the last block.

Plus I don't feel like training today anyway - need a break mentally.

 

[coolcolj]

http://www.bodybugg.com/

interesting gadget that can work out how many calories you burn in a day from your movement and stuff
It really works, from the stuff I've read

I need to do more walking....


---


The bodybugg™ is the most accurate device on the market today for measuring calorie expenditure outside of a clinical setting.


It utilizes a patented process for interpreting calorie burn called "sensor fusion" developed by BodyMedia, Inc. This process involves collecting a range of body-data using multiple physiological sensors instead of a single sensor, which is what other calorie estimation devices such as pedometers and heart rate monitors rely on. It's this multi-sensor approach that enables bodybugg™ to "see" the wearer's context (whether they are sitting, sleeping, jogging, walking, etc.) that makes bodybugg™ such a reliably accurate device for calorie expenditure estimation.

The Physiological Sensors
Here is a list of the sensors in the bodybugg™ followed by a short description of how they contribute to energy expenditure estimation.

Accelerometer - The accelerometer in bodybugg™ is a two-axis micro-electro-mechanical sensor (MEMS) device that measures motion. This motion can be mapped to forces (g-force) exerted on the body. By taking gravity and motion into account along with the other sensor data, the wearer's body context and true level of physical exertion can be accurately predicted.

Heat Flux - The bodybugg™ also contains a proprietary heat flux sensor located on the side that measures the amount of heat being dissipated by the body via a thermally resistant material. In short, this sensor measure how much heat the wearer's body is giving off. Heat flux is an important parameter because the body tends to heat up the faster it burns calories.
Galvanic Skin Response - Better known as GSR, this sensor is comprised of two "hypo-allergenic" stainless steel electrodes on the back of the armband that measure skin conductivity. Skin conductivity is how much an electrical current can pass between two points on the surface of the skin and is affected by sweat due to physical exertion as well as emotional stimuli such as psychological stress.

Skin Temperature - Skin temperature is measured by using a highly accurate thermistor-based sensor located on the back of the bodybugg™. Looking at continuous measurement of skin temperature in conjunction with data collected from the other sensors can reveal the body's core temperature trends which are affected by the level of a person's physical exertion or lack thereof.

The data these 4 sensors collect, in conjunction with the wearer's specific body parameters (age, gender, height, weight) enable the most accurate estimation of energy expenditure on the market today outside of a clinical setting.

 

[coolcolj]

I'm curious how many calories this device would tell me I burn with my 1 to 1.5 hour bball session with mostly jumping and hard short cuts/moves...

if only it was cheaper

 

[coolcolj]

just quoting Lyle McDonald who has used it - pretty interesting stuff. Never thought calorie burn would jump that high from baseline when you train hard and long.
I mostly sit my ass during the day, no wonder why I can gain fat so fast with a box of chocolates a day

as a random tangent, looking at my training days compared to off days, the difference in caloric intake is roughly 1400 calories/day. I run about 2300 on days I do nothing but sit in front of the computer but hit 3600-3700 on training days which typically include 3 hours at the oval and 1.5 hours on the bike.

which either demonstrates that
a. exercise can do amazing things
b. exercise only does amazing things if you can do an absolute shitpile of it

 

[coolcolj]

more stuff... the mind boggles

I had the same experience. On exercise days I'd burn 4000-4300 calories by working out a couple hours. Rest days (sitting all day) I'd only burn around 2600 and struggle to hit 3000, one day I burned 2400. With standard cutting formulas I'd actually be quite a bit over maintenance on my rest days. I think that explains why I've had terrible weight loss results with standard approaches and tended to recomp instead.

The highest expenditure I had in one day (around 4500 + calories) is when my washing machine broke. I spent 7 hours moving stuff, driving around town, and repairing/moving stuff back. Which explains why one of my friends can eat pizza and fatty meats all day and not gain a pound...he literally can't sit for longer than 2 minutes without getting up and doing something.

 

[coolcolj]

walking and just keep moving around in a low intensity fashion is the key!

okay had my bodybugg for a week now and a few little things iv'e noticed. I'm 200lbs at 15%bf.

1)If i sit on my arse i burn around 2200 calories. If im up and about and take a leisurely lunch walk i burn around 3000cals.

