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Seriously, from experience, i know that the 2 foot jump is kinda tricky because if you try and make too much of a loofy step you loose the correct ``grip`` given to you by the reactive forces. The idea is to perform 3-5 fast (then relax) counter-movement jumps and then do running jumps x N. Your run-up has got to be as fast as possible. The first few weeks you will be clumsy, but after a while your take-off will become easy and efficient and you even will be able to add some effect to it by pushing off the balls of your feet at the last moment. (Took me a while to get it right, but once i was on track, within 2 weeks of practicing 4x week, i was jumping effortlessly everytime.
As for the 1 leg vertical it pretty much is the same, we saw vince carter and other ``strength jumpers`` plant their leg way in front, but really what you need to practice is a fast run-up and lock of the jumping leg, let it fly. Again, thrive to go as fast as possible to really sink the correct technique, believe me, it is the only way.
Pce
BTW i`m new to the site but i gotta admit, you`re doing a heckuva job, just say ur 1-leg jump series, absolutely the most complete on the internet!
That seems great!, i like the rotation. And you`re right i didn`t mean to AREG Basketball Skills although i`m working on something like that on my website (Distance shooting progression) but more of a different point of view and yours is great. The general idea for combining this type of ``speed`` training and sport specific would be to Alternate between the two until the ``speed`` works achieves DO.
I`m not giving up on that, it needs some refining. But i will update you on my results with it! (If you care of course!)
Thks,
David, (Mtl,Canada)
thanks darq. i like to think of myself as a blue collar guy with the vert training. extremely shitty genetics but gets the job done. i remember 8th grade middle school tryouts when we ran full court sprints ( not conditioning work, actual fast twitch work but i didnt know that at the time) and i was the last guy every sprint. after 1.5 years of training, at jv tryouts this year, i ran faster than anybody as a sophmore.
Does anybody have an idea how some1 could implement a waveloading basketball skills and speed work together? I know it`s a broad question, it`s meant that way.
Thanks
Can't Sleep? Who Cares - Go get it.
By: Andrew Darqui
The information in this article is for educational purposes only. I do not advise or encourage anyone to attempt to apply the information in this article. Do so at your own risk.
INTRO
Every athlete has experienced that dreadful restless night that preceeds a very important competition. For some athletes, this is rare. For others, this can become a chronic condition. As the competitions become increasingly important (playoffs, championships, etc), anxiety and arrousal can creep into the minds of the most prepared and confident athletes. Regardless of how frequent this occurs with you, it is essential that you know how to deal with it.
This article is not only intended for athletes, but also for coaches who must prepare their athlete's mentally.
Step 1: Know everything will be fine!
This is by far the most important concept. Having an understanding of the research done on sleep deprivation and its effect on performance can actually decrease anxiety, improve confidence and thus improve performance. In general, highly trained athletes will handle sleep deprivation better than less active individuals, and the degree to which you will be affected is based on whether you have experienced partial or complete sleep deprivation. Partial sleep deprivation refers to an incomplete night's sleep, such as only getting 1-5 hours sleep instead of a normal 8 hours sleep. Complete sleep deprivation has you awake the entire night. There are a few factors we will discuss, including reaction time, strength, focus related tasks, decision making, anaerobic exercise, and aerobic exercise.
Maximal & explosive strength efforts are not affected by partial sleep deprivation [9] [1] [6]. Clean & Jerk, Snatch, and Front Squat were not affected in a study done on national level collegiate male weightlifters with 24 hours of complete sleep deprivation [9]. Mood, fatigue, vigor, confusion, and sleepiness were all effected despite not seeing any negative effects on their performance [9]. This is a common theme among many of the studies in this article - despite feeling like crap, you can still perform to your potential. Psychological arousal then becomes the limiting factor in strength efforts, as this would explain reduced performance in submaximal vs maximal efforts [6]. Maximal strength [1] [4] & RFD [1] have been shown to be unaffected in military personel experiencing up to 60-72 hours of sleep deprivation.
Reaction time is not affected by partial sleep deprivation[1] [8]. In highly trained military personel (including navy seals and army rangers), reaction time tests were not significantly affected even with 40-72 hours of sleep deprivation [1] [2] [4]. Improvements in work capacity will have a positive impact on how you deal with stress, including situations which involve anxiety & restless nights pre-competition. If you're a competitive athlete, chances are you have much of this covered - though improvements can always be made. Improvements in work capacity come by improving general fitness & strength, and improving the ability to handle higher volumes of these qualities. Other qualities that can improve work capacity are a (mostly) healthy diet & a steady sleep-wake schedule.
The response to anaerobic exercise in highly trained athletes, such as that relating to sprints & jumps, is not affected by partial sleep deprivation [3]. Sports such as football, sprinting, and even basketball will not see negative changes in peak power, mean power output, blood lactate levels, and peak velocity [3] [4]. In one study of highly trained individuals, anaerobic exercise & blood lactate response to exercise was not affected for up to 60 hours of sleep deprivation [4]. In normal healthy subjects, anaerobic exercise was also not affected up to 24 hours of complete wakefulness, though it was affected after 36 hours [5].
