Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

those box jumps I mentioned before by Georgi Asanidze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNYqkqoYsRI

Polish training hall warmup Szymon Kolecki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwmwPdhjfuk

 

[coolcolj]

Better sleep, but had to get up early. Back feeling better, hammie ok, feel more recovered, but legs and hips still a bit achey. Energy level feels good, and I feel ok to jump around even though I'm not that fresh. See how I go on squats and maybe jumps today

weighed 93.2kg 205lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Same as yesterday, waist is still at 35.75inches.
And I've been eating heaps at night the last few days. Still taking in the usual 700+ calories in fruits and protein during the day, but at night I'm eating the same amount as 3 normal meals compressed into 2 big meals.
That's including 2 blocks of chocolate - about 240 calories, 10g of fat and 20g of carbs
And yet no fat gain. That's pretty good maintenance level for me, well over 2000 calories. On a normal diet that would get me fat in a hurry!
So all I have to do is drop the chocolate and a few carbs and I should start to lean up again.

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 15th March - Cycle 4 Get Lower Body Strong + Lean up - Week 4 - Day 3 - Lower Strength - Micro cycle 2

Pretty good workout. This new training setup is working better than I expected. Even though I'm not that fresh, and my legs/hips are still a bit sore, my strength is up, I feel decent, and I'm jumping well - something I didn't expect with so many days of squatting.
Plus I'm no longer getting cramps in my quads a couple hours after the workout from squatting so hard and with so much volume in a single workout!
And toasting my CNS... yep 5x5 would kill me

Body weight at gym - 206.5lbs
Workout time - 1.5 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up -

15sec 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
2) back extension x 4 + 6 twisting to each side
3) sit up complex on swiss ball
4) standing side leg raise x 8 each side
5) Prone Scorpion - x12 each leg alternating
6) Braced Scorpion under - x10 each leg alternating
7) hurdle over and unders x 5 each direction and type
8) 40lb bar complex - slow cleanpull, press, GM onto toes, partial snatch grip press, hang powerclean, power jerk - 5 reps each, 3 on the jerks
9) glute bridge x 8
10) Single leg SLDL mobility walks
11) various hops and prime times, running on the spot drill etc

Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 3 mins

Vertical Jumps

Warm up - a set of 5 speed hops on a 3inch step, rest 30secs and sets of 2 standing jumps going higher/harder each time. Later on a few running one leg jumps

did these in between the warm up sets on squats from bar to 225lbs

a) Speed hops on a 3 inch step x 5

rest 30 secs
a) running one leg jump
b) standing Vertical jump
c) one step VJ
d) 3 step vertical jump

2 hard sets total. Felt pretty explosive and snappy, but relaxed.
Overall jump height on the standing and one step jump up an inch on last week, and oh so close to a new PR! It seems like I wasn't jumping that hard, putting too much effort into it, but still getting higher.
Bodyweight is up 2lbs from last week too, but still 8lbs lighter than when I set my Gym VJ PR.
Leg strength is up from last week, so there is definitely a direct correlation between my squat and VJ. Once I get my full squat back up to 315lbs for 2x8 and get my gym weight down to 200lbs, I'm expecting at least 3 more inches...
I'm also jumping fully on the balls of my feet on the running one leg jump now, and no hint of shin splint aches


Full Oly Squats - Sneakers - no Belt

Warm ups - frontsquat, rerack, rest 30secs, backsquat etc
frontsquat - Bar x 5, 95lbs x3, 135x2, 185x2
backsquat - controlled down, explode up - bar x 3, 95lbs x 3, 135x2, 185x2, 225x4, 255x1

controlled - 5.5 mins rest
2) 265lbs x 8 (+10lbs +1 rep)--> medium strain on last rep

in oly shoes
3) 265lbs x 8 --> hard strain on last rep

did a single with 255lbs in the warmup, felt easier, so added 10lbs and crushed it. Strength is coming back nicely, going up to 275lbs next week.
Lower back sure gets pumped up, plus quads off course, but hammies start to ache when I sit down to rest as well.
Still takes a lot of effort to maintain form with these higher reps, have to concentrate and treat each rep like a heavy single etc.

Found it hard to breath on the 135 and 185lb front squats for some reason. Just keeping the feel for em, next workout will be heavier on front squats, but still undecided on if I should do any heavier back squats at all with 275lbs. I originally had planned to make the Sunday workout a jump/clean/frontsquat/GM workout, so that squat loads would be lower to allow some recovery while still building up strength etc


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split leg Good Mornings - narrow split - high bar - sneakers - no belt

warmups - BW x 5 each side, Bar x 3 each side

controlled, 3 sec pause at bottom, left side first, alternating legs
65lbs x 4 each side x 2 sets (+20lbs)

2nd set was damn hard holding position. Posterior chain has tremors right now! Does hit the VMO/quads as well.

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lower body stretches and some upper body ones

 

[coolcolj]

Crap sleep thanks to the dog! Don't feel that bad though. Achey all over and a sapped feeling, but not drained. Hammies have that strained feeling I always get from GMs, but not as bad as last week. Hopefully my body will eventually get used to em, especially with the greater training frequency!

weighed 93.1kg 204.8lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Just a tiny bit down

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

I dont think I have ever been able to sense my CNS fatigue like you do. How has the jump training been going over the last year in your option?

