Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 1st October - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 1 AM - Energy Work - Microcycle 5

Back into it, pretty good session. Was raining here and there this morning, managed to get it in during a dry spell!
Low carbs and low cals didn't effect things from what I can tell, but feet and ankles felt a lot better at the much lighter bodyweight. Plus the run complex felt like a breeze.

These shoud help shift some bodyfat now that I'm on low carbs, although I'm having a carb meal after this and later on. Back into the gym in a few hours time to hit the weights

Bodyweight at home - 204lbs in shorts and t-shirt
Workout Rating - 9/10
Workout time - 30 mins

Warmup

warmup - dynamic stretches and swings, foot massage, various hops in place in bare feet at home.

Slow Jog - 50m x 4 - 1mins rest

Run complex increasing in speed each run to 50% speed - 2 mins rest

3 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible
25m straight run, 25m prime times (stiffed legged runs), then into lateral run, right side 5m, left side 5m, into backwards run 5m

then 50m sprint bounds into 50m accleration runs to 70% speed x 2 sets - 2mins rest

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

200 metres - 180 degree turn at halfway @ 70% speed - from proper standing start

rest = 3 mins
1) 47+ secs
2) 44 secs
3) messed up stopwatch

ran em pretty fast today, last one was hard as usual, but not as hard as the last time I did em 4 weeks ago. I guess eventually I'd get down to 40secs for all of em when I get leaner/lighter, faster and better work capacity

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 1st October - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 2 PM - Upper + Lower - Microcycle 5

Not a bad session, but definitely felt a bit tired.
Back into strength work. Some ISO work today, they always kick my ass!
Feels a bit like Max effort work to me, strain wise, but without the heavy weights...

Someone said I look like I've really slimed up, so I guess this diet is working even if my bodyweight and waist doesn't seem to be changing that much.

Bodyweight at gym - 206lbs
Workout time - 1 hour 30mins
Workout rating - 8/10

General warmup -
1) dynamic swings etc
2) back extension BWx6 + 6 twisting to each alternate side
3) reverse hypers - BWx8
4) situp complex on swissball
5) usual bar complex with 30lbs
6) sitting in bottom of a narrow fullsquat for 40 secs

Rotating Sets between each lower body exercise

Resting 1 min on warmup sets and then 3 mins between each exercise

Full Oly Back Squats - in Oly Shoes - RAW

Warmups - BWx10, Bar x8, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 255x2, 275x1
Frontsquat - Barx5, 135x5, 185x3
Wide stance fullsquats - Barx5, 135x5, 185x3

controlled
Rotation 1) 275lbs x 5 --> hard strain on last rep
Rotation 2) 275lbs x 4 --> hard strain on last rep

Haven't fullsquatted in a month, I'm like a newbie again. Felt hard and wobbly. Usually does after running. Power and muscle mass still there, but lacking strain ability. Might switch to ISO paused style next workout


Snatch grip Deadlifts - in Oly Shoes - RAW - HookGrip

Warmups - 60kg x 6

controlled, lowered down RDL style, slight pause on the floor
Rotation 1) 80kg x 6
Rotation 2) 80kg x 6

nowhere near rep max, but hard all the same.

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

Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise

Resting 1 min on warmup sets and then 3 mins between each exercise


16 inch Grip bench - shoulder blades tucked - no arch or leg drive

Warmups - - Bar x12, 95lbs x 8, 135x6, 165x5, 195x3

controlled, 3 sec ISO hold an inch above the chest
Rotation 1) 205lbs x 3 --> last rep hard
Rotation 2) 205lbs x 3 --> moderate strain on last rep

widened my grip out a couple of inches, feels a lot more solid and smooth, better leverage, and that sticking point 3/4 of the way up is gone. I think it's because I can get my elbows directly under my hands now. Might start using this as my main benching form

Chest Supported 45 degree T-Bar Rows - Overhand grip

warmups - 25lbs x8, 45x6, 70x5, 90x3

controlled, 4sec ISO hold at the top
Rotation 1) 105lbs x 4 --> strain on last rep
Rotation 2) 105lbs x 4 --> hard

Killer, posterior chain was tensing quite hard too.,

 

[800man]

hiya. im new to this site so just say sup to everyone. i've read you log (as with alot of people I think!) for quite a while now & find it very interesting! I understand you are following db hammers methods. do you still wish to progress strength wise or are you strictly trying to iron out you static-spring profiency first? without bashing I did use a few of his methods when I used the book but I found it all well, a bit long winded. I read it about 15 times & although I enjoyed it I thought for the level im at it probably wasnt needed (im a at similar level strength wise to you albeit about 25lbs lighter & 5" taller) although my bench is nowhere near 135kg! (im a olympic lifts man so not much experience with the bench) is this gona be the way you train period now? would you ever go back to a more conventional way of training?


