Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Better sleep, but still not great, only 6.5 hours of deep sleep. Minimal drained feeling, and not really all that sore, just and overall achey feeling - mostly in my feet, lower legs, posterior chain, abs and upper back. Probbaly will get more soreness later on today though

I went to a party last night and pigged out a bit, which should make up for the calories for the last 2 days and jack up my metabolism. Bodyweight has shot back up a bit
Waist is still at 36.25inches, but I do look leaner for some reason.

Noticed this morning, my legs are really starting to dwarf my upper body in a freakish way...
I've always had biggish quads and glutes, but my hamstrings now look like something I never expected them to be like - bulging slab of meat hanging off the backside!

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 30th August - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 6 DELOAD - Day 2 - Upper - Microcycle 3

I didn't feel like heading to gym, so sleepy. Warm and Humid day for winter as well added to the down feeling.
My arousal levels just weren't there, and things felt a bit heavier than last week. I should have left then, but I worked up and left before doing too much damage. No point in digging a deeper hole

Thanks to the poor quality sleep 4 days in a row I guess. I need a good nights rest tonight and tommorrow, and hopefully I'll be recharged for Thursday.

Bodyweight at gym - 210lbs
Workout time - short
Workout rating - 6/10

General warmup -
1) dynamic swings etc
2) back extension BWx6 + 6 twisting to each alternate side
3) situp complex on swissball
4) warmup complex with 30lb bar - RDL onto toes with shrug, military press, explosive good morning onto toes, snatch grip behind the neck partial press -10 reps each
5) Scapular pushups on bench x 12

Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise

Resting 1.5 min on warmup sets and then 3 mins between each exercise

Bent over Barbell Rows - Index fingers on smooth - Strict

warmups - semi explosive - 45lbs x12, 95x8, 115x5, 155x3, 175x1

Rotation 1) 195lbs x 3.75


14 inch Grip bench - shoulder blades tucked - no leg drive

Warmups - semi explosive - Bar x15, 95lbs x 10, 135x7, 165x4, 195x3, 225x2

Rotation 1) 255lbs x 2

2nd rep was hard so stopped there.

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 1st September - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 6 DELOAD - Day 3 Lower Power - Microcycle 3

First day of spring, and the warmer weather is making me feel lethargic. CNS still a bit down it seems so It took a while for me to get fired up today.
Decided not to do any upper body work like last week as a result.
Work capacity is up though

Weighed 210lbs in shorts and t-shirt, I should be actually down to 208lbs now...


Bodyweight at gym - 210bs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 7/10

Warmup - Prehab

1) dynamic swings etc
2) back extension BWx6 + 6 twisting to each alternate side
3) situp complex on swissball
4) warmup complex with 30lb bar - RDL onto toes with shrug, military press, explosive good morning onto toes, snatch grip behind the neck partial press, hang powercleans, powerjerks - 10 reps each, except cleans and jerks, 5 and 3 reps respectively
5) 4 sets of 15 ankle hops
6) 1min ISO at the bottom of a narrow full squat position, holding until my heels get close to the floor

7) did a few bodyweight drop squats, and altitude drops off a 6inch step, then 4 sets of 3 vertical jumps, going higher and harder each time. Then a few max effort jumps in various styles.

Just as good as last week - 2 inches above the ceiling if not slightly better. Hard to tell the difference between your head being 2 or 3inches above the ceiling
On a few of the jumps my heels were off the floor even before I left the ground and I did seem to get higher on those.
Even when starting with my arms by my side, I could still pop the celing panel up. But when I took a step, damn did I power a good 5 inches above the celing, eyes were just above level with it!

