Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Barely sore right now after that mammoth pressing volume yesterday, although things may change later today

 

[coolcolj]

after watching the press PR clip, it shows I have pretty good balance of speed and strain in my upperbody. A nice square box

In the next cycle I will switch to speed/iso combo for presses, and heavy regular benches. Basicly a flip flop of the current cycle. No sure yet.

 

[d-dub]

Its funny how much is in the mind on a lift - if you think it should be easy cos you misloaded the plates, you crank it out at the heavier weight.
it looked pretty fast except for the last half of the final rep. nice.

 

[coolcolj]

but in this case I am actually stronger

all the warmups felt way lighter than before - especially everything under 115lbs. And the increased speed is due to the explosive closegrip bench work I have been doing I figure, but I can still strain as well thanks to the ISOs
I actually thought the press felt a bit slow, and that I lowered it slowly - amazing how feel can be so wrong after watching the clip...


I have a feeling my closegrip bench has gone up 20-30lbs as well. Like I said last workout, 225lbs on closegrip bench felt much lighter and faster than before.
I mean I have gone up 10lbs every week on my explosive bench+ISO to failure combo for the last 3 workouts. That's probbaly why my press has gone up to. For me when one goes up so does the other - looking forward to doing some heavy closegrip benches to see - almost 315lbs I figure

My ratio between the 2 lifts is about 67 to 70%

 

[Dreambrother]

Cool,

Tracked this down from Ant's brilliant Journal

Well done on the 195. I've been going through your entire journal in the past few days, progress is very solid. It's great to look at page 1 and then look at this page.

I am soon embarking on DB (after I drop 30lbs) so I hope I hope you don't mind me asking you some quick q's based on you experience and (now legendary) knowledge (Sorry, don't mean to be a sycophant, it seems on every board I go, you're the 'go to' guy).

How would you set up your week, if you had complete flexibility in shedule and set up at home? moved my room downstairs next to the back yard, have everything except a rack (but spotter catcher stands are fine). I mean would you split your routine up a bit more, such as cg bench & military rotations AM, pullup/ Row rotations PM etc.

Cheers

 

[coolcolj]

Cool,
Well done on the 195. I've been going through your entire journal in the past few days, progress is very solid. It's great to look at page 1 and then look at this page.

I am soon embarking on DB (after I drop 30lbs) so I hope I hope you don't mind me asking you some quick q's based on you experience and (now legendary) knowledge (Sorry, don't mean to be a sycophant, it seems on every board I go, you're the 'go to' guy).

How would you set up your week, if you had complete flexibility in shedule and set up at home? moved my room downstairs next to the back yard, have everything except a rack (but spotter catcher stands are fine). I mean would you split your routine up a bit more, such as cg bench & military rotations AM, pullup/ Row rotations PM etc.

thanks, progres is good, but could have been much better in hindsight

LOL - not really

nope, I wouldn't do 2 sessions a day. CNS drain is doubled when you do that. and you would only train like that or more frequently if your work capacity had progressed to the point where you could do 15+ sets with a 5% dropoff for example I think
I would train the same as I do now actually. Once I train I definietly could not back up for another session. less is more as they say, and it's really true for this style of training.

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 4th October - Cycle 2 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 14 - Day 3 - Lower 1 FATIGUE TOLERATION - Microcycle 3 - workout 7

Damn long workout today. Work capacity is just downright crazy, it's like I'm becoming a machine! Just a matter of translating the work capacity into gains now.
Bent bars at my gym made things tougher on frontsquats and snatch grip deadlifts - pain in the ass!!!!
I'm one tired boy right now...

Bodyweight at the gym - 219lbs
Workout Rating - 8/10
Workout time - 2.75 hours

Warmup

1) Twisting Back Extensions - BWx6 normal, and 4 twisted to each alternating sides.
2) Incline situps x6 + 4 with Russian twists to each side at the top - arms held outstretched
3) Ankle Jumps - 2x15

4) Olys -

A few sets of stuff with the bar to warmup

SquatClean + PowerJerk - 89lbs
PowerSnatch - 89lbs x2
SquatClean + PowerJerk - 109lbs
PowerSnatch - 109lbs x2
SquatClean + PowerJerk - 131lbs
PowerSnatch - 131lbs x2
SquatClean + PowerJerk - 155lbs

Even though my shoulders were really sore from the last workout, after I warmed up they felt OK, so I went ahead with Powerjerks and PowerSnatches. Timing and form is getting much better on Cleans and jerks.


