Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Sunday 19th November - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 10 - Day 1 - Lower + Upper Strength - Micro cycle 10

I wasn't sure if I was gonna head to the gym, didn't feel the best. And it was supposed to be an upper body workout, but I wanted to squat, so I did. Wasn't even planning on training my upper body today, but decided after the squats to chuck em in so I can get a lot rest in before I train on Thursday, because I am definitely over-reached. It's not too bad as the weights didn't feel heavy today, but speed is well down, and off course my sore throat.

Looks like the last 2 weeks have been a concentrated loading of sorts, by accident, I'm just addicted to squatting - it hurts so good
Long ass workout. Probably gonna feel like ***** tomorrow!
Time for a deload.

Body weight at gym - 214lbs
Workout time - 2.75 hours
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, 124lbs, 154lbs
in oly shoes - Powerclean + 2 High Hang Power cleans - 174lbs
Powerclean x 2 - 15 sec reset between each rep - 194lbs, 214lbs

Had to dip quite a bit to rack the 174lb set, so definitely no speed today...yep over-reached..


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, 355x2

5+ mins rest
Hold at middle on the way down, pause at bottom, driven up hard
1) 335lbs x 3 (+20lbs -3 sets)
2) 335lbs x 2 --> failed on 3rd rep just off the bottom

Thought I could up the weight to 335lbs and get 2 full sets like I wanted, even though I didn't get 5 full sets with 315lbs last time, but no go.
The mid hold was a bit shakey and I just barely made the first set.
I'm not quite fully recovered from the last workout anyway. Still I can't be all that badly over-reached since the squats didn't feel "heavy" on my back and 355lbs has never felt so controlled and comfortable. Smooth and upright. Definitely 20-30lbs stronger now, so 1RM should be at 405lbs at least. Oh so close to double BW!

Video of the 2 work sets - pause could have been longer on the 2nd set, I didn't do my usual count to 3 in my head.
Right click on light and save to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj3/Movies/CCJ_FullSquat_ISOPaused_335x3_x2_16Nov06.mpg



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Rotating Sets between each exercise
1 min on warmups and 3 min on work sets between each exercise

16inch grip Bench - shoulders tucked, no arch or leg drive

Warm ups - hold at middle and inch off the bottom on the way down, powered up - Bar x 10, 95lbs x 3, 135x3, 185x3

Hold at middle, and an inch off the bottom on the way down, powered up.
Rotation 1) 205lbs x 3
Rotation 2) 205lbs x 3
Rotation 3) 215lbs x 3
Rotation 4) 225lbs x 3

Trying these ISO paused style like my squats. Wasn't sure what I could handle doing em like this, so started at 205lbs. Felt really hard, breathing was difficult too, but then it started to get easier. So I upped the weight later on, and even 225lbs wasn't quite maximal, but getting harder. Will use 225 for my work sets next time. Quite surprising as I can barely get 255lbs x 4 normally. Unless I've gotten stronger...
I can do about 7-8 reps with 225lbs I think. So the holds pretty much halve the rep count. Massive pump!


Chest Supported T-Bar Rows - medium overhand grip

warm ups - Explosive - +70lbs x 5, +90x5, +115x4

Explosive
Rotation 1) Bar + 135lbs x 4
Rotation 2) Bar + 135lbs x 4
Rotation 3) Bar + 135lbs x 4


Single Leg Standing leg Curl - hold at top, mid and bottom - 3 plates x 4, 5 plates x 4, 7 plates x 4 x 2 sets

 

[ChinkNasty]

good work man, do you feel like your immune system gets weak when you overreach? I definitely always get sick when I tax my CNS too much, wondering if its the same for you

 

[coolcolj]

good work man, do you feel like your immune system gets weak when you overreach? I definitely always get sick when I tax my CNS too much, wondering if its the same for you

yeah it does, but it's been only this year that I have overeached slightly and gotten a sore throat. Usually I have be mega drained and beat up to be like that, and I'm not feeling like that right now. The last time I severly overtrained was in the first 2 years of training

----



Sleep not great. Feel a bit crappy, but not as bad as I expected. Slightly sore throat, running nose. Upper body a bit achey, but lower body is surprisingly not sore at all, just a worked feeling.