2)The sooner i start moving in the morning (ie take a small walk ~15mins), the sooner my metabolism picks up. After i wake up and lounge around for a few hours i burn about 1.5cals/min. As soon as i start moving it kicks up to 4-5cals/min and stays up throughout the day. Maybe this is the secret to all that morning cardio on empty stomach. not so much the empty stomach, but that your getting of your arse sooner.

3)As far as the bug goes i definitely havent got a problem with a slow metabolism like i suspected however, f**ked if i know how i put on 4% of body fat while on a diet at around 2400cals since august.

 

[coolcolj]

Bodybugg is damn expensive - but but at least I know what I need to do from the people who have it

walk and move around more, if I do a few small easy walks around the block during the day, it will drop another 500 calories each day over the 500 I already have now with diet. So maybe I can drop 2lbs a week instead of 1

Should help general well being, recovery and mobility as well
without having to do sapping cardio

yeap

How long have you had the Bbugg for? Is it working for you? I've only had it for about 4 days, but thing I've noticed is something Lyle has mentioned over and over again. When someone diets down, activity levels tend to decline.

I've been brainwashed into thinking general movement is useless for calorie burn/fat loss - perform HIIT, Lift and let the afterburn get you ripped. What a mistake.

After having the Bugg, I've realized how much I stopped moving in general due to being constantly fatigued/tired from tons of HIIT and lifting. I figured the high intensity training would take care of everything (EPOC + high calorie burn - sitting at a desk 10+ hours day didn't help movement either), but it doesn't. Actually, toning down on the cardio intensity (not doing HIIT 5-6 X week) makes me feel a ton better and burn more overall calories.

It's strange how overreaching (training hard too much) can make one fatigued in general and actually decrease fat loss efforts. I was at the point where I believed HIIT didn't work. Now, I think it's simply the lack of movement from performing HIIT that's been the killer in terms of lack of fat loss

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 19th April - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 9 - Day 1

Bodyweight = 86.3kg 189.9lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Just like clockwork, down another pound in bodyweight. Didn't help much...

pretty cold and overcast today. It's been raining on and of all week, and it rained earlier today, but dried out late in the afternoon.
Took ages to warmup. Didn't feel that great today even with some caffeine in me.

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

1 hour total

cold and empty court

started with shooting, dribbling moves etc. Did lots of dribbling to start, just working on some stuff I have problems with.
Then did some jumps in the last 20 mins. About 15 max effort jumps.

Jumps were pretty crap today, no intensity at all. I dropped off pretty quickly. By the end I was down some 3 inches!
Technique was pretty bad, I kept mistiming most of my running jumps

2 handed jumps seemed just as good as last week though.
Now here is where it gets weird. Off a 2-3 step 2 legged jump with 2 hands, I can get my wrist about an inch above the bottom of a 9 feet backboard, but I am quite a distance away from the backboard so my arms are angled and reaching forward. So I should be able to get another 1-2 inches higher if I was closer. That means I should be able to touch around 9'10" with the tips of my 2 hand's fingers.
Now if I can get that high with 2 hands, I should be able to get 3 inches higher with one arm. The front part of the bent rim measures out at 9'8" but I can just sometimes roll the edge of my finger over the top of it off a step or run, instead of getting most of hand over it
With a standing vertical jump, I can get my wrist 2 inches above the bottom of the 9 feet backboard, so grabbing 9'8" should be a given off a stand, but I'm nowhere near... more like 2 inches under.. !

WTF, something must screw me up technique and power wise when jumping to the rim vs the backboard.
I've measured the backboard and rim, so it just doesn't make sense!

 

[coolcolj]

spinal erectors and posterior chain was pretty sore yesterday, and upper back to a lesser extent

I did some hops on/off a 5 inch small curb on the side of the BBall court on Saturday, just for fun and warmup during my BBall session, and it felt really easy, compared to when I was 200lbs and up. Much faster, I can't imagine how much easier and faster they will be when I get under 170lbs!

No matter how strong you get bodyweight is still a big limitation no matter what.

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 22nd April - Micro Cycle 8 - Week 1 - Day 1

Back into the gym after a weeks break. Good workout today. Glutes feel absolutely hammered right now! Obviously I have no issues activating my glutes anymore
All the foam rolling seem to help as well, moving much smoother and freer.

