Creation of an Explosive Mofo - My Training Journal :)

[coolcolj]

Wednesday 5th November - General Workout - Week 3 - Day 4 - Lower Body 2 - Afternoon

Well the gym is going to be closed Saturday and Sunday, plus a lot of stuff has been moved to the new location, so this workout turned out differently than I had planned. Wanted to do front squats, but no power racks were around, so I went overboard on the pulls. This should last me till Monday when the gym reopens in the new location just one building down. Will be deloading a tiny bit next week.

Olys gave my upper body a good workout too. Man i just know my posterior chain is gonna be one sore mofo! Interesting in that it's the first workout in a long time that my quads didn't feel saturated

Workout Rating - 7.5/10
Workout time - 2 hours

Warmup+ CoreWork

Rest - 30secs alternating between each exercise. 1min between pairs.

Back Extensions x8, +10lbs x8
Incline situps x8, +10lbs x8 with Russian twists to each side at the top.


Plyos

rest 45secs to 1min
Low ankle jumps - 2x10
High ankle jumps - 3x5
Short Horizontal Hops 2x5
Short quick Single leg Horizontal hops 2x10 - 5 each leg

Olys

Warmups - Bar - doing some hang cleans, power cleans , front squats and split jerks.
Rest - 2 to 3mins

All with hookgrip
SquatClean+ SplitJerk - 89lbs x2, 111lbs x1, 131lbs 3x2
Powerclean + 3 Hang PowerCleans - 155lbs x 2 sets
Powerclean + 2 Hang PowerCleans - 175lbs
PowerCleans - 195lbs x2, 208lbs x1, 228lbs x MISS

Clean and Jerk form practise was pretty crappy overall,
powerclean timing was rusty and awful as I got heavier.
Don't enjoy em as much as power snatches, they feel so slow and awkward. Just ran out of juice by the time I hit 228lbs, not a biggie, I did a lot before hand.

Pulls

rest - 2mins
all with Hookgrip

CleanPulls - 243lbs x3, 263lbs 3x3
SnatchDeadlifts onto toes+Shrug - 208lbs x 5

Not particular explosive, form was iffy, but felt good all round.


Bits and Pieces

Rest - alternating between each exercise, 1 min between each complex

12inch Stepups
BW x10, +4kg in dumbells x10 - each leg

Single Leg back extensions
BW x6, +4kg in dumbells x6 - each leg

Supported Hanging Leg raise extensions
2x10

Reverse Hypers
BW x12

 

[coolcolj]

Clips

Dissapponted in myself - I was making basic errors on the heavier sets of powercleans, armpull, shoulders behind bar at start, slow elbow whip etc. I should know better!

Upper back kinking as well

If you have any problems playing em, then right click on each and save it before watching


http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/5Nov03/

 

[edgecrusher]

What are ankle jumps?

 

[coolcolj]

What are ankle jumps?

You just bounce up and down using only your calves -
Maybe why my calves have gone bigger as well

from Joe Defranco

#9 “Pogo Jump” Warm-up – This is a warm-up we use before many of our lower body strength workouts, plyo workouts and speed workouts. It is not only a great warm- up, but we believe this “warm-up” may actually increase your vertical jump in and of itself! But first, let us describe exactly what a pogo jump is, anyway. A pogo jump is performed by jumping off of the ground by just springing off your ankles. While you’re in the air you want to dorsiflex your ankles, a.k.a. “pull your toes up”. You also must prevent your heels from ever touching the ground. The key to this exercise lies in your ability to keep your knees locked while jumping and landing on and off the ground, as well as spending the least amount of time on the ground as possible. Be sure not to flex at the hips, either. Many times when athletes perform this exercise their feet kick uncontrollably out in front of themselves. Don’t let this happen! Your whole body should remain in a perfectly straight line, with the exception of your ankles dorsiflexing while you’re in the air. We do both low and high pogo jumps in our warm-up. The technique remains exactly the same except for the height differences, of course. Low pogo jumps should be performed for speed. You only want to jump about 1” – 2” off the ground, but try to perform as many reps as possible in the required time. The goal of the high pogo jumps is to get as much height as possible by just springing off of your ankles during each jump. Pogo jumps are an incredible exercise that trains the Achilles tendon for elasticity. This will help to prevent ankle injuries as well as increase explosiveness. Here’s the warm-up we use…
A. Low Pogo Jumps – 3 sets of 20 seconds, rest 30 seconds between each set
B. High Pogo Jumps – 3 sets of 20 seconds, rest 30 seconds between each set

Well I have sore glutes, hams (just the upper part), erectors, traps, neck, lats, rear delts, biceps, abducctors!