weighed 95.1kg 209.22lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Might go for a 12min walk and do some active recovery and easy stretching. I didn't do any yesterday after that long ass workout for obvious reasons

I looked back at my log and saw that I started doing these ISO paused squats on the 16th October. So in about a month of these I have added 30lbs onto my squat. With no change in bodyweight, and crappy sleep/diet. Not too shabby, average of 4-5lbs increase in strength each workout, plus I'm overreached too. ZMA is helping as well....?
These are like newbie type gains

I'd like to keep these gains going and hit 60lbs by the end of the year, so I'll be doing several sets of ISO paused squats with 355lbs. Putting my full squat at the 435-445lbs area. Then my goal of 495 isn't so far away....

 

[coolcolj]

Feeling better. Sleep not great, but I had a ton of naps, so that helps.
Immune system definitely got hit hard, the cold I got has green mucus...
Sore throat is just about gone.
Still feeling a bit battered body wise.

weighed 95.7kg 210.54lbs straight out of bed in underwear

did a bit of thoracic extension work and stretches

 

[coolcolj]

Sticking hot day and night, made it hard to sleep, but the naps made up for the sleep and early wake up.
Definitely bouncing back, non-powered steering wheel in the van felt the easiest to turn in the last few months.
Lower body is starting to feel good, feet got that springy feeling. Upper body still a bit beat.

weighed 95.9kg 211lbs straight out of bed in underwear

did more thoracic extension work and stretches
Getting better now, can just about get my arms vertical overhead. And can finally touch my arms on the floor in the same position lying on my back, so lats are finally loosening up. It used to be like 4 inches away from the floor,
but there is some impingement pain in that position so more work to do. Until then no more pullups.

 

[coolcolj]

freaking dogs, woke me up again! I'm looking so damn tired!
Cold is getter better, have an ulcer inside my mouth though - crap food caused it. Gotta clean up my diet
Upper back sore from all the stretching and crap I did the last 2 days.
Legs, hips and feet feeling better.

weighed 95.9kg 211lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 23rd November - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 10 - Day 2 - BBall/Jumps and Speed - Micro cycle 10

Feeling sleepy, and thought about taking the entire week off, but I need to get some sprints and jumps in. Won't be training again till Sunday again anyway.
Went to that other park with a BBall court next to the field

Body weight at shorts+ t-shirt - 213.18lbs
Workout time - ?
Workout rating - 6/10

Did a dynamic warmup in bare feet at home before heading to the park which is only 8 mins away.

1) Played BBall for 20mins or so, went moderately hard, didn't do that much jumping though. Mostly shooting, layups and post moves. Lots of agile explosive moves - damn calves, soleus especially were pumping up! They get used more than I thought.
The few near max effort jumps I did before I headed to sprinting were ok, not that high, but I still wasn't fully warmed up to max jumping mode yet.

2) did several warmup runs with a rest between sets of 3.
Then did 3x3 short sprints up to 90% with 4mins rest between each set
No shin issues. Long, close fitting shorts made these a bitch though...
Did a few vertical jumps in the rest period. Was able to touch the base of a light on the stadium ceiling.

3) played some more BBall, mostly jumping, feeling tired now. Probably should have skipped this and headed home. Pretty disappointed with my jumps here.

---

Negatives - jumps in the 3rd part of the session were real low. I dunno if the sprints tired me that much, or I'm really overreached, but they were 4 inches lower across the board for the 2 legged jumps.
Jumps felt kinda muscled too.Really disappointed, will see how it turns out when I'm fresher in 10 days time.


Positives - I BBalled in some low cut sneakers, not a whole lot thicker than Chuck Taylors, and I felt pretty good. Feet, ankles, knees all felt solid. When your strong in those areas with good force absorption you don't need much padding I guess.
Will never buy another pair of BBall shoes. They're too big, heavy, hot and expensive anyway! The Nike Free 5.0 I tried the other week feel so comfortable, might get a pair

- The ball rolled onto the road in the first part when I was BBalling, and I ran after it, jumped off a 2 feet high ledge, landed and bounced off the ground easy as you like with hardly any knee bend.

- I automatically reeled off some smooth running one leg jumps anytime I did a layup without thinking. Very unusual as I normally prefer 2 legged jumps. It felt real comfortable. Did them at good speed too, with no shin pain, and a lot more confidence. The jump practise I have been doing at the gym is paying off.