 

[coolcolj]

I dont think I have ever been able to sense my CNS fatigue like you do. How has the jump training been going over the last year in your option?

you will eventually once you cook it a few times
It just comes from experience

pretty crappy overall, but I'm learning from my mistakes. But things will get a whole lot better from now on.
learning to get leaner, without losing strength has taken a while to figure out. Jumping goes crap when you fry your CNS and overeach all the time. Knees feel bad, and injuries increase when your hip and ankle mobility is poor.
Knees also feel bad when you overtrain the squat, and let your hammies fall behind in strength vs the quads

but I have learned to fix all the above in the last 6 months, they all go hand in hand

Most important thing I learned, was to make sure your mobility, flexibility and body is functioning properly first in terms of msucle balance and firing! Vertical jumping 40 inches and the training to go towards it is a lot like going for speed record in a car, can you imagine doing that with broken suspension and bald tyres....?

Have to thank Eric Cressey's articles in hammering that home for me
2007 is the year where I start to make it all happen...hopefully...

 

[coolcolj]

BTW I gained half an inch on my legs this week, back up to 28 inches
Goes hand in hand with my increase in leg strength and hops
bodyweigh too...

 

[coolcolj]

I did get 8 hours of sleep, but after my part time job, I feel and look pretty tired. Felt strong though, in fact all this week the non-powered steering wheel in the van felt fairly light, even though I do get sapped and feel a bit beat up after each training session. A good sign my CNS is fairing much better on my new training setup. But will probably have to start deloading on regular basis as I get stronger to maintain this feeling

weighed 93.3kg 205.26lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Looks like my cals are around maintenance for this whole week, been eating a lot more at night. I will probably keep this going for a while until my strength and muscle mass is back to where it was and then cut it down and get to 190lbs and then maintain for a while, and then a final dash to 175lbs.
I'm still eating in that Warrior diet fashion though and will probbaly keep eating like this even after I get as lean as I want to

 

[coolcolj]

Feeling ok, sleep was not bad by my standards. CNS feels good I think.
Body feels somewhat achey though. Hammies at least no longer feel shredded up. I'm in the mood for squating

weighed 93.1kg 204.8lbs straight out of bed in underwear

So far so good, bodyweight is holding steady, waist is still 35.75 inches, and with me piling on the food at night. If anything I look leaner. I even ate double the amount of chocolate last night
Although my part time job yesterday would have burnt a lot of extra calories with me just fueled by an apple and proetin drink for 5 hours! And I just ate fruit and the protein drink as per usual after it as well

If I can't get fat pigging out like this at night, even when I try, then one can only maintain and or get leaner - sweet

 

[coolcolj]

Sunday 18th March - Cycle 4 Get Lower Body Strong + Get Lean - Week 5 - Day 1 - Lower 2 Power/Strength/Assistance - Micro cycle 1

Decent workout, but definitely not that fresh. Maybe jumping and stuff in this workout is not such a good idea. I definitely jump better on Thursday.

Bodyweight at gym up 1.5lbs from this time last week, but holding steady from the last few workouts. Will start to inch it down to 200lbs soon.

Body weight at gym - 206.5lbs
Workout time - 1.25 hours
Workout rating - 7/10

General warm up -

15sec 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) standing Side leg raise x 8 each side
2) dynamic stretches and swings, rocking on side of ankle etc
3) Prone Scorpion - x12 each leg alternating
4) Braced Scorpion under - x8 each leg alternating
5) "hurdle" over and unders x 5 each direction and each type
6) glute bridge x 8
7) back extension x 4 + 4 twisting to each side
8) sit up complex on swiss ball
9) Single Leg SLDL mobility walk
10) various hops, prime times, running in the spot drills, low altitude drops


Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 2-3mins

Jumps and Hops

Warm up - sets of 2-3 jumps going higher/harder each time

did these in between the warm up sets on squats from bar to 255lbs

a) Speed hops on a 3 inch step x 5 to start, later sets moved to a 9 inch step

rest 1min
a) running one leg jump
b) standing Vertical jump
c) one step VJ
d) 3 step vertical jump

2 hard sets total. Overall jump height about the same as my current peak


Clean grip Front Squat + Full Back Squats - sneakers - no Belt

warm ups - frontsquat 3 reps, rerack, rest 15secs, backsquat 3 - Bar , 95lbs
frontsquat 2 reps, rerack, rest 30secs, backsquat 2 - 135lbs, 185lbs

frontsquat 2 reps, rerack, rest 30secs, backsquat 2 reps
1) 225lbs
frontsquat 1 rep, rerack, rest 30secs, backsquat 2 reps
2) 255lbs

Full Back Squat - controlled
2) 275lbs x 7 (+10lbs -1rep)--> medium strain on last rep

rest 5mins
in oly shoes - controlled
3) 275lbs x 7 --> hard strain on last rep

Getting used to squatting in sneakers now, much easier than before.
Depth was the same as last week, but without the ass tucking under.
Kinda GM'ing it a bit though.
Will stay at 275lbs and go for 2 sets of 8 on Thursday. No need to rush things even though strength is coming back fast.
255lb frontsquat was heavy on the chest and kinda blacking me out, probbaly had the bar too close to my throat, but was not that hard for the legs.

video of the 275lb squat sets and some Good Mornings
right click on link and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/CCJ_FullSquat_275_2x7_GM140_18March07.mpg

Power Cleans - in sneakers

Powerclean + 2 High Hang powerclean - 135lbs x 2 sets, 140lbs x 1 set

used metal plates. Finsihed off sets before I got to the 225lb squat set

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Good Mornings onto toes - high bar - oly shoes

warmups - BW x5, Bar x 5, 95lbs x 3

Down to parallel, 3 sec pause at bottom and hold at top on toes
140lbs 2x5 - 3 mins rest

Up 5lbs and feeling pretty darn hard!

--

lower body, and some upper body stretches