brad

 

[coolcolj]

hiya. im new to this site so just say sup to everyone. i've read you log (as with alot of people I think!) for quite a while now & find it very interesting! I understand you are following db hammers methods. do you still wish to progress strength wise or are you strictly trying to iron out you static-spring profiency first? without bashing I did use a few of his methods when I used the book but I found it all well, a bit long winded. I read it about 15 times & although I enjoyed it I thought for the level im at it probably wasnt needed (im a at similar level strength wise to you albeit about 25lbs lighter & 5" taller) although my bench is nowhere near 135kg! (im a olympic lifts man so not much experience with the bench) is this gona be the way you train period now? would you ever go back to a more conventional way of training?

brad

My 2 main weakness are excessive bodyfat and lack of reactivity.
So that's what I'm targeting right now, but I'm using a conjugate sequence blocks for my training.
Hard to gain much strength when your averaging 1400-1900 calories a day
And strength is relative, for my goals, my limit strength is more than sufficient, especially when I get under 10% bodyfat. Just won't have time to use all that force when I run and jump, especially since I don't tend to bend my legs a whole lot or stay on the ground that long.

You just get to a point of dimishing returns. Plus my legs and hips are pretty damn big for my build/frame.
see my pics here in this article
http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/SquatsandSpeed.html
My legs would have to come up a lot more in size to gain anymore strength and that would just stuff up my running, jumping and range of motion/flexibility etc

My closegrip bench is nowhere near 300lbs at the moment, more like 285lbs, always goes down when you lean up, but I will try and regain it.

I've used all kinds conventional means of training organisation before and found there to be too much guesswork. Its fine for strength and size goals, especially for begineers, but for power/speed, there is no going back for me.
And I have some pretty extreme vertical jump goals


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

Not feeling drained which is good. Achey from head to toe, upper hamstrings and adductors are really sore!

weighed 92.4kg 203+lbs straight out of bed in underwear.
About the same weight as yesterday, but I have filled out a bit from the extra postworkout carbs yesterday. So that's a good sign.

Went for a 23min walk this morning
Muscles seem to be getting bigger after every workout since I cranked up my protein intake for this diet...

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

AHH! That's your legs in those pictures bro? Haha jesus, you're thick. That's awesome.

By the way, you've told me before but I forgot - where can I read up how to determine what I need to focus on in terms of reactivity, force absorption...uh...you know, I forgot what else there was besides those two, also. x_x Sorry haha...

 

[coolcolj]

AHH! That's your legs in those pictures bro? Haha jesus, you're thick. That's awesome.

By the way, you've told me before but I forgot - where can I read up how to determine what I need to focus on in terms of reactivity, force absorption...uh...you know, I forgot what else there was besides those two, also. x_x Sorry haha...

yeah my legs are bigger than the bodybuilders at my gym, but genetics are mostly to blame

check in the VJ thread here, towards the last few pages of it.

Basicly you compare paused vertical jump, normal VJ, one step VJ and VJ dropping off a 6/12/18 etc inch height. If you jumping more than 10% higher off a step or run then you need more strength work. If dropping off a 6-18inch height makes you jump lower then you need force absorbtion work.
If dropping off a 18-24inch makes you jump higher then your pretty reactive.
If you dip down faster and jump higher your also have good reactivity and force absorbtion, if not, then you need more force absorbtion work

as you can see there are plenty of indicators

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

Not great sleep last night, very light sleep, valerian did not help. Probbaly a sign I need to carb back up again, which I am scheduled to do so anyway later today...
Upper hamstrings and adductors still sore as a bitch! So no tempo runs and energy work today.

weighed 92.2kg 202.84lbs straight out of bed in underwear.
bodyweight down a bit. Want my BBall playing weight at 203.5lbs this weekend, that will be 3.5lbs lighter than the last time I played a month ago.
That combined with my power gains should be good for a 3 inch increase in jump, fingers crossed...

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Strength work and force absorbtion work is the same thing, isn't it? In order to absorb force, you need strength. Wouldn't gaining strength just allow you to absorb more force?
Or do you mean depth jumps and altitude drops for force absorbtion work?

Also - reactive squats are for reactivity, right?

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 3rd October - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 3- Upper + Lower Prehab/Depletion - Microcycle 5

Felt weak today, crap sleep + low carbs I guess. Combo of prehab and depletion work. Carbing back up tonight and all day tomorrow!
Bodyweight was up since the last time I was at the gym 2 days ago, but man my face really looks more gaunt, cheeks hollowing out. More faint outlines of veins showing on my arms too. Still a long way to go though

Well today marks the day I finally cured my left shoulder impingment! Months of cuff work never did much for it. Rear delt and mid/lower trap worked helped a bit. Pec and lat ISO stretches and scapular control work helped a lot, and the final peice of the puzzle was lots of stretching of my neck/trap and shoulder muscles. I've been doing this stretch where you hold your hands behind your back and rotate the shoulder back and down hard, while stretching you neck in every possible direction several times a day for the last week. Combine that frequent rolling of the shoulders back and down with the mid traps and hardcore trap stretches.

