Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Slightly sapped earlier in the day, but it went away. Body is achey as usual, but I'm not as sore as before, especially my hamstrings from the Good Mornings. I wonder if it's just my body adapting, along with the higher training frequency or because of the low reps per set....
The fact I'm not increasing the weights that much, but still varying the loading style might have something to do with that as well. In the past I always tried to up the loads as quickly as I could, which I think is a large reason why I got so sore and burnt out so quickly all the time....Rome wasn't built in one day as they say

weighed 92.5kg 203.5lbs straight out of bed in underwear
slight change in my diet, since I'm not taking in any protein powder and fishoil now, I've added a handful of raw almonds along with my usual fruits, plus some small amount of meats and eggs here and there. Still protein level is way down, and I haven't noticed any musle loss. Plus I feel better!

 

[coolcolj]

Tuesday 10th April - Cycle 4 Get Lower Body Stronger + Get Lean - Week 2 - Day 2 - Upper 2 prehab/rehab, Light Lower - Microcycle 2

Pretty good workout. Front squats first by itself, then a circuit with the rest of the other stuff.

Body weight at gym - 204.5lbs
Workout time - 1.25 hours
Workout rating - 8/10

General warm up

ankle mobility lunge x 12 each side. I just push my knee as far forward as it can go and lunge and forward etc.

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
3) Prone Scorpion - x 10 each leg alternating
4) Lying on back Scorpion under - x 10 each leg alternating
5) high glute mobility drill x 10 each side
6) hurdle over and unders x 5 each direction and leg
7) Behind-the-Neck Band Pull-Aparts x 10 + band dislocates x 10.
with green jumpstretch band held full length, then 3/4 length For 2 sets
8) SLDL mobility walks
9) scapular pushup against high bench
10) single arm scapular pushup against high bench - BW x 10
11) Reach, Roll and Lift - stretches in the same position and 1 rep, 3 sec hold x 3 each side, alternating x 2 sets
12) single leg kneeling deadlift 2x5 each side



Front Squats - clean grip - no belt

warmups - in sneakers - Bar x5, 95lbs x 3, 135lbs x 3, 165lbs x 3, 195lbs x 2
in oly shoes - 225lbs x 2, 245x1

90% of 1RM - in oly shoes
1) 265lbs x 3

Upped the weight 10lbs as I figure my 1RM is closer to 295lbs now. The same weight as I use for squats on Sunday, so I guess this will be the case from now on.
Feels quite a bit harder than 255lbs. Core wobbled a bit walking out, and had to strain fairly hard on the 3rd rep. Big lactic acid buildup on the 3rd rep, quite a big difference to the 2nd one! Upper body just holding on. Really upright though. Smooth and controlled as well. Slowly but surely my thoracic support strength is improving

video of the 265lb set, can't get anymore upright than that
right click on video and save first to avoid errors
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj3/Movies/CCJ_FrontSquat_265x3_90percent1RM_10April07.mpg


Rotating Sets between each exercise

Resting 1-2 mins between each exercise - one upper body move, then a lower body move


Chest Supported T-Bar Rows - medium overhand grip

warm ups - Paused + hold at top - Bar x 5, +25lbs x 5, +45x5, +70x5, +90 x 2

elbows out, chin tucked, paused + hold at top
1) Bar + 100lbs x 6 (+5lbs )


Dip Shrugs

warm ups - 10sec Hold + 5 reps, BW x5

controlled with hold at top
1) BW x 12
2) BW x 12


Reverse Lunge - vertical shins, medium wide stance, rear leg kept on the straighter side - 2 sec pause at bottom - sneakers - alternating legs - BW x 4, Bar x 3, 75lbs x 2 each side

1) 105lbs x 4 each side


Toe curls on lying leg curl machine - 1 Plate x 5, x 5, 2 plates x2, 2 Plates - paused top and bottom x 8

Lat Machine situp - BW x 12 (progressively lower each rep with hold at bottom)
hold at middle and bottom on each rep - 15lbs x 3, , 25lbs x 3, 35lbs x 8 (+7.5lbs)

Elbow on Knee single arm External Rotation

4kgx8, 15lbs x 8, 22lbs x 9 (+4.4lbs +1 rep)

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Cooldown - stretches

reverse hypers - BW x 20

upper and lower body stretches

 

[coolcolj]