Starting a new training block. First weights session will be like today.
Next week with be explosive sumo deadlifts alternating between volume and peak load, and frontsquat walkouts with reactive 10 second hold as before, plus some core work and heavy bag work.
And the usual speed/power/reactive work on Saturdays when I play BBall or otherwise

I will be doing some moderate effort walking everyday for 25mins in Nike Frees, except on training days. Started on Sunday, and did Monday as well. Felt good, lower back no longer getting tight during the walk. Mostly the glute and feet doing all the work. Slowly fixing my anterior tilt....

finally able to do some single leg alternating patterns on the skipping - combo of lighter bodyweight, stronger feet from the walking, and lower leg foam rolling I guess.

Body weight at gym - 193.5lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

3min moderate walk on treadmill
My hip flexor/glute activation move
1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises
scapular pushup on bench x 8
lateral deep lunge 1x10
single leg RDL mobility + psoas activation walk

3x10 seconds rope skipping - 30secs rest

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


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

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

warmups
Front Squats - Bar x5, 95lbs x 3, 135x3, 185x3
Back Squats - Bar x5, 95x3, 135x3, 185x3

controlled
Front Squat - 225lbs x 2
rest 4 mins
Back Squat - 225lbs x 5

first time squatting in a few weeks, so no need to kill myself, but 225lbs worked me good anyway, but I left some in the tank. 225 on FS was quite hard

Squats felt great, only a slight discomfort on my left knee.
Weight somehow didn't feel as heavy on my back or shoulders as before. It's not like I was overreaching in the last block, so I don't know why the difference in feel. Also I had no problems supporting 225lb on front squats, no breathing or blacking out issues. I haven't had that kind of weight on my shoulders in months, so it looks like those frontsquat walkouts with short reactive jolts when holding for 10second is working well here

Also all the Sumo deadlifts have probably helped my squat support strength.

Used a shoulder width stance for both types of squats, range of motion definitely felt much longer. Especially on front squats
Glutes, VMO and rectus femoris were worked pretty good.
I focused on keeping the weight balanced on the inner side of the feet and on the big toe. Since I haven't squatted in a while, I was finally able to get rid of the habit of spreading my legs/knees and putting the weight on the side of my feet today. I just kept it nicely balanced and my outer hips relaxed. Felt much better.
Spreading the legs maybe ok for power lifting and olylifting, but IMO it's bad for athletic goals like jumping and sprinting...


Single Leg Lifts

1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x33lb dumbells x 8

single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x33lbs dumbell x 8

up 3lbs each dumbell, pretty tough, oww my glutes were smashed by the SLK deadlifts! Good balance today.


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

Heavy bag punching - 1 min easy warmup
1.5 mins max effort

massive pec and upper pec pump!

dip shrug - 5sec hold + 3 reps, BW 12 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep

Leg lowering AB exercise - slow tempo
warmup - supported leg raise x 5
1.5 mins rest - 2x5 reps
could get my legs all the way to floor without my lower back coming off the floor for 2 full sets of 5 - making nice progress

Side bridge hold
30 secs each side - man these were hard!! Got some work to do

Stretching for whole body - hybrid active isolated type stretching and some static stretching. Hybrid = 20sec static stretch of the muscle group, then 20 reps contracting the opposite muscle group briefly to stretch further

my hip flexors are getting really flexible. I can get my rear leg in a Bulgarian split-squat type stretch past 45 degrees with my upper body upright. This will come in handy when I get back into sprinting, for nice full hip extension

 

[coolcolj]

feeling a little sapped and beat up

freaking glutes and upper hamstrings are really sore! Sore VMO, calves, upper back and biceps as well.

 

[coolcolj]

Holy crap - my hamstrings are even more sore today! So painful, I can barely bend over

My system/CNS feels good though from the walking I think.

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 26th April - Micro Cycle 8 - Week 1 - Day 2

Bodyweight = 86.7kg 190.7lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Bodyweight back up a little from the food and water weight, I ate more this week, meat/protein wise. Felt much stronger and more powerful as a result.
Still feel like I leaned up though, will see tomorrow when I measure my waist.

