Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Took ages to fall asleep again, and I woke up early. I don't know whats up with this, been like that the last few days. Gotta be careful and nip it on the bud before things get out of hand...
But when I was asleep it was deep.
Most of the aches are gone, feet has that semi-springy, snappy feeling, so it means I recovered pretty quickly from that last workout even with crap sleep!

I was watching that Rhadi Ferguson squat vid on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTovxqpDqzc before I went to bed, and what do you know I had a dream of me playing in a high level Rugby game, and I scored a try in the dying seconds to seal the win to advance to the finals, and Rhadi Ferguson was the guy on my team who kicked the ball off to restart, and the TV commentators in the dream said " Finally Rhadi Ferguson gets into the finals" LOL

weighed 95.7kg 210.54lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

56 Lowest waking pulse in a while. 6.5 hours of deep sleep and 2 hours of lying around. Upper body feels achey from all the crap I did yesterday, lower body feels good. Lower back tight though.

weighed 96.8kg 212.96lbs straight out of bed in underwear
bloated!

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 12th November - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 9 - Day 1 - Lower Strength - Micro cycle 10

Average workout, felt kinda crappy throughout, humid as hell, hard to breath. I didn't feel like training my upper body today, kinda beat up there. And the running I had planned. But I did feel like squatting! Pretty frequent squatting this week...3rd session since last Sunday. Legs felt ok anyway
I went to the gym real late and I couldn't finish it with my hammie and calf work before the gym shut... left with a massive mid quad pump and ballooned up lower back...could barely walk...annoying....


Body weight at gym - 214lbs
Workout time - ?
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow full squat at bottom on toes

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) back extension BWx5 + 4 twisting to each alternate side
3) sit up complex on swiss ball
4) various hops
6) bar complex with 30lbs - 5 reps each - slow hang clean pull onto toes, military press, explosive GM onto toes, snatch grip press, hang power clean, power jerks


Cleans

did these in between the warm up sets on squats - 2-3 mins rest between

In sneakers - Powerclean + 2 High Hang Power cleans - 89lbs, 119lbs, 144lbs, 155lbs
in oly shoes - Powerclean + 2 High Hang Power cleans - 175lbs --> +10lbs New PR!

Hmm didn't think I had any speed today. But the 155lbs high hang powercleans were so much easier and snappy, I took at shot at 175lbs, and boom, got me a new PR! First HH Powerclean was high, didn't have to dip at all, 2nd one was 2 inches lower so had to dip a bit. I'll use this as my new upper working weight now.

Form felt real good, wish I brought my camera to film it. Felt my calves and hammies work so I probably full extended at the top. And now my numbers are finally better than before, since I changed my form from a SLDL/RDL type back swing with the bar shooting forward and back, to a quarter squat type jump with bar going up straight, using my legs and calves more. Makes it much easier to catch and I benefit more from em too.

So I'm converting my strength gains to power for sure, and the 3 inch ROM requires a bit of speed to get it up to my shoulders. These should be pretty close to where my powersnatch is with a high catch. My theory for me is when I get my powersnatch up to my bodyweight with a high catch I'll have a 40 inch vertical jump. So I'll need another 90lbs on my squat for that, which will also put my powerclean at 300lbs......then to get my bodyweight down to 200lbs or less...



Full Squats - high bar, medium stance - Oly Shoes - no Belt

warm ups - controlled - BWx8, Bar x 8, 95x8, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5
in oly shoes - 275x3, 305x2, 335x2

4-5mins rest
Hold at middle on the way down, pause at bottom, driven up hard
1) 315lbs x 3
2) 315lbs x 3
3) 315lbs x 3 (+1 extra set)

My form has really improved in the warmup regular squats as a result of doing squats like this. Really upright, forcing my hammies to do the work, without that slight GM I tend to do, and that sure makes the core work harder too.

Really feel like I'm finally making real brute strength gains.
Up one set from last time, and I went slightly lower on the mid hold, which sure felt harder. 3rd set felt pretty tough, but no GM on the last rep, so I probably had a chance at getting a 4th full set, but gym was shutting so I had to leave it there. I'll get it next time and maybe a 5th set too, but I'm not doing any cleanpulls+eccentric RDLs together with em like before so that probably changes things. I figured I''d leave em out with the more frequent squatting this week

Man doing squats like this sure hammers the core way more than normal! Frontal ab wall and obliques felt jelly afterwards. Lower back was pumped and tight like hell too.

