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Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

Thursday 9th February - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 7 DELOAD - Day 3 - Energy Work - Microcycle 6

Cranked the volume up as I won't be hitting the gym after like normal.
Bodyweight was up, felt bloated, 205.7lbs in shorts and t-shirt, a bit heavier.
Felt crappy as well, but the workout went pretty well. Didn't sweat all that much compared to last week, even though I did double the amount of stuff and it was quite hot as well. Must be less humid....

Workout Rating - 8/10
Workout time - 1 hour all up including warmups

Warmup

warmup - 20sec ISO holds x 2 each - quarter squat, standing on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut, various hops in place in bare feet at home.

Slow Jog - 50m x 4 - 1 mins rest, getting faster on each run

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

3 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible
25m prime times (stiffed legged runs), 10m straight run, then into lateral run, right side 5m, left side 5m, into backwards run 5m, then three 360 pivots runs

2 sets - 4 dropsquats (hammie to parallel) sitting back, focusing on activating the hammies + 3 point start into 40m accleration runs to 70% speed - 1mins rest

then rest 2 mins

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

56 metres @ 70% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1min
1) 3 runs - all around 10.5 to 10.7secs

2) 340m run - ran one lap around the football field - 1 min 5.88secs - about 3 sec improvement over last week

2min rest

3) 3 x 56 metre intervals as above - times were slightly faster

4) 340m run - 1 min 5.88secs - exactly the same time as first one!

2min rest

5) 3 x 56 metre intervals as above - all around 10.25secs

Changed things up today as I wasn't planning to hit the gym after.
The first three 56m intervals felt pretty heavy and slow. Then the 340m run felt great, much faster than last week and it felt much more comfortable, nice and snappy strides. Just under 3 secs faster. Funny enough I got the exact same time on the 2nd 340m run! Although it felt slower and much harder. But I did run the first one a bit wider on one end, so the actual time there was probably 2 secs faster. 11+sec improvement in 3 sessions! I should be close to the 1 min mark next week :)

Also my form was improving on each successive 56m group of runs - I was getting higher of the ground, felt much more springy and bouncey and the times were getting faster even though I was getting more tired.
I had a think about it, and figured it's probbaly due to the contrast/post tetanic effect from the 340m runs, where the last 50m was slightly uphill and I'm tired so I have to fight to keep my form tight and run harder to keep the speed up.

I originally set it up like that because I found the 56m runs with 1 min rest allowed me to recover from the 340m run, while keeping my heartrate and energy expenditure up for my fat loss goals. But it looks like I created a wave loading effect with how I structured it by accident! Why straight load when you can waveload and get a 1+1=3 effect? :)

Upper body hit pretty good and pumped, front and back from my arm drive.
Shins a bit achey afterwards, but damn the volume is way up from where I was 1.5 years ago, and I'm much faster too. 2x200m runs used to kill me!Work capacity has been steadily increasing every training cycle. Having 13lbs less fat has to help as well :D
Another 20lbs more off and I'm gonna be on another level athletically....
 
hmm, the usual crap. Body is feeling ok

weighed 92.3kg 203lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Bodyweight is all over the place, but I am definitely leaning up everyday. I am gaining musclemass, most of it my legs I'm sure, as they are getting freaking huge relative to the rest of me. And some in my backside. Need to somehow cut down on the muscle gain. I must be the one of the few people that can gain lots of muscle mass on under 2000 calories, low carbs, and lots of energy work - hell even the running is adding muscle mass on me!
 
coolcolj said:
hmm, the usual crap. Body is feeling ok

weighed 92.3kg 203lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Bodyweight is all over the place, but I am definitely leaning up everyday. I am gaining musclemass, most of it my legs I'm sure, as they are getting freaking huge relative to the rest of me. And some in my backside. Need to somehow cut down on the muscle gain. I must be the one of the few people that can gain lots of muscle mass on under 2000 calories, low carbs, and lots of energy work - hell even the running is adding muscle mass on me!
Click to expand...

Yes, boo-hoo for you. What a horrible plague you've got there, friend. :chomp:

Lucky bastard. ;) Keep it up though, then give us the progress pics - gotta see how much your fat ass shrinks down.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
Yes, boo-hoo for you. What a horrible plague you've got there, friend. :chomp:

Lucky bastard. ;) Keep it up though, then give us the progress pics - gotta see how much your fat ass shrinks down.
Click to expand...

well my legs are big enough as is, I don't particularly like my thighs rubbing together all the time! :)



--------------------

d**n neighbours and their past midnight chats and laughs in their backyard!!! Interrupted my sleep. Made the best of things.
Body is feeling somewhat snappy though.

weighed 92.1kg 202.6lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Seem to be holding water
 
Sunday 12th February - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 8 DELOAD - Day 1 - Energy/Prehab/Movement Efficiency work - Microcycle 6

Crap sleep and all, this was a pretty nice workout, but man was it hard!
Weighed 203.5lbs in shorts and t-shirt at the start of the workout after pissing quite a bit, so it has gone down a bit from where I used to be. Even my face became more drawn looking from the loss in water :)

Workout time - 35 mins not including warmup stuff
Session rating - 9/10

Reach, Roll and Lift move for lats and internal rotors - 2x5 for each side - 3 sec hold on lift part

warmup - 15 sec ISO holds x 2 each - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

- dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut
- scapular pushups against chair - BW 2x10, pushups against chair BWx5, pushups on swissball x3
- various hop patterns in place in bare feet, 10 reactive squats, 5 easy vertical jumps.
- A few practise reps of each of the exercises
- worked up to 2 maximal vertical jumps - see below


Done circuit style - 4 times through
10-20secs rest between each move - however long it takes me to get ready etc

1) 30secs of Burpees - jumping 27 inches - 85% effort, sticking the landing, about 10 reps.

2) 30secs of Shadow boxing - high intensity, concentrating on punch combos, but some footwork too and switching stances.

3) 12 x 12lb MedBall 2 handed Throwdowns - slight hop, throwing hard enough to bounce the medball to head height, 85% effort

4) 11 Swissball Pushups full extension at the top

5) 32 x 12lb MedBall twists in situp position - touching the floor on each side of the body as fast as possible

6) 2 minutes worth - 15 External L-Rotations, bent over 45 degree raises - 15 thumbs-up upwards, 15 out to side --> all with 1.25kg 2.75lb plates
slight hold at the bottom or top of each lift, deadstop

7) rest 1min, 1.5mins on last rotation

about 30+ mins all up

then I did
- 2 maximal vertical jumps

static stretches for the whole body, including my external rotors
---------------

Very hard today - increased the intensity on the Burpee jumps, made sure my head was close to the ceiling, added 2 reps to medball throw downs, 1 rep to swissball pushups, and 2 reps to the twists. I was that close to shutting things down after the 3rd time through, but I gutted it out. Ouch :)
It's effective, but damn do you pay your dues!!!
Probably change things up next week when I start a new microcycle to keep things interesting and change the stimulus.

Did 2 max effort vertical jumps at the start and they were 2 inches higher than ever! Felt easy. But I also did 2 more post workout jumps after a 5min break, and they were exactly the same.....and so 2 inches higher than last weeks postworkout jumps as well!
Interesting, maybe my fresh jumps should be 1-2 inches higher still, but it maybe because I sweated out a lot of water, and so was lighter, but I did drink water after each rotation and had 3 glasses in the 5 min break before doing those jumps....
Although I wished I didn't do those post workout jumps - shins ached upon landing, obviously my lower legs are tired, no force absorption left.

Damn I'm pretty pleased with this gain, just from mostly fat/weight loss I figure. With a lot of energy work, crap sleep too, plus heavy strength work ontop! Down 4lbs, up 2 inches - the ratio is holding true still :D

I guess I'll keep the 2 max effort jumps there at the start. When I can get the top of the next brick, another 4 inches up, then I will taper things and switch to power/reactive work and max out my jump and short sprints. There should be another 1-3 inches extra on the vert from that. Then hit the BBall courts after that phase and see where I am, and enjoy my new athletic abilities for 2-3 weeks....should be good for an extra 6+ inches by then!
 
Mild worn out feeling. Not to sore, mostly in my lower back - from that 2min set of raises and laterals I think...

weighed 92.1kg 202.6lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Same as yesterday, but down 1lb from last week. Skin folds getting tighter.
Waist about the same, bigger spinal erectors I guess, but thighs are down 0.5 inch to 27.5 inches. The thinner they get the better :)

10min walk today
 
Tuesday 14th February - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 8 - Day 2 - Upper + Lower Strength DELOAD - Microcycle 6

OK workout, but didn't feel all that strong. Cut the volume down a bit.

Bodyweight at gym - 205.5lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warmup -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) reverse hypers - BWx10
3) back extension BWx6 + 6 twisting to each alternate side
4) situp complex on swissball
5) adductor/hammie stretch into back tumbells x10
6) usual bar complex with 30lbs

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 3.5-4 mins between each exercise on work sets


Clean/RDL Deadlifts - in Oly Shoes - RAW - HookGrip

Warmups - Powerclean + MidThigh hang Powerclean + HighHang SquatClean - Bar, 88lbs, 108lbs, 138lbs, 155lbs, 175lbs

done the same way as the worksets - 243lbs x1, 293x1, 293x1

Pulled up an inch, 3 sec ISO hold, pulled up, lower down to knee level RDL style, then 3 sec ISO hold
Rotation 1) 353lbs x 1 (+10lbs)
Rotation 2) 373lbs x 1 (+10lbs)

Pretty heavy I guess, 373lbs was near limit for me today. Hamstrings worked really hard on the way up. Upperback looked to have rounded quite a bit.

Cleans didn't feel all that fast and squat cleans had crappy form.
Bar was pretty crap too - spun better than the one I used last week, but it had multiple bends in different directions!

Full Oly Back Squats - in Oly Shoes - RAW

Warmups - semi explosive
rest - 1min between earlier sets, 2mins between later sets
BWx8, Bar x5, 95x5, 135x1, x4, 185x1, x4, 225x1, x3, 255x2, 285x2, 315x1
Frontsquat - Bar x5

Rotation 1) 325lbs x 2
Rotation 2) 325lbs x 2

Warmups didn't feel right today, crappy form. Main worksets were pretty gut busting. Could really feel my hamstrings work hard through the stick point.

---
clip of squat and dead worksets

right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...25x2x2_CleanDead353_373ISOComplex_14Feb06.mpg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise

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


Powerack Pullups - Thumbless overhand grip

warmups - 5 sec hang, BW 2x2

explosive
Rotation 1) BW x 5
Rotation 2) BW x 5

Elbow on Knee L-Fyle External Rotations

Warmups - 4kg x8, 15lbs x 6, 20x2

starting from bottom, controlled - 2mins rest between each side
Rotation 1) 25lbs x 7 (+3lbs - 4reps)

hard but good.
 
Had to get up early so not enough sleep...but what I did get was nice and deep. Carbs sure help
Tired, medium warm drained feeling. Low waking pulse though! 51 bpm
Soreness in my posterior chain, calves, lats and upperback.

weighed 92.7kg 203.94lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
hmmm - maybe my drop in average heart rate is due to all my energy work - I did notice the drop started a week after I started those interval circuits...

