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« on: June 09, 2014, 07:05:04 am »
Remember when I wrote that long post regarding LBSS and his issues? And how I said he doesn't get too much run-up or tendon contributions, if any? Well, he's better than you. Look at his bounding. He's complaining about how much he sucks at bounding, yet to me, they are really looking good. Not world-class triple jumper bounds, but they aren't terrible at all.
For you to invest into more reactive stuff, where you get contributions from the tendons as well and where you fine-tune your CNS and muscles to respond to a prestretch by generating more power, and adapting to that, is for you to get athletic. You don't really see athletes squat all day long and then walking towards a spot and doing a weak jump, don't you?
So, you must decide what your "primary sport" is. Remember, we strength train to get stronger FOR jumping, not the other way around. Strength work is basically assistance work.
It won't hurt you to do 2-leg bounding focusing on speed, and basic plyo work (sprints, bounds, donkey ankle bounces (reactive work for the Achilles)).
At some point you're going to find some out of nowhere power that you didn't know you were capable of generating (especially at the level you're at right now) and really "get it". But you gotta put in the work. Yes, it will suck initially. You will be slow and it will be really depressing. It will be hard to imagine yourself getting better at it. But you gotta GO GET IT.
Does that mean you must give up strength work? Not at all. It's just that you need to limit strength work to un-fatiguing sets and leaving the gym fresh, so that you can actually do what you're training to get better at - jumping and actually moving around (running, sprinting, getting on a fast break, getting past your man etc).
For that reason, I personally plan on doing "Easy Strength" like Dan John was proposing. Squat everyday, but choose sets and reps depending on your feeling in that day. You can go with something like 2x5, 5x2, 3x3, or 6x1. When you feel really good, go for "sort of a max", meaning a heavy single but not a maximal single. Feeling tired? Go with 3x3 with your 5RM, or do an easy 1x10 with a very light weight.
This will keep you fresh. And being fresh is what allows you to both recover and adapt to the stimuli you present your body with (which is strength by squatting and strength expression (power) by jumping), and to do high quality plyo work (jumping, sprinting, bounding).
I'll write more about this soon on my website, and it will all make sense, hopefully.
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