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Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: a fast and explosive donkey!
« on: December 14, 2015, 01:53:48 am »I definitely agree with LBSS creating some sort of peaking phase to push for that extra height and to continue to motivate him but I don't believe dropping squats in some form of another is the way to go about it.
Why not? What do you think happens when you drop squats? What are you afraid of? He stops squatting for three weeks and suddenly he is weak? To you really think the body is that responsive? I know pro-level powerlifters (who only job is to squat) who take a month off from squats every year. They come back fresh and it actually helps them. When you are pretty strong (as LBSS is) there is very very little to risk from taking a month off from squats. At high levels strength is very well maintained.QuoteHere's an elitetrack article I came across a while back where several elite/ near-elite athletes discuss the same issue at hand. I only see one athlete who prefers to drop weights completely while most prefer some form of maintenance work (Jonathan Edwards actually had a session where he's going to failure on his Olympic lifts only days out from his record setting jump). http://elitetrack.com/forums/topic/maintaining-strength-through-competition-period/
I wouldn't call that an article... but the point is we have learned something since 2010. Pickering showed some promise and IMO one of his failings was an overemphasis on weight training. The Jamaicans strictly drop weights during championship season and now people are following suit As far as Edwards his log that was released is something of lore today and it hasn't been released by him - even if it is accurate it documents that he doesn't squat at all - his lower body work is cleans almost exclusively... There is also a lot of talk about how squats dampen the elasticity of the spine - I don't know how well supported that is but I can say that the compressive load of squats during championship season is something almost all athletes avoid. Squats are base training - especially in track. Track athletes don't have knee angles that break 130 let alone get close to 90. Dropping base training during championship season is common sense. Base training (squats) is work whose benefits are long term, come slowly, and are lost slowly. I don't think I can overemphasize this enough - almost all athletes either disregard squats ( you should watch how seriously some sprinters take it -> not very) or start to make it too big a priority and end up being good lifters and bad athletes. IMO some of us are falling into the second camp. Remember - Kim Collins ran sub 10 without ever lifting weights. That doesn't mean you shouldn't lift. It does mean that lifting is base work rather than necessary work... nobody ever ran sub 10 without doing speed work, acceleration work, resistance of some kind (hills, stairs, lunges, bounds), speed endurance, mobility, etc. These things are not base work - they are necessary to master to perform.QuoteWith regard to the vertical jump, we all know the direct positive correlation that squatting has.
Do we? Some correlation to the standing vertical, but I would not call the relationship that squatting has on the running vertical jump direct by any means. You would be shocked at how low the squats of NBA guys are... even those who jump out the building. If you lack basic strength then doing base strength work in the form of squats will help. However, there are tons of powerlifters who can outsquat in terms of strength to bw tons of jumpers and dunkers but can't jump even close to as high...QuoteNot to mention that LBSS is a strength dominant jumper so considering the athletes' specific traits, it doesn't seem prudent to take away his strength. A different case might be made for a jumper whose highly reactive.
He is a strength dominant jumper? How so? He looks pretty reactive to me from his running vertical jumps. Additionally he doesn't attribute his gains to 36'' from squatting - he attributes it practicing jumping (ie reactive work!)! Finally, the recommendation was to drop squats for 3-4 weeks... do not conflate that "with taking away his strength". Dropping squats is simply a tool to allow more work for more specific exercises for a short period of time... It's not even that I feel squats MUST be dropped... but the paranoia about dropping squats on this board is a bit much... It reminds me of the paranoia that sprint coaches have about letting there athletes go jogging for fear of complete conversion to slow twitch... Remember, this stuff takes a long time! Becoming an elite athlete doesn't happen overnight... That sucks. But the good thing about it is you don't lose it overnight or convert over night. If you have been sprinting your whole life then going on a hike isn't gonna kill you. If you put in 5 years in the squat rack building up your base strength.... It's not gonna get sapped if you leave the squat rack alone for a month...
i read an article about the "overshoot phenomenon", is that what you're talking about? the writer of the article said that his athlete did serious strength work for a number of months and saw gains but when he plateaued from gaining vert alongside strength, he stopped strength training (only did explosive work) and in those corresponding months gained 7 inches.
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