Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

Tuesday 29th February - Cycle 1 Get Stronger - Week 4 - - Day 1 - Upper1 STRENGTH SPEED/Reactive - Afternoon

Dang, I didn't think I was much stronger than last week, but boy was I wrong!!
Carb drink in workout was making my blood sugar yo yo all over the place, need to sort that out.

Workout time - 1 hour 45 mins ?
Workout rating - 8.5/10

Warmup

Did my general warmup - dynamic swings etc, and 10 reps with 25lb in various exercises - pull, press, oly goodmorning, snatch grip BN press, hang powerclean and powerjerks for a few.


Rotating sets between each exercise, 1 to 1.5 mins between each during warmups and earlier sets and then 3 to 4 mins later on


14 inch grip Bench

Warmups - Pushup against high bench -3x 6 sec ISO holds on the way up then 5 plyo pushups,
Each for 5 reps then 5 count ISO hold at sticking point (6-8inches from chest)
45lbs, 95lbs, 135lbs, then 185x3 (felt kinda heavy, must be blood sugar drop thing)

Rotation 1) - 225lbs x 6 - 15 sec set duration New PR!! + 1rep

5% of (15%BW+load) dropoff
Rotation 2) 210lbs x 6-7 --> lost count, not sure if I did 6 or 7 reps
Rotation 3) 210lbs x 5

Woot, + 1 rep, and the last rep wasn't anywhere near as slow as it was when I did 5 reps. But yeah from sticking point to lockout it's still slow, but triceps are getting stronger. Rep speed was much faster too, it felt like a speed bench compared to before
Once I can hit 8 reps on this I'll take a crack at 275lbs


45 degree Chest Supported T-Bar Row Oscillatory ISO AN1 - Wide palms down grip

Warmups - All for 5 reps then a 5 Oscillatory ISOs - bar, 25lbs, 45lbs, 90lbs,

Rotation 1) 115lbs x 20secs ---> too light
Rotation 2) 135lbs x 5

5% of (15%BW+load) dropoff
Rotation 3) 125lbs x 5
Rotation 4) 120lbs x 4


Tricep Dips Oscillatory ISO

Warmup - Lockout ISO Hold x5 secs, x10 secs, BWx1, BWx1, BWx2+3 Oscillatory ISO

Bodyweight at 222lbs
Rotation 1) BW x30secs ---> too light
Rotation 2) +25lbs x 27secs

5% of (85%BW+load) dropoff
Rotation 3) +15lbs x 22secs


Seated Pulley Rows ISO hold in contracted position

warmups - 5 reps then 5 sec ISO hold in contracted position 30kg, 40kg, 50kg, 60kg. then 70kg x1

Rotation 1) 70kg x30secs ---> just made it New PR!! +10kg

5% of (15%BW+load) dropoff
Rotation 2) 65kg x30secs
Rotation 3) 65kg x25secs

Ouch that hurt!

Dumbell Curl Oscillatory ISO

Warmup - 5 reps then 5 sec ISO- 5kg, 20x5, then 35x3+3 OI

Rotation 1) 25lbs x 30secs

5% of (6%BW+load) dropoff
Rotation 2) 20lbs x 30secs
Rotation 3) 22lbs x 26secs ---> someone had the 20lb dumbells....



Bits and pieces

Single Arm Standing Low Pulley L-Flyes on Free Motion Machine
Warmup - 10lb x 5
Tempo - 1010 rest - 3mins

20lbs x 15 New PR!! +3 reps
20lbs x 9

Damn cuffs are gaining strength fast!


ISO Stretches - EQI

Low Pulley ROW Stretched ISO hold - Close Curl Grip on Staright Bar

45kg x 1.5mins - fries my erectors too! +5kg

Tricep Dip Forward leaning Leg supported Stretched ISO hold
BW x 1.5 mins

Right click on clip and save before watching to avoid errors!

14inch grip BenchPress PR from today 225x6, up one rep! Nice and snappy too

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/CCJ_14inchGripBenchPR_225x6_29Feb04.mpg

Tuesday 2nd March - Cycle1 Get Stronger - Week 4 - Day 2 - Olys/Lower Strength/ISO Fatigue Toleration - afternoon

Long ass session, but it's because I have too much work capacity
I can't believe how much stronger I've gotten!!!! Will be interesting to see how my squat is when I return to regular reps.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that these type of lower body sessions have made my erectors much bigger, especially this one.

Workout Rating - 8/10
Workout time - 2 hours 50mins

Warmup+ CoreWork+Plyos

Did my general warmup - dynamic swings etc, and 10 reps with 25lb in various exercises - Hang slow cleanpull, military press, oly goodmorning, snatch grip BN press, hang powerclean and powerjerks for a few, powersnatches, Fullsquat press for a few.
Shoulder Dislocates and Overheadsquats with Light Bands

Rest - 30secs alternating between each exercise. 1min between pairs.

