* slept 8:30am-3pm. felt well rested and recovered but lifted like crap. 425 felt heavier than yesterdays 440x1 on the afternoon workout. if i have time to lift at 10pm today, IMO il get another 440-445x1 paused. i have work so il just hope my recovery really gets going. il have another single training session tmrw.. i'm actually looking forward to days were i train 2x now. 425 feels heavier the more time i rest between lifting it. * back up front squats were felt heavier also on the shoulders. will stay with 325 until i feel good again and blast up to 350-365.
Front Squat Backup Sets Cycle
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Week 1 325 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 340 1.1 345 1.1
* slept 6am-12pm. did my morning training. 45min session. 425x1 was not heavy. lifting this again in 5-5.5hr from now will make it feel lighter by 20-30lbs. probably go to 440 again depending on how sharp i feel when i wake up again later. repeatable paused reps doesn't get my VMO area tender. i still put compression wraps on my right VMO area while i sleep. compression makes me feel like im recovering faster. * front squats kept light at 325. still resting the shoulders, wrists and everything else that get hammered while trying to keep the weight in my front shoulders.
Front Squat Backup Sets Cycle
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Week 1 325 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 340 1.1 345 1.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 440x1 was max for today. need more recovery. will take it light the next couple of days. no back up front squats. shoulders are tired. did some this morning so that should take care of the daily lift. * did not get a nap between the workouts today. ~ 5 hours in between the heavy lifts. tried to sleep but the 6hr morning sleep was enough. il probably get more tired later but nothing another deep sleep can't fix.
* light day. no training in the afternoon. work night starts. needed a break anyway. upper front clavicle area and the surrounding muscles feeling beat from the 345 front squats.
Front Squat Backup Sets Cycle
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Week 1 325 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 340 1.1 345 1.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wed - Afternoon Feb 29, 2012
* plan to skip the afternoon training did not happen. took a strong post workout meal and a good midday nap. wrapped lower right VMO area because it feels better like that + the compression tights i wear for recovery. woke up and felt like lifting 440. * 445-450 would be doable but very tiring. 440 was just right. back up front squats not too heavy to get better recovery. 345 doable but will probably make my shoulders hurt again. doing more BW dips to get more blood into that area being hammered by the front squats.
Front Squat Backup Sets Cycle
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Week 1 325 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.4 340 1.1 345
* i don't know why but it seems that getting rid of the higher rep back up (non-paused reps using 375) a few days ago got my strength overshooting at the moment. the 400-425 felt light again. 435 was not as explosive but definitely repeatable on a daily basis. * i will get 440-445 this afternoon after a good 4-5hr midday nap and a strong post workout meal. probably back up a bit and not go all heavy.
* on a strong day, i lift better if i train in the morning, then a mid day nap, then train again in the afternoon. worked really well today. the 400,425x1 in the morning was explosive, but not as explosive if i were to do it again within the day. * i was right. the 400,425,440 felt easy in the afternoon. i could have gotten a 450x1 paused. since i don't like how 450 looks (2x10lb + 2x2.5lb), it was not a good idea that i attempted 455. i failed midway up but the eccentric and explosion from the paused start was controlled and smooth. i handled the weight pretty good until midway up.. will upload vid if i find time for it. * diet - replaced half my carb source from brown rice to japanese yam / kabocha squash.
Front Squat Backup Sets Cycle
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Week 1 325 1.1 1.1 340 1.1
* not weak but not very strong either. spot on for a daily strength maintenance lifting. back up sets now dedicated to x1-2 front squats. * aside from the sprinting drills, i will train for a high 200/low 300 powerclean in the next few weeks. if my daily front squat is 325, il try to go for 50-75% of that on the the powerclean ~ 150 to 240 as long as i maintain strict form. max powerclean goal is 315lb.
Daily Squats Maintenance - Paused Rep Warmups / Non-Paused Back Up [200,250x2][300,350,400,425x1]
* low appetite, was not able to eat solid food after the first workout, just BCAAs and whey protein shakes. did not feel tired and legs are not more sore than usual. IMO, i need more sleep. 2 hr sleep. i woke up and fukitol.. legs and mind felt fresh - shower and another coffee then back to the gym to get my 425x1 today. * sleep worked really well. i blasted the weights easily this time. could have gotted 435-440 paused. stopped at 425 without any back up sets. just trying to make my daily lifts.