Feeling sapped, but not drained - Sore all over - glutes, side of hips, abs, soleus and VMO are killing me.
No leg work this time next week, so extra recovery for the heavy squats next Thursday - go for a new 5RM. Plus the car is getting serviced then, so no trip to gym. Will just do some upper body at home.

weighed 92.2kg 202.84lbs straight out of bed in underwear
feasted on lots of junk food last night - if I didn't I probbaly would have leaned up a ton

 

[coolcolj]

Feeling groggy from all the extra sleep I guess, 9 hours total. Hips are achey as hell, but rest of body not too bad. I do seem to be recovering much faster from DOMS now.

weighed 91.8kg 201.96lbs straight out of bed in underwear
Lowest bodyweight in a while. Waist still around the low 35 inches, but man I am definitely leaner than last month. Less stomach flab to grab and everything looks and feels tighter.

Still debating on wether I should get back on the fish oil or not. Without it and protein powder I save a ton of bucks and calories!

 

[coolcolj]

Poliquin and dropoffs

see under "The Shock Effect"
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1525300

another way to use dropoffs - similar to how Brad Nutall described his factorised waveloading dropoff method here

I agree with what has been said, already, to a large extent but let me add a little bit of what I've learned over the years. First, wave loading is a necessity. You need to take advantage of wave loading within a workout, between successive workouts, and between sequential training blocks.

In other words, you could factorize your workload with the use of high(er) intensity days alternated with low(er) intensity days or, as a method that I have found superior, you could wave your intensity from day to day. If you want to Auto-Regulate then you can use trend-line periodization.

But let's keep it simple with this example. If you are training four days per week (i.e. 3-on, 1-off, 1-on, 2-off) then you could use 85%, 90%, 95% and back down to 80% in a week...or climb with 80%, 85%, 90%, take a day off and then hit 95% before taking a few days off. The 95% day will allow you to determine your cumulative fatigue (i.e. if you can't hit 1 rep on that day then you are 5% in the hole).

You could also wave betwen higher and lower intensity days - i.e. 80% x 6 reps and 95% x 1 rep per set.

The options are endless but the key is to wave your intensity and coincident volume from day to day. I know it sounds a bit odd at first but if you give a few of these "ramped" programs a shot you will realize that there must be something to the synaptic facilitation (i.e. "grease the groove") concept because each day you get stronger and stronger even though the intensity keep increasing....then when the intensity drops and you take a few days off your strength literally jumps through the roof. I've had athletes use these principles and gain 15-lb of muscle and add over 50-lb to their bench press in 4 weeks! And I'm not talking total newbies here either.

There are two final considerations I'm going to throw your way: (1) when you drop the intensity to the lowest point also drop the volume to the lowest point (give it a shot and you'll see why) and (2) shake things up every so often. The best kept secret - if I even dare call it that - in the iron game (and sports training scene) is to do what you haven't been doing.

All I'm saying is that high frequency training is no exception to the fact that you must shake things up if you want to rattle loose continued improvement. For instance, if you've been training on high frequency for a while then switch over to high fatigue (read: lower frequency) for a while, and visa versa. Shake, rattle and roll!

The way I have been training with buffers on the squat based off my 5RM works pretty similar too I guess. If I am scheduled to do a 5 rep set with 90% of my 5RM and can't hit it, then I am fatigued and 10% in the hole

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 12th April - Cycle 4 Get Lower Body Strong + Lean up - Week 2 - Day 3 - Lower Power/Strength - Microcycle 2

Not that fresh, starting to feel fatigued, but that's ok, next week I start to deload and hopefully get a new 5RM.
Probbaly no jumping on Sunday, just 3x5 with 265lbs on squats, plus GM, no lower body work on Tuesday, then go for a new 5RM next Thursday, plus no jumping then as well.


Body weight at gym - 204lbs
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) 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 - x8 each leg alternating
6) Lying on back Scorpion under - x8 each leg alternating
7) hurdle over and unders x 5 each direction and type
8) glute bridge x 10
9) Single leg SLDL mobility walks
10) various hops, prime times, running in the spot drills, low 6 inch altitude drops and depth jumps

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 225lbs

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) one step 2 handed VJ
d) standing Vertical jump
d) 3 step vertical jump

2 hard sets total, plus a few more 2 legged jumps. About the same as my current bests. One step 2 handed jump 2.5 inches from fire exit ceiling, standing VJ is 1.5 inches away. Again no problems touching the ceiling on the one step VJ, half an inch or so to spare.