Would you believe my hamstring are still sore from 4 days ago!!!
They were pretty painful when I did those front/back leg swings

Not a bad session, went back to the other court with the 8 feet netball rims on the back off each court.
There was a 4 on 4 and 3 on 3 tournament ahppening on some of the many courts here

Outdoor BBall complex - one with 8 feet rims at the back of each court - Nike Free 7.0 Trainer

1.25 hours total

started with shooting, dribbling moves etc for 45 mins, continuously
Then 20 mins of jumping, with about a mins rest in between each, so around 20 or jumps of all types

shooting was ok, moves were snappy, smooth and explosive. Achey hamstrings didn't effect things too much. No knee issues today, on both the jumping and landing, even though my left kneee is still tender.

Jumps were only about 90% effort, my body just wasn't able to jump all out today, seemed a bit scared, approach speed were all pretty slow and timid, and the low sun level created long shadows that seemed to stuff up my timing. Had a lot of miss jumps.

Highest jump, that felt closer to 100% effort, got my wrist within an inch of the bottom of the 9.5 feet backboard. Off a 3 step approach and with not much knee bend or with a pretty slow and lazy approach. And as always the forward lean and reach on a backboard touch takes away at least an inch from the jump reach height. That beats the highest I've gotten here with that type of jump by an inch!

Not bad and my leg/squat strength is well down from when I was jumping at my highest here at 200lbs bdoyweight. Should see some decent gains when I regain my leg and hip strength. Honestly the squatting really feels like it helps a lot, when I do it properly and get my glutes into it, more torque in my jump.

Left before I totally tired myself out.

 

[coolcolj]

overall achey feeling, but no major body part that sticks out as being more sore, so that's a big change from previous weeks. Usually my lower back and lower legs feel more trashed.
Daily ankle mobility work and walking again helping a lot here I feel.


weighed 85.9kg 189lbs this morning
and waist is still 34.5 inches measured loose, so no changes.
Guess I hit maintenance calories this week, need to cut back on the nuts.

I'm actually lighter right now though, after some pooping and pissing
85.6kg 188.3lbs

25 min moderate pace walking again today and everyday this week except workout days and Friday, to rest up for BBall the next day

 

[coolcolj]

check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epZjMuRRXLo&fmt=18

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 29th April - Micro Cycle 8 - Week 2 - Day 1

Cold day today - didn't feel energetic, so it took a while to warmup and get the CNS fired up, but workout went well.

Body weight at gym - 193lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

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

3x10 seconds rope skipping - 30secs rest

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


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

explosive up, semi dropped down - 111lbs 2x3, 155x3, 205x3, 243x3, 293x2

explosive up, semi dropped down - outer feet lined up with outer rings.
1) 313lbs x 3 --> slow
2) 313lbs x 3 --> not much better
3) 313lbs x 3 --> faster, didn't feel too tiring as well

Up the load 10lbs. Was nerve racking to start, as I haven't held any loads this heavy in a few weeks, but the groove and feel for the weightscame back pretty quickly.
Took a while to get the speed up, but set 3 was good, slowest rep was the first one at 1 sec or so. Didn't even feel that tired after the 3rd set. Definitely feels like my strength is up.

video of the main worksets, set 2 and 3. Didn't get set 1 due to a stuff up!
Put some funky lounge music on it
right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj/Movies/CCJ_SumoDeadlift_313_2x3_Explosive_29April08.mpg


Front Squats walkouts - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

unrack slowly walk back, hold for 10 secs while pulsing up and down reactively with 1 inch knee bend, then slowly walk back and rerack

2 min rests
95lbs, 135lbs, 185lbs, 195lbs x3 sets


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

Heavy bag punching - 3 mins
started easy and up to moderate effort working on form, with a few heavier punches.

dip shrug - 5sec hold + 3 reps, BW 12 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep

Upper body/shoulder prehab stuff 2kg dumbell x8
Pushups on bench 2x5
Lying L-Flye cuff rotation
single arm Cuban rotation
single arm lying on back subscap rotation
single arm lying on side cross body raise
low pulley cable row to stomach - 20lbs x 8

Leg lowering AB exercise - slow tempo
warmup - supported leg raise x 5
1.5 mins rest - 1x5

Side bridge hold
30 secs each side - freaking hard!!!