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=2FBE61A7DFB8A55A2E5660B745C8483D.hydra?id=929615

• If your RHR is elevated by 3-5 BPM above baseline, you have a slight overexcitation of the sympathetic nervous system, which might indicate incomplete recovery from high intensity work.

• If your RHR is elevated by more than 6 BPM above baseline, there's a significant neural overstrain due to excessive high intensity work.

• If there's a drastic reduction in RHR compared to your baseline, this indicates CNS inhibition which is a sign of type II (addisonic) overtraining. This rarely occurs with strength athletes though; it's typically due to an excessive volume of endurance work.
 
Posterior chain and upper back still a bit sore. Legs feel kinda loose though

weighed 92.2kg 202.84lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
Thursday 16th February - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 8 DELOAD - Day 3 - Energy Work - Microcycle 6

Slight reduction in volume today and a pretty good session
The 340m runs I have been doing are actually more like 310m

Workout Rating - 8/10
Workout time - 35 mins all up including warmups at the park

Warmup

warmup - 20sec ISO holds x 2 each - quarter squat, standing on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut, various hops in place in bare feet at home.

Slow Jog - 50m x 4 - 1 mins rest, getting faster on each run

Run complex increasing in speed each run to 50% speed - 1 mins rest

2 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible
25m prime times (stiffed legged runs), 10m straight run, then into lateral run, right side 5m, left side 5m, into backwards run 5m, then three 360 pivots runs

2 sets - 4 dropsquats (hammie to parallel) sitting back, focusing on activating the hammies + 3 point start into 40m accleration runs to 70% speed - 1mins rest

then rest 2 mins

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

56 metres @ 70% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1min
1) 3 runs - lowest 9.56secs - highest 9.77secs

2) 310m run - ran one lap around the football field - 1 min 0.77secs - 5.11 sec improvement over last week

2min rest

3) 3 x 56 metre intervals as above - times 9.69, 9.15, 9.25secs

4) 310m run - 59.47secs 6.41 sec improvement over last week!

3min rest

5) easier 56 metre run to cool down - 10.15secs

Woah! Way faster across the board. Just felt snappier and more relaxed, legs and hips much stronger and springier. The first 310m run was way faster than last week, but actually felt much easier. The 2nd one was hard, but even faster! The 56m runs were a full second faster than usual and felt pretty good. Bodyweight was higher too....

Shins were a little achey throughout so I'm gonna have to back off to let em recover. Although I felt pretty floaty on the runs, form is really changing.
 
hey colin, i run a lot for rugby in cleats and it seems like i have a chronic case of shin splints but we are right in the middle of hte playoff run and i can't afford to stop running...any suggestions to get rid of this fucking annoying pain?
 
man.. i think you're one of the most detailed person on this boards.. i don't think anyone analyzes everything like you.. lol.. i even become confused just by reading your journal.. lol.. if i had to think that much during my w/o.. i'd take forever.. plus.. i could quit lifting.. lol..
 
ChinkNasty said:
hey colin, i run a lot for rugby in cleats and it seems like i have a chronic case of shin splints but we are right in the middle of hte playoff run and i can't afford to stop running...any suggestions to get rid of this fucking annoying pain?
Click to expand...


that can be caused by a lot of things - but the shoes are probably one reason. I had em a lot too back when I was playing Rugby and I was way lighter.

Just an over use thing as well, the muscles and tissues in there can't recover from the stress. And maybe the calves and tibs aren't strong enough to absorb the forces so that's create more stress.

Only thing would be to strengthen the tibs with toe curls type exercises. and ice your shins em. You really need rest to heal it up completely
 
carlsuen said:
man.. i think you're one of the most detailed person on this boards.. i don't think anyone analyzes everything like you.. lol.. i even become confused just by reading your journal.. lol.. if i had to think that much during my w/o.. i'd take forever.. plus.. i could quit lifting.. lol..
Click to expand...


I don't think that much while training actually
I'm glad I am detailed. I've gone back to past workouts to check up something and everything is there plus sometimes video clip too.
I know exactly what I did that day and how things worked during that period etc

If you are average and aren't on drugs, you need to be precise to get to the to where you want to be - especially if your goals are near the elite level type things ;)

Unlike most people I don't just workout - I train. I live and breathe it, it's a lifestyle thing for me.
 
Kinda achey and worn down a bit in a physical way. But CNS is feeling pretty decent. Mid section front, back and sides feels pretty hammered, but not in a DOMs type of way. Running sure cranks the core!
Sore calves too

weighed 93kg 204.64lbs straight out of bed in underwear
took in close to 3000 calories yesterday, the most in the last 2 months and up shoots my bodyweight, even if I do actually look leaner and somewhat "scrawny"
 
coolcolj said:
I'm glad I am detailed. I've gone back to past workouts to check up something and everything is there plus sometimes video clip too.
I know exactly what I did that day and how things worked during that period etc
Click to expand...
Amen to that. i read my old journals from time to time and I find it very helpful. Sometimes I think I'm not making much progress but then I look back and see that the weight I just did for 5 reps was a bitch two months ago when I only did 3 reps.

I'll never train without documenting it. Your mind plays tricks on you so it's vital to have a record of what you've done so you know exactly how well (or poorly) things are going.
 
Feely crappy. Some idiot woke me up at 2:30am with some burnouts!
Posterior chain and calves still a bit sore.
Did a bit shopping with the girlfriend yesterday, so that's a good amount of walking there :)

weighed 92.5kg 203.5lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Cals were higher this week on average.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
I feel your pain. You shall be in mine prayers.
Click to expand...

anything to make her happy - lucky my work capacity is not bad these days :)

---------------------------------------

Pretty deep sleep for such a stinking hot night. Feeling much better today. Body feels kinda loose and a bit snappier.
Just below the patella felt pretty tender this morning. I banged my right knee into the wall pretty hard last night rolling around in bed! It felt pretty achey when I woke up, and hurt when I walked downstairs. But it doesn't seem to hurt when I squat down and I don't notice it much now. See how it feels before training today - wether I will do any jumping or not.
But i'm, changing things today, so there is other stuff I can do instead of burpees.

weighed 92.3kg 203lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
Sunday 19th February - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 1 - BBall - Microcycle 7

Starting a new microcycle today. I just decided to go BBall, especially after seeing 5'9" Nate Robinson do some dunks at the NBA All star Dunk contest :)
Went to the outdoor court with the low ring. Didn't feel all that fresh or snappy, but I was pretty explosive.

Bodyweight at home in shorts and t-shirt - 204.5lbs
Workout time - 40 mins all up
Session rating - 8/10

Did some of my usual 20sec isometric holds and dynamic swings to warmup. Worked well, warmed up real fast. I was able to start going pretty hard from the get go. Some of the people there might have thought I was nuts, but I'm bigger than anyone there :)

Even though I haven't played in 2 months, all my skills and timing were like I hadn't take a break at all. Only thing that was kinda rusty was dribbling. As long as I do something athletic, I'm always amazed at how little practise I need to maintain things.
Went pretty hard from start to finish. Did a bit of everything

I noticed straight away how much better my upper body feels, way looser, from all the shoulders/cuff and lat mobility work. Upper body control just feels easier, and more powerful. I used to have trouble with hook shots and outside shots - felt restricted and even though I'm pretty strong, I had to heave the shoot to get some distance. Not anymore, my outside shots were way better than before (without practise!) and it feels very easy to launch the ball, smooth and flowing. Guess my tight lats have been shutting down things before.

Jump was up 2inches across the board - standing, one step, running off one leg. I didn't test my running 2 legged jump though. Dunk attempts didn't seem any higher though, probably due to a technique thing from lack of practise. I wasn't jumping as hard as before and didn't make any of em.
The main thing was that my technique has changed. I didn't feel anything in my knees or quads. Just my hammies and glutes. And my leg is far straighter on the running one legged jumps. Although my shin still aches when I do it hard. Looks like those Clean dead/RDL ISO complex sets are doing something. And those 20sec Squat hold warmups as well, I just hold the position I want my body to be in at the bottom of the jump, lots of hammies/glute tension, less knee forward bend and the CNS is starting to prefer being in that position

Both shins were aching towards the end. I should have stopped playing at the 30min mark.
 
Can't argue about the sleep - 9 hours total! Still look tired, but I don't feel it.
A little achey all over, but legs and hips not that much. Mostly in feet/ankles, spinal erectors and upper back. My cuffs/scapular muscles are pretty sore - looks like I'm finally using the right muscles to do the job.

weighed 91.6kg 201.5lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Down 1lb from last week. I wish I weighed this yesterday, where I was a bit bloated, probbaly would haved jumped a bit higher! :)
Now to get my training/playing weight down to 200lbs by the end of this microcycle - 4lbs or so.
 
Was playing Warhammer - Dawn of war, and next thing you know it's 3:45am, doh only got 4.5 hours sleep. Damn addictive game .....
I'm not stupid enough to train today, I need the break anyway :)
Probbaly will change up my split this microcycle, change is good.

weighed 92.1kg 202.6lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
Late night again. Hips, IT band, glutes and upper back/chest were tight from sitting down - used my poor man's foam roller to loosen em up. Feel great now. The thick cardboard cyclinder from a big roll of wrapping plastic works great, if a bit painful :)

weighed 91.9kg 202.18lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Might train today, we'll see
 
You know, you just reminded me to get out my foam roller to go loosen up anything when I feel pain. Good stuff.

What kind've game is Warhammer? I have late nights play Battlefield 2: Special Forces. It's sad, but I can't help myself.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
You know, you just reminded me to get out my foam roller to go loosen up anything when I feel pain. Good stuff.

What kind've game is Warhammer? I have late nights play Battlefield 2: Special Forces. It's sad, but I can't help myself.
Click to expand...


I can't believe how much it helps, damn! Feel great. It's really good for getting the arch back in your upper back/ROM in your chest when you slump forward a lot when playing games etc :)

Warhammer - DOW is a sci fi/fantasy real time strategy game based on the warhammer table top game. Lots of fun!

COmputer games are a dieters best friend! :p

---


Better sleep, but need more. At least I finally managed to sleep in later
Had a few days off - starting to get that fast twitch feeling back :)

weighed 92.1kg 202.6lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
Sleep is getting better and better, in terms of deepness. Carbs before bed help, but I also have the my fan turned on, just have the constant white noise there seems to relax me and mask background noise plus its cooler as well :)
Break has been doing good things - all those little aches in my feet and ankles are clearing up.

weighed 91.9kg 202.18lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Feel pretty full of carbs and water and yet weight is going down. Since I'm not training this week, Idon't have my usual extra post-workout cereal+whey meals, so that's probbaly helping the fat loss, even though I'm burning less calories from the inactivity. So I guess that balances things out
 
RTS games are fun. Ever play the Age of Empires series?

I sleep with my AC on all the time, on the fan setting. White noise rules.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
RTS games are fun. Ever play the Age of Empires series?

