Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Sunday 24th September - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 1 - BBALL - Micro cycle 10

Went to my usual outdoor BBall court hangout. Damn hot and damn windy!

Bodyweight in shorts and tshirt - 214lbs
Workout time - 1 hour
Workout rating - 8/10

Mostly just practised shots, dribbled around a bit, and dunked a bit on the low rings. Windy conditions made shooting a luck of the draw thing!
I haven't balled in months, but even though my timing was a bit loose at the start of the session, all my skills are still there. Your body just doesn't forget it once it's learned it well enough. You sure don't need to spend much time on skill and technical work at all!

Pretty light, light, springy and explosive feeling. Legs groin/inner hammie area, kinda achey, and upper body a bit tight
Standing vertical jump is about the same here as when I was 198lbs, but my one step and running 2 foot jumps are 2 inches lower. More from a lack of practise, as I feel my reactivity and spring is better than before. Running one leg jump is the same, which is nice considering the weight gain.
Felt lots of hammies when I dip down and when taking off on the running one leg jumps. But also lots of VMO and lower quads in general when landing it think, they were working quite a bit
Now here is the coolest thing...I'm 16lbs heavier than I was a few months ago, but I had zero knee, feet, ankle and shin discomfort!!!

Even taking off full pelt from a one legged runnning jump, I had none of that sharp stabbing pain in my lower/inner left shin like I had before even at 198lbs, or the painfully shins upon landing from jumps. Landings feel effortless, running around on the court feels smooth like I'm gliding on ice.

Hard to believe this is the same body from 6 months ago. Well technically it isn't I'm heavier, fatter, bulky and bigger, just that I somehow feel lighter, more explosive, springier, and with zero pain! Getting my hip mobilty up and stretching my external hip rotors up helped before, but even at 198lbs my knees still had discomfort when landing on jumps and propping to take off. Plus my shins would kill towards the end of the sessions.
But with all the calf/ankle flexibility work and strengthening of the calves and ankles with the fancy calf raise work, with long stretched hold and pauses at the top/mid/bottom I seem to have got rid of the shin splinty pain and knee discomfort. Despite the gain in weight. Concrete court feels like nothing!

The altitude drops have to help as well, now that I'm so much healthier. Looks like my calves and lower legs are strong enough now, so I'll just put on em maintenance. I don't want em to get much bigger, they look kinda ugly being this much bigger
Although running and jumping on a concrete court is nowhere near as hard on my lower legs as sprinting on spikes on grass is.....so I'll see how it goes in a few weeks time.

Woo I wished I got into this 1 year ago, so much time wasted. I would like to get back down to 198lbs now and keep improving in all areas while I do so. There is at least 6 inches on my vertical jump to be had by dropping 16lbs, And it feels so easy to jump the same height that I used to even though I'm heavier. Now that I'm painfree I can finally practise my running one leg jumps at max effort

 

[coolcolj]

There was a blackout last night as the windy conditions made a huge tree fall over the powerlines across the road! So it was pitch black at home when the sun set, and nothing to do but lots of sleeping

Not that sore or drained at all, unusual as BBall usually kills me. Some mild soreness in my hammies and spinal erectors. Shoulders feel a bit sore too.

weighed 96.1kg 212.96lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

Late night. Still achey, but not from BBall but other stuff.

weighed 96.1kg 212.96lbs straight out of bed in underwear
looking a little leaner now. Can I keep it up that's the question, I'm trying not to diet as that always makes me go backwards

 

[wakefib]

hey, coolcolj. i am doing a 5x5 program right now just to gain some strength back since i have been out for awhile. i really want to increase my vertical as a long term goal. how much work do you think i should be doing directly related to jump training, to atleast maintain my vertical right now?

 

[coolcolj]

hey, coolcolj. i am doing a 5x5 program right now just to gain some strength back since i have been out for awhile. i really want to increase my vertical as a long term goal. how much work do you think i should be doing directly related to jump training, to atleast maintain my vertical right now?

just keeping practising jumping regularly and do some low intensity hops in your squat workout warmups at the start of the session and it should go up as your legs stronger for a while anyway

then when your strength is up a decent amount, switch over to more focused reactive work like I did a few weeks back to eek out more gains. once that well is dry switch back to more leg strnegth work and repeat

Don't forget the hammies and core as well

 

[wakefib]

thanks, that is what i was going to do get my strength up then siwtch to jump relatived lifts. so i will do that then. i wil;l add some jump movements before i lift. thanks coolcolj

 

[coolcolj]

Running stuff - done 1.5 hours before the session below

At local rugby field down the road.

Workout time - 30 mins total
Workout rating - 7/10

Warm up

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. Running in the spot type drills.

Slow Jog - 50m x 5 - 1 mins rest, getting faster 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 two 360 pivots to each side.


Tempo sprints at 60% speed

60m x 5 - 1.5 mins rest

Just to maintain my running form, a bit of conditioning and burn some extra cals. Not trying to tire myself too much.
Quite smooth feeling, but my feet and foot arches tightened up and ached big time! Then 15min after the running it went just like that. Not sure why that happens, I get it from time to time. I think it's when I try to rush through the warmups and don't pace myself etc, happens at BBall too sometimes


Wednesday 26th September - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 2 - Upper 2 Prehab_Rehab - Microcycle 10

Ok workout. Didn't feel tired from the running. Strnegth is about where it was before the break 3 weeks ago, but felt kinda harder due to not having done these exercises for so long.
Just one workset each, don't want to get too sore.