 

[coolcolj]

Same deal with sleep as yesterday. Don't feel too bad, not sore either, just minor aches, but lower back feels thrashed.
My legs have blown up, they are still only 28.5 inches, but they just look a lot bigger than before! Quads starting to dawrf the hammies...

weighed 96.3kg 211.86lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

Late night, not enough sleep. Body feels good, but achey feeling from the late night activity...

weighed 95.9kg 211lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 14th November - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 9 - Day 2 - Upper 2 Prehab_Rehab - Microcycle 10

Damn sleepy as hell during this workout...

Body weight at gym - 214lbs
Workout time - 1.75+ hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1) whole body dynamic stretches and swings
2) scapular push ups - on bench x12


Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2 min on warm ups and 3 mins between each exercise on work sets, 4 mins at end of each rotation


16inch grip standing Military Press - pushed behind the head at the top

Warm ups - with slight hold at top - Bar x 8, 95 x5, 115 x4, 135x3

controlled, hold at top, 2 sec pause at bottom
Rotation 1) 155lbs x 5 --> medium strain on last rep
Rotation 2) 155lbs x 5 (+1 rep)--> hard strain on last rep

Time to go up in weight, but I might just change the way I do em by adding a hold at the middle on the way down, like my squats, and so drop the weight a bit.


Pull Downs/Rows

warm ups - Shoulder width Pull downs, 2 sec hold on the last rep - 35kg x 10, 50kg x5, 65kg x3, 80kg x2, Pullup x 1

Pulldown - controlled, 2 sec hold at top, 2 sec hold at bottom
Rotation 1) 80kg x 6

Dumbbell high angle Rows to ribcage - pulling with mid/lower traps and delts - hold at top
Rotation 2) 45lbs x 12

I'm dropping the pullups. They just tighten up my lats too much, and I have a big flexibility issue there which the pullups don't help. I hate em anyway....
Pulldowns don't hit my lats much, more scapular the way I do em.


Dumbbell Bench - arms/elbows by side - neutral grip

warm ups - 15lbs x10, 45x5, 70x5, 90x3,

controlled, 2 sec pause, shoulders pushed off bench at top
Rotation 1) 95lbs x 8 (+1 rep) --> medium strain on last rep
Rotation 1) 95lbs x 8 --> hard strain on last rep

Time to go up to 100lb dumbbells! Grip even stronger than last time, way easier to carry the 95s around today.
I checked and 140lb dumbbells is the heaviest at my gym, not 120lbs like I thought


Dumbbell Curls

warm ups - 4kg x10, 25x5, 30x3, 35x2

controlled, hold at parallel on the way down, pause at bottom
Rotation 1) 40lbs x 6 --> hard strain on last rep
Rotation 1) 40lbs x 6 --> hard strain on last rep

yep, more holds Sure hits the biceps even harder doing it like this..funny I got the same reps on both sets..

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

Cooldown - Restorative - ISO stretches

Subscap raises 5kg x 15 (paused) + 35 sec Pec/Subscap stretched ISO hold

single arm Face Pulls - 35lbs x 6, 60lbs x 16 with hold on each rep

stretches etc

 

[coolcolj]

Took ages to sleep, and work up early. Mild drained feeling.
Dunno what's up with my sleep, but it's getting worse...
Upper body moderately sore, but finally nice to have no achey and tight lats for a change.

weighed 96.8kg 213lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 16th November

Sleep - 2 hour nap + 5 interrupted hours
Waking Pulse - ?
Mood - Average, tired/sleepy

Took ages to sleep again, kept tossing and turning all night and work up early!
But I still got the ZMA dreams as well. Maybe I am starting to overeach or my diet needs to be sorted. Nap was quite late so it probbaly disrupted my sleeping patterns too.
Upper body still a bit sore, hips/IT band feels tight and achey, need to stretch a bit

weighed 97.3kg 214lbs straight out of bed in underwear
bloated with heavy carb intake yesterday

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 16th November - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 9 - Day 3 - Lower Power/Strength - Micro cycle 10

Very cold, wet and windy today, so no running. Just went to gym to do the jumping and squats like I did this time last week, but with the calf, ab and hammie work at the end.
Didn't feel the best but workout went well, getting much stronger and powerful!
Long grueling workout. Made sure I drank a lot of water when I got home, I usually get bad quad cramps a few hours after training squats this hard if I don't

Body weight at gym - 214lbs
Workout time - 2 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow full squat at bottom on toes

standing on one leg, balancing, and with eyes shut - very stable - so I'm not over-reached....