I sleep with my AC on all the time, on the fan setting. White noise rules.
Click to expand...


yeah but this one is a bit different, more about fighting and such, more like the Command and conquer stuff

BTW does a real foam roller hurt? :)


---

Crap sleep, and my part time job yesterday seemed to have kicked my ass a bit. Forearms are are pretty sore for some reason too.
Back into training this week

weighed 92.1kg 202.62lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Time to get weight going down again.
 
I love C&C. :) I did, anyway. Didn't Westwood get bought out by EA or something?

Real foam roller hurts, mainly on the IT band and quad. The rest is just a nice massage. It was pretty cheap, like $15-$20. I ordered it from some page online.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
I love C&C. :) I did, anyway. Didn't Westwood get bought out by EA or something?

Real foam roller hurts, mainly on the IT band and quad. The rest is just a nice massage. It was pretty cheap, like $15-$20. I ordered it from some page online.
Click to expand...


not sure, I think they did. Everything EA does is crap :verygood:


----

time to catch up on some sleep the next few days.
My legs seem to have gotten bigger this week from the rest.... delayed training effect I guess :)

weighed 92.6kg 203.7lbs straight out of bed in underwear
carbed up a bit yesterday.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
I like EA's Battlefield 2 - fun first person shooter.
Click to expand...


I like the demo of it, it was fun when you had 64 players on a 32 player map. But when I bought the game, it was really laggy, slow and clunky. And the 64 player maps where too big. I returned it :)

It's not bad, but too arcadey for me. If you want girtty realism - this is it

http://www.redorchestragame.com

will be out next month



----------------------------


Good sleep, but now I feel groggy. Back into the gym today.

weighed 91.5kg 201.3lbs straight out of bed in underwear
down we go, matches my currrent lowest so far. Now to hit 91kg 200lbs and finally get my waist under 35inches
 
Ah, I find good servers near me, and my new computer is capable of running BF2 twice over with no problems. :)

Red Orchestra looks good. I'll probably try it out. I'm damning you ahead of time, though, in case I end up losing sleep over it.
 
can't wait for oblivion... morrowind was and still is pretty much the only rpg i've ever liked... and man did i ever play that game to death.

oblivion is going to be awesome. the problem is, gotta find to time to play! all these titles sitting in my drawer that deserve playing time... call of duty 2, fear, STILL have no finished san andreas, bf2, etc. stupid university:( stupid snatches:p


coolcolj said:
I like the demo of it, it was fun when you had 64 players on a 32 player map. But when I bought the game, it was really laggy, slow and clunky. And the 64 player maps where too big. I returned it :)

It's not bad, but too arcadey for me. If you want girtty realism - this is it

http://www.redorchestragame.com

will be out next month



----------------------------


Good sleep, but now I feel groggy. Back into the gym today.

weighed 91.5kg 201.3lbs straight out of bed in underwear
down we go, matches my currrent lowest so far. Now to hit 91kg 200lbs and finally get my waist under 35inches
Click to expand...
 
F.E.A.R. is a pretty decent game. Graphical whore, though. Gotta have a great setup to run it on maximum settings.

I'll pwn you in BF2. ;)

Hey, at least you can snatch dammit.

Poor CCJ - we're raping his log.
 
COD2 is a nice single player experience, I enjoyed it, but a tad too arcadey :)
Had to run it in direct x 8 mode, though, way to choppy otherwise.

red Orchestra is hardcore, much more realistic!
 
Tuesday 28th February - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 1 - POWER - Microcycle 7

After a 1+ week break I'm back in the gym. Since I've been doing mostly strength/hypertrophy type work the last few months, I decided to switch to power work this microcycle, on the strength speed side. My body probbaly craves that stuff after all the straining wth heavy loads

I know my hammies are gonna be sore tommorrow!

Bodyweight at gym - 205.5lbs
Workout time - 1+ hour
Workout rating - 8/10

General warmup -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) reverse hypers - BWx10
3) back extension BWx6 + 6 twisting to each alternate side
4) situp complex on swissball
5) adductor/hammie stretch into back tumbells x10
6) usual bar complex with 30lbs
7) various hops

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2mins on warmups and 3 mins between each exercise on work sets

vertical Jumps

warmed up to a few maximal vertical jumps. Then did a one step jump and a standing jump 30secs before each set of Reactive squats.
Jump was down a lot after the last set of clean pulls.

They were about an inch lower than my best at the gym with the same bodyweight. But it should be back up there with all the stuff I did today, although all the energy work I will do will probbaly kill it too...
Landings were good though, nice and solid and very stiff


Reactive squats in Sneakers + Fullsquats in Oly shoes - RAW

Warmups - Reactive squats - BWx 5, Bar x5, 95x5, 115x3, 135x3, 155x2

Medium stance - Hamstrings down to parallel depth
Rotation 1) 155lbs x 3 - 1 sec a rep
Rotation 2) 155lbs x 3

Used the same weight the last time I did these. Not easy, but I was able to control it pretty well and reps were just under a second each so the load was ideal. Gonan be sore from tehse tommorrow for sure!

Rotation 3) Athletic fullsquats - 1.5mins rest - Explosive 185x3, 225x3, 255x2, 285x2

Form felt pretty good, sitting back than oly style fullsquats and a slightly wider stance. Not very fast though, from all the fatigue already. More for maintenaice though. 285 was starting to strain a bit.


CleanPulls - in Sneakers - HookGrip - RAW

Warmups - CleanPull + 3 hang cleanpulls - Bar, 89lbs, 119
Cleanpull + Hang Cleanpull - 155lbs, 185,
Cleanpull - 215x1

reset between each rep
Rotation 1) 243lbs x 2 - concentrics just under 1 sec
Rotation 2) 243lbs x 2 --> felt slower and lower

Did cleanpulls, or my interpretation of it anyway :)
Probbaly pulled with arms too much. Felt my hammies ache after each set anyway, which is why I'm doing these.
First time in a while doing an oly variation in sneakers, which probbaly allowed me to use my calves more. Didn't feel too muschy though.
243lbs was where my powerclean PR is, so that's why I used it. Although I doubt I could do it now, based on how it felt today.
Power dropped off a lot on the 2nd set, called it a day there.

---
clip of the worksets

right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/blitzforce/Movies/CCJ_REASquat155_CleanPull243_28Feb06.mpg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise

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


Powerack Pullups - Thumbless overhand grip

warmups - 5 sec hang, BW 2x1

explosive
Rotation 1) BW x 5
Rotation 2) BW x 5


Scapular Dips

Warmups - BWx12sec hold, BWx5

Rotation 1) BW x 12
Rotation 2) BW x 12

---------------

some static stretches
 
Switching gears, huh? What kind've "split" are you going to have now? A lower/upper 2x a week, 2x a week fullbody (which is what you were doing, I believe) or something other? It's always hard to figure out your patterns.
 
Just a question CCJ,did you get coached on the olympic lifts or did you just pick it up yourself?I live in melbourne myself and I have yet to find anyone who coaches olympic lifts around here.I am not sure if you live in victoria but madcow2 suggested I ask you if you knew of anyone who teaches the lifts.

Thanks in advance :) .
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
Switching gears, huh? What kind've "split" are you going to have now? A lower/upper 2x a week, 2x a week fullbody (which is what you were doing, I believe) or something other? It's always hard to figure out your patterns.
Click to expand...


Well the last few months was fullbody pretty much 3x a week

Sun - full body circuit energy work, a bit of speed/power in there as well
Mon - rest/walk
Tues - lower and upper strength
Wed - rest/walk
Thurs - running, then a few hours later - full body gym session - prehab and high rep work
Fri - rest
sat - rest

New setup is more or less the same, but instead of doing strength work on Tues, more power and explosive work for now. May change in a few weeks time though.
And I might move the running on thursday to Friday, if the lower body work on Thursday doesn't affect me to much. Just have to see

Sun - full body circuit energy work, a bit of speed/power in there as well
Mon - rest/walk
Tues - lower and upper strength
Wed - rest/walk
Thurs - running, then a few hours later - full body gym session - prehab and high rep work
Fri - rest
sat - rest

---------------------

Mild drained /warm feeling, achey all over. Sore hammies, glutes, VMO and upper back/lats.

weighed 91.7kg 201.74lbs straight out of bed in underwear

10min walk planned today if it doesn't rain, plus some easy stretching after
 
asdfzxcv said:
Just a question CCJ,did you get coached on the olympic lifts or did you just pick it up yourself?I live in melbourne myself and I have yet to find anyone who coaches olympic lifts around here.I am not sure if you live in victoria but madcow2 suggested I ask you if you knew of anyone who teaches the lifts.

Thanks in advance :) .
Click to expand...

I'm self taught. It took a couple of years of constant practise and tips from others on the net to get to where I am now. And even then I have some bad habits :)
But since I don't intend to compete any time soon, you won't really matter right now. Did a lot of reading and watching video clips etc as well

You really need a video camera if you try to teach yourself. But I will say if you do those isometric hold clean deadlifts and such, they will do a good job of teaching your body the right positions to be in. If you can't hold it staticly then you won't be able to do it moving fast.

For a while I didn't have the flexibility and strength to hold the positions. So that's something that's important to work on as well

There are some oly clubs in Melbourne - check here

Victorian club
http://www.phoenixweightlifting.com/

Brisbane clubs
http://www.qwa.org/clubs/content.asp

might wanna email this gy for a lits of clubs and such
http://www.awf.com.au/iinc.php?page=vwa
 
Need more sleep. Posterior chain, quads and upper back still pretty sore. Feet and legs have that loose feeling though
Was planning to train today, but my body is telling me not too, especially since the last workout was pretty high intensity, so I won't. I'm smarter these days, I listen to my body :)
I can tell my CNS is still a bit down. Probbaly will do my running tommorrow though which is sub-maximal anyway and should help recovery

weighed 91.7kg 201.74lbs straight out of bed in underwear

did some 3x12 of scapular pushups yesterday - 2 sets on against a chair and on on the floor. And 2x5 Reach, Roll and Lift -- getting better on these, can lift much higher now
 
Didn't nap yesterday so will try to grab more sleep sometime today...
Kinda achey all over, but my upper back and glutes are still really sore!

weighed 91.8kg 201.96lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Guess this is about maintenace for me, been fairly static lately

Might run today, feet and legs feel loose.
 
Friday 3rd March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 1 - Day 2 - Energy Work - Microcycle 7

Well I usually don't run on a Friday, so it was kinda sucky timing wise.

Bodyweight in shorts and t-shirt - 203+lbs
Workout Rating - 7/10
Workout time - 35 mins all up

Warmup

warmup at home - 16mins - 20sec ISO holds x 2 each - quarter squat, standing on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut, various hops and run in place in bare feet at home.


