Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Stefan Gill, dang 5'8" 172cm guy with super hops!

Plays for Manchester Magic in the UK, wins all kinds of dunk comps. He must have a legit 40+ inch VJ

you can see he can just about touch the ring on a finger roll during warmups!

nice clear clip - head 6 inches from rim it looks like!
46inch running VJ with the ball...

I think I just found my role model

right click and save
http://www.hosana.co.uk/video/clips/Matrix Reloaded.mpg

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 8th May - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 7 - Day 1 - BBALL - Microcycle 1

Was feeling decent, so I decided to head to the courts earlier today, before I lost that feeling. Glute minor and IT band was a bit tight, over active, so that had me a bit worried I might not jump and move well, but how wrong I was
I think I will go earlier from now on, 12:30pm. Went to my fav outdoor court. One side is normal with a stiff 2 layered rim, and the other side is lower with a sweet spring action single rim ring. I played on the lower side mostly
Only one person was there halfway though, but some guy asked to shoot with me towards the end, and he got to see me jump and pulverise the rim

Bodyweight at home - 215.5lbs
Workout time - 55 mins
Workout rating - 9/10

started with easy dribbling and shooting for 10 mins. Then progressed to more intense stuff. 70% of the session was jumping, dunk attempts.

Jump is up another inch!!!
Last week I could barely jump, 3 days after a heavy squat session. Then this week I'm recovered and boom up an inch. The same thing happened earlier in week 2. I wonder if this pattern will continue?
I think I may keep the deload going for another week - not sure...
VMO and calves were smacked really hard today, so I guess I wasn't using my hammies as much to jump.

So far in this training cycle, 6 weeks..
1) Standing VJ +3 inches
2) One step two legged jump is 2.5 inches higher than VJ. 3.5 inch overall gain
3) 3 step two legged jump with a jump stop is 3.5 inches higher than VJ. 3.5 inch overall gain
4) Running one leg jump is 2.5 inches lower than VJ, up 3/4 inch - yeah it's bad!
5) dunk attempts pretty close to my one step jump.


So I dropped 5lbs of bodyweight, and gained 3 inches on my standing VJ, and 3.5 inches for the other jumps!
I think 2 inches of that is from fat loss, and 1 inch from power gains. If things continue as is, then I should have me a 40inch VJ at 200lbs. And if it's possible for me to reach 185-190lbs then I could well have a 44 inch standing VJ - just speculating

That other guy that later joined me was impressed
I really pulverised that lowered rim with the one handed dunk attempts, legs flying up like a kungfu kick on the ring grab
Damn that backboard shook, I couldn't get the ball in, but I felt good doing it!
Even when I used a mini ball, I could barely get it in, so I will need lots more inches before I can dominate it.

Also I compared my standing and 5 sec paused standing VJ, and there is only a 1.5 inch difference at most. So I can make some gains in that area from reactivity work, when I reach my bodyweight/fat goals.
Right now I'm mostly relying on explosive strength to get me up.
Hmm I wonder if its possible to have a 40inch paused VJ? That would give me a huge advantage in rebounding and shot blocking - no need to dip

It takes me ages to warmup, but once I'm there, I go up like a rocket, fast takeoff. And it seems that even when I don't jump that hard I can get close to my max height, even off dribbles and post up spins etc, so that bodes well to transfering my jump into a game situation.

 

[coolcolj]

Waking pulse is higher than usual due to me being still hyped after yesterday
I feel surprisingly good, very minimal drained feeling, no DOMs in my legs and hips, but my calves, upper back, and rear delts are a little sore.
I can never quite tell how I will feel the next day after a workout, and judging by how things were yesterday and the amount of jumping I did, I expected my posterior chain to be very sore today, but it's not!

 

[coolcolj]

Bodyweight and waist size has been fairly static the last few days, 215lbs and 38 inches respectively. Time to resume leaning down, been wanting to get the waist down to 37 inches, 38 has been a barrier for long enough...

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 10th May - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 7 DELOAD - Day 2 Morning - Tempo and Energy Work - Microcycle 1

Average session, drop in blood sugar halfway through made my power drop, but not too bad. I decided to keep the deload going this week, just changed the nature of it. So this micro-cycle I did 4 normal weeks and 3 weeks of deload. Next week back into it with a new micro-cycle.
Ankle and shins are pretty much non-issues now, but I'll still get back to the tib work next week anyway.