In fact my whole back is sore. Come to think of it my whole body feels it. Not major DOMS, just mild aches.
Lats are surprisingly sore! Snatch grip deads I suspect

 

[coolcolj]

I've been doing this and it works remarkable well!

first stick your arms out to the side, thumbs up, or a position where pain and clicking is minimised. Then do a circular rotation forward for 10 reps, and then backward for another 10 reps.

rest 30sec to a minute.

then repeat but with a larger circular motion, say 18inches

rest

once again, but now arms straight at the sides.

so that 60 reps, do this everyday for the first week and then twice a day after that. Take a break off it once a week if you like.
The first few days you shoulder/traps/cuffs will be sore and maybe in pain depending on your injury, but surely enough. As the days go by you will feel better and better, and then one day you can start benching and pressing again

once they are ok, start doing a sound rotatry cuff strengthening protocol as part of your workouts. Make sure you balance, vertical and horizontal pressing, as well as vertical and horizontal pulling. Add some snatch thumbs up dumbell face down incline raises as well as side raises.

Keep doing these rotations however, but once a day is enough, I infact use them as part of warmup.



someone who did something similar

I've had shoulder problems in the past (never diagnosed - but once I couldn't bench or shrug anything more than 50% 1RM for over 6 months without pain).

However, what made a big difference in the life of my shoulders was doing something similar to the 100-rep protocol. Three or four times per day (nearly every day) I would do a couple sets of unweighted arm circles.

I started doing a set of 10 with arms straight out from sides and fists moving in a circle about 6" in diameter. Then a set of 10 about 18" in diameter. Then a set of 10 with full range. Then do one set in the opposite direction.

I worked up to doing a total of 60 reps 3 times/day.

It's important to find a "groove" that is pain-free. Try not to just bull through the pain for the first couple of reps until it loosens up. Find a way to do these so even the first rep has no pain.

You can experiment with arm-speed and hand position throughout the circle to alleviate pain and "clicking".

After a couple of months of this I was able to resume benching, and have been benching heavy (for me) and pain-free for two or three years now. My bench has gone up from an abysmal 200 to an almost respectable 285 in that time.

PS: I also discovered many rotator cuff exercises when I started reading this web-site about 18 months ago. I think they've been important in keeping my shoulders healthy as my numbers increase.

 

[coolcolj]

Thursday 5th November- General Workout - Week 3 - Day 5 - Tempo Runs- Evening

Tempo Sprint Runs
Distance - 100metres
Tempo - 20secs, estimated about 60-70% speed.
Reps - 2, 30 secs rest between each.
Sets - 5, 3 minutes between each

Starting to get relatively easy now. Erectors still tightening up, but nowhere near as bad as before.
Really is beginning to feel like these tempo runs help CNS recovery.

I think maybe next session or the one after I'll go to 4x3s.
That should begin to accelerate the fat loss
Hopefully my waistline should be creeping down the 36inches soon. One for sure though, my erectors are really starting to stick out like 2 steel drainage pipes

 

[coolcolj]

Monday 10th November - General Workout - Week 4 - Day 1 - Lower Body 1 MINOR DELOAD- Midday

Well today was my first session in the new Gym loaction.
The good - no padding where the power racks are, nice solid floor.
The Bad - low roof!! I can't do any jumps now, nor power rack chins
Old gym was like a big warehouse, and now it's like a damn office block!!!
Oh I wish I could train at home!

