Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Felt OK when I woke up, despite not having as much sleep last night, but the hours of napping and lying in bed yesterday made up for that....my girlfriend came over and I just about spent all day in bed

She also made spaghetti for dinner, I ate a lot of it, lots of starchy carbs...but somehow, my waist is back under 38inches...
Although I guess I didn't eat much overall yesterday for obvious reasons
Plus its cold which always helps to burn extra cals. And I think the swelling in my midsection muscles from the lower body workout has gone too. Bodyweight is up a bit though, probbaly due to the extra carbs and water in the muscles.

That certainly recharged my CNS
Feeling much stronger today, the non-powered steering wheel in the van feels way lighter to turn! The difference between when I get weak and when I'm strong like today is like night and day!
Even the big roll of plastic at my part time job felt light as hell. Years ago I used to struggle carrying that. Amazing.
See how this holds for BBall today. My posterior chain and legs are still a bit achey. And I'll have to play in winter clothing now, which adds extra weight..

 

[coolcolj]

I might start testing my reaction time each morning, best of 3 goes with this to see the correlation of overreaching to it as per that study link posted
basicly when one overreaches reaction time gets worse etc

http://www.ugotgames.com/game_reaction_time_tester.php

best this morning 0.159
best run - 0.189, 0.213, 0.18, 0.176, 0.191 which gave me a best average - 0.189

I'm feeling about 90% fresh, and after working a bit as well so that's a good baseline, CNS feeling fairly quick

 

[KOArtist]

hey coolj, have you found any good supps for priming/"charging" the CNS, thereby increasing explosiveness, etc.???

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 29th May - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 3 - Day 1 - BBALL - Microcycle 2

Went to the lower rim outdoor court. Cold!

Bodyweight at home - 217lbs
Workout time - 35 mins
Workout rating - 6/10

started with easy dribbling and shooting for 20 mins to warmup.
Then progressed to more intense stuff and jumping

Well my jump was 2inches lower than my peak, and it felt crappy as well.. Granted my bodyweight was heavier, but the same as last week, and I jumped the same as my peak then.

Looks like my experiment to move the 2nd session of tempo/energy work to the day after my lower body workout was not a good idea, I just can't recover from it in one day.
All the signs pointed to a decent session, and the session did start ok, I felt good dribbling and shooting, and doing some moves. But legs and feet did not feel right when jumping and landing, and that's the bottom line for me right now. I'll have to go back to what I did last microcycle...

So what does this say for the reaction test?
I averaged a 0.189 sec time. Which is faster than the average person. Unless my normal reaction time is uber fast in the 0.12 to 0.14 area....
I'll keep recording each day for the next week or so and see if there are any trends. If not I'll toss it
To be fair, yesterday I averaged in the 0.2 sec area, and I felt better today and did better on it.

 

[coolcolj]

hey coolj, have you found any good supps for priming/"charging" the CNS, thereby increasing explosiveness, etc.???

PseudoEphedrine in cough medicine I guess

Well that kinda makes you hyper by tapping into your adrenal glands, but not a good idea long term. They are very taxing to the adrenals and the cns if abused.
Other than that I don't know, I think some of those supplement like Biotest Powerdrive is supposed to help here, I dunno, I don't take it.

Supercharge the mind/muscle connection and get more out of your workouts. Biotest product testing indicates that 45 minutes after using Powerdrive®, as recommended, strength levels can increase by as much as 8-12%. Individual results may vary widely.
Gain a new level of concentration and focus that gives you the competitive edge you're looking for!

Power Drive® contains a rich supply of tyrosine, the amino acid precursor to the stimulatory neurotransmitters ephedrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which facilitate ample amounts of phosphatidylcholine and DMAE to promote the production of acetylcholine, which supports motor control and memory

Nothing beats sleep for fully charging up the CNS

T-mag: Now, here's a problem a lot of people have. How would you go about regenerating the adrenals after a lengthy period of stimulant abuse?

ES: If you use stimulants or thermogenics for more than twelve weeks, you kill the adrenal glands. It takes about eight weeks to recover. To regenerate them, you need to take adrenal gland supporters (Standard Process Drenamin, Metagenics Adrenogen), vitamin C (at least three grams a day), DHEA, and fish oil. In fact, the adrenal glands are 60% fat so polyunsaturated fats are important here as they'll also decrease cortisol levels. And again, sleep is crucial

 

[coolcolj]

feel a bit drained, kinda achey all over. Waking pulse at 53?!
A bit depressed and pissed off at my training at the moment, but I guess when I actually deload 2 weeks time I should rebound.
Waist still just under 38inches...ugh 38 is like a wall or something

best reaction time - 0.154 sec
best run 0.156, 0.206, 0.193, 0.189, 0.163 average = 0.181

 

[ChinkNasty]

PseudoEphedrine in cough medicine I guess

Well that kinda makes you hyper by tapping into your adrenal glands, but not a good idea long term. They are very taxing to the adrenals and the cns if abused.
Other than that I don't know, I think some of those supplement like Biotest Powerdrive is supposed to help here, I dunno, I don't take it.