Warmup at park -
Slow Jog - 50m x 3 - 1 mins rest, getting faster on each run

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

2 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible
25m prime times (stiffed legged runs), 10m straight run, then into lateral run, right side 5m, left side 5m, into backwards run 5m, then three 360 pivots runs

2 sets - 4 dropsquats (hammie to parallel) sitting back, focusing on activating the hammies + 3 point start into 40m accleration runs to 70% speed - 1min rest

then rest 2 mins

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

56 metres @ 70% speed - from casual standing start
rest = walk back to start - 1min
3 runs - lowest 9.74secs - highest 10.07secs

310m run - ran one lap around the football field - 1 min 1+ sec-

2.5 min rest

100 metres @ 70% speed - from casual standing start
rest = walk back to start - 1.5 mins
3 runs - all around 18.3+ secs

bunch of static stretches for whole body

---

Been 2 weeks since I've done any running so I was a bit rusty. Legs were like balloons! That lap around the park was about 2 secs slower than my best so far.
Best thing though - no ache in my shins, and my old inner right ankle injury didn't get angry. Even with the kind of volume that would have given me major problems last year. The time off was exactly what I needed. Looks like it was just all overuse issues. Slowly but surely I'm getting there, 2 steps forward one step back does it everytime.
Although my tibs are feeling pretty tired and trashed up now, they sure work hard.
 
Feeling a bit sleepy but ok. Spinal rectors and feet/ankle around the achilles a bit sore.

weighed 92.4kg 203.28lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Ate more yesterday, holding some water
 
I'm lacking in sleep but I feel pretty decent. More calories yesterday probbaly helps. Posterior chain and hips are a bit achey though.
Still, I feel somewhat snappy.

weighed 92.2kg 202.84lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Calories were up yesterday - more carbs too

still deciding on what I'll do today, wether I'll train at home or go to the gym to do my circuit combo of energy and explosive work
 
Sunday 5th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 1 - Energy/Prehab/Movement Efficiency work - Microcycle 7

Decided to workout at home. Weighed 203.5lbs before workout which is much lighter than a few months back, but I'm getting used to it and don't feel lighter anymore. Infact I feel bulky, fat and heavy :)
So time to get it moving down to 200lbs!

Bodweight in shorts and t-shirt - 203.5lbs
Workout time - 35 mins not including warmup stuff
Session rating - 9/10

Reach, Roll and Lift move for lats and internal rotors - 2x5 for each side - 3 sec hold on lift part

warmup - 15 sec ISO holds x 2 each - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

- dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut
- scapular pushups against chair - BW 2x10, pushups against chair BWx5, pushups on swissball x3
- various hop patterns in place in bare feet, 10 reactive squats,
- A few practise reps of each of the exercises
- worked up to 3x3 max effort standing long jumps


Done circuit style - 3 times through
10-20secs rest between each move - however long it takes me to get ready etc

1) 30secs of modified Burpees - done with a hop to one side and back, instead of a jump alternating sides each rep

2) 10 x 12lb MedBall 2 handed Throwdowns - small star jump type hop each rep, throwing hard enough to bounce the medball to head height, 75% effort

3) 10 x 12lb MedBall 2 handed Chest Pass into floor - slight hop, 75% effort

4) 20 Lunging Step ups on 2nd step - alternating sides

5) 10 Swissball Pushups full extension at the top

6) 30 x 12lb MedBall twists in situp position - touching the floor on each side of the body as fast as possible

7) Giant set - all with 1.25kg 2.75lb plates - slight hold at the bottom or top of each lift, deadstop
a) 10 External L-Rotations,
b) 10 x 45 degree bent over upwards Y raises - thumbs up
c) 10 x 45 degree bent over raises - thumbs up

8) 1.5mins rest

about 20 mins all up

static stretches for the whole body, including my external rotors
---------------

changed things up. A bit easy than before, probbaly because I didn't do any shadow boxing and no jumping burpees. Less reps on raises too, plus a bit more rest at the end of each circuit.
Pushups felt a bit easier, a bit of supercompensation from the break I guess.

The standing long jumps I did at the start felt good.

On the lunging steups, my knees kept doing a s-curve bow in. So I had to try and force it to track straight by flexing the external hip rotors.

Hopefully I can recover for Tuesday's workout.
 
Hey ColJ -

Have you checked out anything on the Crossfit.com website by chance? Lots of integrated lifting/stamina routines with an oly lifting base. I have tried some of their excercises (not their Workout of the Day - WOD) - did a couple sets of: Wall Ball [10# medicine ball push press thrown to 10' and caught, squat, throw] -> 15" vertical jumps on to a block -> turkish getups with 15# -> crunches x 20.

Beats the hell out of 'cardio'.

Anymore clips of your snatch or clean technique?
 
mekannik said:
Hey ColJ -

Have you checked out anything on the Crossfit.com website by chance? Lots of integrated lifting/stamina routines with an oly lifting base. I have tried some of their excercises (not their Workout of the Day - WOD) - did a couple sets of: Wall Ball [10# medicine ball push press thrown to 10' and caught, squat, throw] -> 15" vertical jumps on to a block -> turkish getups with 15# -> crunches x 20.

Beats the hell out of 'cardio'.

Anymore clips of your snatch or clean technique?
Click to expand...

this is what you all circuit based interval work. Much more effective than cardio for getting lean and you kill several bird with one stone.
But I don't need crossfit to tell me what to do! :)

I haven't done any cleans and snatches in ages, and I'm the last person you would call up for technique :)
 
Some of the Crossfit stuff is moronic. I've seen some video of, what was it, 50 or 100 rep cleans? The form by the end had the girl catching the bar on her knees.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
Some of the Crossfit stuff is moronic. I've seen some video of, what was it, 50 or 100 rep cleans? The form by the end had the girl catching the bar on her knees.
Click to expand...


that's why I use exercises that don't require too much technique when you tire :)

---

Feel a trashed and a bit worn out. Achey all over. Hamstrings, calves, abs and upper back pretty sore.

weighed 91.7kg 201.74lbs straight out of bed in underwear
My bodyweight dropped quite a bit later on during the day. I briefly hit 202lbs after a leak in clothes, sweet. Circuit intervals are very effective

10min walk planned today plus some easy stretching after. Man do I need some recovery fast
 
Last edited:
Late night. Feeling better though, semi-fresh.
Most of the major soreness is gone.

weighed 91.3kg 200.86lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Woot! Finally within striking distance of 200lbs.
Still can't believe how much more fat I'm carrying though. Definitely can loose another 20lbs and still not be ripped. Good to reach the halfway point though
 
Tuesday 7th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 2 - POWER - Microcycle 7

Pretty average workout.
Jump was only a tiny bit up from last week, but I haven't fully recovered from Sunday's workout and with all the energy work I'm doing I don't expect much gains on it either.

WIll start to slide back into some strength work next week

Bodyweight at gym - 204.5lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warmup -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) back extension BWx5 + 4 twisting to each alternate side
3) reverse hypers - BWx8
4) situp complex on swissball
5) adductor/hammie stretch into back tumbells x10
6) usual bar complex with 30lbs
7) various hops

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2mins on warmups and 3 mins between each exercise on work sets

vertical Jumps

warmed up to maximal vertical jumps. Did jumps as well inbetween the warmups of the main exercises

Then did a one step jump and a standing jump 30secs before each set of the clean stuff. Didn't drop much after all that stuff

One thing that bothers me is my standing "no arm swing" jump is way lower than before. I used to be able to bang my head through the ceiling tile and get the middle of my forehead level with the ceiling, but right now I can barely get my head through it. Must be a technique issue, since my regular jumps are fine or if I take a step. Jumpsquats should help though.


Squats

Jumpsquats
Rotation 1) 25lbs x 7
Rotation 2) 25lbs x 7 --> low and all over the place!

looked somewhat slower and less snappy than before...probably why my standing "no arm swing" jump is crappy.


Rotation 3) Athletic fullsquats in Olyshoes - 2 mins rest - Explosive 135x4, 185x4, 225x3, 255x2, 285x2


Clean Stuff - in Sneakers - HookGrip - RAW

Warmups - CleanPull + 3 hang powercleans - Bar, 89lbs
Cleanpull - 119x1, 155x1, 175x2, 205x2, 225x1

HighPull + 2 HighHang powercleans
Rotation 1) 155lbs
Rotation 2) 155lbs ---> crap form on this set

CleanPulls - reset between each rep
Rotation 1) 243lbs x 2 - concentrics just under 1 sec
Rotation 2) 243lbs x 2 --> felt slower and lower

felt a bit faster than last week. Waveloading with the lighter powercleans helping a bit

---
clip of the worksets

right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au...ghHangPowerClean155_CleanPull243_7March06.mpg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rotating Sets between each upper body exercise

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

Powerack Pullups - Thumbless overhand grip

warmups - 5 sec hang, BW x2

explosive
Rotation 1) BW x 4
Rotation 2) BW x 4


Scapular Dips

Warmups - BWx12sec hold, BWx5

Rotation 1) BW x 15
Rotation 2) BW x 15


Elbow On Knee External Rotation

Warmups - 4kg x8

Rotation 1) 15lbs x 8
Rotation 2) 20lbs x 8 --> pretty hard
 
Feeling a bit tired, slight drained feeling.
Overall achey feeling, but not as sore as last week. Upperback/traps, and posterior chain mostly

weighed 91.2kg 200.65lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Down a smidge :)

2x5 reach, roll and lift
10min walk plus some light stretching after
 
Feeling a bit sleepy/tired. Forearms pretty sore from last training session, those cleanpulls. Posterior chain a bit achey, but legs and hips feel loose, and fairly snappy. Light feeling

weighed 91.4kg 201lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Carbed up and ate big last night, but minimal gain in weight. Only about 2000-2200 calories total though, so still around maintenance or just below it.
 
Thursday 9th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 3 - Energy Work - Microcycle 7

Moved this day back to Thursday where it belongs. Not that sore today unlike last week. I actually feel pretty light and snappy, despite being a little tired. But I took a small nap before running which helped.
Bodyweight down as well

Bodyweight in shorts and t-shirt - 202.5 lbs
Workout Rating - 8.5/10
Workout time - 35 mins all up

Warmup

warmup at home - 16mins - 20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, standing on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut, various hops and run in place in bare feet at home.

Warmup at park -
Slow Jog - 50m x 3 - 1 mins rest, getting faster on each run

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

2 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible
25m prime times (stiffed legged runs), 10m straight run, then into lateral run, right side 5m, left side 5m, into backwards run 5m, then three 360 pivots runs

4 dropsquats (hammie to parallel) sitting back, focusing on activating the hammies + 3 point start into 40m acceleration runs to 70% speed - 1min rest

another set as above, but with 1 dropsquat + 3 easy vertical jumps

then rest 2 mins

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

56 metres @ 70% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1min
3 runs - all in the high 9 secs

310m run - ran one lap around the football field - 56.41 secs NEW PR!! -3.06secs

2.5 min rest

78 metres @ 70% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1.5 mins
3 runs ---> 14.68, messed up, 13.9 secs

bunch of static stretches for whole body

---

Well the warmup hops and stuff at home felt so light, spring, bouncey and effortless! That just carried over into the running. Jump squats doing the biz I figure, and slightly lower bodyweight doesn't hurt too.