Bodyweight at home - 216lbs
Workout Rating - 7/10
Workout time - 35 mins all up

Warmup

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

Run complex increasing in speed each run to 50% speed - 1.5 mins rest

4 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible

50m straight run, 10 sec rest
5m accleration into 90 degree right direction change into lateral run,
Right to left 10m, then left to right 10m, rotate into backwards run 10m, rotate back to front and run 10m.
walk 50m then jog with gentle swerves to each side back to start

then 50m accleration runs to 60% speed 2x2 - 2mins rest


Tempo Runs + Energy Work

220+ metres @ 60% speed with proper standing start - 180 degree turn at halfway
1) 51.7 secs

Last week I did 3x105+ tempo runs with 1.5 mins rest, so I dropped the volume even lower today just doing a single 220+ run. Just wanted to get my body used to 220+, because next week I'll be doing them again, but with greater volume. Felt pretty good, not as tiring as I last remebered.
Felt pretty reactive, ran on the balls of my feet, I just snapped each step without even pushing or pulling each stride.

 

[coolcolj]

I should test my standing long jump later this week before I up the volume of tempo work again, I figure it should be a 3-6inches better now without having done any

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 10th May - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 7 DELOAD - Day 2 Evening - Upper - Microcycle 1

Workout started ok, then I went flat, like I ran out of gas or something. I didn't take an carb in my whey drink post tempo this morning, so that may have had something to do with it. Slowly regaining my upper body strength though.

Since I started these trap and neck stretches, and scapular dips/pushups there has been a big change in my posture, and cuban presses do not cause impingement pain in my shoulder anymore. I figured I always had tight and overactive upper traps and neck from hunching over a desk, and which olys didn't exactly help either. Probbaly why I always had problems with snatches as well.
Also noticed my TMJ/jaw locking problems when I open my mouth really wide have greatly decreased. I know many years ago when I saw my dentist about this, he did prescibe some neck and trap stretches...I was lazy bum though
I still have the mouth splint he made for me to treat this, haven't used it ages though

Bodyweight at gym - 219lbs
Workout time - 1.25 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warmup - scapular pushups 3x10 different angles, from easy to the floor

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 30secs to 1min on warmup sets and then 2 to 3 mins between each exercise

14 inch Grip bench - shoulder blades pulled together, no arch or leg drive

Warmups - Bar 3x10, 95lbs 2x5, 135x5, x3, 165x3, x2, 195x2, x1, 225x1, 245x1

Controlled for max reps
Rotation 1) 245lbs x 4 --> one rep from failure
Rotation 2) 245lbs x 4 --> last rep a hard grind

Not too bad considering I control the eccentric much more than before, no more small bounces on chest. I can also lower the bar further down keep the elbows much closer in without discomfort now. I guess this is probably related to my trap, posture and scapular muscle balance issues I mentioned above. Not shrugging up as much when it gets tough now.

45 degree Chest Supported T-Bar Row - palms down grip

warmups - Bar 3x10, 25lbs 2x5, 45lbs 2x5, 70lbs 2x3, 90lbs 2x3, 115x1, 135x1

Assuming bar weighs 20lbs

Controlled for max reps
Rotation 1) Bar+135lbs x 5
Rotation 2) Bar+135lbs x 5 ---> last rep hard


Standing Dumbell Curls

warmups - 2kg x10, 5kg x5, 15lbs x5, 25x5, 35x3, 45x1

Controlled for max reps
Rotation 1) 50lbs x 3 --> close to failure
Rotation 2) 50lbs x 2.5


SCM/Upper Trap and Suboccipital/Levator Scapulae Stretches

All warmup sets and Rotations - 5 to 10secs each side and stretch


CoolDown, Cuff Stuff and ISO Stretches - EQI

Cuff circuit

1.5 min rest between each - only one set of each this week

Lying single crossbody lateral - warmup 3kg x 6
4 sec ISO hold at parallel each rep on the way down
A1) 7kg x 2 + 3 ISO

Scapular Dips - chest high, shoulders tucked, close grip - warmup BWx10
A2) BW x 10

Dumbell Cuban Rotation + Press
3 sec ISO hold at parallel each rep on the way down
A3) 4kg x 10

Scapular Pushups
A4) BW x 20

 

[coolcolj]

I woke up early and had that slight drained feeling, went back to sleep, or tried to, sorta dozed in and out of sleep, dreaming of jumping and dunking most of the time
Felt much better after that. Guess this drained feeling I had a lot in the past is mostly related to sleep. Hit 213.5lbs out of bed this morning, waist slightly under 38 inches - about time!

 

[coolcolj]

clip from yesterday

Right click on clip and save to avoid errors

2x4 with 245lbs on 14inch grip bench - controlled for max reps
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/CCJ_14inchGripBench_245_2x4_10May05.mpg

 

[d-dub]

I woke up early and had that slight drained feeling, went back to sleep, or tried to, sorta dozed in and out of sleep, dreaming of jumping and dunking most of the time
Felt much better after that. Guess this drained feeling I had a lot in the past is mostly related to sleep. Hit 213.5lbs out of bed this morning, waist slightly under 38 inches - about time!

I totallly agree with this. Once I figured out i felt drained and sluggish because of poor sleep, and took steps to get quality sleep, i realized i wasnt 'overtrained' but 'undersleeping'. Quantity time in bed does not mean quality.