Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

crap sleep 6 hours! Glutes and hammies a bit sore, slight aches all over

weighed 94.4kg 207.7lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Up after the carb last night, more carbs all day today.

Upper strength increases were pretty noticable today, damn throwing was very strong, solid and explosive!

 

[coolcolj]

meh on the sleep, but I feel pretty good actually. Will catch up today.
Hips/glutes and upper back still a bit sore, but feeling pretty strong today. Strength gains are definitely noticable.

weighed 94.5kg 208lbs straight out of bed in underwear

bodyweight about the same, but upper body looks to have gone bigger again.

On that note, I've been doing a bit of shadow boxing here and there for fun a few times, and man I am pretty "musclebound" in my upper body!
Just lacking fluidity and snap. It's like my body is fighting itself, the muscle turn on and off half a second too late, even though I am playing BBall, sprinting and doing explosive stuff in the gym!
That's the problem with strength training if you don't maintain movement efficiency, it ****s up your firing patterns! That's probably why my upper body, especially my shoulders keep tightening up when sprinting or shooting in bball.
I definitely need to do some upperbody rate work, even though I'm in the middle of a strength block right now. So I'll start doing some easy shadow boxing on my off days around when I walk, a bit of active recovery I guess. Just combinations and foot work to get that looseness and co-ordination, which should help my sprinting and BBall, and maybe the weights too. Once I get better at that I will add some Boxing bag work on my high rep depletion day at the gym, to start adding More intensity and force behind the punches.

Might come in handy if I ever get in a fight too, because right now I would get flattened
I've always had pretty fast punches and good reflexes, but now I have the force to add some power to dish out some serious punishment, but I need to teach my body how to use it first.
My lower body is not too bad with all the stuff I have done, but I'm definitely not as good a dancer as I used to be though with all the breakdancing. So might have to do some work there too

I figure if your a fluid, fast and pretty boxer, a good dancer and your strong and explosive, then you'd be a pretty good all round athlete

 

[coolcolj]

Not enough sleep, had to get up early. Feeling tired at the moment. Man it's annoying that I'm at my most beaten up on the day I have to play BBall every week. Thanks to my part time job and all the crappy sleep that comes with that - oh well.

weighed 93.6kg 206lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Much lighter than last sunday. Same as 2 weeks ago. Stable bodyweight while increasing in strength rapidly, can't really argue with that. Would like to lean up real fast, but given the choice, I'd rather take the strength increases right now. I have a feeling the breakfast cereal and oat milk is the thing that's holding me back leaning up faster. Will try dropping it from the mornings this week and see what happens. That will drop the carbs way down

Nice and sunny so BBall as usual, gonna take a nap to freshen up before then.
Stronger legs and better stretch reflex work from last Sunday...Hope my hops are up to scratch...

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 4th December - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 6 - Day 1 - BBALL - Microcycle 5

A lot hotter than I thought it would be today. Went to my usual outdoor BBall court.

Bodyweight at home - 207lbs in shorts and t-shirt
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 8/10

As soon as I got there I was asked to join in a 3 on 3 halfcourt game. So I warmed up for 20mins and then played for 40mins, there was a break halfway through, but it was pretty much continous. Didn't feel too winded, so that's good.

But the game was crappy, because the level of competition was pretty weak.
Not to many outside shots, all layups and putbacks, and not much defense being played, I was the only one that put any effort into it...
I was a bit jittery at first since I haven't played in a while, shooting was off at first. Something to do with the smooth and very light ball. But I started to heat up later on.

I was grabbing boards real easy, not hard when you can outjump every one there, even the tallest 6'3" guy.. and I was definitely the heaviest person there

Some kid who I was guarding tried to pull some And1 tricks on me, he faked me out once though, but I managed to poke away a lot of his dribbles and stole the ball once, hands were pretty quick today...
But when I had the ball, I just took him down low and bullied him around, since I outweigh him by a good 80lbs
Just used all the good old Charles Barkley low post tricks, like leaning back and sticking your ass out, clearing everyone out after you grab a rebound, to create some a space when jump back up to put it back in, or jump backwards into them as I go up

Almost got 2 blocks, need more hops! Jumps in the game were very springy with a very shallow dip. I don't think about em much during a game, so I'm relaxed and the form is perfect I guess. Didn't even notice the landings as well. I did a one step jump when we had a break halfway through, and jumped a bit higher than my best on this court and I'm heavier as well.
Did a few more jumps after the game, but was a bit tired off course, and I started to get weak fast from the lack of food, since I skipped a meal. But they all matched my bests here.

Will be interesting to see what happens if I can push my paused squats up to 405lbs for a triple. I will then have the strength base to powersnatch my current bodyweight with a shallow dip catch, and since I have to propel the bar 40+ inches to do so. Hopefully my standing VJ will be in that range as well, even without losing any more bodyfat.

Right toe is a bit tender now from a semi blister..

 

[coolcolj]

Feeling slightly lethargic, warm, mild drained feeling. Not too sore though, just a general achey feeling. Humid day, so that makes you feel even more lazy.

weighed 93.3kg 205.25lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Looking a bit flatter so glycogen already on the lowish side. BBall probbaly drained quite a bit of that, even though I did carb up a bit last night.

Went for a 12min walk this morning. Felt much better after that. Posterior chain felt stronger on the slopes, walking is more straight legged pawing the ground back using hams.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

like leaning back and sticking your ass out, clearing everyone out

Big glutes from squats are a must for this!

 

[coolcolj]

Big glutes from squats are a must for this!

well I was born with a big ass, but squats made em even bigger
Big ass = fast running!