Rotating between each exercise

rest - 1 min for warmups. 2 mins between each exercise after warmups.


CleanGrip Front Squats - in Oly Shoes - RAW

Warmup sets - alternating between back and frontsquats up to 285lbs - Bar 2x5, 95x3, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 255x2, 285x1
FrontSquats - Barx5, 95x3,135x2, 185x2, 225x1, 255x1, 285x1, 325lbs x 10sec support

Rotation 1a) 315lbs x 1 New PR!! +10lbs
Rotation 1b) 325lbs x MISS

90% of (85%BW+Session max) dropoff
Rotation 2) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 3) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 4) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 5) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 6) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 7) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 8) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 9) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 10) 265lbs x 2
Rotation 11) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 12) 265lbs x 2
Rotation 13) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 14) 265lbs x 1
Rotation 15) 265lbs x MISS ---> at bottom upper body failure

325lbs wasn't even close to making it to the sticking point, but 315lbs is a 10lb gain for 6 workouts work, took about 3 secs as well and I was able to stay upright. Maybe I will hit 325lbs when I resume my normal workouts. Seems like my work capacity went up a lot as well, which should translate to a future big gain.
Curved bar made the worksets much harder. I started to do doubles here and then to make me fail quicker - just wanted to go home
Felt like my upper body failed more than my legs on the 15th set. Pure torture!!!

Snatch Grip Deadlift - RAW - HookGrip in Olyshoes

Warmup sets - 155lbs x1, 205x1 , 243x1, 293x1

Rotation 1a) 353lbs x 1 New PR!!
Rotation 1b) 348lbs x 1 ---> misloaded bar....
Rotation 1c) 383lbs x 1 New PR!! Left hand grip slip
Rotation 1d) 383lbs x MISS --> 3inches off the floor

90%of (50%BW+Session max) dropoff
Rotation 2) 333lbs x 1
Rotation 3) 333lbs x 1
Rotation 4) 333lbs x 1
Rotation 5) 333lbs x MISS --> hands hurt a lot

Well I didn't quite lock out 383lbs due to my left hand grip slip, but with only 2 inches to go, I will count it because it wasn't that hard up top. Would've been easy had I not done the misloaded attempt...
Best before was 323lbs with straps too. Should be able to hit 400lbs with good grip and fresh. Just about the same as my fullsquat as well.
bent/curved bar was torquing my hands and making it really hurt!!!!
Can't even imagine snatching this kind of weight..

Reactive Full Back Squats

I dive bomb down and explode up

Vertical jump done before each set to measure fatigue

About 70% of (85%BW+1RM)
Rotation 1) 225lbs x3 - closed fist 2 handed VJ 1 inch below raised ceiling
Rotation 2) 245lbs x3 - closed fist 2 handed VJ 1 inch below raised ceiling
Rotation 3) 225lbs x3 - closed fist 2 handed VJ 1 inch below raised ceiling
Rotation 4) 225lbs x3 - closed fist 2 handed VJ 1 inch below raised ceiling

I ddin't pull my feet like I normally, which I find slows down the reversal speed way too much when doing em fullsquat style. Speed slowed down a lot on the 4th set, felt hard, but yet VJ didn't drop at all. I just don't think VJ reflects fatigue too well on these

Reactive Natural Glute Ham Raise

warmups - standing single leg curl 5plates x 9

Rotation 1) BWx5
Rotation 2) BWx5
Rotation 3) BWx5
Rotation 4) BWx5

 

[coolcolj]

clips from today

Right click on link and save first to avoid errors

FrontSquat PR 315lbs plus miss with 325lbs and set 12 265x2
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...ntSquatPR_315_325xMiss_set12-265x2_4Nov04.mpg

