Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Feel sapped. I look and feel a bit tired, even though total sleep is over 7 hours, but I keep waking up at 4am due to my bodyclock - sucks!
Sore and achey all over, even my upper body. Abs are hammered, probbaly from the front squats, plus the usual spinal erectors, glutes, hammies, and quads. I'm squatting pretty frequently now, but I still get sore from it!

weighed 92.6kg 203.7lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Waist = 35.5 inches

WOw, all I did was not eat any chocolate last night, and cut back on the carbs in the 2nd evening meal, and boom waist drops 1/4 of an inch to 35.5 inches and bodyweight drops 0.5kg 1+lb, and I look leaner too. 2kg to an inch off the waist, usually, so it looks to be all fat loss
I wasn't that hungry last night, I never am after training..which is kinda a paradox...

12min walk, upper and lower body mobility work and some easy stretching planned

 

[coolcolj]

Still look so tired, with over 10+ combined hours of sleep!
Still pretty sore and achey all over. Posterior chain, especially lower back seems to be more sore from the walking yesterday...

weighed 92.7kg 203.94lbs straight out of bed in underwear

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 20th March - Cycle 4 Get Lower Body Strong+Get Lean - Week 4 - Day 2 - Upper 2 prehab/rehab, Light Lower - Microcycle 1

Finished off the upper body work in between the warmup sets on lower body work, and then did a circuit of the lower body main work sets

Body was a bit sore, but after warming, felt pretty good.
Added a bunch of new stuff, those pistol squats made my IT band really ache. In a good way I think.
Forgot to do my usual subscap raises and stretched hold at the end

Body weight at gym - 206.5lbs
Workout time - 1.25 hour
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 10 each side
2) dynamic stretches and swings
3) Prone Scorpion - x 12 each leg alternating
4) Braced Scorpion under - x 10 each leg alternating
5) high glute mobility drill x 10 each side
6) hurdle over and unders x 8 each direction and leg
7) Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts - green band held 3/4 length x 10
+ band dislocates with green band held full length x 10. For 2 sets
8) SLDL mobility walks
9) single arm scapular pushup against wall - BW x 10
10) Reach, Roll and Lift - stretches in the same position and 1 reps, 3 sec hold x 3 each side, alternating x 2 sets
11) small hop complex
12) single leg kneeling deadlift 2x5 each side
13) supported pistol squats 2x5 each side

Rotating Sets between each exercise

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

Pushup with extension at top and hold

Warm ups - 2x5

1) BW x 12


High angle Dumbbell Rows to ribcage - palms facing - pulling with lower traps and delts

warmups - 22lbs x 3, 30lbs x 3

1) 35lbs x 10

Low Incline face down dumbell Raise/External Rotation combo

Thumbs up Y raise + neutral grip side raise + Cuban rotation - all with hold at top
warmups - 1kg x 3

1) 2kg x 6


Dumbbell Curls - hold at the middle on the way down

warm ups - 4kg x 10, 15lbsx5,

forgot to do the main set....


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Box Squats - Wide Stance - high bar - Sneakers - no belt

warmups - did one set of front squats, racked rest 30secs, full squat, racked and rest 30secs then a set of hips back power squats

Front Squats - 95lbs x 3, 135lbs x 3
Full Squats - 95lbs x 3, 135lbs x 3, 185lbs x 3
Power Squats - Bar x 10, 95lbs x 5, 135lbs x 5

11 inch box + folded towel - short release - no rocking
1) 140lbs x 10 (+5lbs)
2) 140lbs x 10

frontsquats feeling a lot more comfortable and easier load wise now, upper back aching a bit supporting the bar, with the earlier upper body stuff in a good way. 185lb full squat set just as hard as last week, still recovering from Sunday. I figure there is no point in doing that set

Reverse Lunge - vertical shins, medium wide stance, rear leg kept on the straighter side - 2 sec pause at bottom - sneakers - alternating legs - BW x 3 each side, BAr x 3 each side

1) 100lbs x 4 each side (+5lbs)
2) 95lbs x 4 each side

getting darn easier compared to even last week. All that single leg work at the start probbaly helped a lot

Toe curls on lying leg curl machine - 1 Plate x 6, 2 plates paused top and bottom x 8 (+2 reps)

Lat Machine situp - BW x 12 (progressively lower each rep with hold at bottom)
hold at middle and bottom on each rep - 25lbs x 8 (+2 reps)


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

Cooldown - stretches

sideways situp - BW x 9 each with pause at bottom (+1 rep)
reverse hypers - BW x 15

upper and lower body stretches

 

[coolcolj]

crap interrupted sleep, took a while to fall asleep too. I realised this morning that I forgot to take my ZMA...damn that stuff makes a big difference!
Mood wise I don't feel that bad even then. Mildly sapped feeling. Achey all over but not in a bad way. My glutes and spinal erectors are sore, but my legs don't have that heavy feeling.

Non-powered steering wheel in van felt the lightest in a few months today - CNS is good shape I think

weighed 93.3kg 205.26lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Must be water or food weight, cause I weigh 92.8kg now fully clothed, just before I dig into my first pig out evening meal. About 92.3kg 203lbs nekkid.
I do look leaner. Tanita scale says my BF% is now in the upper 24% down from the upper 28% since I started, and down from the low 26% a few weeks ago before I got sick.