Feeling a bit tited and achey. Need more sleep, and yesterday I did a lot of cleaning up and that was pretty tiring, damn my shoulder muscles are sore!
Hope my training is ok today though, stronger hopefully...

weighed 93.6kg 206lbs straight out of bed in underwear

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I took a personality test a while back and got INFP.
the brain typing test here I did was more for sports
http://www.braintypes.com/bglobe.htm

INFP "Idealist"
deep internal values; idealistic, romantic, appears calm; generally reticent; creative, avoids conflict, sensitive, aware of others’ feelings; sacrificial, welcomes new ideas; flexible, interested in learning and writing; composer; language skilled.

pretty accurate - I'm artistic, drawing, computer graphics, music. I have a homestudio and write music

And bodyskills wise I'm an NF type -
http://www.braintypes.com/body_skills.htm
NF-- Julius Erving, John Olerud, Jerry Rice
Speech and hearing intonation, coordinate fine and gross motor movement with fluidity

pretty spot on for me all round - even my friends used to call me the "Dancer man" when I BBalled because I looked I was dancing by the way I moved


anyway I came across another description of the personality types here
http://www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html

INFP summary
Quiet, reflective, and idealistic. Interested in serving humanity. Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with. Extremely loyal. Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened. Usually talented writers. Mentally quick, and able to see possibilities. Interested in understanding and helping people

When an INFP has adopted a project or job which they're interested in, it usually becomes a "cause" for them. Although they are not detail-oriented individuals, they will cover every possible detail with determination and vigor when working for their "cause"

and reading my description, I can see why my log is so detailed...

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 6th December - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 6 DELOAD - Day 2 - Upper + Lower Strength - Microcycle 5

Did not feel all that fresh today, and was kinda sleepy at the start of workout, but the worksets felt decent and stronger all round. Left the gym feeling pretty good, not tired or worn out at all.

Bodyweight at gym - 209lbs
Workout time - 1 hour 30mins
Workout rating - 8/10

General warmup -
1) dynamic swings etc
2) reverse hypers - BWx10
3) back extension BWx6 + 6 twisting to each alternate side
4) situp complex on swissball
5) sitting in bottom of a narrow fullsquat for 1min
6) adductor/hammie stretch into back tumbells x8
7) usual bar complex with 30lbs


Full Oly Back Squats - in Oly Shoes - RAW

Warmups - explosive and divebombed the last few reps of each set up to 185lbs (except frontsquats more controlled down), then just controlled down and explode up on the heavier stuff
rest - 1min between earlier sets, 2-3mins between later sets
BWx5, Bar x5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x3, 285x2
Frontsquat - Bar x5, 95x3, 135x3, 185x3
Wide stance fullsquats - Bar x5, 95x5, 135x5,

Controlled down, 3 sec Hold at bottom, explode up - rest 4.5 mins
1) 315lbs x 3 New PR! +20lbs --> Gut busting strain on last rep
2) 315lbs x 2 --> hard strain on last rep

fast down, explode up
3) 235lbs x 5 (+10lbs)

Added another 20lbs of low RPM torque to my "motor"
The warmups did not feel as snappy as last week, so I wasn't feeling too confident. But 315lbs felt "light" on my back, and I powered it up much better than last week's 295lbs. Increasing the explosive set 10lbs to suit as well.


clip of all worksets - right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au..._FullOlySquatsPR315x3_Paused_235x5_6Dec05.mpg


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Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise

Resting 1.5 min on warmup sets and then 3.5 mins between each exercise


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

Warmups - Bar x15 (last 5 reps drop/catch style)
explosive - 95lbs x 10, 135x8, 165x5, 195x2, 225x2

controlled down, 3 sec ISO hold an inch above the chest , explode up
Rotation 1) 255lbs x 2 (+10lbs -1rep) --> last rep ballbusting strain
Rotation 2) 250lbs x 2

255lbs was quite hard, but 250lbs felt much easier, I should have tried for a triple on the 2nd set! Guess that means my warmup wasn't good. I'll do a warmup single with 245lbs next week, since today I blew 225lbs up and down like a speed bench, even though it felt kinda heavy in my hands - strange feeling. Will stay here next workout, until I can do 2 sets with 255lbs


clip of all worksets - right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...inchGripBench255x2_250x2_ISOPaused_6Dec05.mpg


Chest Supported 45 degree T-Bar Rows - Overhand grip

warmups - explosive/divebombed - Bar+45lbs x8, +70x5, +90x3, +115x1+2sec ISO, +135x1

controlled, 3sec ISO hold at the top
Rotation 1) Bar + 145lbs x 3 (+10lbs -1rep) --> gutbusting strain on last rep
Rotation 2) Bar + 140lbs x 3 --> hard strain on last rep

Quite hard, posterior chain was tensing hard as usual, but damn am I owning 3plates now! Amazing how far I've come in 6 weeks, starting to get some stares from other people, because even the bigger guys at the gym never use more than 3 plates and I hold it at the top as well

 

[d-dub]

So that was paused squats with 315? nice work.

Definitely looking leaner in the vid clip, calves and ankles looking a lot more 'athletic', all those sprints and stuff must be paying off.

 

[coolcolj]

So that was paused squats with 315? nice work.

Definitely looking leaner in the vid clip, calves and ankles looking a lot more 'athletic', all those sprints and stuff must be paying off.

LOL you need to read more - yeah it's 315lbs

I think it maybe due to the camera angle, even the 315lbs worth of plates look really thin
But that 40min 3 on 3 BBall game on Sunday did lean me up a bit.

Yeah my ankles have slimed down a lot. I hold a lot of fat in my ankle/calf area, so I'm really gonna look like a twig by the time I'm under 10% Bodyfat


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Not all that sore compared to usual, just some low level aches and no drained feeling

weighed 93.7kg 206lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Went for a 12min walk this morning