I felt good, but not that super good, so I was actually surprised how much faster I ran that 310m run around the football field, just under 5secs faster than last week and 3 secs faster than my current PR from a few weeks back!! It didn't even feel that fast, although I didn't struggle too much in that last 50m, considering how much faster I was.
Damn, power and ground reaction forces must be way up.....
When I get to a lean 180lbs, I will be blazing on this, under 40 secs no doubt :)

Was supposed to run 100m in the 3 runs after the 310m run, but accidentally stopped a bit short, the lines confused me a bit. So just did the rest of em at 78m....

very slight ache in my left shin....
I normally have a weights session in the gym a couple of hours after this running, but not this week. Just getting back into things for now
 
Definitely need a nap today, sleepy. Achey hamstrings and feet, ankle area.

weighed 91.2kg 200.64lbs straight out of bed in underwear
so far so good, hope to hit 200lbs on the dot at least by Monday
 
Congrats on your progress. I was looking for your post about ice cold water, and I saw your BW back in December was 215-220.

Now you're down to 200. Also you look a lot leaner in the last vid I downloaded.

It kinda crept up on me since you're so meticulous with your log...a 1/4 pound here, a 1/4 pound there. All of a sudden you're lighter than me ;)
 
Jim Ouini said:
Congrats on your progress. I was looking for your post about ice cold water, and I saw your BW back in December was 215-220.

Now you're down to 200. Also you look a lot leaner in the last vid I downloaded.

It kinda crept up on me since you're so meticulous with your log...a 1/4 pound here, a 1/4 pound there. All of a sudden you're lighter than me ;)
Click to expand...


Thanks, but I was never that heavy back in Dec last year :)
I had a quick look and more like like 210+lbs during day in clothes. And like 206-208lbs straight out of bed like how I measure it now
This is when I started eating more carbs on the average each day like I am now.

But progress is progress, and yeah I am leaner, feel lighter, but still so much to lose! But I was up at 218-200lbs over a year ago

-----------------

Need more sleep. Upper back a bit sore from my part time job and a bit achey all over, but I feel fairly loose.
I just feel better since I stopped that 2 a day on Thursday. I think I will keep it that way for a while. I just don't reocver too while from 2 sessions in a day, plus that also adds an extra post workout meal, which means more calories to burn...

weighed 91.5kg 201.3lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Holding some water
 
ChinkNasty said:
so aesthetically speaking, whats an ideal weight you wanna get down to?
Click to expand...

depends, but with my current muscle mass, probably around 80-82kg 176 -180lbs. I'd be fairly lean there, not ripped, but definitely pretty hard

My waist is around 35 inches now, not sure, since I haven't measured it recently, but I want it down to about 30 or lower, so I have ways to go. That would require a 20-25lb drop of fat I think.
Until my waist is like the back of my hand, and face/cheeks hollowed out, I'm still fat ;)

I want to be leaner than I ever have in my life, but not so lean I can't maintain for the rest of my life, so I will see what happens.
 
Sunday 12th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 3 - Day 1 - Energy/Prehab/Movement Efficiency work - Microcycle 7

Bodyweight no different to where it was this time last week...or a month ago exactly, must be holding water...whatever cause my hops are up!

Bodweight in shorts and t-shirt - 203.5lbs
Workout time - 35+ mins not including warmup stuff
Session rating - 8/10

Reach, Roll and Lift move for lats and internal rotors - 2x5 for each side - 3 sec hold on lift part

warmup - 20 sec ISO holds each - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

- dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut
- scapular pushups against chair - BW 2x15, pushups against chair BWx5, pushups on swissball x4
- various hop patterns in place in bare feet, 10 reactive squats,
- A few practise reps of each of the exercises

- worked up to a few max effort vertical jumps against the brickwall on the side of the house.

Standing vertical jump +1.5inches higher!
See below

Done circuit style - 3 times through
10-20secs rest between each move - however long it takes me to get ready etc

1) 30secs of modified Burpees - done with a hop to one side and back, instead of a jump alternating sides each rep

2) 10 x 12lb MedBall 2 handed Throwdowns - small star jump type hop each rep, throwing hard enough to bounce the medball to head height, 85% effort

3) 12 x 12lb MedBall 2 handed Chest Pass into floor - slight hop, 85% effort

4) 20 Lunging Step ups on 2nd step - shins vertical - alternating sides

5) 10 Swissball Pushups full extension at the top

6) 30 x 12lb MedBall twists in situp position - touching the floor on each side of the body as fast as possible

7) Giant set - all with 1.25kg 2.75lb plates - slight hold at the bottom or top of each lift, deadstop
a) 12 External L-Rotations,
b) 10 x 45 degree bent over upwards Y raises - thumbs up
c) 10 x 45 degree bent over raises - thumbs up

8) 1.5mins rest

about 27 mins all up

Did 2 more vertical jumps after a 6 min rest, they were an inch down and felt crappy.

static stretches for the whole body, including my external rotors
---------------

Workout went pretty well overall.
Did the medball stuff a bit harder. And added 2 extra reps per set on the external rotations.

What blew me away was my vertical jumps against the brickwall on the side of the house at the start of the workout.
The last time I tested it was a month ago exactly. Back then it went up 2 inches compared to the previous week. And now today it went up again another 1.5 inches!! Damn I just flew up there, without really trying. I had to do it again just to make sure :)

Not to say my Vertical Jump has gone up since last week, just compared to the last time I tested it here. Even though my bodyweight is no different to where it was a month ago. I am leaner, just holding some water. I guess whatever I did since then is working.
I'm putting my money on the jumpsquats - everytime I do them after a period of strength work, my running speed and jumping just shoot up a decent amount. Well I can't say the reactive squats, high hang powercleans, cleanpulls and running don't help...but I've been doing them before and only get a boost as soon as mix in jumpsquats....
 
ChinkNasty said:
haha yea, optimal weight for the ladies
Click to expand...

I'm gonna be lean and scupltured ;)

Not all 180lbs are the same - though :)

-------

Interrupted sleep. Feel a bit tired, slight drained feeling, moderate aches all over - hamstrings, serratus and upperback the most

weighed 91.4kg 201lbs straight out of bed in underwear
puzzling

15 min walk and some easy stretching after
 
Posterior chain a bit achey from the walk I did yesterday - went too far 20mins instead of the 15min I had planned

weighed 91.8kg 201.96lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Big dinner - food weight I guess, because I weigh the same now after pooping, and with a few meals in me :)

nice link - bodyfat % calculator
http://members.nuvox.net/~on.jwclymer/bmi.html#waist

202lbs 35.5 inch waist

says I'm 16% bodyfat for me, which sounds about right
167lbs of lean body mass - 1966 calories BMR --> pretty close to what I experience, no wonder I got real fat a while back eating the way I did :)

According to this, when I get down to 180lbs and a maybe a 31 inch waist I should be about 8.6 % bodyfat.

175lbs 30inch waist would be around 6.7 % .

So that's in line with what I expected, roughly anyway.
With the amount of lean muscle mass I have - my strength levels aren't too bad at all.
Plus my speed and jumping is pretty decent even for much leaner folks than me :p
I can't believe I was actually running in the low 12sec 100m back when I was around 20% bodyfat and jumping pretty good too! :eek2:
I should get a big boost when I finally get lean....
 
Tuesday 14th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 3 - Day 2 - Strength/Hypertrophy - Microcycle 7

Ok workout, still haven't recovered from Sunday's workout
Back into some strength work, and some hypertrophy is a sense.
Posterior chain is just as strong if not stronger, but my squatting ability has gone quite a lot. Although I have changed my form a bit. Core was very solid and stable though

Posterior chain and VMO feeling pretty trashed right now! Gonna be sore tomorrow.

Bodyweight at gym - 204.5lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warmup -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) back extension BWx5 + 4 twisting to each alternate side
3) reverse hypers - BWx8
4) situp complex on swissball
5) adductor/hammie stretch into back tumbells x10
6) usual bar complex with 30lbs
7) various hops
8) worked up to 2x2 max effort vertical jumps, about the same as last week.


Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2mins on warmups and 3.5 mins between each exercise on work sets


Full Squats - high bar, medium stance, sitting back a bit more - Oly Shoes - no Belt

warmups - Reactive squats bar x 8, normal - 95x4, 135x4, 185x4, 225x3, 255x2, 285x2

Rotation 1) Fullsquat jump - rest 30secs - 315lbs x 2 --> last rep very slow

Lower down, come up 3 inches, slight hold, back up
Rotation 2) 275lbs x 3
Rotation 3) 275lbs x 3

Squatting a bit more athletic style, slightly wider stance, sitting back a bit more. Tightened up my shoe laces on the oly shoes, that sure helped stability wise.... :)
I've been "Foam Rolling" and stretching my IT band, external hip rotors, quads and glutes and I noticed the difference today. Form felt very good today, smooth, even and stable. None of that "rusty" jammed up feeling, must ahve cleared up some adhesion in the muscles. Felt like I was going deeper as well.

315x2 was pretty hard and slow, lost some strain ability. Doubt I could have done more than 3 reps today with it. That pause on the 275lb sets at the sticking point on the way up made it way harder in a good way. Thought it would make my knees hurt, but it felt good and solid. Certainly caned my VMO and hammies a bit too.


Clean Deadlift RDL - Oly Shoes - HookGrip - no Belt

Warmups - Hang powerclean bar x 5, Powerclean + hang Powerclean - 89lbs,
Clean deadlift - 155lbs, Clean Deadlift + Hang Powerclean - 155lbs
Clean Deadlift - 205x2, 243x2, 293x2

All controlled

Clean Deadlift, lowered RDL style - reset 10sec rest
Rotation 1) 343lbs x 2

Clean Deadlift, RDL down to just off the floor, back up
Rotation 2) 343lbs x 3 ---> mild strain on last rep
Rotation 3) 343lbs x 3 ---> last 2 reps hard strain

I guess this would be a PR for RDLs, I've never RDL'ed this much weight before. Core was rock solid, form was good. Definitely within me, but I still had to work hard.
Funny how I never feel it in my lower back anymore, no tightness, pump or strain there. Guess I'm good at recruiting my glutes and hammies properly now. That was not the case before, and when I sprinted back then my lower back would tighten up, now the opposite occurs in sprints - coincidence? :)

---
clip of the 2nd sets of each

right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au..._FullSquat_midISO275x3_RDL343x3_14March06.mpg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooldown - Prehab


ToeCurls on lying leg curl machine

1plate - 2x15 - slight hold at top, 2mins rest
used a different leg curl machine, more comfy and a bit harder

1x15sec, x25sec stretches for
1) frontal quad, tib psoas
2) hamstrings
3) external hip rotor
4) calves
 
Hmm not too drained or sore as I thought, aches in my upper back, VMO and some soreness in my posterior chain and calves.

weighed 91.3kg 200.86lbs straight out of bed in underwear
The carbs at dinner will have to go as it's pretty much killed my fat loss progress it seems...

back to that link again
http://members.nuvox.net/~on.jwclymer/bmi.html

I entered stats from when I was at my leanest - 155lbs 29.5 inches waist and it gave me around 7% which seems right. I was lean then but not ripped.
Faint outline of veins on my legs, very tight, and felt light as a feather. Man I was trim as hell back then :)

And from a couple years ago where I was 192lbs with 32.5inch waist it said I was 10-11% which is pretty spot as I could faintly see abs when standing relaxed.
 
