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This is why I'm not a huge fan of arbitrary goals, they can make you rush unnecessarily, take shortcuts and neglect the essentials like rest and recovery. If I were you I'd definitely take a week off and test your vertical properly with rest and shitloads of caffeine.

Gym:

Foam roll/stretch warmup

GHR: 1x10@BW, 1x10@15kgs, 1x8@25kgs

Ab wheel rollouts - 3x5-6 rolls (these are damn hard)

DB unilat calf raise: 1x20/leg@15kgs, 1x20/leg@20kgs, 1x20/leg@25kgs

Squat: warmup, 1x6@60kgs, 1x6@110kgs, 2x4@140kgs, 1x20@100kgs

1x4@140kgs:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF-4ZnhS27Y" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF-4ZnhS27Y</a>

Today I thought that if I'm gonna be squatting more often I should (finally) put up a squat vid. So I went to another gym that is OK with people shooting vids (the gym I normally go to doesn't allow you to and they're really gay about it) and shot a few. I think my form is OK, there might be a few technical issues though that I haven't noticed. Thought I'd throw in an MEBM set just to see if it bothered my knees but they were OK.

Gym:

Foam roll/stretch

TKEs (with band this time, pretty thick): 3x25/leg

Leg curl: 2x8-10@25kgs, 2x8-10@45kgs

Squat (ATG) 1x6@40kgs, 1x6@80kgs, 1x6@110kgs, 1x6@40kgs (really easy, no knee troubles)

Unilat DB Calf raises: 1x15/leg@25kgs, 1x15/leg@30kgs, 1x15/leg@32.5kgs, 1x15/leg@15kgs

Ab pulldown: 2x8-10@50kgs, 2x8@70kgs

Do this one more time this week and then start new plan for 4 weeks:

MON: Squat 3x3, calf raise variation, GHR
TUES: rest --> basketball later (try to take it easy, my team is good enough without me playing 100%)
WED: Squat (work up to 1x6), Cleans (lighter, volume), KB swings
THURS: rest
FRI: Track - Sprints, depth drops (relatively low box to start), Gym - Squat (4x8-10), UB stuff + core
SAT: rest
SUN: Cleans (heavier), RDL (work up to 1x6 heavy), BSS

The only thing I'm thinking about is which squat session is best to throw in an MEBM set (20 rep, heavy weight).. they might be too intense for the volume session...

How do you do your TKEs at the leg extension?

I do them with the feet a bit external rotated and I put the fingers of my palm on the VMO and push into it slightly to increase the awareness of that muscle - usually gives better contractions. I also think "hyperextend" when I get at the top and that really squeezes the VMO.

Yeah I try and hyperextend at the top and squeeze the VMO hard, keep the toes pointed up as well.

You're finally starting to come around. But damn, it makes me cringe to think how much time and energy you've wasted on this.

Jumps at 10':

4 SVJs, best 35'', equal  :



5 DSVJs, best 36'', 



4 DLRVJs, best was shit, ~36''

No SLRVJs (except few practice ones not worth posting)

Video of SVJ, DSVJ and DL:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MvNmV2txcY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MvNmV2txcY</a>

Pretty happy with 35'' SVJ and 36'' DSVJ today. Running verts were no good though. I felt a bit of patellofemoral pain while doing them, and subconsciously my body was just completely shutting down my run-up in order to protect itself. So I decided to not push the running jumps. It's annoying because it's only a mild discomfort rather than persisting pain, it goes away completely after I stop so I don't think it's acute or severe tendinitis. Right now I've got full ROM, no swelling, no pain walking or anything like that so I don't think it's too bad.

Having said that, I don't want this getting worse to the point where it develops into more severe jumper's knee so I'm going to change up my training plan I've been doing over the last few months. It's been getting me gains but I don't want to risk contracting any chronic knee problems because of the high jumping volume.

Since it's only running jumps that seems to give me the discomfort, I think it'd be wise to cut ME jumping out for at least 4 weeks. Sprinting and squatting do not give me any problems so I'll continue doing those (although I am wary that just because an activity doesn't give you pain doesn't mean that it's not aggravating the problem). I'm fairly sure it isn't but I'll be very cautious in the meantime and monitor any pain or swelling during/after squats/sprints (usually there isn't any).

I think I might have changed course a bit anyway as I probably need more raw strength in all muscle groups; this might be a good time to rest my knees from jumping while focusing on building more strength. Mainly through squat but also hamstring exercises like GHR and RDL.

However, I don't want to lose all the explosive strength I have built up so I'll continue to do explosive work that doesn't give me any pain (i.e. anything but jumps). Basically sprints, low level plyos like pogos, tucks, depth drops, KB swings and light cleans (to work on form and reduce load on knees).

Working on putting together a program, will post it up later. It'll probably revolve around Lance's recent post (http://www.adarq.org/forum/lancests-performance-blog/training-posts/) with 3x squat a week (heavy triple, heavy 1x6, volume) with hamstring and explosive exercises thrown in.

TL;DR: Knee is hurting a bit during ME jumps so going into a strength phase and taking out jumps

OFF week

Just light activity over last few days, stretching/foam rolling, Epsom baths etc. Played basketball few nights ago as well.

Gym:

REA squat: 1x4@50kgs, 3x4@60kgs

Half-squat (focus on concentric speed): 1xs4@110kgs, 1x4@170kgs, 1x4@175kgs

KB swings: 3x4-5@24kgs