Plan and Journal

[Tagio]

Started a new training cycle today. Gonna try and post workouts here. it's nice to have a record.

New split, subject to change if it's not working out:


tuesday: squats (heavier), pulldowns, overhead press, 100m sprints

thursday: light oly lifts (probably hang clean/jerk or hang snatches) complexed with box jumps increasing height, low volume plyos optional, abs, rotator work

saturday or sunday: squats (light), GMs or SLDL or RDL in heavy 5-10 rep range, bench, rows, 100m sprints


i haven't done much sprinting so that part of the workouts will likely get revised or refined or whatever. the volume of weights is low to accomodate sprinting but I'm gonna push the volume as the weeks go by and deload after a while. I'll do that by adding more sets/reps and accessory work.

 

[Tagio]

today's weight workout:

pulldowns, palms facing narrow grip

warmups, then 150x5x5, moved fast. will up the weight next week.

standing overhead press: warmups, then 60x5 fast, 70x5 fast, 90x5x4 sets. these are weak but they are getting stronger pretty fast. couldn't even hit 80x5 not too long ago.

squats: needed to fix my form today after the weirdness I had maxing out a few days ago (falling forward). I figured out my problem: feet out too far. I was squatting with a medium stance and high bar placement. these don't mix for me. a wide squat naturally involves more forward lean, but with a high bar you end up getting pulled forward. Today I placed my feet exactly like when I jump, quite narrow, and the squats felt fantastic. very upright and strong and easy on the knees.

also did 2 'bounces' or quick quarter squats before each set, which feels really comfortable (gets me in the groove). I'll probably make that a habit from now on.

warmed up, then

185x3x2 sets, easy
205x3x 2 or 3 sets, felt great. will do more volume next week, probably 8 triples or 6 sets of 4.


off to run in a minute.

weighed in at the gym at 198 today in shoes and clothes. I figure 5 pounds for shoes and clothes, 5 for water and food, weight probably in the mid-high-180s. hoping to gain or maintain weight over the next month.

 

[Tagio]

did 4 100m sprints. too tired for 5.

my conditioning will improve now that I am doing them twice a week.

I need to control my effort more. I was planning on doing something like 2 70% intensity, 2 at 80% and 1 all out. instead they all were more like 85-90% intensity. I'll get the hang of it in time.

 

[Zander1983]

Nice work. What are your goals?

 

[Tagio]

vertical jump and agility! also general explosive power.

short term goals are to oly squat 315+ and deadlift 405+ by the end of my first year of training (2 months to go), and get to 200 lbs bodyweight without being fat.

long term i want a 500-600 pound squat at 200 lbs bodyweight so I can absolutely maximize my vertical jump.

 

[louden_swain]

Looks like a nice plan to me. . I would love to see more details.

 

[Tagio]

I recovered surprisingly well from those sprints yesterday. i was expecting major fatigue and soreness, but I'm not tired and the soreness is there but manageable. In the past I've pushed through that 'that's enough' feeling when sprinting and I think that's why they killed me so much. If I had done a fifth I'd probably have trouble walking today (like i have in the past).

 

[Tagio]

midterm business makes it hard to keep up with the journal (I would love to be more detailed and I will be as soon as I am not swamped with work), but i'm still training of course. thursday workout was good, went as planned. did hang cleans/squat jerks with 95 lbs, used a very shallow dip before the cleans, 4-6 inches below the hip. added some sets of upright rows. benched friday, explosive triples with 115 and doubles/triples with 125 (my max is around 150). will do the rest of the day 3 workout later today. (squats, rows, posterior chain work, runs)

sore from running tuesday. gotta control my speed this time or i will overtrain or just be miserably sore.


The running really takes is out of me so I may scale back my volume of weight training next week to a very low level to let myself get used to the running. Only if necessary though.

 

[Tagio]

weights felt very good tonight.

ankle jumps x 20 low effort, x 20 medium effort, stepups onto a box as warmups


sets of squats and rows done alternately

squats: 185lbs 4x4 sets, 205x2 reps
moved the weight fast up and down. definitely faster than I've moved this weight before. trying to get form perfect. These really tire me out even at under 70% of my max. hopefully running will improve conditioning and make this less of an issue. Gonna keep weights low (under 80% max) for a while on these until sitting back feels totally natural. under 80% is fine for speed-strength and maximal strenth development anyhow.


cable rows: underhand grip, each rep touched to stomach just under sternum. kept back strictly still and straight with shoulders back.

warmup, then 140 lbs 3reps x4 sets. then 150x3 reps. not difficult, but this is a PR for that many sets at these weights. strength definitely going up.

threw in some light speed overhead presses, warmups then 70x5repsx3sets. I can toss this weight around like nothing now and it used to be a tough workset weight for me. Strength feels like it's going up here as well.

Straight-legged deadlifts: 135x10 reps, 155x8 reps, 175x8 reps.
felt good.

Very interesting thing happening with my appetite the last 3 days, which is that it is GONE. I have been gaining weight (and had quite an appetite) since the beginning of school and hit the scale at 201 lbs in clothes in the afternoon on thursday. since then my appetite has declined and is almost gone by my normal standards. I am getting my protein in and eating frequently (not letting myself starve) but I'm just not that hungry. Perhaps I've hit a weight my body feels comfortable at, or maybe these things just fluctuate naturally. I'm going to just see what happens, not try to force down extra calories or anything. Intestinal volume and weight have dropped a bit since then but nothing drastic.

got up at 10:40 this morning after 5 hours of sleep and had to work on my feet in the dishroom for 4 hours so I'm taking a nap now. Will run after I wake up, or tomorrow.

 

[Tagio]

did 4 100 meter runs tonight in 2 sets of 2, short rest in between reps, 10 minutes in between sets maybe.

ran at maybe 65-70% intensity. felt very good, like a workout rather than murder. I'll push back the running scheduled for tomorrow to the day after and do the same workout as today. in fact I'll do this until I feel like I can add another set of 2, and when that gets comfortable I'll start doing the final set of 2 at higher intensities probably.

recovery is doing well so loading will continue for the next couple of weeks probably.