I was able to maintain the height for all jumps even into the 4th rotation of the workout. Landings were a lot better as well, softer and stable


Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1 to 1.5min on warmup sets and then 3 mins between each exercise

Jumps - did a vertical jump before each set of each exercise. Once I can't pop my head through the ceiling panel I stop everything. Which didn't happen today

Reactive Squats - in Sneakers

Warmups - BWx5, bar x8, 70x6, x3, 95x3, 115x3

varying stance to bottom of deep jump position
Rotation 1) 135lbs x 4
Rotation 2) 135lbs x 4
Rotation 3) 135lbs x 4
Rotation 4) 135lbs x 4

Went full reactive style today - feet separating from the floor a good 2inches in the way down. Finally feeling the bounce and spring at the bottom of the reversal point. Varied between wider and jump stance widths. Hammies really got caned today, less in my glutes like in previous weeks where I went wider and did not separate as much.
Good weight, starting to slow a tiny bit on the reversal on the last 2 sets so stopped there even though my coupled jump did not drop that much.

Barbell Jumpsquats

continous
Rotation 1) 25lbs x 4
Rotation 2) 25lbs x 4
Rotation 3) 25lbs x 4
Rotation 4) 25lbs x 4

getting closer to the ceiling on these

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some static stretches at home after a hot shower

 

[coolcolj]

Better quality sleep, went to bed earlier. I look much less tired.
Felt a bit drained, but it went away by the afternoon
And my whole body is moderately sore, even my upper body and pecs!
My legs and posterior chain aren't as sore as I expected though.

The last concern causing me stress has been resolved, so that will help my sleep and training in general. But I didn't eat for large parts of the day in doing so...at least my diet was good yesterday, dropped some fat.

 

[TooPop]

Been reading for a while! Love the Journal! Making some awesome progress! This should be published

 

[coolcolj]

Been reading for a while! Love the Journal! Making some awesome progress! This should be published

thanks. I'm happy I am actually finally heading the right direction to reach my dreams

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Could use more sleep, but a big improvement in any case, nice deep 8.5 hours of sleep.
Makes a big difference, and it shows in my face and eyes
Feeling pretty strong and energetic/snappy today.
Most of the soreness is gone, feet and legs feel good and loose.
Upper body is a bit tried from my part time job though, but better than in previous weeks.

Weighed 93.6kg 206lbs straight out of bed this morning in underwear. Didn't measure my waist but I look leaner, very noticable in my face, stomach starting to flatten down now relative to my pecs. Might have lost a bit of muscle mass though as I didn't eat much yesterday...
Feeling more athletic now, looking forward to reaching 200lbs, that will be the turning point for me, as far as athletic ability and leaness goes - the halfway point

 

[coolcolj]

Crap sleep - feeling weak and tired - CNS definitely needs recharging, worn out from my part time job. Man if only I could string together a month of 9-10 hours of sleep a day...

Anyway its raining so no sprinting today. Might BBall at an indoor court, or just chill out till Tuesday and start my new microcycle this week.

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 4th September - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 1 - Speed - Microcycle 4

Well I spotted a break in the rain, so I decided to go sprint. It was just lightly sprinkling when I arrived, but stopped halfway through the warmups.
I did not feel that great, it was cold as well, and the field was wet, but no puddles, thanks to the concave surface
I should have listened to my body, and just run some tempo runs at 60%, becuase I was slow as hell! I thought I could surprise myself by running a PR...

I do miss the tempo runs, they definitely help my CNS recover and help me lean up. I haven't felt quite the same since stopping em.

Up 2lbs from last week as well

Bodyweight at home - 209.5lbs
Workout Rating - 6/10
Workout time - 50 mins including warmups

Warmup

warmup - dynamic stretches and swings, foot massage, various hops in place in bare feet at home.

Slow Jog - 50m x 4 - walks back to start doing Dorsiflexion drills - 1mins rest

Jog 25m - sideways run 5m each side - backwards run 5m - x 3 complexes - 1mins rest

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1 min on warmup sets and then 3 to 4 mins between each exercise


Altitude Drops - onto balls of feet, sticking the landing into a deep jump position

warmups - a few bodyweight drop squats, off 2 steps x 3, 3 steps x 3, 4 steps x 1

on concrete - 4 steps = 26-27inches
Rotation 1) 4 steps x 3
Rotation 2) 4 steps x 3

Felt good, but I was landing tight due to the fact I was scared of slipping over...


