Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

I'm curious how many calories this device would tell me I burn with my 1 to 1.5 hour bball session with mostly jumping and hard short cuts/moves...

if only it was cheaper

 

[coolcolj]

just quoting Lyle McDonald who has used it - pretty interesting stuff. Never thought calorie burn would jump that high from baseline when you train hard and long.
I mostly sit my ass during the day, no wonder why I can gain fat so fast with a box of chocolates a day

as a random tangent, looking at my training days compared to off days, the difference in caloric intake is roughly 1400 calories/day. I run about 2300 on days I do nothing but sit in front of the computer but hit 3600-3700 on training days which typically include 3 hours at the oval and 1.5 hours on the bike.

which either demonstrates that
a. exercise can do amazing things
b. exercise only does amazing things if you can do an absolute shitpile of it

 

[coolcolj]

more stuff... the mind boggles

I had the same experience. On exercise days I'd burn 4000-4300 calories by working out a couple hours. Rest days (sitting all day) I'd only burn around 2600 and struggle to hit 3000, one day I burned 2400. With standard cutting formulas I'd actually be quite a bit over maintenance on my rest days. I think that explains why I've had terrible weight loss results with standard approaches and tended to recomp instead.

The highest expenditure I had in one day (around 4500 + calories) is when my washing machine broke. I spent 7 hours moving stuff, driving around town, and repairing/moving stuff back. Which explains why one of my friends can eat pizza and fatty meats all day and not gain a pound...he literally can't sit for longer than 2 minutes without getting up and doing something.

 

[coolcolj]

walking and just keep moving around in a low intensity fashion is the key!

okay had my bodybugg for a week now and a few little things iv'e noticed. I'm 200lbs at 15%bf.

1)If i sit on my arse i burn around 2200 calories. If im up and about and take a leisurely lunch walk i burn around 3000cals.

2)The sooner i start moving in the morning (ie take a small walk ~15mins), the sooner my metabolism picks up. After i wake up and lounge around for a few hours i burn about 1.5cals/min. As soon as i start moving it kicks up to 4-5cals/min and stays up throughout the day. Maybe this is the secret to all that morning cardio on empty stomach. not so much the empty stomach, but that your getting of your arse sooner.

3)As far as the bug goes i definitely havent got a problem with a slow metabolism like i suspected however, f**ked if i know how i put on 4% of body fat while on a diet at around 2400cals since august.

 

[coolcolj]

Bodybugg is damn expensive - but but at least I know what I need to do from the people who have it

walk and move around more, if I do a few small easy walks around the block during the day, it will drop another 500 calories each day over the 500 I already have now with diet. So maybe I can drop 2lbs a week instead of 1

Should help general well being, recovery and mobility as well
without having to do sapping cardio

yeap

How long have you had the Bbugg for? Is it working for you? I've only had it for about 4 days, but thing I've noticed is something Lyle has mentioned over and over again. When someone diets down, activity levels tend to decline.

I've been brainwashed into thinking general movement is useless for calorie burn/fat loss - perform HIIT, Lift and let the afterburn get you ripped. What a mistake.

After having the Bugg, I've realized how much I stopped moving in general due to being constantly fatigued/tired from tons of HIIT and lifting. I figured the high intensity training would take care of everything (EPOC + high calorie burn - sitting at a desk 10+ hours day didn't help movement either), but it doesn't. Actually, toning down on the cardio intensity (not doing HIIT 5-6 X week) makes me feel a ton better and burn more overall calories.

It's strange how overreaching (training hard too much) can make one fatigued in general and actually decrease fat loss efforts. I was at the point where I believed HIIT didn't work. Now, I think it's simply the lack of movement from performing HIIT that's been the killer in terms of lack of fat loss

 

[coolcolj]

Saturday 19th April - Micro Cycle 7 - Week 9 - Day 1

Bodyweight = 86.3kg 189.9lbs in shorts and t-shirt

Just like clockwork, down another pound in bodyweight. Didn't help much...

pretty cold and overcast today. It's been raining on and of all week, and it rained earlier today, but dried out late in the afternoon.
Took ages to warmup. Didn't feel that great today even with some caffeine in me.

Outdoor BBall court - one right next to park with a bent rim - Nike Free 7.0 Trainer

1 hour total

cold and empty court

started with shooting, dribbling moves etc. Did lots of dribbling to start, just working on some stuff I have problems with.
Then did some jumps in the last 20 mins. About 15 max effort jumps.

Jumps were pretty crap today, no intensity at all. I dropped off pretty quickly. By the end I was down some 3 inches!
Technique was pretty bad, I kept mistiming most of my running jumps

2 handed jumps seemed just as good as last week though.
Now here is where it gets weird. Off a 2-3 step 2 legged jump with 2 hands, I can get my wrist about an inch above the bottom of a 9 feet backboard, but I am quite a distance away from the backboard so my arms are angled and reaching forward. So I should be able to get another 1-2 inches higher if I was closer. That means I should be able to touch around 9'10" with the tips of my 2 hand's fingers.
Now if I can get that high with 2 hands, I should be able to get 3 inches higher with one arm. The front part of the bent rim measures out at 9'8" but I can just sometimes roll the edge of my finger over the top of it off a step or run, instead of getting most of hand over it
With a standing vertical jump, I can get my wrist 2 inches above the bottom of the 9 feet backboard, so grabbing 9'8" should be a given off a stand, but I'm nowhere near... more like 2 inches under.. !