1)Twisting Back Extensions - BWx9, +10lbs x11
2)Incline situps with Russian twists to each side at the top - arms held outstretched x6, +10lbs x8

Ankle Jumps - Low 3x10secs

Olys

Warmups -
Bar - Hang Powerclean + 5 Frontsquats + 2 Powerjerks
Bar - Hang Powersnatch + 3 Snatch Grip presses + 3 Overheadsquats
Bar - 3 Hang SquatSnatches

Rest - 2 mins Hookgrip where possible

Powersnatch + 2 BTN snatch grip Pushpress + 3 Overheadsquats - 89lbs
SnatchPull+ HangPowersnatch + 3 Overheadsquats - 89lbs

PowerSnatch + 3 Overheadsquats - 109lbs x 4 sets

Last 2 sets with 109lbs were good, first 2 were wobbly as hell.
All those ISO hold stretches (EQI) I did last session have really improved my shoulder and lat flexibility. Very easy to powerjerk and get the bar behind the head now


ISO Complex max load for time - rotating between each exercise

10% Fatigue dropoff this session - then I'll take 7 days off before working lower body again

rest - 3-5mins between each exercise after warmups. 1 to 1.5 mins until workoutsets

Oly Squat ISO Hold at Sticking point- in Oly Shoes
Warmup sets - Fullrange reps with 5 count ISO hold at sticking point after reps - Bar x5, 135lbs x 5, 185lbs x 5
5 count ISO hold at sticking point then lowered and reps - 225lbs x 3, 275x2

Rotation 1) 315lbs x 8secs New PR!! + 40lbs

10% of (85%BW+Load) Fatigue Dropoff
Rotation 2) 275lbs x8sec + squat up
Rotation 3) 275lbs x8sec + squat up
Rotation 4) 275lbs x8sec + squat up
Rotation 5) 275lbs x8sec + squat up
Rotation 6) 275lbs x8sec + squat up - Back rounded on the way up
Rotation 7) 275lbs x8sec + squat up
Rotation 8) 275lbs x6sec --> dumped into pins

Crazy, I squatted all of em up! Didn't think I'd hit 7 sets before dropoff, especially since I was doing a rotating circuit of deads and abs
Who knows, can't wait till one day I can hold 405lbs like this and squat it up

Clean Deadlift ISO Hold an inch above floor - in Oly Shoes - HookGrip
Warmup sets - 176lbs x3+5sec ISO, 226lbs x3+5sec ISO, 256lbs x5sec ISO + 1 rep, 286lbs x 5sec ISO

306lbs x 26secs New PR!! + 23lbs --> grip slipping

10% of (50%BW+Load) Fatigue Dropoff
Rotation 2) 263lbs x 30sec
Rotation 3) 263lbs x 30sec
Rotation 4) 263lbs x 27sec

Didn't have enough chalk on my hand so grip was slipping on the 306lb set, but grip was solid otherwise. Need to get me some COC for timed holds soon so I can do clean deads with 405lbs no problems
These were painful, glad it's finally over!!!!

Lat Machine Situp ISO Hold, Torso Parallel, Dumbell on Chest
Warmup sets - BW x 5+5sec ISO, 15lbs x5+ 5 ISO, 30lbs x3+5 sec ISO, 45lbs x 5 sec ISO

50lbs x 40secs New PR!! + 15lbs --> too light

10% of (47%BW+Load) Fatigue Dropoff
Rotation 2) 40lbs x 30sec
Rotation 3) 40lbs x 30sec
Rotation 4) 40lbs x 29sec

Could have used 55lbs no problems oh well. Lower abs were hurtin!

Bits and Pieces

Reverse Back Extensions
BW x15

Bulgarian SplitSquat ISO hold
BW x 1min each leg

Right click on clip and save before watching to avoid errors!

5th set of those Olysquat ISO Hold+Squatups with 275lbs

http://www.members.optushome.com.au...quatsISOHold+SquatUp_275lbs_Set5_2March04.mpg

Looked good on the vid. Lokks a little higher than parallel but could be the angle. No horizontal knee displacement which mean full activation of the VMO. Good job especially the squat after

Damn...almost 3 hours. How long does your warm-up take? Oly lifts?
You already did 4 frequency sessions?
I think the iso's are supposed to be held at that position, right? Or maybe right at parallel which would be like 2 inches lower.

That's my sticking point, knees at 90 degrees, if I go any lower the hamstrings start to touch the calves anyway, and yes it is above parallel.
Believe me its pretty hard to hold that position, but not anymore I've gotten way stronger
I did do the latter sets 2 inches lower, felt different more quads
If you look at that 365 squat clip I posted before, you can see that's where I slow down.

The warmups finished at 1:20pm, olys finished around 2 Pm, and workout finished around 4:05pm. I take my time, rest periods in the iso are long 3-5mins, you want to be as fresh as possible for each set since your trying to improve work capacity and strength.

Interestingly enough my CNS is fine today, none of that smashed feeling I used to get if I ever went over an hour training "normally", but yet I did 3 hours of some heavy straining!

I don't know why the difference though ?
Maybe my work capacity has already improved that much in the 3-4 weeks
Sipping a carb/whey drink throughout the workout is a key thing too. Keep you fueled and catabolic free


My spinal erectors have gotten huge! They feel like forearms
Abs too, much bigger, probably added an inch to my waist measurement. This is the foundation for lifting big weights, power and explosiveness

Found a cool grip training aid at work, its a Heavy duty hollow cardboard cyclinder, the thing that's left when you finish a roll of plastic. It's about 3.5 inches in diamter on the inside and about 4 on the outside, 1.5 feet long.

The idea is to put the oly bar inside and do 30sec holds with it.
The thing makes my forearms ache just holding onto it! So not sure if I can hold a 45lb bar as well, maybe I just hang weights off it and do single arm holds or something

A bit slippery too....

That's excessively wide. It'll probably put too much strain on your wrists. I worked with 2 different thick bars, but they were like 2 and 2.5"

I can't even do static holds right now because my calluses are ridiculous. They turned black. I don't know how to get rid of them, but need to fast before I try those 30 second DL iso holds.

Not like I'm doing any exercises in therm. One hand holds should be fine