Hammies and upper back sore as hell! No running today me thinks

weighed 91.8kg 201.96lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
Still pretty sore! Not getting any naps lately, it's really starting to wear me down, feel damn tired.

weighed 92.2kg 202.84lbs straight out of bed in underwear
carbed up yesterday
 
Friday 17th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 3 - Day 3 - Energy Work - Microcycle 7

Still sore, but I had to run today.

Bodyweight in shorts and t-shirt - 203.9 lbs
Workout Rating - 7/10
Workout time - 35 mins all up for the stuff at the park

Warmup

warmup at home - 20sec ISO holds each - quarter squat, standing on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut, various hops and run in place in bare feet at home.


Warmup at park -
Slow Jog - 50m x 4 - 1 mins rest, getting faster on each run

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

2 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible
25m prime times (stiffed legged runs), 10m straight run, then into lateral run, right side 5m, left side 5m, into backwards run 5m, then three 360 pivots runs

4 dropsquats (hammie to parallel) sitting back, focusing on activating the hammies on ball of feet + 3 point start into 40m acceleration runs to 70% speed - 1min rest

another set as above, but with 4 dropsquats + 2 easy vertical jumps


then rest 2 mins

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

56 metres @ 70-80% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1min
3 runs - lowest 8.45secs - highest 8.87secs

310m run - ran one lap around the football field - 53.74 secs NEW PR!! -2.67secs

2.5 min rest

56 metres @ 70-80% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1 min
3 runs ---> mid to high 8 secs . Hip height starting to drop on last run.

bunch of static stretches for whole body

---

Felt a bit stiff, and sore off course, but strong and with lots of power. Legs snapping up very high without really trying. Powerful leg/hip drive. No shin pain too, but tibs were a achey from toe curls a few days ago.
All the runs were much faster today, usually do the 56m runs in the low/mid 9 secs, but today well, I was well into the 8 secs. It's like my body wanted to run faster, without me trying so I just went with the flow - an extra kick in my system or something. Good bounce off the ground.
Starts felt sluggish as hell though, no grip I think.

That 310m run around the edge of footy field improved again! Almost a 3 sec improvement today, and I ran a longer route around the field due to the new markings they put back in. Plus I was heavier today comapred to last week. It's finally feeling pretty quick now. I was running this arround 1.5mins before. I hope I can get it down to 50 secs at least while I am above 200lbs.

Upper body arm drive power feels like its starting to lag my lower body. But I can't bench right now until I get my upper body mobility sorted, which has improved a lot. Another month or so I should be almost ready to get back into it I think. Left arm/shoulder still doesn't have the needed range of motion
 
What type of range of motion are you looking for? And why? I don't get why you're not benching yet.
 
Anthrax Invasion said:
What type of range of motion are you looking for? And why? I don't get why you're not benching yet.
Click to expand...


see the active impingemnet test here

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle...AC34AB7F1D5FF8B.hydra?article=05-183-training

my right shoulder passes with flying colours, touch my nose. And I no problem with in anything. My left side, I can't even get it past parallel, my body won't allow it. And it does have quite a bit of impingement pain in certain things, especially when I don't bench with a narrow grip and tucked shoulders style
I'm not going to ignore it until it becomes too late.
Just gonna take a while to get it sorted.
 
A bit tired and worn out feeling. Moderately sore feet, calves and posterior chain
core is a bit hammered too

weighed 92.2kg 202.84lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
Tired. Need more sleep too. Plus I seem to have "sprained" my right ankle from getting sitting on my chair and then getting up to go to toilet...?! WTF
pretty sore, but not swollen, must have pulled something in there. This right ankle is giving me the sh*ts!

weighed 91.7kg 201.74lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
Sunday 19th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 4 - Day 1 - Energy/Prehab/Movement Efficiency work - Microcycle 7

A bit tired, but the show must go on. Had a 40min nap before hand, which helped. Right ankle didn't bother my workout, didn't notice it.

Bodweight in shorts and t-shirt - 203.5lbs
Workout time - 35+ mins not including warmup stuff
Session rating - 7/10

Reach, Roll and Lift move for lats and internal rotors - 2x5 for each side - 3 sec hold on lift part

warmup - 2x20 sec ISO holds each - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

- dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut
- scapular pushups against chair - BW 2x15, pushups against chair BWx6, pushups on swissball x4
- various hop patterns in place in bare feet, 10 reactive squats,
- A few practise reps of each of the exercises

- worked up to max effort - 2x3 standing long jumps, and 2x3 vertical jumps
Jump a bit lower....


Done circuit style - 3 times through
10-20secs rest between each move - however long it takes me to get ready etc

1) 30secs of Burpees - 5 with a jump, rest done with a hop to one side and back, alternating sides each rep

2) 12 x 12lb MedBall 2 handed Throwdowns - star jump type hop each rep, throwing hard enough to bounce the medball to head height, 75% effort

3) 12 x 12lb MedBall 2 handed Chest Pass into floor - small star jump type hop , 75% effort

4) 20 Lunging Step ups on 2nd step - shins vertical - alternating sides

5) 10 Swissball Pushups full extension at the top

6) 30 x 12lb MedBall twists in situp position - touching the floor on each side of the body as fast as possible

7) Giant set - all with 1.25kg 2.75lb plates - slight hold at the bottom or top of each lift, deadstop
a) 15 External L-Rotations,
b) 12 x 45 degree bent over upwards Y raises - thumbs up
c) 12 x 45 degree bent over downward raises
d) 15 x supinating plate curls (continous)

8) 1.5mins rest

about 27 mins all up

static stretches for the whole body, including my external rotors
---------------

Average workout. vertical jump at the start is a bit down. Getting real good on the burpees and medball stuff, awesome smoothness, flow and timing.
Almost like breakdancing :)

- added the jumps back into the burpees, first 5 anyway. Workout is more effective with the jumps in there.
- 2 extra reps on medball throwdowns and now much faster repping...more huffing and puffing
- external rotations up 3 reps, 2 extra reps on the other raises
- added the supinating plate curls
 
Now that was some crazy sleep last night! I had a nice deep nap yesterday, which probbaly threw my sleep patterns, then didn't eat any carbs at dinner which usually makes me sleep very lightly. Woke up with hunger pains, aet a bowl of cereal+whey and then went back to sleep for a bit more. Well tried too, but lower back and hips were tensed up, so I foam rolled them a bit, and then fell asleep :)
Feel Ok after all that though. Posterior chain still a bit sore.

weighed 91kg 200.2lbs straight out of bed in underwear

DOH, oh so close to 200lbs! Feel nice and light. Walking down the stairs in the morning felt much easier, and no knee aches.
 
powerclean thread at tmag that turned out some good discussion

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=972974

-----
some good quotes from Jumanji -

Also to add to the Devil's advocate side:

Cleans do offer one advantage over Maximal efforts. The RFD is higher... plus they offer eccentric RFD which squats and deads do not... Even with CAT style lifting, the closer to maximal the weight is, I believe that the RFD slope is flatter....no?

What is RFD eccentrically? Well, it is half of the equation when it comes to speed, frankly, and is the half that most everyone misses.

Everyone who talks cleans discusses their excellence due to concentric RFD, but the real beauty comes from the catch.

Eccentric RFD is very closely linked to the stiffness that is displayed by great athletes. We have all seen the guy who can calf raise a house, but sticks to the floor and has huge heel dip when he runs.... no eccentric RFD.... cannot absorb the force quickly....

So even if a huge amount of force can be displayed on the other side, the athlete sticks to the ground due to half of the equation being lost.

Now relative body strength is THE key factor to acceleration, but I beleive that this is due to the sampling of athletes. Take 100 kids and make two groups out of them. With all things being equal, both groups will have about the same number of reactive / non reactive athletes.

This is where Peter Weyand's study is amazingly accurate, but also flawed..... and Barry Ross's book is shortsighted. Guys like Dave Tate can squat and deadlift as much as Alicia Felix (200m elite runner, female), with relation to theri bodyweight, yet they could never run with Alicia Felix.... why is this? Bary alluded to it in the beginning of his book, but failed to delve deeper due to the complexity of the issue. Alicia tested off the charts in every aspect, save for STRENGTH. She was already amazingly reactive. She was a gazelle waiting for some horsepower to kick it up a notch.

So, DE squats are awesome for concentric RFD, but lack eccentric RFD. Even westside uses very fast eccentric descents with catches on their dynamic benches, but from what I understand, don't carry this over to dynamic squats. Of course, I am a skinny pus at only 205, so I am not there (westside). I am only guessing. But, I have never heard Dave or Louie talk about Reactive Squats, but instead, use the box to truly halt eccentric progress.


Eccentric RFD, muscular stiffness.... this is what seperates reactive athletes from the rest.... and cleans, when properly performed, develop these qualities....

So do Drop Absorption Squats, so do reactive squats, so do jump squats of all variations, so do Reactive GHR's, so do reactive back Hypers, so do reactive reverse hypers...all can be done unilaterally, weighted, banded....etc, etc, etc.

If you are a naturally springy athlete, increase your Max Strength through Deads and squats... hell increase it anyway!

But, many, many athletes could benefit from a great strength-speed, and speed-strength exercise that promotes both concentric and eccentric RFD. These are the weightroom warriors who scratch their head wondering why the skinny pus guy runs circles around them. Their explosive strength defecit and reactivity are much better....


And T-Maggers, please don't refer to the Olymic Lifters having amazing sprint times because they could clean so much.... because most all could squat 3x BW without gear... so was it the cleans, or the squats... or both?


Hmmm... the media and CSCS has made us believe it was the cleans... but the absolute strength of these guys was amazing also....

Maybe it was both combined....hmmmm... absolute limit off the charts with very little explosive strength defecit... sounds like a decent combo....

Maybe that was it.

Jumanji

--

Kir Dog~

Yes to the catch question... exactly. Do a block of Cleans from the floor with the catch in a full squat position, and then see how strong you feel in the hole... hmm... because the absoprtion you are doing in the full squat position helps to develop strength so much....

Or, do force drop squats, or oscillatory Isometric squats there... whatever you feel comfortable with...

Want to translate strength to on the field performance:

Build the strength in your weak area (most suck in deep angles which are necessary for great acceleration), so do Iso's and Eccentrics through this range.

Then convert it to Force development (MASS x speed), heavy cleans with full squat catch, OI's in deep squat, Force Drop squats, FD 1-Legged Squats, etc... tons of options. Then move to fully reactive this way....

Then go to Power development (mass x SPEED). I seperate Force into strength-speed, and power into speed-strength. So deep knee bend ballistics and reactive exercises....starting with absorption type exercises, moving to fully reactive.

Now see how well you defend, cut with deep angles, accelerate, etc. (IE, the age old "play low" that all short-bus coaches yell without realizing the athlete has no preparedness to actually do this dynamically).

Finally, enjoy the fruits of your effort.

BTW, you are right that most young kids see the best gains from strength training. My progression goes: BW and movement efficiency until 13 or 14, then work on strength and reactivity... slowly and with perfect form. The biggest jumps in perfromance for me are when my kids start to realize a nice strength to BW ratio.... that is, after the intial jump from movement pattern corrections.... you are very right... most are weak.....stunningly

---

Since Keyser Soze1 doesn't realize that the deadlift, squat, overhead press, etc all lie on the exact opposite side of the time/force and force/rate curve that plyometrics do, I am not sure any of you should worry about his views.