Nothing beats sleep for fully charging up the CNS

maybe a good ol' tested stimulant like...COFFEE?!

 

[coolcolj]

Here is the Outdoor court I've been playing on in the last few weeks. I love it, nice vibe to it, but not as many people hang out on it these days.
Only bad thing is that the court is sloped to one side...

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj/Photos/CCJ_NS_Tafe_OutdoorBBallCourt_topRIM.JPG

Anyway here is a clip I took yesterday while playing BBall. Looking a bit leaner/slimer than I was the last time I made a clip, and moving better too. Shooting is still crappy, but I haven't been paying too much attention to it
Was moving pretty well, even though like I said, I wasn't feeling all that fresh and springy. Still too chunky, but I have another 20lbs of fat to lose, I should be much faster by then.

Right click and save to avoid errrors

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj3/Movies/CCJ_BBall_29May05.mpg

 

[coolcolj]

Feeling ok. A little bit sore all over from all the stretching I did yesterday I think, especially my upper hips. Odd, anyway I can stand with my feet pretty much pointed more straight ahead now, and when I force them perfectly straight ahead, it doesn't feel too bad. 6 months ago, there was heavy tension in the hips and lower back if I did that. I sure had become inflexible over the last 2 years without me realising. Finally starting to reverse it now. Feeling much more supple, and I suppose leaning up helps that feeling too
I just need a foam roller to take it up a notch. Rolling my hips against the rounded edge of the kitchen bench was awesome in that painful massage like way

Well I stopped taking my Glucosamine MSM Chondroitin powder yesterday, and what do you know, my body resumes stipping bodyfat. Waist drops almost a 1/4 on an inch overnight! Finally away from 38, down to 37.75inches. Hopefully I can get down to 37.5 by the weekend, well away from 38
Bodyweight straight out of bed this morning is 214lbs with some clothing like I always do or 212lbs bare.
Skinfolds are definitely down across the board, I can finally touch my 2nd finger and thumb around my left wrist

I am feeling smaller and looking skinner already, I like it though. Can't imagine what I'm gonna feel like when I get my waist down to 30inches....I'll be faster for sure!
Goal by the end of the microcycle is a 37inch waist, 210lbs and hopefully another 2-3 inches on my vertical Jump.

best reaction time this morning - 0.145 sec
best run 0.181, 0.174, 0.185, 0.184, 0.168 average = 0.178

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 31st May - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 3 - Day 2 Morning - Tempo + Energy Work - Microcycle 2

decent session. It was cold enough today that I didn't even sweat after the runs
Not sure if I will go ahead with my upper body workout tonight like in previous weeks, thinking of moving it to tommorrow.

Bodyweight at home - 216lbs in winter clothes
Workout Rating - 7/10
Workout time - 30 mins all up

Warmup

warmup - dynamic swings
Various hops in place for 10secs - double leg and splitleg

Jog - 50m 2x2

Run complex increasing in speed each run to 50% speed - 1 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, walk back to start (50m)

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

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

220+ metres @ 70% speed with proper standing start - 180 degree turn at halfway
rest 3 mins
1) 52.8 secs
2) 50.9 secs
3) 52 secs

Well during the warmups, the muscles in my foot arch in both legs started to tighten up big time. After a bit of stretching and moving around, the left foot did ease up, but my right foot keep staying tight everytime I ran, and eased up a bit when I rested. This always happens when it gets cold for some reason! I get it at BBall too

Did 3 runs today, up one from last week. Felt Ok, but the last quarter of the 3rd run was a killer! I think I maybe running these too fast for me, to be true tempo work. Hips felt much higher than before, less pelvic tilt and erector over arching (they didn't tighten up). I think due to better ROM from my stretching. Although they would drop after 150m and I could feel my legs bend more and thump the surface. Guess I'll never be a good 200m runner anyway

I also changed up my starting stance. I put my right foot forward now. Seemed to be much better leg push, and finally the my arm drive is in correct timing with my legs, it used to be off sync until after a few steps
Should have much better start times when I run at full speed.