Stretching for whole body

 

[coolcolj]

A little sapped, and moderately sore all over - pretty evenly at that

lips a little swollen, dry and inflamed --> cortisol is up

pretty happy with my bodyweight direction right now, I'm fully carbed up and holding a lot of water, but the scale is still down from where I was last like this with all the carbs.
The walking is helping

 

[coolcolj]

yesterday I felt sapped, my legs and hips felt heavy and achey

Then later I helped my brother load up and carry a treadmill into his house. I didn't have to do much as we had 4 people.
Followed by my usual 25 min moderate speed walk

And today that light snappy feeling is back in my legs, except with a worked over sensation that you get because you exercised - ie from the walk. I mean my glutes and feet have some fatigue from the walking in that sense, but not in a bad way.
The walking is helping general recovery a lot from what I can tell. Before it would take at least till Friday before I get that feeling back into my legs. Recovering twice as fast it seems like....

seems to add a "tone" to the my legs as well

 

[coolcolj]

You know I've been fiddling around with how I walk downstairs, when my knees were really irritated and achey.
And it's possible to walk downstairs using your glutes, as opposed to quads and putting more pressure on the knee. You sorta arch you butt back and pop the hip slightly sideways. You can feel tension in the IT band area. It really takes the pressure off the knee.

I think since I started walking downstairs like this, this has carried over to how I land when jumping and other movement patterns.

 

[coolcolj]

from Eric Cressey's newsletter

Q: In your newsletter about Pete’s results on the Maximum Strength program a few weeks ago, I noticed that you mentioned peak power as one variable that you tested. How and why do you do that?

A: To calculate peak power, you’ll need a vertical jump height and the athlete’s body weight. We always calculate peak power with our athletes simply because we know that their body weights won’t remain perfectly constant – and it provides a way to measure absolute power output. If an athlete gains 15 pounds, but his vertical jump stays the same, then he’s still gained power – just not in a relative sense. The vertical jump provides your relative power measure, and your peak power output is your absolute measure; both relative and absolute power are important in most sports.

We utilize the Sayers equation to calculate peak power. Traditionally, the Lewis equation has been used for this purpose, but research from Sayers et al. found that the Lewis equation really just predicted average power. As such, they came up with a new equation that more accurately reflects peak power. I’ve uploaded a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with the Sayers equation calculation; you can download it HERE.

http://www.ericcressey.com/sayersequation.html

With this spreadsheet, you just have to change the body weight (pounds) and vertical jump (inches) in yellow, and the peak power will be displayed in green. Normally, the Sayers equation takes kilograms and centimeters, but I just incorporated some calculations to make it more friendly for those of us who aren’t too good with the metric system.

------------------------------------------------------------------


http://www.topendsports.com/testing/vertical-jump-power.htm

Vertical Jump Power Calculation

Vertical Jump tests are usually just reported as the distance jumped in centimeters or inches. This does not always tell the full story. A heavier person jumping the same height as a lighter one has to do much more work to move a larger mass. Therefore it is sometimes useful to convert the score to units of power or work.

The mechanical work performed to accomplish a vertical jump can be determined by using the jump height distance that was measured (using Work = Force x Distance where Force = Mass x Acceleration). However, Power can not be calculated (Power = Work / time) since the time that force is acted on the body is unknown. Power can be directly measured using a force plate, though these are not readily available. Over time a few different formula have been developed that estimate Power from Vertical Jump measurements. A few of these are presented below, with examples.

The examples below all use a hypothetical vertical jump of 60 cm (0.6 meters or 23.5 inches) by a person 75 kg and 180 cm. As you can see, there are widely different results achieved. This is partly due to it not always being clear if peak power or average power is being estimated.


Lewis Formula

The Lewis formula or nomogram (Fox & Mathews, 1974) is a commonly used formula (found in many high school text books). This formula only estimates average power, and is based on a modified falling body equation. The original formula used the units of kg¡¤m¡¤sec.-1. To convert it to Watts, the standard unit for Power, factor of 9.81 has been added.