I'll probbaly be under 10% BF when it reads 19%, I always take 10% off

 

[coolcolj]

pic of the bottom of my vertical jump

I never realised how far my knees went forward and how much I leaned forward as well, and how little I dipped.

Frontsquats and Good mornings for the win

 

[coolcolj]

Not as much sleep as I wanted, but it was deep. Body still achey, but that light springy feeling is kinda there.

weighed 93.2kg 205lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Boss at my part time job this morning said I looked real thin. Hmm my bodyweight and waist hasn't changed too much, probbaly holding less water. I don't feel as swollen and bloated as yesterday, especially in my legs. But I can see more faint outlines of the veins on my left arm, so who knows. I have gained some muscle mass as well - legs and calves up measurement wise and shoulders/traps visually. So maybe I gained muscle and loss fat....

 

[coolcolj]

very good article - It all makes sense to me now

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1501501

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Good read there. I like how the various splits were explained.

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 22nd March - Cycle 4 Get Lower Body Strong + Lean up - Week 5 - Day 3 - Lower Strength - Micro cycle 2

Decent workout. I wasn't that fresh, hips and legs, plus upper back achey, but there was enough snap in my system and the explosion was there.
I am definitely fresher on this workout than on Sunday.
Bodyweight steady and strength continuing to rise, but still about 50lbs off my best on the full squat.

Might do a volume deload next week to keep the flow going.
Keep progressing as I am, but just do one main workset of the heavier stuff each workout instead of the 2 now. And then back to normal the week after.

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 5 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) 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, short run of prime times, running one leg jump, rest 30 secs, then a set of 2 standing jumps going higher/harder each time.

did these in between the warm up sets on squats from bar to 185lbs

a) Speed hops on a 3 inch step x 5
b) short run of prime times
c) running on leg jump

rest 30 secs - and 20 sec rest between each jump
a) one step VJ
b) standing Vertical jump
c) 3 step vertical jump

2 hard sets total, then 2 sets of 2 various jumps.
Running one leg jump feels super after the prime times, teaches me to keep the leg straight and use the hamstring, plus take off on the ball of my feet. Heel never touches the ground and no discomfort.

Overall jumps about 0.5 inch higher. Not gonna count it as PR just yet - there is a high ceiling in the gym that I worked up from 6 inches under to an inch under on the one step VJ. That is my current peak gym VJ PR, but today I was 1cm away - so damn close! Once I touch it then I'm good for a 1 inch PR. Shouldn't be long, more leg strength, and once I unload a bit...

Still last year when I dieted down to 198lbs gym weight, I was an inch under, and now I'm jumping slightly above that at 206.5lbs. 8lbs extra and more power, and it's all down to having a better squat and posterior chain strength.
I should be a few more inches above that though when I regain all my strength back....enough to put my most of hand flat against it when I hit 200lbs gym weight I reckon...


Full Oly Squats - Sneakers - no Belt

Warm ups - controlled down, power up - frontsquat, rerack, rest 30secs, backsquat
frontsquat - Bar x 3, 95lbs x3, 135x2, 185x2
backsquat - bar x 3, 95lbs x 3, 135x2, 185x2, 225x3, 255x2, 275x1

controlled - 5.5 mins rest
2) 285lbs x 7 (+10lbs )--> medium strain on last rep

in oly shoes
3) 285lbs x 7 --> hard strain on last rep, slight good morning

did a single with 275lbs in the warmup, felt easier, so added 10lbs. Up 20lbs and -1 rep from this time last week. Didn't feel really hard, but not easy either.
Front squats are feeling easier every session and lighter across the shoulders.
I think whatever I do for 8 reps on the full squats is my frontsquat 1RM. So it's probably 285-295lbs right now. Back squat must be around 355-365lbs

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

split leg Good Mornings - narrow split - high bar - oly shoes - no belt

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

controlled, 3 sec pause at bottom, left side first, alternating legs
70lbs x 4 each side x 2 sets (+5lbs)

much easier than last week, but I did em in oly shoes instead of sneakers.

-----

lower body stretches and some upper body ones

 

[coolcolj]

Not good sleep last night, took a while to fall aslepp. I will put it down to a jacked CNS, as I don't really feel that bad now. Hardly feel sapped at all, but a little beat body wise, achey feel all over. Hammies probbaly the most sore, but overall DOMS is way less than the last few weeks. Looks like my body is starting to adapt to the GMs, that's one of the main reasons why I switched to a higher training frequency, lower volume approach.
Waking pulse is starting to get high though a 61, but the volume deload next week should help with that. Good idea too as I have to fill in for an extra shift at my part time job on the hardest day...

weighed 92.8kg 204.16lbs straight out of bed in underwear

Looking leaner, skinfolds are down across the board, just from the pinch test
leg is back down to 27.5 inches, a good thing if I continue to get stronger, less thigh chaffing...
I'm also out of fishoil, I had only 2 caps yesterday. I feel better without it somehow...