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Messages - entropy

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1306
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: September 01, 2012, 03:33:25 am »
"ideal" is kind of hard to define with any exercise. so much depends on body mechanics. your "ideal" squat will look different from mine, even (especially?) if you rendered us each as stick figures, because we're such different shapes.

Oh I agree in general it's impossible to define it. But i'm using ideal in the sense that pos is ~= reverse neg. It's where a video of the concentric played forwards, looks identical to the eccentric played backwards - with both starting from the hole. Lets look at some examples:

good
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_jxTc2ITA8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_jxTc2ITA8</a>

pos very similar to reverse neg

and a bad one
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebr4-iRfCJ0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebr4-iRfCJ0</a>

I actually don't think this is a bad squat, looks ok, just see some chest dropping. but if you imagine the neg played in reverse starting from the hole, you can see it would be a lot different from the pos played forwards.

I'll try to make a video showing what I mean, it will be clearer that way.


Quote
still, it'd be cool to have something like dartfish but combined with moving versions of the still images vag creates of his squat. watch the stick figure move up and down, and watch the bar path. i'd pay $4.99 for that.
yep .. working on it :)


1307
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: September 01, 2012, 03:17:33 am »
Training
2.04km Fasted TM (~25 mins)
core stuff (AM)
5 mins jump rope (PM) (new ex)
700m TM (PM)

Here is September already. Aiming to break under 80kg (~176lb) by 1st October. Only one scheduled off-diet day - my birthday, and even that I'm going to fast prior and still hit a caloric deficit over the day. The rest of the month is 100% strict. Not doing RFL, i've got a good thing going now, can train hard and make progress as well as seeing steady fat losses - so why change to something else which might not work as well. Stay the course.

Lifting goals for the month are to hit 120kg front squat for a single. 120x3 will come much later once  i'm maxing around 130kg, so that's still a while away. Work on core and upper body weaknesses.

1308
Squat Video Analysis Tool
I've been playing with two copies of my video
A- in reverse starting from from hole
B- normally starting from the hole

In a perfect squat - A and B would be indistinguishable. In mine, A and B are very different. To improve my squat I have to make B look closer to A. I'm stepping the video frame by frame to see where the breakdown takes place.

Ok i've gone full analytard - ive decided to make my next project an app which takes a squat video as input, and produces as an output, a frame by frame description of the angles and positions during eccentric and concentric.  The app will allow easy analyis of where positions differ from ideal, to suggest possible improvements and more importantly to measure them. You can't improve what you can't measure, and this is a first step in measuring. Yes i'm a geek but you gotta admit it sounds cool. Any suggestions for names?   squatysis?

8)  :uhhhfacepalm:

1309
HBBS is good much better than LBBS because it keeps me upright out of the bottom. It's fixed the squatmorning problem but there is still work to be done.

Things to Try Next Week

From reading clarence I have a plan for what to do next. I have to do slow perhaps even paused, heavy backsquats out of the bottom. And ensure I never let my body go fwd out of the hole. It's as simple as that. That's how i'm going to fix my squat. I know kingfisher might not approve because athletic squats aren't done slowly - but my problem is STRENGTH - and specifically strength in the bottom position.

Once i've got good positions at the bottom and out, I can work on getting faster. Bouncing is easy and will come naturally once weakness are addressed and positions are good.

When core fatigue sets in, the belt can be used to do additional sets for further volume for leg strength.

Another big weakness I have which the belt wont help with, is upper back/chest dropping. That needs desperate remedial work. So have to do the rows and hang cleans. May just add an extra session JUST for that. Perhaps evenevery day I train.

For the (front) squat I need to drive my elbows up out of the hole. I did this on my last front squat set, and lol it worked - but my body found the position unfamiliar (it is used to upper back rounding) that I just stalled and then failed! (my first fail btw). I think part of the reason that happened is because I "forgot" to keep pushing with the legs at the same time, because I was concentrating so hard on the elbows? Maybe.

If I do the above and i've got good positions out of the bottom of the hole, and my core is strong, my upper back and chest are strong - then i'll be ready to push my squat (front & back) up aggressively. That should happen, at the latest when i've finished cutting and ready to gain some mass. Hopefully before that though.