Hops on/off a 6inch step - max reps in 10secs

warmups - 3 sets of 5

Rotation 1) 17 -1 rep

reflects my lack of speed, down 1 rep....

50 metre sprint - from proper standing start - sprint spikes

warmups - start into 5m burst, jog 5m then acclerate 10m x 3 sets

concaved field - first 25m 2-3 degree uphill, the rest 2-3 degree downhill
Rotation 1) 6.9 secs +0.22secs
Rotation 2) 7.13 secs

I was feeling a bit sluggish and tight all through the warmups. Lacking pop, and the wet field didn't help, even with spikes, grip didn't feel solid.
Well the first run just felt slow as hell. I was landing very stiff and tight on each stride.
The 2nd run was just plain bad at the start, no drive at all. I also tried to use more hip extension, certainly felt the hammies work more, not sure if it helped my speed much....
Well at least I didn't pick up an injury.

 

[coolcolj]

Well I've been pretty self-destructive the last 2 days. Hardly eating anything and not getting much sleep...
Starting a new microcycle today so time to get back on track!

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 6th September - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 2 PM - Upper + Lower - Microcycle 4

I only had 4hours sleep last night, needles to say I felt pretty strange, queezy and tired, with a mild headache...The poor diet the last few days didn't exactly help either.
Even then not a bad workout, all things considered!

All the first rotation sets were near failure. Also skipped my Tempo work this morning for obvious reasons...

Bodyweight at gym - 211.5lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - ?
Workout rating - 7/10

General warmup -
1) dynamic swings etc
2) back extension BWx6 + 6 twisting to each alternate side
3) situp complex on swissball
4) Hip abduction/adduction on Keiser air machine - Level 3/3 x10
5) warmup complex with 30lb bar - RDL onto toes with shrug, military press, explosive good morning onto toes, snatch grip behind the neck partial press, hang powercleans, and powerjerks - 10 reps each, except cleans 5 reps, jerks 2 reps
6) Siting in the bottom of a narrow stance fullsquat until heels get within a cm of the floor


Full Oly Back Squats - in Oly Shoes - RAW

Warmups - controlled down, semi- explosive up - BWx5, Bar x8,
95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x3, 285x1
frontsquats - Bar x 5, 95x5
wide stance squats - Bar x 5, 95x5

resting 3 mins
255x3, 285x1, 315x1

controlled down, half a second pause to settle at the bottom, explode up
335lbs x 2 --> hard and wobbly
285lbs x 4
225lbs x 8

Well I haven't squatted in 3 weeks, and had no more than 135lbs on my back. Amd so I was surprised 315lbs did not feel all hard. But 335lbs was very hard and wobbly. Good form though, no good morning on any rep, and felt a perfect balance of hammie and quad strain.


Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise

Resting 1-2 min on warmup sets and then 3 mins between each exercise

14 inch Grip bench - shoulder blades tucked - no arch or leg drive

Warmups - controlled down, semi-explosive up - Bar x12, 95lbs x 8, 135x6, 165x5, 195x3

controlled down, explode up
Rotation 1) 225lbs x 6
Rotation 2) 185lbs x 8 --> 20inch grip

Not bad, 225lbs was a bit unsteady, and the wider grip set felt a bit strange and hard, kept the elbows tucked in, but lots more pecs tension.


Bent over Barbell Rows - Index fingers on smooth - Strict

warmups - semi-explosive up, controlled down - 45lbs x10, 89x8, 139x5, 155x3,

explode up, controlled down
Rotation 1) 175lbs x 5.5
Rotation 2) 119lbs x 10


Cooldown and stretches

whole body static stretches at home after a hot shower