Plyometrics address force absorption, coupling, and force display needs, where the other lifts address strength duration needs. And yes, all strength is completely rate dominant, so the speed of the movement is hugely important. Yes, CAT training is better than bodybuilding type training, but it affects the force/rate curve differently than ballistics do...


So, bench press 500, check. Squat 700, check. Look the part, check. Get to the point of attack, no check. Well, we could do some of those plyometric thingies, or fancy lifts to improve our explosive strength defecit and muscular stiffness, but Keyser Soze1 says they suck, so we are just relegated to the bench and will never start because we cannot get to the point of attack... the bench in a living room with a cold beer and chips.

I know hundreds of guys who can play a ball perfectly in the air at "its highest point", but cannot jump high enough.... who can tackle with perfect form, squat and bench a ton, but are too slow to get to the point of attack.... who never drop a ball that is thrown to them, but again are too slow.....hmmm.

I guess they all just need to squat more...LOL.

Good plan.

The swearing, mocking, and deriding don't hide your being incorrect

---

Unfortunately it isn't that simple. Which is why slow guys who run 5.4 forties, but squat 500 will never make gains from HIT or 99% of CSCS designed programs.

Tell you what Keyser, line up 20 guys who you know to be very strong, and have them run. I don't want you to watch anything except their heals. See who has a huge heal dip when he runs, and who doesn't.

Now, since they are strong, we know that it isn't because they have weak calves. It happens because their muscles don't know how to instantaneously absorb the force, instantaneously lock up. You see, when you lift, you are actually training a recruitment pattern, and a recruitment rate... so slow, heavy eccentrics affect your CNS very differently than do fast explosive movements. A slow eccentric RFD (rate of force development) sucks for an athlete in a strength-speed or speed-strength sport.. period.

It isn't all muscles and bones and tendons and ligaments, you see, some of us have brains and a CNS.... do you?

Back to the discussion at hand: All of athleticism has to do with force absorption, stabilization, and then force display... at amazing rates (rfd). The basis for all of this force talk nonsense is absolute strength, and tendon preparedness.... But, after that, all of this potential must be moved way down the force curve for it to viable on the field...

This is why a powerlifter does not punch as hard as a boxer. The powerlifter is trained to build tension and display this tension over the duration of the lift....slower recruitment, slower release. The boxer trains his CNS to instantly recruit amazing force, and then just as quickly shut it down... so not only does the peak force created max out higher, but the boxer can also throw 3 punches in the time a powerlifter throws one: on,off,on,off,on,off... big guy is bleeding.

But, what the boxer cannot do is to maintain his tension over the course of a bench press... different recruitment ability. So, the boxer only benches 315, while the powerlifter benches 600. The powerlifter has honed his CNS to his sport, the boxer to his...

Now, think about the legs in the same manner....hmmmm.

The funny thing is, many, probably most guys with the same certification as me certification would cry out: get him stronger!!! But, if the powerlifter benched 700 would he be a better puncher? Where does the ignorance end? The strong guy needs to lessen his explosive strength defecit by doing RFD drills. Hell if he did all explosive drills for a year and lost 100 pounds on his bench, he would probably punch harder...way harder.

This is where exercises that stress RFD, force absorption, stabilization, and force display all come into play. Because some people naturally have no deficit when it comes to displaying newfound strength in the form of power production (rate dominant athletes), but some have huge potentials, but lack the proficiency (strength dominant athletes).

Now, if all you ever meet are rate dominant athletes, then you must be Bobby Bowden, because that is all he recruits. He knows where the current state of S&C lies, and that is: Get them stronger!!!! So he recruits the rate dominant kids...good for him.

As for your injuries, you probably have gait issues, as do most people who, when running experience pain. I train an elite level marathoner, who battled sever IT Band issues her whole career. Low and behold she was a heel striker... hmm...can you say absorbing force with your bone structure.... yummy. We fixed that with a progression of drills, she gained 3/4" in her calves in 3 months (note that she was a Big Ten track and cross country girl, not some untrained test subject) due to her new foot strike, and the pain subsided..... miracle.... LOL. Maybe just not ignorance. Maybe just sound coaching. Were you getting that?

Finally Keyser, rude is a term that others label you with, not a term you give to yourself. You were rude, thus you are rude. You cannot exclame afterwards: I am not rude. You must alter your actions to get the label removed...

Thinking that improving athleticism lies in the muscles, and not in the mechanism that controls the muscles (CNS)..... silly at best. That type of 'thinking' may earn you another label... since even your beloved strength is more of a neural factor than anything else... which is why an elite 105 pound gymanst is stronger than most T-Mag readers....

Good luck to you Keyser. I will be pleased when you realize there is far more than Flex Magazine and HIT tell you there is.....

Jumanji
CSCS

---

Coach Sommer replying - gymnastic dude
-----

I would like to broaden the range of this discussion beyond the utility of power cleans in general. First, I believe that we are all in agreement that limit strength is a fundamental necessity for athletic excellence.

However, in my experience, increasing limit strength is not, in and of itself, enough to adequetely prepare the body for maximal performance; except perhaps in sports in which a relatively long term duration of effort is of no consequence (i.e. powerlifting). Most athletics however, as well as the world in general, take place within a ballistic environment and, to operate at maximum efficiency within that environment, the body needs to be able to handle rapid accelerations and decelerations of force as well as force impacts and rebounds. Whether this ability is achieved through plyometric gymnastics elements, rebounding track & field exercises, the 'catch" of a power clean, the bottom of a squat snatch or depth jumps etc. is the personal preference of the coach and/or athlete. Nevertheless it is essential that this training component be addressed.

To my mind the most common error with implementing this type of training, regardless of the specific training avenue pursued, is impatience. Care must be taken to allow the joints and connective tissues to gradually acclimate to the new training parameters being placed upon them. This adaptation is of biological necessity measured in months rather than weeks. In a seasonal school sport, there is often simply not enough time for the necessary adaptations to safely occur.

For example, in my judgement this is why the one young man began to experience joint issues when training the olympic lifts as a high school football player. The danger was not that he had been exposed to ballistic element training (in this case Olympic Lifting) but that he, or more likely his coach, had attempted to train these new elements too hard too soon and had exceeded his joints' ability to sufficiently adapt to the training load being placed upon them. Had the seasonal schedule allowed him to begin and maintain a more gradual training approach with implementing this ballistic training, the end results may well have been dramatically different.


Yours in Fitness,
Coach Sommer

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=512003
 
ive really enjoyed reading this program...you have an excellent knowlede of the human function...id liek to talk to you more maybe about developing a football/ speed workout...
 
J_Merkm said:
ive really enjoyed reading this program...you have an excellent knowlede of the human function...id liek to talk to you more maybe about developing a football/ speed workout...
Click to expand...

start off by reading all the articles and Q&As at kelly Bagget's site :D
there is a good new article on speed training too..

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com

I have exchanged a lot of email with him, dude knows his stuff - and educating people on what works for performance enhancement
 
Tuesday 21st March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 4 - Day 2 - Strength/Hypertrophy - Microcycle 7

Bodyweight at the gym down 1.5lbs from last week, and I sure look leaner.
Once I get to 198lbs, I'm gonna deload and max out my sprints and jumps with pure power/reactive work and see where I am.
But man my strength levels have dropped off. Everything except my posterior chain. Use it or lose it I guess, plus I haven't been getting enough protein -damn'ed if you do and damn'ed if you don't!

Pretty good workout though.

Bodyweight at gym - 203lbs
Workout time - 1.75 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warmup -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) back extension BWx5 + 4 twisting to each alternate side
3) reverse hypers - BWx8
4) situp complex on swissball
5) adductor/hammie stretch into back tumbells x8
6) usual bar complex with 30lbs
7) various hops

8) worked up to a few sets max effort vertical jumps, about the same as last week. Finally banged my head through the ceiling panels on the standing jump - just a technique issue. Burpee jumps changed my form a bit - goes to show how quickly the CNS learns things...
Still there is definitely 2 inches there to be had when I get back to max effort sprints, depth jumps and jumpsquats.

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2mins on warmups and 3.5 mins between each exercise on work sets

Full Squats - high bar, medium stance, sitting back a bit more - Oly Shoes - no Belt

warmups - Reactive squats bar x 5, normal - 135x5, 185x5, 225x4, 255x2, 285x2

Rotation 1) Fullsquat jump - rest 30secs - 320lbs x 2 (+5lbs) --> really hard and slow

Lower down, come up 3 inches, slight hold, back up
Rotation 2) 280lbs x 3 (+5lbs)
Rotation 3) 280lbs x 3

Damn my squat has really dropped off 30-40lbs! Sets with 280 were a bit wobbly and damn hard


Clean Deadlift RDL - Oly Shoes - HookGrip - no Belt

Warmups - Hang powerclean bar x 5, Powerclean + hang Powerclean + highhang squatclean - 89lbs, 155lbs
Clean Deadlift + RDL - 205lbs, 243, 293

All controlled

Clean Deadlift, RDL down to just off the floor, back up
Rotation 1) 343lbs x 3
Rotation 2) 343lbs x 3
Rotation 3) 343lbs x 3

One extra set, kinda hard.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooldown - Upper Body - Prehab

rotating sets between each - 1mins rest

ToeCurls on lying leg curl machine - 1plate x 8, x18 - slight hold at top
Pullups - BW x 2, x9
Scapular Dip shrugs - 10sec hold + 6, BWx17
Chest Supported 45 degree T-Bar rows - 45x8, 90x8
Elbow On Knee External Rotation - 4kg x 10, 15lbs x 12
Dumbell Curls - 15lbs x8, 30x8

Bulgarian Splitsquat stretch ISO hold - BWx30secs
Dip/Pushups Stretched ISO hold - BWx30secs

bunch of static stretches
 
Not too drained or sore, especially compared to last week, so I'll be able to run tomorrow and go back to my usual split. More volume too, funny how that works. Mostly in my upper back and spinal erectors/hammies. Traps are getting bigger from the RDLs!

Flexibility in the upper body is getting good, I can put my hands in a prayer position behind my back, finger pointing up. Next step is to be able to touch my fingers behind my back in the over and under test, will have to get a lot leaner before that happens...

weighed 91.1kg 200.42lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Lots of carbs last night, but not too much gain in bodyweight.
 
I'll get there :chomp:



Late night, lost track of time...
Upper back and lats pretty sore, hammies as well - especially the left side. I should be ok to run though. Should have went for a walk yesterday to help speed up recovery.
Right outter ankle doesn't seem to hurt at all, but there is some ache in a different spot - hmm, must be old scar tissue moving around or something impinging on the nerves maybe?

weighed 91.4kg 201.08lbs straight out of bed in underwear
meh back up..
 
Thursday 23rd March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 4 - Day 3 - Energy Work - Microcycle 7

Not a good workout as it could have been. Hammies were really stiff and sore, especially the left side. Had to warmup a bit more before getting into it. Even in the warmup stuff I did at home, they were pretty tender.