Body weight at gym - 215.5lbs
Workout time - 1+ hour
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

1) whole body dynamic stretches and swings
2) scapular push ups - on bench 2x12


Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1min on warm ups and 2.5-3 mins between each exercise on work sets, 3 mins at end of each rotation


16inch grip standing Military Press - pushed behind the head at the top

Warm ups - Bar x 8, 65lbs x 5, 95 x5, 115 x4, 135x3

controlled, 3 sec hold at top, 2 sec pause at bottom
Rotation 1) 155lbs x 4 --> hard strain on last rep


Shoulder width Pull ups

warm ups - Shoulder width Pull downs, 2 sec hold on the last rep - 35kg x 10, 50kg x5, 60kg x4, 70kg x3, 80kg x2, Pullup x 2

controlled, 3 sec hold at top, 2 sec pause at bottom
Rotation 1) BW 217.5 + 10lbs x 4 --> hard strain on last rep


Dumbbell Bench - arms/elbows by side - neutral grip

warm ups - 15lbs x10, 35x6, 50x5, 75x5, 85x5,

controlled, 2 sec pause, shoulders pushed off bench at top
Rotation 1) 90lbs x 7 --> medium strain on last rep


Dumbbell Curls

warm ups - 3kg x 10, 15lbs x 6, 30x5, 35x3, 40x3

controlled and strict
Rotation 1) 45lbs x 5 --> hard strain on last rep


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

Cooldown - Restorative - ISO stretches

High angle dumbell rows to ribcage - pulling with mid/low traps and delts - 35lbs x 15

Subscap raises 4kg x 15 + 30 secs Pec/Subscap stretched ISO hold

single arm Face Pulls - 35lbs x 15

Low pulley external rotation - 10lbs x 15

static stretches for upper body/cuffs and some lower body

palms away and palms facing single arm, stretch/traction on chin bar, feet on floor

 

[coolcolj]

not much sleep, but I feel ok. Upper body not too sore, achey hammies

weighed 97.3kg 214lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 28th September - Cycle 3 Get Lean+Maintain Strength - Week 2 - Day 3 - Lower Strength - Micro cycle 10

Didn't feel the greatest today, but workout was decent enough. Was bloated from the pre workout meal, hence the big weight jump.

Body weight at gym - 217.5lbs
Workout time - Just under 2 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

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 full squat 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) sit up complex on swiss ball
4) various hops
5) bar complex with 30lbs - 5 reps each - slow hang clean pull onto toes, military press, explosive GM onto toes, snatch grip press, hang power clean, power jerks

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2mins on warm ups and 3 min on work sets


Full Squats - high bar, medium stance - Oly Shoes - no Belt

warm ups - semi explosive in sneakers - BWx8, Bar x 8, 95x8, 135x8, 185x5, 225x5
in oly shoes - 255x3, 295x2, 315x2

Controlled down, driven up hard
Rotation 1) 345lbs x 3 (+10lbs) --> last rep medium strain
Rotation 2) 345lbs x 3 --> last rep medium strain
Explosive
Rotation 3) 255lbs 5x2 - 1 mins rest between each (+10lbs)

Squats felt so much better than last workout, springier and snappier. Nowhere near as much strain as last workout. 315x2 in the warmups was popped up quite a lot easier than the last few months so I knew I had to go up to 345 for the first workset. The 335x3, 345x3 I did last week was balls to the walls hard. 345lbs 2x3 this week was way snappier and there was definitely a small buffer there strength wise.

Form was pretty good too, I really focused on keeping up chest high and rigid and really holding/squeezing the bar tight.

255lbs for the explosive work felt good, went down faster than last workout. Last few sets did fell a little slower, so will stay here next time.
Anyway next week I'll go 345x3, 355x3 if I feel it's there, and then after that consolidate at 355lbs. 405x1 should be around the block soon after hopefully.
Definitely a more fun way to train compared to the gut busting sets of 4-5 in the last microcycle, but that probbaly formed a nice base leading into this microcycle.


Split Leg RDL style Deadlift - HookGrip - in Oly Shoes - no belt

did these in between the warm up sets on squats

High Hang powerclean - bar x 5
Powerclean + 2 High Hang Power cleans + 2 SL RDL Deadlifts each side - 89lbs, 119lbs, 149lbs
Powerclean + high hang Powerclean - 160lbs x 2 sets
2 SL RDL Deadlift - 160lbs x 1 each side

Semi Explosive up, controlled down, slight pause at floor.
Left side first, no rest
Rotation 1) 160lbs x 3 each side (+5lbs)
Rotation 2) 160lbs x 3 each side
Rotation 3) 160lbs x 3 each side

---------

Rotating Sets between each exercise

minimal rest between each exercise


Standing Calf raise - Body weight - 10 sec stretched hold then 10 reps
10sec hold + 5 reps with a hold at top, mid and bottom - 3 plates, 6 plates

Lat Machine situp - BW x 12 (progressively lower each rep with hold at bottom)
2sec hold at bottom on each rep - dumbbell on chest - 25lbs x 8, 45lbs x 7

Single Leg Seated Calf raise - one set for with just the machine's own weight, 10sec stretched hold then 10 reps,
10sec hold + 5 reps with a hold at top, mid and bottom - 25lbs, 35lbs

Toe curls on lying leg curl machine - 1 Plate x 12
with a hold at top, mid and bottom - 2plates 2x6

Sideways situp on hyper bench - BW x 6 each side with a hold at top, mid and bottom

--

lower body, and lower back stretches
reach, roll and lift type stretch for lats and internal rotors

 

[wakefib]

good job on the squats!
one question. since you are training more for sports. do you still fill your abdominal cavity with air when you do your squats? or do you just activate your T.V.A.? it just seems to me that if you are training for sports you wouldn't want to fill yuor stomach with air.
what do you think?