I can do benches, pullups, dips and presses fine now. And that's with me doing 150+ throws 4 times a week. Whereas a few years ago even cuff work used to hurt like hell! Goes to show that those exercises aren't really as bad as people say, its more to do with the underlying problems of the person. For me it was - hunching over a computer or playing Playstation games for long periods of time = tight shoulders/necks and traps...

Bodyweight at gym - 208lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warmup -
1) dynamic swings etc
2) back extension BWx5 + 4 twisting to each alternate side
3) reverse hypers - BWx10
4) Situp complex on swiss ball
5) warmup complex with 30lb bar - RDL onto toes with shrug, military press, explosive good morning onto toes, snatch grip behind the neck partial press, hang powercleans, and powerjerks - 8 reps each, except cleans 5 reps, jerks 3 reps
6) Scapular pushups - on bench BWx12

Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise - all stopped short of failure

Resting 1 min on warmup sets and then 2mins between each exercise

Military Press - in Oly Shoes

Warmups - 45x10, 70x8, 95x5, 115x5

Rotation 1) 135lbs x 8
Rotation 2) 135lbs x 7

Been a while since I pressed with a decent weight, felt quite hard, but core was stable.

Shoulder width Pullups

warmups - Pulldowns 30kgx10, 50kg x 10

Rotation 1) BW x 9
Rotation 2) BW x 7

Lighter bodyweight is helping off course

Closegrip Triangle Pushups

warmups - BW x 3
Rotation 3) BW x 20

High angle rows - pulling with lower/mid traps and delts

warmups - 6kg x 10, 20lbs x 5
Rotation 3) 40lbs x 20

Dumbell Curls - 2kgx10, 6kgx8, 25x5, 30x10

Decline Dumbell Tricep Extensions - 2kgx12, 6kgx10, 25x5


Prehab/Restorative - rotated sets between each exercise in no particular order - 30secs to 1min rests

Wide mulit-direction lunge - 5 ways each leg, 3 reps each direction, nonstop

Toe curls on lying leg curl machine - 1plate x 10, 2Px20

Hip abduction/adduction on Keiser air machine - Level 3/3 x10, level 5/6 x 15

Standing Single Leg curl - 4plates x 5, 5p x 5, 6P x 15

Toe curls on lying leg curl machine - 1plate x 12, single leg 1Px10
single leg style is way harder

Single Leg Back Extension - nonstop BWx12 each side

Dip Shrugs - On dip bars - lockout hold BWx10secs + 3reps, BW x 30

Cuban Dumbell Snatch raises - 3kg x 5, 6kg x 15 - WOOt! no left shoulder pain doing these!


ISO Stretches - EQI

Pec/subscap stretched ISO hold - 6kg dumbell x 1min

Lat stretched ISO hold on chin bar - leg supported x 1min

 

[coolcolj]

Strength work and force absorbtion work is the same thing, isn't it? In order to absorb force, you need strength. Wouldn't gaining strength just allow you to absorb more force?
Or do you mean depth jumps and altitude drops for force absorbtion work?

Also - reactive squats are for reactivity, right?

no

strength work builds up capacity to absorb force, but it doesn't directly train the the body to do it. You need a progressive application of high speed eccentric work for that.

fast falling loads such as divebombed weights build up "force" absorbtion, and altitude drops and such build up "power" absorbtion. The difference is the mass/load and velocity component of each. The first case is heavier loads, but slower absorbtion/activation of the muscles. While falling down by gravity is much faster, but you use less load, and the muscles have to activate much faster and sharper. ie strength-speed vs speed-strength.

reactive squats can help reactivity, but its more to teach you muscles to turn on fast with heavier loads than just bodyweight, but with slower velocity

If you picture a spectrum - where pure speed on one side, and pure static force of Isometric work on the other. Then depth jumps and altitude drops would be towards the speed side and reactive squats a bit more towards the static side.

see here
http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/DifferentStrokes.html

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Alright, so strength absorbtion, force absorbtion, reactivity...

Reactive squats sound like they'd be good for force absorbtion then, no?

You also say power absorbtion. Which is which? Force/Strength absorbtion the same? I'm getting jumbled with the terms (clearly) - force, strength and power absorbtion.

And you mentioned rate work to me in the past a few times. What's rate work?