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) back extension x 5 + 6 twisting to each side
3) reverse hypers - BW x 6
4) sit up complex on swiss ball
5) various hops, prime times, running in the spot drills

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 2-3mins


Vertical Jumps and hops

Warm up - sets of 2-3 jumps going higher/harder each time

did these in between the warm up sets on squats from 185lbs to 335lbs

1) 5 hops on/off a 6 inch step
rest 1min

2)
a) standing Vertical jump,
b) one step VJ
c) 2 x running one legged jump
d) 1 x three step VJ

sequence for 6 sets total

last 2 sets of jumps were explosive as hell. Standing VJ is up a bit, maybe as much as an inch, 3 step jump as well, but more from technique, just feels smoother. Hops not feeling so good today, probably from the squats proceeding them.
Weighed 214lbs at the start, but all the drinking pushed me up to 216lbs on the sets I jumped the highest. Dang never thought I jump like this being this fat and heavy!


Full Squats - high bar, medium stance - Oly Shoes - no Belt

warm ups - controlled down, semi explosive up in sneakers - Bar x 8, 95x8, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5
in oly shoes - 275x3, 305x2, 335x2

Hold at middle on the way down, pause at bottom, driven up hard - 4.5 to 6 mins rest
1) 315lbs x 3
2) 315lbs x 3
3) 315lbs x 3
4) 315lbs x 3 --> +1 full set
5) 315lbs x 2 --> failed on 3rd rep, a few inches off the bottom

Wooo, last Thursday, only 2 sets, a week later, almost 3 extra sets!
The first set was so hard and wobbly, I thought no way I can match 3 sets I did last time, let alone get 5 sets, but the 2nd set felt a lot easier, and then I almost got 5 full sets, very close to grinding out that 3rd rep. I'll get it next time, and then onto 335lbs for at least 3x3 to hit my goal.

My CNS was probably in explosive mode from all the jumping and then switched to strain mode for the 2nd set onwards I guess..
Man that was one nerve racking and gut busting workout, in a good way.
I've never had my quads and lower back so pumped to the point of bursting!!
Couldn't walk properly. No wonder they both feel so much bigger. Need to work the abs harder as it feels like my lower back is starting to get imbalanced with my abs.

Hopefully the results will make it worth the effort! It looks to be the case so far. 335lbs in the warmups is feeling much easier, I can lower it slowly and casually reverse it and stay really upright.
When I hit my goal, please make my squat gain 40lbs!

---------

Rotating Sets between each exercise

minimal rest between each exercise

Lat Machine situp - BW x 12 (progressively lower each rep with hold at bottom)
hold at middle and bottom on each rep - dumbbell on chest - 25lbs x 6, 50lbs x 6

Standing Calf raise - Body weight - 10 sec stretched hold then 10 reps
10sec hold + 5 reps with a hold at top, mid and bottom - 5 plates, 9 Plates ---> up 1 plate

Toe curls on lying leg curl machine - 10sec stretched hold + 5 reps with with a hold at top, mid and bottom + 5 sec stretched hold - 1 Plate, 2Plates, 3plates


Single Leg Seated Calf raise - one set for with just the machine's own weight, 10sec stretched hold then 10 reps,
10sec hold + 5 reps with a hold at top, mid and bottom - 25lbs, 45lbs

Single Leg Standing leg Curl - hold at top, mid and bottom - 3 plates x 5, 5 plates x 5, 7 plates x 5 (+1 plate)

--

lower body, and lower back stretches

 

[coolcolj]

Crap quality sleep, tossing and turning, plus pins and needles in my right arm!
Feel kinda crappy, sore thoat too...from what I dunno, maybe the pepper I ate yesterday, or I'm overreaching now, but I didn't train yesterday...but perhaps my part time job in the morning pushed me over the edge...

achey upper back, and a tightness to my outer quads, so legs not recovered yet.

weighed 96.3kg 211.86lbs straight out of bed in underwear