Daily Squats Maintenance - Paused Rep Warmups / Non-Paused Back Up [200,250x4][300,350x2][400x1,425x0x0]
* the higher volumes of butt kicks / sprint drills is eating up my legs. the form on the paused rep lifts were smooth and perfect - i was just weak. tried to get 425x1 twice and did not even get to the midway point when my torso bends on the first attempt. legs just folded back down after the concentric slowed to a halt halfway up. * weight did not feel heavy.. well, not until a few micro seconds after im pushing it up from the paused start from the hole. the start of the concentric was not that hard.. the decay of explosive strength is just too quick today. tried another 425x1 and it was more explosive than the first attempt.. same result halfway up.. torso did not collapse. when the bar slowed down, legs just folded back down again. called it a day before i burn too much energy. * no back up sets. will probably get 375x2 and it will feel like 20lbs heavier.. so why bother.. il just rest some more and back down a bit on the volumes of the sprint drills so i have enough strength to at least complete my 425x1 top paused daily lifts.
Daily Squats Maintenance - Paused Rep Warmups / Non-Paused Back Up [200,250x4][300,350x2][400,425x1] - 375 2x1
Front Squat - 325x1
* consistently weak for the last 2-3 days. 375x4 was doable but stopped at 2 reps. plan to do single 395x2 back-up set skipped. too fatigued right now. need another day of a light workout like this before i build intensity a bit - this time doing near max singles with a single back up set of 2 reps.
Daily Squats Maintenance - Paused Rep Warmups / Non-Paused Back Up [200,250x4][300,350x2][400,425x1] - 375 4x2
Front Squat - 325x1
* fatigue not going away now. stuck at 375x4. explosiveness of concentric gets noticeably slower at rep 4. can grind up to 6 but thats not going to work well for a daily lifting routine. * will slowly add singles on front squats. no need for high rep front squats since these kill the torso stabilizing muscles fast. * end these 4+ reps of volume back up sets today. will do the daily paused ramping to 425x1 paused, then probably a 395x2 (-30 top set), then a 345x1 front squat (-50 on back up set). 2 weeks of light squats while improving/maintaining the front squat to 375-385.
Daily Squats Maintenance - Paused Rep Warmups / Non-Paused Back Up [200,250x4][300,350x2][400,425x1] - 375 4x2
* will end the back up volume sets tmrw. can't do too many things at the same time. will need to focus on sprinting and some front squat / powercleans. i got repeatable 425x1 in these 4 weeks of back up sets. not bad at all - i was able to get all 425x1 paused even at my weakest / partially injured day. i was hoping to get this repeatable paused to 440x1 but that can wait. will give body a few weeks to recover and do more speed/skill work at that time. * will continue with the paused ramping weights for maintenance but will remove the backup sets after tmrw. its also a good idea to back off a bit now IMO since i can't even match my 3rd week strength anyway. 375x6 multiple times.. damn, im losing explosiveness on 3rep right now. at my strongest, the 5th rep was still explosive.
i do my SVJs in the same workout a few minutes after the squats, probably ~ 20-30mins max after the last heavy squat rep. again, my legs might have lifted heavy weights, but the way i lifted it really minimizes fatigue. in this 445x1 paused rep vid, i was still able to get low 40s SVJ in the same workout even thought my squat ramping went thru 5 sets of 400+ (400,410,420,430,440,445)
i agree with the weight loss from dehydration prior to near max jump attempts. i don't drink alcohol but i usually comsume 4-5 shots of black espresso before getting to my max weight when i lift. i have to use the can in between sets most of the time.. by the time the lifts are done, i've lost a lot of water weight. that + muscles that have been primed nicely = consistent high 30s/low 40s SVJs.
maybe my squat before speed workout is not a bad idea after all. been doing it that way all this time. my self-reason for doing it is the effective "warmup" i get when i feel all the big muscles in my legs have fired already.
i don't do piston type continuous tension - bodybuilding reps where the whole set feels like a one big long rep. i'm more like 3sec on, 2sec off, repeat.. thats one set. could be the reason i dont tire much even with heavy weights.