Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Felt a bit drained when I first woke up. Not so bad now. Muscles and tendons in my feet/ankles are a bit battered. Hammies are moderately sore - agility work cranks em up that's for sure!

Upper body and legs feel nice and loose - just the way I like it. I haven't done any strength work on upper body for a while now, and boy does it feel good. Muscles feel soft, loose and supple, and ROM is much better. On the negative side, my biceps were feeling a bit worked over at work, carrying stuff around, and throwing things at high velocity. Guess I'll have to start working em again - see bicep work is more than just cosmetic
I was hoping to not have to train my upper body for a good while just to see what happens.

Strength training is a necessary evil - on one hand you feel more stable and it makes you strong and explosive, but on the other hand it also makes you tight and f*cks up your motor patterns, and for me I gain too much weight and muscle mass. Especially in my legs and hips. My legs are pretty big, and for their size, they're not very strong at all, and it's not like I train like a bodybuilder either. You'd think with my leg and hip size I'd be fullsquatting over 500lbs...
Just be thankful if your naturally explosive like Hook Mitchell - you can spend all the time playing and practising your sport without having to work out and get all the negatives that come with that!!!!

 

[coolcolj]

took a couple of quick snaps - yep my quads and hams are still pretty big

just under 30 inches....

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj/Temp/CCJ_Legs_6thApril05.JPG

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 7th April

Feel a bit crappy today, lack of sleep.

Tempo - Morning

Alternating Split Leg RFI hops with arm swing
on balls of feet - going at comfortable relaxed rate - barefoot on 2 layers of carpet

30secs x 7 - with 1 min 45sec rest

to ease the burden on my feet and shins I decided to do a different type of tempo today, a bit like sking on the spot
And barefoot as well to strengthen the muscles in my feet. Tibs were working quite hard, something I don't notice while running.

Felt good, but 30secs is a bit too long, my hips were starting to tire by the 25sec mark, so 20secs next time.
rest time was about perfect, my heart rate would drop around the 1 min 30 mark. Wasn't sure if 7 sets were enough, but better to do less than more, and that was about 15min worth of stuff. Feel much better now

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 7th April - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 2 - Lower - Microcycle 1

Average workout, felt a bit stale, not really that zippy. I didn't do my usual warmup stuff, and stuff felt heavy for a while until I got a sweat up. Posterior chain is wasted!

Bodyweight at the gym - 221lbs
Workout Rating - 7/10
Workout time - ?


farmers walk with 60lb dumbells to rack
warmup complex with 30lb bar


Full Back Squats + Light Bands - in Oly Shoes - RAW

Using Light bands, cinched around a 60lb dumbell, just in the top third adding about 40-50lbs resistance to slingshot down the bar and stop bar coming off at the top

alternating sets with frontsquats
Warmups - BWx5, Bar x5, with Bands (explosive) - Bar x3, 95x2, 135x2, 185x2, 225x2
frontsquats with bands - Barx3, 95x2, 135x2, 185x2, 225x2

About 66 to 70% of 1RM - Down fast, Explode up
Rotation 1) 255lbs x 3 - 0.8 sec concentric
Rotation 2) 275lbs x 2 - 0.933 sec concentric
Rotation 3) 255lbs x 3 --> last rep slow - 0.8, 0.867, 0.933 sec concentrics

I guess you could count the warmup sets as part of the workout as I did em all explosively.

PowerClean + HighHang SquatClean Complex

warmups - 110lbs - clean deadlift + hang powerclean, Powerclean + HighHang SquatClean - 110lbs, 155lbs x 2

Rotation 1) 175lbs
Rotation 2) 175lbs
Rotation 3) 175lbs --> best form

been ages since I did any cleans, so working the groove. Last one was the best, I was a bit frantic in the others, but then focused on relaxing and feeling the FORCE and form looked much better
Squatted quite wide on the cleans, and so my knees moved in a bit on the way up due to flexibility reasons etc


Cooldown

Fullsquats + Bands 135lbs x 12

farmers walk with 60lb dumbells back to dumbell area

Toe curls on lying leg curl machine - 2plates x 15

Low pulley LFlyes - 10lbs x 12

layed over a swiss balll to stretch out the spinal erectors x 1min

dislocate pec stretches with wooden staff


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clip from today

Right click on clip and save to avoid errors

squats and last set of cleans. The new squat rack makes a nice camera stand

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolco...75_7April05.mpg

 

[coolcolj]

Achey all over - calves, posterior chain and upper back, traps and cuffs mostly. Biceps are a bit sore thanks to my arm bend in the cleans - that takes care of my high velocity bicep work ;D

Feet and ankles feel so much better from all that barefoot stuff I did yesterday. Sweet!

 

[coolcolj]

I was fiddling around doing some calculations on the lewis nomogram equation, and with my current wattage power levels in my standing vertical jump.

If I dropped my bodyweight down to 82kg 180lbs without losing any strength/power then I will have a standing vertical jump of 40+ inches and a running one of 46+ inches assuming my ratio stays the same..
That would mean my fullsquat and snatch grip deadlift would be about 2.1 times bodyweight and clean deadlift over 2.6, military press of 1.25 and frontsquat of 1.75 times.