On the other hand, my bodyweight before the workout was almost the same as my weight in underwear straight out of bed this morning! 2+lbs lighter than this time last week, even though I felt pretty puffed up and bloated. Hmm strange...not that I'm complaining though :)

Bodyweight in shorts and t-shirt - 201.5lbs
Workout Rating - 6/10
Workout time - 45 mins all up for the stuff at the park

Warmup

warmup at home - 20sec ISO holds each - quarter squat, standing on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes.

dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle, standing on one leg with eyes shut, various hops and run in place in bare feet at home.


Warmup at park -
Slow Jog - 50m x 5 - 1 mins rest, getting faster on each run

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

2 sets - trying to stay as smooth, relaxed and fluid as possible
25m prime times (stiffed legged runs), 10m straight run, then into lateral run, right side 5m, left side 5m, into backwards run 5m, then three 360 pivots runs

4 dropsquats (hammie to parallel) sitting back, focusing on activating the hammies on ball of feet + 3 point start into 40m acceleration runs to 70% speed - 1min rest

another set as above, but with 2 dropsquats + 2 easy vertical jumps


then rest 2 mins

Tempo Runs + Energy Work

56 metres @ 70-80% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1min
3 runs - 9.27, 8.91, 8.91 secs

310m run - ran one lap around the football field - 54secs
2.5 min rest

100 metres @ 70-80% speed - from 3 point start
rest = walk back to start - 1.5 min
3 runs ---> high 17 to low 18secs

Backwards run - 56 metres @ 90% speed
rest = walk back to start - 1 min
3 runs - 15+, 13+, high 12 secs

bunch of static stretches for whole body

---

No PR on the run around the football this week. Slightly slower than last week's PR. Might have gotten a PR if I ran tomorrow. Hammies were too sore and tight. They twinged a bit on the 2 first 56 metre runs. In hindsight I should have taken it easy today.

But I Felt nice and light today, feet and ankles felt loose. Ground felt soft too. No shin pain at all.

Did the backwards run for a change of pace. They felt great. Much harder the regular running so probably more calories burnt :)
Once I got the timing of arms right I went faster. Pretty smooth and rapid. Hit the VMO and hammies in a different way. Probably helps strengthen the knee and ACL too. Easier on the body impact wise as well.
 
Got woken up by the dog. He was barking all night for some reason, turns out
he was very thirsty. Bowl of water was left ontop the table...was wondering why he was sitting on the very spot the water bowl usually goes on in the morning..... Damn he was lapping that bowl for a few minutes after I put it back :)

Sides of my lower legs a bit achey and upper back/traps

weighed 91.5kg 201.3lbs straight out of bed in underwear
 
While I don't feel all that fresh, the total amount of sleep is prety darn good, CNS feels more topped up than I usually feel on a Sunday and so I'm in a decent mood too.

Upper back/traps sore from my part-time job. Legs/hips sore from my stretching too, motto of the story is - never stretch when your cold...

weighed 91.5kg 201.3lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Looking and feeling much leaner. I can really see it in my face, cheekbones coming more forward and skinfolds are tighter.
 
Sunday 26th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 5 - Day 1 - BBall Energy Work - Microcycle 7

Almost 1.75 pounds lighter than this time last week. Felt a bit crappy today, I wasn't in the mood for my Circuit interval stuff so I decided to go BBall at the other outdoor court. Probably burns a good amount of calories too.

Bodyweight in shorts and t-shirt - 201.75lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Session rating - 7/10

Warmed for the first 15-20mins, felt kinda dead. But then got into and was going pretty hard and doing some good stuff. Both shins were achey at the end, but I didn't feel as beat up as I usually am after a BBall session.

Wasn't exactly feeling "Fast Twitch" not with all the heavy strength work and energy work, but I was still strong and explosive. Upper body felt a bit tight on the shots, so shooting not too good but man my dribbling and overall movement was pretty damn good for not having played in a while. I just seem to be able maintain and even improve my skills!

Since I was about 5lbs lighter than the last time I played here, I expected my jump to be up a bit. And it was, even though I didn't exactly feel that much lighter. Although I wasn't able to do a good test before I was tired, I jumped up against the low netball rings on the back of the backboard and was able to look down on it, so about middle of nose level. The last time I jumped against it here, I got it to just above eyebrow level. So a gain of 2 inches or so. Not bad, another 5 more pounds of fat off and then a power and reactive training block and I should start to creep up to the 40 inch approach jump area....I'll do my proper jump tests then and see what my gains overall vs when I was 207-208lbs

My one legged running jump is getting and feeling better as I get lighter and leaner. Lower leg no longer hurts like it used to even at fast speeds and I spring up more.

One thing that blew me away was my agility and control while dribbling and overall movement. I was able to get down really low, while feeling strong, solid and stable, and had great control of the ball, while still being able to blast out in any direction. All smooth and fluid. Felt like I was Barry Sanders while tap dancing at the same time! :)
Damn I was pulling off some ridiculous combos of spins jukes and dance like moves and still be able to put a skying double clutch shot under the hoop that felt like my head was within 12 inches of the rim and still get it in.
2 exercises that help a lot I suspect - modified burpees and those mid paused Fullsquats. Just feel so strong in the low squat agility position.
Also felt my hammies used much more today
 
Sleep wasn't great but I feel pretty good for a day after BBall, only very slight drained feeling, not too sore, just overall achey feeling. Feet/ankles are bit battered and my groin area a bit trashed up, probbaly from getting down low on the dribbles.

weighed 91.5kg 201.3lbs straight out of bed in underwear

same waking bodyweight for a few days now, that has to be some record :)
Carbed up and ate a lot yesterday so I'm surprised as well. Today I'll be ditching the cereal+oak meal totally and see what happens. Last week I cut down on it a bit and this helped me lean up faster. So far I already feel much more energetic without it and blood sugar is very stable. I usually have a blood sugar crash 3 hours after the cereal. But I will keep it in there on my training days, the extra quick carbs will help then.

12min walk, plus some light stretching after today
 
Still a slightly achey feeling all over.

weighed 90.7kg 199.54lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Yay finally under 200lbs :)
And holding some water too from the carbs last night.
88kg 193+lbs is where I'll start to look and feel a bit better, kinda in no man's land right now.
Waist down 1/4 inch from last week 35.25 inches now, so almost 15% bodyfat.
 
Tuesday 28th March - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 5 - Day 2 - Strength/Hypertrophy - Microcycle 7

Good workout. I felt a lot fresher without my usual circuit interval workout on Sunday. BBall didn't seem to fatigue me too much, so I guess my work capacity has improved from the circuit intervals

Pretty good workout though.

Bodyweight at gym - 202.5lbs
Workout time - 1.75 hours
Workout rating - 9/10

General warmup -

20sec ISO holds - quarter squat, on toes, on heels (toes pulled up), hip back wide stance squat at parallel, on side of feet (for ankles), narrow fullsquat at bottom on toes

1) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
2) back extension BWx5 + 4 twisting to each alternate side
3) reverse hypers - BWx8
4) situp complex on swissball
5) adductor/hammie stretch into back tumbells x8
6) usual bar complex with 30lbs
7) various hops

8) worked up to a few sets max effort vertical jumps - half an inch higher than last week, a good sign my CNS is banging


Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2mins on warmups and 3.5 mins between each exercise on work sets

Full Squats - high bar, medium stance, sitting back a bit more - Oly Shoes - no Belt

warmups - Full rep then 2nd on with at midpoint on the way up - 95lbs x2, 135x2, 185x2, 225x2, 275x2

Rotation 1) 325lbs x 2 (+5lbs) --> hard and slow on 2nd rep

Lower down, come up 3 inches, slight pause, back up
Rotation 2) 285lbs x 3 (+5lbs)
Rotation 3) 285lbs x 3

First rep of each set is pretty, but it gets hard fast after that! Feeling pretty good though.


Clean Deadlift RDL - Oly Shoes - HookGrip - no Belt

Warmups - Hang powerclean bar x 5, Powerclean + hang Powerclean + highhang squatclean - 89lbs, 119lbs, 155lbs. Powerclean - 205lbs x 1
Clean Deadlift + RDL - 243, 293
Clean Deadlift 343

All controlled

Clean Deadlift, RDL down to just off the floor, back up
Rotation 1) 363lbs x 3 New PR! +20lbs
Rotation 2) 363lbs x 3

Up 20lbs and less one set from last week. 293 in the warmups felt like nothing. And 363lbs wasn't as hard as I thought. I'm working out hard, but wasn't breathing heavy at all after each set. I was pretty calm, so not straining too much. Gym instructor saw me lift the 343 in the warmup and said that was easy :)

I never thought I would RDL this much weight, and on a calorie deficit too!
Running is probbaly helping. I guess I'll eventually end up at 400lbs, and probbaly weigh 180lbs or less around then. So well over double bodyweight, and I'll should blast off the line like scalded cat. Hamstrings are sure getting big.

If your paying attention then you can probbaly see what I'm doing - add worksets to increase work capacity base, then convert that into a new peak and drop volume and repeat. I'll keep riding it till I stall....

---
clip of squat and RDL worksets

right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au..._FullSquat_midISO285x3_RDL363x3_28March06.mpg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooldown - Upper Body - Prehab

rotating sets between each - 30secs rest

ToeCurls on lying leg curl machine - 1plate x 8, x18 - pause at bottom
Pullups on powerack (thumbless grip) - BW x 2, x10
Scapular Dip shrugs - 10sec hold + 5, BWx20
Chest Supported 45 degree T-Bar rows - 45x8, 90x8
Military Press - Bar x10, 65lbs x 15 with hold at top
Elbow On Knee External Rotation - 4kg x 10, 15lbs x 10
Dumbell Curls - 20x8, 30x9

Bulgarian Splitsquat stretch ISO hold - BW x 30secs
Knee supported Dip/Pushups Stretched ISO hold - BW x 1min

bunch of static stretches
 
Mild drained feeling, a little achey all over. Moderate soreness in my upperback/traps, quads, hammies and spinal erectors. Muscles in my heel a bit sore too.

weighed 90.7kg 199.54lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Holding steady after quite a bit of carbs yesterday

2x5 Reach, Roll and Lift
12min walk today plus some easy stretching after
And maybe some "Foam Rolling"
 
That was one crap night of sleep...
Upper back and posterior chain/calves a bit achey. Right ankle and feet in geenral feels a bit gimpy.
Shoulder/arm flexibility is getting much better. I can just about point both arms upwards vertically, used to be slightly forward.
Seems tight lats and to a lesser extent the upper traps are the worse of the lot. Having to wrestle the non-powered steering in the van is probbaly one of the causes - lots of lat tensing. Need to keep stretching it overhead everyday.

weighed 90.6kg 199.32lbs straight out of bed in underwear

progress is definitely better now with the change in diet. I know I got fatter when I started eating lots of cereal and milk. Hopefully the last time I ever see 200lbs or more on this scale :)
 
CCJ, not sure if it's just me, but in that clip of your clean deads + RDL, you seem to round your back on the way up. It's more pronounced during the second set. That's dangerous, I would think.
 
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