Well It looks like I am just not recovering and making gains! I really do need to start averaging more than 5-6 hours sleep a night. It's one of things I know, but I just never do. It's time to get serious!!!
No matter how good your training is, without sleep, you ain't going anywhere!

Workout Rating - 7/10
Workout time - 1.5+ hours


Warmup+ CoreWork

Rest - 30secs alternating between each exercise. 1min between pairs.

Back Extensions x8, +10lbs x8
Incline situps x8, +10lbs x8 with Russian twists to each side at the top.


Plyos

rest 45secs
Low ankle jumps - 2x10

rest 1min
High ankle jumps - 3x5


Power Snatch

Warmups - Bar x 5, some snatch grip push presses
Rest - 2-3mins

PowerSnatch - 89lbs 2x2,
PowerSnatch + Hang PowerSnatch - 89lbs
131lbs --> missed Hang Power Snatch!
PowerSnatch - 111lbs 2x2
Hang PowerSnatch - 111lbs 2x2
Hang PowerSnatch with deeper catch - Bar x6

Time to start getting in PowerSnatches from the floor.
A bit rusty, and the low roof was scarying me a bit, damn I just didn't have any power becuase of this. Although the roof is raised over the platform area, it feel damn close compared to the 50m roff of the old gym...


Full Olympic Back Squats - RAW

Warmup sets
Bar x10, 95lbs x5, 135lbs x5, 185lbs 2x3, 225lbs 2x2, 255lbs x3
Tempo 10X0 rest - 2mins, 3-4 mins on last 2 singles

285lbs x2, 315lbs x1, 335lbs x1
225lbs 3x3

Total work tonnage = 3245lbs (down 135lbs from last week)

Well as I worked up trhough my warmup sets, my abducctors were bothering me. When this happens I know I am not recovering.
The good thing is that floor is solid now, and they haven't got the mirrors up and that felt strange. You can really sense what your body is doing better without a mirror.
Squats felt different today, normally I can feel it in my quads quite a bit, today it was lots more spinal erector/hip, especially on the heavier singles where I could feel my mid back working.
I didn't look like I was sitting back more, but on the 225lbs sets it felt more like normal where I went a bit more forward.
Squats were slow, but I was kind testing the waters a bit, since everything felt different. I definitely can't do 3x3 with 325lbs right now like I did a month ago...

Bits and Pieces
rest - 1min

Bulgarian Split Squats
+10kg in dumbells 2x10 each leg.

Reverse Hypers
BW x12

Explosive GluteHam Raise on Incline Situp Board

2x5 - using hand to help

 

[Zander1983]

Shame about the gym. Maybe you need to move houses and kit yourself up

Why the lack of sleep, lots of hours at work?

If I were consistently getting 5-6 hours sleep my body would shut-down. I never get any more than 8-9 at most. I know that when I'm short on sleep (< 7 hours regularly, by my standards) I'm not nearly as productive. Even though I often have a lot to do, less sleep makes my waking hours less productive and doesn't really help!

 

[coolcolj]

Zander it's mostly all my fault, I should go to sleep earlier!!!!


Clips from yesterday

I can see why my erectors, both upper and lower were feeling it a bit. I have a habit of relaxing my back at the bottom.
I just seem to have lost all my squatting strength from the last cycle! I was good for 385lbs I think a month ago, now I doubt I could do more that 350lbs
That 3 week break, poor diet, and crappy level of sleep is really taking it's toll.

Now here's something strange, as far as I can see my squat style is more or less the same as before, but for some reason I was feeling it in my upper ham/glutes rather than quads as per normal. And today I'm sore in my upper hams, glutes and erectors. The last time I felt it in my upper hams was when I did box squats..
I wonder if the lack of mirror, hard floor, and me pushing harder through the heels had something to do with this?

Waist is down to 36 1/4, so slowly leaning up, but still pretty fat. Hopefully I'll be down to 34 inches by Christmas.

If you have any problems playing em, then right click on each and save it before watching

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/coolcolj2/Movies/10Nov03/

 

[sinjinsmythe33]

sleep es muy importante... especially when you are in your thirties