1/4 inch dip Powersnatch just over bodyweight too, which makes sense as I need to throw the bar about 40 inches to powersnatch it. Especially the way I do em with a jump

Something to ponder

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 10th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 3 - Day 1 - BBALL - Microcycle 1

After a nap and food I felt better this morning, upper body still a bit beat up, but overall not bad. And so BBall felt good. Legs were strong and explosive. What a difference to last week!!! So it looks like 3 days from the last workout is enough for recovery and maybe some gains.
I Finshed up the session before I started to tire, so left with 25% juice left.

Not much change in bodyweight, but I do feel like I'm leaning up, but I'm gaining a muscle in my legs and hips at the same time, because my legs look bigger! I still feel a bit heavy and clunky as you'd expect, but its getter better.

Bodyweight at home - 220lbs
Workout time - 45 mins
Workout rating - 8/10

started with easy dribbling and shooting. Then progressed to more intense stuff. 70% of the session was jumping, dunk attempts, and layups, stuff shooting

Jumping is up a bit from 2 weeks ago. I think due to a combo of real power gains and better technique. More to do with explosive strength gains than reactivity, looking at the results

1) Standing VJ is up a solid 1 to 1.5 inches. I dip down faster and back a bit, swing arms harder.
2) One step two legged jump is 2 inches higher than VJ.
3) 3 step two legged jump with a jump stop is 3 inches higher than VJ
4) Running one leg jump is also up a bit, maybe 3/4 inch
5) dunk attempt with a dribble is same as my 1 step jump, with or without a dribble, one step or with a running jump stop - no difference today. Interesting because in the past I do lose 3 inches with the ball in my hand...

Now the gap between my running one leg jump and standing VJ has widened. I guess that tells me my explosive strength has gone up will my reactivty has stayed the same. Actually more of a slow jog, because when I run it's even lower, my body shuts down, and it does feel like my leg is struggling to absorb the forces and react even with a slow jog etc.
Even my running 2 leg jump hasn't gone up much. So reactivity and force absorbtion has become a weakness again, but I'll put it on the backburner for now.

Feet felt pretty good. Ankles not bad, my right ankle is still a bit twingey but better than last week. Also had that twinge in my left knee on running jumps and jump stop dunk attempts. Something to do with the deeper knee bend I guess. No problems with standing and one step jumps or dunk attempts though. So its healing, but I need to keep an eye on it.

 

[coolcolj]

Could have slept in, but my body is too used to waking up early...oh well, don't feel too bad. When I woke up my upper traps and neck were on fire. From all the jumping and ring grabbing? Looks like I'll have to start training my upper body again so imbalances don't come up. Feet, ankles, legs and hips feel ok overall. You can tell they have been worked but no DOMs.
Looks like all my attributes and capacities are rising all together - sweet!

Only 2 major negatives is my bum right ankle, need to improve its strength ROM so it doesn't overstretch the inner tendons when I jump deep. So some seated calf raise work and ISO stretched holds on it are in order.
And my left knee that has recently flared up. I was getting clicks on it for a while, and it seems like the VMO on it doesn't fire properly and is smaller than its right counterpart. I've been ignoring these signs, but now I have to address it. Also the left hammie is a lot tighter than my right, probably a related issue. Certainly strains more when taking off the line when sprinting.

I might do some tempo stuff today, I feel up to it, but not running, just those stiff legged runs or sking stuff on the spot with barefeet, I did last week. And maybe some rehab work for my left knee, splitsquats on a sitfit to get that VMO firing properly. And some leg/hip stretches

 

[coolcolj]

moved around a bit with some hops and jogging on the spot stuff, to warmup

stand on one leg - 2x12sec, with eyes shut 3x12sec

then did
rock bottom splitsquats with knee going as far forward as possible, heel up, on a sitfit, with arm for support on railing. Pressing a finger into the VMO to make sure it fires

Left side - 1x10, 2x12
Right side - 1x10 1x12

Left knee feels much better now, amazing

Then some stretches for the tibs and calves, quads and hip flexors

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 12th April - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 2 Morning - Tempo and Energy Work - Microcycle 1

Went pretty well, once I got a sweat up, body felt loose and fluid. Shins and right ankle got a bit achey, mostly from the agility stuff but I'll be unloading soon so they get the time to recover. Felt good after, not tired, which is what I need since I have an upper body session later today

Workout Rating - 8/10
Workout time - 45 mins all up

Warmup

30 min warmup - dynamic swings
RFI hops - 2 legged alternating forward/back and side to side
SplitSquat front to back and side to side

Run complex 50m forward and back x 5 - increasing in speed each run

straight run, into lateral run leftside, then rightside, back into forward run, rotate into backwards run, rotate back to front. Turn around, walk back towards start, acclerate, side steps to each side every 2nd step, then into swerves to each side.

then 50m accleration runs to 60% speed 2x2


Tempo Runs + Energy Work

200+ metres with 180 degree turn at halfway @ 60% speed with proper standing start - 3mins rest
1) 52 secs
2) 52 secs

Dropped the pace 6 secs from last week, felt better, still not easy but much more relaxed now

50m Agility run @ 60% speed - side steps to each side every 2nd step, then turn around and zig-zag runs back to start, 360 pivot at the end of each angle change

2 runs - up one from last week.