- 3 step vertical jump was smooth, without the hesitation jump stop I normally do and was higher than my one step VJ by a couple of inches or more. Getting more spring.

- Knees came up extremely high on the sprints. Kinda like full squat bottom position. Hmm wonder if the paused squats doing some active flexibility work there...

 

[wakefib]

Thursday 23rd November - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 10 - Day 2 - BBall/Jumps and Speed - Micro cycle 10

Feeling sleepy, and thought about taking the entire week off, but I need to get some sprints and jumps in. Won't be training again till Sunday again anyway.
Went to that other park with a BBall court next to the field

Body weight at shorts+ t-shirt - 213.18lbs
Workout time - ?
Workout rating - 6/10

Did a dynamic warmup in bare feet at home before heading to the park which is only 8 mins away.

1) Played BBall for 20mins or so, went moderately hard, didn't do that much jumping though. Mostly shooting, layups and post moves. Lots of agile explosive moves - damn calves, soleus especially were pumping up! They get used more than I thought.
The few near max effort jumps I did before I headed to sprinting were ok, not that high, but I still wasn't fully warmed up to max jumping mode yet.

2) did several warmup runs with a rest between sets of 3.
Then did 3x3 short sprints up to 90% with 4mins rest between each set
No shin issues. Long, close fitting shorts made these a bitch though...
Did a few vertical jumps in the rest period. Was able to touch the base of a light on the stadium ceiling.

3) played some more BBall, mostly jumping, feeling tired now. Probably should have skipped this and headed home. Pretty disappointed with my jumps here.

---

Negatives - jumps in the 3rd part of the session were real low. I dunno if the sprints tired me that much, or I'm really overreached, but they were 4 inches lower across the board for the 2 legged jumps.
Jumps felt kinda muscled too.Really disappointed, will see how it turns out when I'm fresher in 10 days time.


Positives - I BBalled in some low cut sneakers, not a whole lot thicker than Chuck Taylors, and I felt pretty good. Feet, ankles, knees all felt solid. When your strong in those areas with good force absorption you don't need much padding I guess.
Will never buy another pair of BBall shoes. They're too big, heavy, hot and expensive anyway! The Nike Free 5.0 I tried the other week feel so comfortable, might get a pair

- The ball rolled onto the road in the first part when I was BBalling, and I ran after it, jumped off a 2 feet high ledge, landed and bounced off the ground easy as you like with hardly any knee bend.

- I automatically reeled off some smooth running one leg jumps anytime I did a layup without thinking. Very unusual as I normally prefer 2 legged jumps. It felt real comfortable. Did them at good speed too, with no shin pain, and a lot more confidence. The jump practise I have been doing at the gym is paying off.

- 3 step vertical jump was smooth, without the hesitation jump stop I normally do and was higher than my one step VJ by a couple of inches or more. Getting more spring.

- Knees came up extremely high on the sprints. Kinda like full squat bottom position. Hmm wonder if the paused squats doing some active flexibility work there...

if you want a good pair of ball shoes. get NEW BALANCE. they are the best. i got a pair and the support is really good. i put my carters on this morning, and it felt so clunky and not comfortable.

 

[coolcolj]

if you want a good pair of ball shoes. get NEW BALANCE. they are the best. i got a pair and the support is really good. i put my carters on this morning, and it felt so clunky and not comfortable.

Well I'm no longer buying BBall shoes because they are crutches, too much support and pudding = heavier, hotter and muschier shoe
Most people have weak feet, ankles and lower legs so they need that

I prefer a low cut, minimal padding shoe for more comfort, air flow, and power transfer. I tried the Nike Air Free 5,0 and they are so comfy, they are a running shoe that is supposed to make it feel like your running barefeet. Very airy and not much padding. Not quite barefeet feeling, but it does feel very light and airy! You have to use your foot muscles and calves to do most of the shock absorbtion unlike other shoes.

Off course you need to be strong in your feet, ankles and lower body to use em. Strong calves and barefeet work will get you there. Which I have done.

---

Not enough sleep. Feel a bit beat up. Feet, and lower legs are trashed. Achey posterior chain and upper back/traps/shoulders.

weighed 96.3kg 211.86lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[ChinkNasty]

hows taht cold coming boss?