1310


BW: 82.35kg/181.55lb

Am on track to end the month successfully with my bodyweight goals. The fat is literally melting off overnight, I lost 1/2" from my waist, and i'm close to an even 34". I think the next few kilos will have a dramatic visual impact. Thank cardio for that. It's targeting abdominal fat specifically.  I'm not even doing hardcore cardio, just several small 5-15 minute sessions at a leisurely pace. Later when I want to get close to 10% i'll probably need to do harder cardio. I'm ok with that, the lighter I get, the easier it becomes to recover from cardio too which is nice.

Training
1.07km Fasted TM (AM)
500m warmup (PM)

Session 1
BS 2x100, 1x110, 1x115 (maximal)
SQ 1x100, 1x105, 1x107.5, 1x112.5 (PR), 2x102.5, 1x105, 0x106
BS 1x100, 1x107.5, 3x107.5 (belt on), 2x2x112.5, 2x102.5

Well the Ab wheel fucked me up. My lower back was torched apparently even before I walked into the gym from those conservative ab wheels I did the other day. I had even kept sets and reps low (2x10) done from the knees intentionally because I knew the ab wheel has a disrupting effect (usually to my triceps lol) upon introduction, but apparently it can destroy lower back too lol. Anyway so the 115 single was hard, and I didn't go any heavier. I had planned on doing a single with 120kg but that wasn't gonna happen today.

Then it started raining. A lot. Flash flood. Flooded the gutters and all over ,my gym was covered in water in 30 seconds. My pendlays got slippery as hell on the wood, i was sliding around lol. Mopped it up as best I cud, and threw a carpet over it, and that allowed me to continue the workout.

Front squats weren't any easier on account of lower back doms. I managed a PR of 112.5kg though. Form was unacceptable but i muscled that sucker up somehow. Did a bunch of singles. Managed to strain my R groin again. It's not as bad as the first time just a bit tender.

Then I knew backsquats werent gonna happen either but I tried anyway. Thought to work around my lowerback soreness by using a belt. Kinda worked, cud do a few more reps. And here is something interesting....... when I used to put on a belt in the past, i'd instantly squat morning. Well not today. This is either from having a HBBS bar placement AND/OR recent remedial work in liue of uprightness. Or perhaps both. So the workout wasnt a complete waste of time - finding out I can now wear a belt and still stay upright is a nice discovery.

Session 2
BP 6x79.5 (PR!), 6x76, 6x73.5

I've got my BP unstuck finally!! PRs in consecutive workouts. Looks like ramped sets + wide grip assistance did the trick.

1311
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 30, 2012, 06:03:28 am »
Thanks man, you were right, I was doing them wrong. I had a hard arch, which actually limited my ROM on the ex, i couldn't roll out very far. See diagram.



I switched from the bottom one to the top one, and now I can roll out further and feel it more in the abz.

1312
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 30, 2012, 02:16:52 am »
What about carrying bags etc for example for school? Some people always carry on the same side all the time, right or left... it can develop some imbalances.

That would be me then, I always carried a bag on my right side, which fits my imbalance. Damn.

Training
1.1km TM fasted (AM)
2x40s planks
400m TM (PM)
1000m TM (PM 2)

Cardio is working like magic. The fat around my waist is melting away quickly. But as yet it hasn't shown itself on the scale. If anything i've gained weight (83.1kg this morning). This is what I don't understand. Whenever i've done a fair bit of conditioning i've always seen a smaller waist but the scale doesn't reflect it. What's up with that? As far as dieting goes, this week has been a write-off. With my sister in town, have been eating with family a lot and it's been hard to remain compliant. We'll see what the damage is on monday.

Am thinking if I have to diet to 75kg, I don't want to slog it the slow way. Am tempted to start RFL next week and speed thru the 83-80kg stage. Pros - faster. Cons - can't expect to progress in training, might even regress.

New soreness - lower back. I can't remember the last time my lower back muscles were sore! I have to put it down to the ab wheel rollouts.

Total cardio: 2.5km

1313
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 29, 2012, 11:59:09 am »
Ok I've been looking further into this plank thing, what I noticed was about 10seconds into the plank, my abs (obliques?) around the LEFT side start fatigueing, i start shaking from there. but my right side is solid and doesn't see what the fuss is. About 44 seconds in, and im shaking like a leaf from the left but the right is still rock solid. So wtf is going on? Have I got some sort of asymmetry? Or could it be my left side is more fatigued than the right side?

Has anyone experienced what im describing or come across it in someone else?  