Snatch grip deadlift with 385lbs - grip slip, but I had it anyway
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/blitzforce/Movies/CCJ_SnatchGripDeadlift_383_4Nov04.mpg

 

[HP_816]

hmmm i got some questions today..

my standing military press has been very stagnant lately, and that's the lift i want the most progression on, i want a big press. my typical 5 sets of 3-5 with same weight for all sets is no longer working. do you think i would see progress if i applied your technique of working up to a daily max and then doing dropoff sets? would this work if i only applied it to this exercise? i say this because i make gains fine on everything else using the old school 5 sets of 3-5(so why make drastic changes right?). my current routine i hit each body part once every 4 days. one day lower reps heavy weight, and the other day higher reps lighter weight. also for my last question im wondering if you can recommend me accessory exercises that have carry over to the standing military.? it seems like i can get the weight to above head level easily, but from there sometimes i have to grind em out....

 

[coolcolj]

hmmm i got some questions today..

my standing military press has been very stagnant lately, and that's the lift i want the most progression on, i want a big press. my typical 5 sets of 3-5 with same weight for all sets is no longer working. do you think i would see progress if i applied your technique of working up to a daily max and then doing dropoff sets? would this work if i only applied it to this exercise? i say this because i make gains fine on everything else using the old school 5 sets of 3-5(so why make drastic changes right?). my current routine i hit each body part once every 4 days. one day lower reps heavy weight, and the other day higher reps lighter weight. also for my last question im wondering if you can recommend me accessory exercises that have carry over to the standing military.? it seems like i can get the weight to above head level easily, but from there sometimes i have to grind em out....

Probbaly not, I hit plateaus doing that as well
That method is more to allow me to judge exactly how much fatigue I generate each session so I know when to come back to the gym.
Noticed when I last hit 185x2, I took a 1 month break from pressing - and then when I came back I was making PRs every week?
While I was pressing at this time, the explosive close grip bench+ ISO combo I figure is what gave me the gains. The pressing I actually did helped my form and technique in a specific way, while the Explosive 14inch Grip bench+ISO combo and the decline tricep extensions make the actual msucles used put out more force. Off course this will only work for a few weeks before I switch to something else

Related into all this, is you have to figure what you need to make your pressing msucles generate more force. Obviously core strnegth/stability and form, then the shoulders, the outter tricep head and some pecs(but not much)
Sometimes you don't have to do the exercise itself to improve on it, as long as your using the same muscles in another exercise and doing the required things to generate the training effect you want.

for example those 14inch Grip benches I do, hit the frontdelts in the stretch range when I do the ISO, and some triceps. This will normally transfer throughpout the rest of the ROM. And this position actually correlate pretty well to the sticking point of the press, when your arms are at 90 degrees, or top of the head level. Hence why you and everyone else grind from there

So in my instance I used the press itself to build the msucles up and groove in a specific sense, the explosive 14inch grip bench to make the CNS create more magnitude of force in the same muscles, and the ISO I combine with these is to increase work capacity and also hypertropy, plus increase strain time for prolonging force for the grind trhough the sticking point.
Next cycle I plan to flipflop the exercises and hopefully get just as good gains.

perhaps you just need to go work on explosivenesss/strength speed for a while, and take a break from the usual "slow" pressing you do which is aimed at more general muscle mass, and some strength mixed in. But doing so won't match the peak magnitude of force you can put out doing explosive stuff. Then when you come back after a few workouts to reclaim your lost ground you will bust through etc

for me so far, all I have done that will help - is presses itself with different focus, close grip upright dips(not much lately), 14inch grip bench and dumbell decline tricep extensions with parallel palms grip. That's about it.
All with normal repping in all rep ranges - heavy singles and doubles, sets of 3 to 5 and even sets of 10+, explosive lighter stuff for triples, ISO and Oscillatory ISO variations --> all depends what my current weakness and needs are

old school willwork for a while, and then you need to go scientific after that for faster gains