Focus related tasks, such as marksmanship & target acquisition, have shown to be unaffected in military personel following sleep deprivation [10]. Accuracy may be slightly affected following 24 hours of sleep depriviation, when physical exertion is needed in order to obtain hitting the target, such as in throwing darts [11]. Despite mood & fatigue being greatly effected, the focus-related task is only slightly effected [11].
When arousal level is high, and individuals are eager to perform good at the task, most decision making tasks remain unaffected by partial sleep depriviation [8]. Traditional studies have shown partial sleep depriviation to impair simple decision making tasks. This is because many of these motonous tasks result in boredom. Unfortunately, unexpected and innovative decision making tasks may suffer slightly [8], which may become a problem in rapidly changing environments such as football or basketball. As sleep deprivation increases, individuals rely more heavily on pre-programmed strategies, instead of coming up with new strategies to solve complex tasks [8]. Caffeine, discussed below, can be used to counteract the negative effects of decision making in rapidly changing environments.
In a study of 12 women who underwent 60 hours of sleep depriviation, aerobic exercise was not significantly affected; maximal oxygen intake, endurance time to exhaustion, peak exercise ventilation, peak heart rate, peak respiratory gas exchange ratio, and peak blood lactate ALL remained unchanged [19]. The interesting thing about this study, was that these 12 women were made to perform cognifitive tasks while performing the aerobic test to maintain higher arousal levels [19]. In another study, peak heart rate and oxygen consumption remained despite sleep deprivation, while the most significantly affected variable became the rate of percieved exertion [20].
Step 2: Naps
There exists another powerful tool If you had a bad night's sleep in anticipation of the current competition or event. Some athletes won't be able to take advantage of this tool because their event might take place very early in the morning. For competitions that take place in the afternoon or evening, a nap of only 1 hour can completely restore you to maximum performance, regardless of the sleep decrement that occured the night before [13]. After a night of partial sleep deprivation in which individuals in the study experienced fatigue, a post-lunch nap was administered to re-test performance variables; sprint times improved, heart rate lowered, core temperature lowered, alertness improves, feelings of sleepiness improved, short term memory improved, and accuracy improved [12]. A nap is so powerful that it can be compared to a full 8 hours sleep when it comes to learning [15].
So if you're starting to feel very tired on game-day from a bad night's sleep, even if the competition is only a few hours away, do not hesitate to try and take a 30 min to 1 hour nap, as this will result in improved performance, and may completely counteract the previous night's sleep decrement.
Step 3: Caffeine
Not only does caffeine help to improve performance under situations of sleep depriviation, but it also makes you "feel good" and "feel less fatigued". Caffeine has positive effects on the psychological and physiological aspects of performance. Caffeine has been utilized highly in military operations. Under periods of sleep deprivation in navy seals, doses of only 200-300mg of caffeine were found to improve visual vigilence, choice reaction time, repeated acquisition, self-reported fatigue and sleepiness with the greatest effects on tests of vigilance, reaction time, and alertness [16]. The greatest effects of caffeine occur up to 1 hour post-usage, but effects still remain up to 8 hours [16]. In another study of navy seals that underwent 72 hours of sleep deprivation, 200-300mg caffeine were used to improve significantly marksmanship compared to the control group who did not take caffeine [17]. Finally, it is important to know that the tolerance to caffeine plays an important role in its effectiveness [18]. Using caffeine less frequently as a tool, rather than an every day dietary supplement will improve its effectiveness in concentration and high intensity exercise [18].
Regardless of sleep deprivation, caffeine can be a very effective ergogenic aid at improving power, speed, strength, focus, and aerobic exercise.
CHRONIC IRREGULAR SLEEP-WAKE SCHEDULE
Chronic sleep irregulaties are by far much worse than acute irregularities. Chronic sleep irregularities lead to sleep debt and malfunctioning biological circadian rhythms. Having a very steady sleep-wake schedule will allow you to take advantage of natural biological rhythms in training [21], such rhythms include:
- The majority of components of sports performance, e.g. flexibility, muscle strength, short term high power output, vary with time of day in a sinusoidal manner and peak in the early evening close to the daily maximum in body temperature [21].
- Psychological tests of short term memory, heart rate-based tests of physical fitness, and prolonged submaximal exercise performance carried out in hot conditions show peak times in the morning [21].
- Heart rate-based tests of work capacity appear to peak in the morning because the heart rate responses to exercise are minimal at this time of day [21].
- Post-lunch declines are evident with performance variables such as muscle strength, especially if measured frequently enough and sequentially within a 24-hour period to cause fatigue in individuals [21].
- More research work is needed to ascertain whether performance in tasks demanding fine motor control varies with time of day [21].
- Higher work-rates are selected spontaneously in the early evening [21].
