Adarq.org

Sometimes I don't feel like buying Kelly Baggett's programs because everything he puts in his books are in his articles.
Solid info, it makes me feel skeptical if I'm ever going to get insane hops and speed. This basically seems like an extended version of what I read about in his No-Bull Speed Manual.

 

It is similar to a section in the No Bull Speed Development Manual, but that was written 4 years ago. Most of the specific info. in my books is not in my articles. A lot of the priciples are, but there are only so many of those.

Well , the ratio you designed for yourself is definately better.
Kelly gave out a long-term schedule transitioning in 5 phases , from GPP to peak. It is a god damn good program , but it is for everyone. Yours is 100% customised to your needs, starting from neutral and not GPP or hypertrophy etc.
Having said that , i was also very much tempted reading that template.
But my mind is already made up , ill complete my ratio , hopefully achieve significant gains in strength and work capacity and then i will do the high-freq template he gave in his previous article...

Man I'd say stick with what you're doing. I really like what you do. If you were to consult me likely the only thing I might suggest thinking about from a VJ perspective is how much you really benefit from a distinct hypertrophy phase.  I'm not sure if it's the best thing in the world for you given your current size and qualities.

The whole staff had these, everyone ended up with cuts on their Achilles.  Comfy shoes, meet the current minimalistic trend, but the cuts sucked.  We all ended up cutting off the back of the shoe    This made them wearable but they obviously failed a lot sooner than if we didn't modify them.

We all thought they had a ton of potential

Wow same thing I was thinking as I was reading the thread. I've had a pair since '04. I like doing speed and plyo stuff in them but they tore up my ankles too. Let me know if the new ones alleviate that problem.

interesting info, i need to get a battery for my heart rate monitor.. it's interesting how tiring MR tuck's are.. i mean, they really kill everyone.. i feel more tired doing 10-15 MAX tuck jumps than if i did a 60-80 yard sprint etc.. so your data seems to fit how I feel also.

hahaha. good point. When I was in high school me and a friend of mine both bought a pair of strength shoes and did plyos in them.  I remember the workouts called for a TON of tuck jumps, like 4 sets of 20. The first workout I nearly passed out doing them and he lost his lunch.

ya, though, with my close stance + feet neutral + half squat, i get tons of hamstring.. people with shorter legs might have problems getting alot of hamstring in that style of squat, but then they'd be able to squat oly style with good form alot easier.. even so, I get most of my hamstring work from lunges and now pmghr's.. I always took that approach for the people I trained too, that's why i'm so big on unilaterals.. I never could understand how someone could neglect unilaterals anyway, they are so beneficial..

So ya, my formula would be, if you can't engage hamstrings too well in squat, with squat form being "pretty nice", I would:
- hit unilaterals hard
- hit ghr/hamstring isolation hard
- sprint hard

eventually they will become more active in squat regardless of form (to a point) simply from getting stronger.

peace!

Yeah that'll definitely work. I definitely didn't wanna make that sound like I think squats are all one needs for hamstrings. I consider some forms of glute hams or hip extensions a must.  I'm not sure of the hamstsring activation in the unilaterals though based on a book I have by bompa his EMG research doesn't rank them very high:

Biceps femoris (hamstring)
Standing leg curls --------------------------82%
Lying leg curls -----------------------------71
Seated leg curls ----------------------------58
Modified hamstring deads --------------------56

Semitendinosus (inner hamstring)
Seated leg curls ----------------------------88
Standing leg curls --------------------------79
Lying leg curls -----------------------------70
Modified hamstring deads --------------------63

Those are better than 90% of gym squats you'll see. I see what you're trying to do with the sitting back.  If you can do it correctly it is  a more efficient squat because it engages the hamstrings.  If you sit back correctly as you descend down you should feel your hamstrings being stretched like a rubber band. They'll help blast you out of the hole if you maintain that tension but if you stay upright and let your knees come forward you'll lose that. The problem with the upright squats and front squats is they effectively take the hamstrings out of the movement. That can be an advantage depending on what your after, but for general foundational lower body strength generally you want to target more musculature. The key IMO is staying away from the superwide powerlifitng squats and using an athletic stance and not leaning excessively forward with the upper body.

Yup , its dropping!
I had a 7-10 days lag from when i stopped big eating , weight wouldn't drop although i was dieting, must have been the water , maybe some lag in hormonal signaling too...

I also lowered caloric intake a bit last week, but still nothing too much.
Now "low eating days" are ~1500Kcals , "big eating days" ~2500 , week = 2 big - 5 low
Before it was low ~1800 , big ~3000 , week = 3 big / 4 low
Bulking was : low ~2000 , big ~3500 , week = 4 big / 3 low.

I'm curious to see how weight reduction will impact my vert , both height and feeling.
Minimum allowed weight = 185.

There is often a lag effect with fat loss. As the cell loses fat it gets replaced by water so it may appear like you haven't lost anything initially. Then you put some carbs back in your system and that water gets pulled out of the fat cells then BAM! All the sudden overnite you seem to drop 5 lbs. FWIW, that lag effect seems to be intensified by the extent of your deprivation.  Big deprivation = big time lag effect.

What i was always curious , the million dollar question : "how long is the energy you eat available?"
Im not talking any energy , im talking carbs from rice, pasta or whole grain bread , thats my main energy income.
I used the same-day aproach coz i was afraid it would be wasted if i eat it the previous day.

This is an interesting topic. You have 3 sources for glucose:

1. Muscular glycogen: capacity ~300-500grams - Once it gets stored it doesn't leave until you exercise, and it takes a LOT of exercise to even come close to using it up.  300 grams of muscle glycogen is 1200 calories worth, so you'd have to be doing something that burns a TON of calories to even come close to depleting all your muscle glycogen.

2. Liver glycogen: capacity ~50-75 grams - This is what supplies your mental energy needs on a daily basis.

3. Blood sugar: <~10 grams - This is the sugar floating around in your blood either from a recent meal or that which has been released from your liver.

Your liver glycogen and blood sugar is most strongly affected by what you've eaten today.  The glycogen in your muscles doesn't impact your mental energy. It will be used as fuel by the exercising muscles. Your immediate mental energy comes from sugar in your blood (a couple of teaspoons worth) and that which is stored in your liver.  If you run out of liver glycogen you feel like shit mentally ( unless you're in ketosis) so you need enough carbs on a daily basis for that (50-100 grams or so). Your muscular glycogen really comes from the previous days eating.  

However, unless you're engaged in really high volume exercise muscle glycogen isn't likely to be much of a limiting factor.  In fact, I've seen some positive things with regard to vertical jump in the middle of a carbohydrate depletion cycle. It was a specific form of bulking and cutting I was playing around with a few years back. You take several days and do lots of high volume exercise and low carb eating to deplete the muscles of glycogen, then follow that up with several days of the opposite approach.  What I noticed was 3 or 4 days into it (when I was just about fully depleted) my sprints were a little quicker and jumps a little higher.  I'm not sure how replicable this is for everyone, but each gram of glycogen has 3 grams of water with it. If you deplete most of the glyocgen out of your muscles you'll also deplete 3 x that much in water, which will likely be over 5 lbs worth. You'll be weaker due to the impact that muscle glycogen has on leverage in your muscles,  but that will likely be offset by the reduced water and bodyweight you're carrying around.