Full Oly Squats - in Sneakers - no Belt

Warm ups - controlled down, power up - frontsquat, rerack, rest 30secs, backsquat
frontsquat - Bar x 3, 95lbs x3
backsquat - bar x 5, 95lbs x 4, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 255x2, 285x1

90% of 5RM - controlled
1) 290lbs x 5

290lbs was not that easy, had to strain a bit more on the 5th rep. So I'm probbaly about 5-7% in the hole fatigue wise.


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

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

warmups - BW x 5 , Bar x 3, 65lbs x 2 each side

controlled, 3 sec pause at bottom, left side first, alternating legs
85lbs x 4 each side (+5lbs)

-----

lower body stretches and some upper body ones

 

[coolcolj]

Feel worked, but not sapped or drained. Light to moderate achey feeling all over. Recovery should be good for next week.

weighed 92.5kg 203.5lbs straight out of bed in underwear
mega feast last night, only one meal after training, but I had the same amount as 3 dinners

 

[coolcolj]

Lay in bed for an hour before I fell asleep, but it was quality sleep after that.
Feeling ok, I should more nicely recovered this coming Thursday for a new 5Rm attempt.

Still some mild aches

weighed 92.5kg 203.5lbs straight out of bed in underwear
started focusing on leaning up more now. But after I did my sums with bodyweight with respect to my vertical jump, dropping down to 180lbs doesn't help as much as I thought....see below...

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

Vertical Jump road map

here is my road map to a 39 inch or higher vertical jump - hopefully this year

I figure my standing VJ is around 32 inches. Estimated strict/controlled full Oly Squat 1RM is 365lbs. My high catch powersnatch from the floor is usually around my high hang powerclean with minimal dip, I guess about 165lbs right now. About 45% of my full squat 1RM

High catch powersnatch = 165lbs
165lbs divided by 204lbs recent gym bodyweight (with shoes etc) = 0.8088
Distance from hip crease (where the bar is in a powersnatch before it shoots up at full extension) to where I catch the bar = 39.5 inches

0.8088 x 39.5 inches = 31.95 inch VJ pretty close

--

Now if I lean down to 190lb gym bodyweight and maintain my current strength levels, using the above for formula I made -

standing VJ = 34 inches

down to my target goal of a lean 180lbs
standing VJ = 36 inches

works out to be about an 1 inch for every 5lb drop in bodyweight, far less than I expected!
Or 1 inch on the VJ for every inch of waist size dropped...waist is 35+ inches now, and I want to get it down to 30 inches eventually, so again around 36-37 inches VJ

--

if I bring up my full squat to 405lbs, high catch powersnatch or high hang powerclean with minimal dip goes up to 180lbs.

current gym weight of 204lbs, standing VJ = 35 inches
at 190lbs, standing VJ = 37 inches
at 180lbs, standing VJ = 39 inches

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if I bring up my full squat to 455lbs, which is one of my goals this year
high catch powersnatch or high hang powerclean with minimal dip goes up to 200lbs.

current gym weight of 204lbs, standing VJ = 38.5 inches
at 190lbs, standing VJ = 41 inches
at 180lbs, standing VJ = 44 inches


---

Looks it's possible for me to hit my VJ goal of 44 inches eventually - either by getting leaner and lighter at 180lbs, plus getting a bit stronger. Maybe harder this way though. Or getting much stronger at 190lbs with a 475lb full squat
Easier as I don't have to get so lean, 190lbs would put me around 10-12% body fat area

off course I've always jumped 2 inches higher with a step, and more with a run up. At a 44 inch VJ, I'd be getting my head pretty darn close to the basketball rim off a run up...

 

[coolcolj]

old polish oly training vid

doesn't seem much has changed - all the olys, front squats, back squats, pulls and usual stuff

but with rack squats, heavy eccentric deadlifts and ISO, explosive rack squats onto toes

Plus explosive dumbell pull throughs and jumpsquats


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEyxLHy0TkQ&NR=1

 

[coolcolj]

Not the best of sleep, woke up early and was thinking about stuff which made it hard to go back to sleep. Upper body a bit sore from part time job, lower body not too bad.

weighed 92.1kg 202.6lbs straight out of bed in underwear
I'm a bit worried about the lack of protein, relatively speaking. Gonna have to go buy another tub of protein powder just in case, plus fish oil...