WTF, something must screw me up technique and power wise when jumping to the rim vs the backboard.
I've measured the backboard and rim, so it just doesn't make sense!

 

[coolcolj]

spinal erectors and posterior chain was pretty sore yesterday, and upper back to a lesser extent

I did some hops on/off a 5 inch small curb on the side of the BBall court on Saturday, just for fun and warmup during my BBall session, and it felt really easy, compared to when I was 200lbs and up. Much faster, I can't imagine how much easier and faster they will be when I get under 170lbs!

No matter how strong you get bodyweight is still a big limitation no matter what.

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 22nd April - Micro Cycle 8 - Week 1 - Day 1

Back into the gym after a weeks break. Good workout today. Glutes feel absolutely hammered right now! Obviously I have no issues activating my glutes anymore
All the foam rolling seem to help as well, moving much smoother and freer.

Starting a new training block. First weights session will be like today.
Next week with be explosive sumo deadlifts alternating between volume and peak load, and frontsquat walkouts with reactive 10 second hold as before, plus some core work and heavy bag work.
And the usual speed/power/reactive work on Saturdays when I play BBall or otherwise

I will be doing some moderate effort walking everyday for 25mins in Nike Frees, except on training days. Started on Sunday, and did Monday as well. Felt good, lower back no longer getting tight during the walk. Mostly the glute and feet doing all the work. Slowly fixing my anterior tilt....

finally able to do some single leg alternating patterns on the skipping - combo of lighter bodyweight, stronger feet from the walking, and lower leg foam rolling I guess.

Body weight at gym - 193.5lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

3min moderate walk on treadmill
My hip flexor/glute activation move
1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises
scapular pushup on bench x 8
lateral deep lunge 1x10
single leg RDL mobility + psoas activation walk

3x10 seconds rope skipping - 30secs rest

45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, GM onto toes, high hang powerclean, military press - 5 reps each


Full Front and Back Squats walkouts - shoulder width stance - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer shoes - no Belt

alternating sets between front and back squats, 45 seconds rest between each. Then 2-3min rest between each pairing

warmups
Front Squats - Bar x5, 95lbs x 3, 135x3, 185x3
Back Squats - Bar x5, 95x3, 135x3, 185x3

controlled
Front Squat - 225lbs x 2
rest 4 mins
Back Squat - 225lbs x 5

first time squatting in a few weeks, so no need to kill myself, but 225lbs worked me good anyway, but I left some in the tank. 225 on FS was quite hard

Squats felt great, only a slight discomfort on my left knee.
Weight somehow didn't feel as heavy on my back or shoulders as before. It's not like I was overreaching in the last block, so I don't know why the difference in feel. Also I had no problems supporting 225lb on front squats, no breathing or blacking out issues. I haven't had that kind of weight on my shoulders in months, so it looks like those frontsquat walkouts with short reactive jolts when holding for 10second is working well here

Also all the Sumo deadlifts have probably helped my squat support strength.

Used a shoulder width stance for both types of squats, range of motion definitely felt much longer. Especially on front squats
Glutes, VMO and rectus femoris were worked pretty good.
I focused on keeping the weight balanced on the inner side of the feet and on the big toe. Since I haven't squatted in a while, I was finally able to get rid of the habit of spreading my legs/knees and putting the weight on the side of my feet today. I just kept it nicely balanced and my outer hips relaxed. Felt much better.
Spreading the legs maybe ok for power lifting and olylifting, but IMO it's bad for athletic goals like jumping and sprinting...


Single Leg Lifts

1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x33lb dumbells x 8

single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x33lbs dumbell x 8

up 3lbs each dumbell, pretty tough, oww my glutes were smashed by the SLK deadlifts! Good balance today.


Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches

Heavy bag punching - 1 min easy warmup
1.5 mins max effort

massive pec and upper pec pump!

dip shrug - 5sec hold + 3 reps, BW 12 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep

Leg lowering AB exercise - slow tempo
warmup - supported leg raise x 5
1.5 mins rest - 2x5 reps
could get my legs all the way to floor without my lower back coming off the floor for 2 full sets of 5 - making nice progress

Side bridge hold
30 secs each side - man these were hard!! Got some work to do

Stretching for whole body - hybrid active isolated type stretching and some static stretching. Hybrid = 20sec static stretch of the muscle group, then 20 reps contracting the opposite muscle group briefly to stretch further

my hip flexors are getting really flexible. I can get my rear leg in a Bulgarian split-squat type stretch past 45 degrees with my upper body upright. This will come in handy when I get back into sprinting, for nice full hip extension

 

[coolcolj]

feeling a little sapped and beat up

freaking glutes and upper hamstrings are really sore! Sore VMO, calves, upper back and biceps as well.

 

[coolcolj]

Holy crap - my hamstrings are even more sore today! So painful, I can barely bend over

My system/CNS feels good though from the walking I think.