Average Power (Watts) = ¡Ì4.9 ¡¤ body mass (kg) ¡¤ ¡Ìjump-reach score (m) ¡¤ 9.81

Example
Average Power = (square root of 4.9) x body mass(kg) x (square root of jump distance(m)) x 9.81
Average Power = 2.2136 x 75 x 0.7746 x 9.81
Average Power = 1261.6 Watts


Harman Formula

To improve on the limitations of the Lewis formula, Harman et al. (1991) established equations for both peak and average power through multiple regression procedures. The two equations are listed below:

Peak power (W) = 61.9 ¡¤ jump height (cm) + 36.0 ¡¤ body mass (kg) + 1,822
Average power (W) = 21.2 ¡¤ jump height (cm) + 23.0 ¡¤ body mass (kg) ¨C 1,393

Examples
Peak power (W) = (61.9 x jump height (cm)) + (36 x body mass (kg)) + 1822
Peak power (W) = (61.9 x 60) + (36 x 75) + 1822
Peak power (W) = 3714 + 2700 + 1822
Peak power (W) = 8236 Watts
Average power (W) = (21.2 x jump height (cm)) + (23.0 x body mass (kg)) ¨C 1393
Average power (W) = (21.2 x 60) + (23 x 75) - 1393
Average power (W) = 1272 + 1725 - 1393
Average power (W) = 4390 Watts


Johnson & Bahamonde Formula

Johnson and Bahamonde (1996) also developed formula for the calculation of peak and average power from the vertical jump test, using the countermovement jump. These equation use the additional factor of body height.

Power-peak (W) = 78.6 ¡¤ VJ (cm) + 60.3 ¡¤ mass (kg) -15.3 ¡¤ height (cm) -1,308
Power-avg (W) = 43.8 ¡¤ VJ (cm) + 32.7 ¡¤ mass (kg) -16.8 ¡¤ height (cm) + 431

Examples
Peak power (W) = (78.6 x VJ (cm)) + (60.3 x mass (kg)) - (15.3 x height (cm)) -1308
Peak power (W) = (78.6 x 60) + (60.3 x 75) - (15.3 x 180) - 1308
Peak power (W) = 4716 + 4522.5 - 2754 - 1308
Peak power (W) = 5176.5 Watts
Average power (W) = (43.8 x VJ (cm)) + (32.7 x mass (kg)) - (16.8 x height (cm)) + 431
Average power (W) = (43.8 x 60) + (32.7 x 75) - (16.8 x 180) + 431
Average power (W) = 2628 + 2452.5 - 3024 + 431
Average power (W) = 2487.5


Sayers Formula

The Sayers Equation (Sayers et al. 1999) also estimates peak power output (Peak Anaerobic Power output or PAPw) from the vertical jump.

PAPw (Watts) = 60.7 ¡¤ jump height(cm) + 45.3 ¡¤ body mass(kg) - 2055

Example
PAPw = (60.7 x jump height(cm)) + (45.3 x body mass(kg)) - 2055
PAPw = (60.7 x 60) + (45.3 x 75) - 2055
PAPw = 3642 + 3397.5 - 2055
PAPw = 4984.5 Watts

 

[coolcolj]

for me with a 32 inch vertical jump and a 86.5kg 190lbs average clothed bodyweight
I get 6719.45 watts of peak power with the Sayers Equation

All I have to do is get my strength levels back up to 330lbs x8 full oly squat level and my power levels should jump up a lot. I'm around 90lbs under that now...

Kelly Baggett's 42 inch vertical jump at 160lbs gives out 7580 watts.
That's where I need to be at least

Squat DR's 46.5 inch vertical jump at 210lb bodyweight = 9325.26 watts!!

 

[coolcolj]

It's maths time

so with my 86.5kg bodyweight and 32 inch VJ I get 6719.45 watts for peak power with the Sayers formula

Sayers Formula
WATTS = (60.7 x jump height(cm)) + (45.3 x body mass(kg)) - 2055

you can manipulate the numbers around for some fun.

If I keep the same power output but drop my bodyweight to 75kg 165lbs, let's see how high my vertical jump increases...

6719.45 = (60.7 * vj) + (45.3 * 75kg) - 2055
8774.45 = (60.7 * vj) + 3397.5
5376.95 = (60.7 * vj)
5376.95 divided by 60.7 = VJ

VJ = 88.6 cm 35.4 inches

I gain 3.4 inches by dropping 25lbs. Doesn't quite add up, I would have expected more inches, like 5.....
I will definitely need regain all my strength back for a 40 inch vert