My theory is that it's from the way I sit on a chair. I spent several years sedentary in an office job where I spent long hours sitting down, and i'm wondering if the way I sat favored one side of my core?

1314
Training

Session 1

BS 6x107.5, 5x102.6, 6x100
OHP 3x5x53.5
PP 4x65, 5x62.5

Wasn't happy with form or depth on back squats. I'm gonna repeat the weight until i've got good depth & form.

Session 2
CURLZ 3x8x42
Chins - 23 reps
CURLZ 15,15,12 pump work with the empty bar
abs - 2xplanks, 2x10 ab wheel rollouts from knee (new exercise)

total cardio - 2.1km on TM

1315
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 29, 2012, 01:41:44 am »
Ok i reviewed my time and it was 17s -slightly more than 10 but not significantly. This was a wobbly, struggling effort. It wasn't an effortless this-is-a-waste-of-my-time-i-could-do-this-all-day type of thing. I don't think I had good form either. Is it easy for the rest of you guys to do > 1 minute?

Yeah, you need to work on your core strength. I think this is something that can be progressed easily, though.

Myself, I honestly get bored just doing minute after minute of planks so I weight mine, lol. I go for around 20+ seconds that way.

Haha, mine are weighted too brah. I'm on that GOMAD, all natural loading  :D This is actually awesome news for me cos i wanna improve my weaknesses so I can squat better.

Many thanks all.

1316
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 29, 2012, 01:11:15 am »
Yeah it depends. You could also do a russian plank... both Bret Contreras and Pavel demonstrated that one.

Uh yea I don't have a kettle bell bro.

I tried it and got over 2 minutes easy.

Ok thanks, if you've never done one before and managed 2 mins easy, then i've got some work to do. Will work up to 2 minutes over the next few wks.

1317
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 28, 2012, 10:58:43 am »
Yeah you definitely are some strong cored bastard!

1318
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 28, 2012, 10:09:40 am »
Ok i reviewed my time and it was 17s -slightly more than 10 but not significantly. This was a wobbly, struggling effort. It wasn't an effortless this-is-a-waste-of-my-time-i-could-do-this-all-day type of thing. I don't think I had good form either. Is it easy for the rest of you guys to do > 1 minute?

1319
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 28, 2012, 07:02:04 am »
How is not being able to hold a 10s plank even possible? Never met anybody that can't do it.

Are you calling me fat? I challenge you to a plank off.

1320
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: August 28, 2012, 06:12:42 am »
I scoffed at the plank as something crossfitters do, but then read Dan John's Easy Strength and one of the first things he does with his athletes before starting any weight training is checking to see if they can hold a plank for 60 seconds. I actually tried to do one and i couldn't last 10 seconds. It might be cos im fatigued from yesterdays marathon session but dunno, maybe I have a weak c0re? On one hand that sucks to find out i'm so weak somewhere, and on other hand it's grea because I like finding out about a weakness  I can now address.

Just had an idea to try them with a belt on, see if that helps. Because i was failing from my hamstrings not so much my abs now that i think about it

Speaking of abs - I have observed that my abs no longer feel sore after doing a lot of chinups or leg raises. Whenever I did over 20 reps on these, i would always make my abs sore the next day - this doesn't happen anymore. The only other thing ive changed in training is doing front squats a lot. Is it possible my abs have gotten stronger FROM front squats? That might explain it perhaps.

I tried doing overhead squats today and was surprised to find I could kinda do them. I can go pretty deep too! So seems my flexibility and mobility has improved this last few months. Man i've come a long way from the inflexible, broken guy who first came here!

Now that my ankle is better, I can start using the ab wheel too.

I'm kicking myself for not getting a DEXA when I started my cut at around 86kg. If I had known i might only be 15% bf  at 80kg and not 10%, i would have done RFL to get down to 80kg quicker instead of spending months losing those 5kg. But I don't regret anything - i wouldn't have made all the training improvements i've made if I was doing RFL.

Anyway now that I know i'm still quite overweight, im gonna make the most of it. Everything I do using my bodyweight has a strength training effect. So running, jumping, pushups, chinups, ab roll outs, planks etc all make me stronger and better, so im gonna be doing them as part of my normal training. Hell even jogging will grow my calves while burning bodyfat so im gonna do that too.

Training
850m, 10mins,  treadmill fasted (AM)
850m, 10mins treadmill (PM)
1.5km walk and shooting hoops  

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