RESETTING SLEEP-WAKE SCHEDULES
Having an irregular sleep-wake schedule greatly increases the risk of partially sleep deprived nights prior to competition. If you have trouble going to bed at the same time every night, there's a few things you could do:
1. No matter what time you sleep, set the alarm clock to get up early : Do this for a few days without taking a nap during the day. Within a few days you should be falling asleep alot earlier.
2. Use a sleep aid such as melatonin : I personally found it to be most effective by taking it 30 minutes before I attempt to sleep. The good thing about melatonin is that the drowsiness the next day is very minimal, though it does exist.
Conclusion
This subject has interested me not only because I have had plenty of experience with it, but athletes I've trained and others I've talked to have also experienced it. Back when I was boxing, I had a very hard time getting sleep when I had a hard sparring session early the next morning (every saturday, ~8-10am). Some nights prior to competition I would get absolutely no sleep at all (complete sleep deprivation), and others I would get ~4 hours sleep (partial sleep deprivation). Leading up to the sparring bout, I would worry that I would fatigue too quickly or my reaction time would be effected - the psychological fatigue from sleep deprivation would really effect me. Once I stepped into the ring, all of those negative thoughts would escape my mind, and once the bell rang, I was firing on all cylinders. I honestly cannot remember performing badly due to lack of sleep. If I had used caffeine back then, it probably would have gotten rid of my pre-fight worries about psychological-fatigue and recovered me even further from the previous night's sleep decrement. This has also effected me in anticipation of big dunk sessions or setting jump PR's, again with no negative impact on my jumping from what I have seen, though I have noticed the coordination and timing of my self lobs to be affected in some sessions.
So don't use getting a bad night's sleep as an excuse on performance. Also, if you happen to suffer from increased anxiety or excitement pre-competition, and worry about how this will affect your performance, you should have much more confidence in your abilities under deprived sleep after reading this article. Knowing that partial sleep depriviation is not enough to wreck your performance can set your mind at ease. Possibly combining naps and caffeine can totally counteract a bad night's sleep.
Can't sleep? Who cares - go get it.
REFERENCES
[1] Electro-mechanical response times and muscle strength after sleep deprivation. Can J Sport Sci. 1988 Dec;13(4):225-30. Symons JD, Bell DG, Pope J, VanHelder T, Myles WS.
[2] Physical performance responses during 72 h of military operational stress. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Nov;34(11):1814-22.Nindl BC, Leone CD, Tharion WJ, Johnson RF, Castellani JW, Patton JF, Montain SJ.
[3] Effects of a selective sleep deprivation on subsequent anaerobic performance. Lab. sci. sport, UFR STAPS 31, Chemin de l'Epitaphe, 25000 Besançon, FRANCE. MOUGIN F. ; BOURDIN H. ; SIMON-RIGAUD M. L. ; DIDIER J. M. ; TOUBIN G. ; KANTELIP J. P.
[4] Physical performance and physiological responses following 60 hours of sleep deprivation. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1988 Aug;20(4):374-80. Symons JD, VanHelder T, Myles WS.
[5] Effects of one night's sleep deprivation on anaerobic performance the following day. European Journal of Applied Physiology 2002. Nizar Souissi, Bruno Sesboüé, Antoine Gauthier, Jacques Larue and Damien Davenne1.
[6] The effect of partial sleep deprivation on weight-lifting performance. Ergonomics. 1994 Jan;37(1):107-15. Reilly T, Piercy M.
[7] Sleep deprivation and exercise. Physiology & Behavior Volume 87, Issue 2, 28 February 2006, Pages 396-408. Jonathon P.R. Scott, Lars R. McNaughton and Remco C.J. Polman
[8] The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Decision Making: A Review. J Exp Psychol Appl 2000;6(3):236-49. HARRISON Y, HORNE JA.
[9] The Acute Effects of Twenty-Four Hours of Sleep Loss on the Performance of National-Caliber Male Collegiate Weightlifters. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Article: pp. 1146–1154 | Abstract Volume 21, Issue 4 (November 2007). Peter A. Blumert, Aaron J. Crum, Mark Ernsting, , Jeff S. Volek, Daniel B. Hollander, Erin E. Haff, and G. Gregory Haff
[10] Effect of various environmental stressors on target detection, identification, and marksmanship. Peter Tikuisis; Allan A. Keefe; DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TORONTO (CANADA)
[11] Effects of One Night of Partial Sleep Deprivation upon Diurnal Rhythms of Accuracy and Consistency in Throwing Darts. Chronobiology International, Volume 26, Issue 4 May 2009 , pages 756 - 768. Benjamin J. Edwards ; Jim Waterhouse
[12] The role of a short post-lunch nap in improving cognitive, motor, and sprint performance in participants with partial sleep deprivation. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, ROYAUME-UNI. WATERHOUSE J. ; ATKINSON G. ; EDWARDS B. ; REILLY T. ;
[13] The effects of two alternative timings of a one-hour nap on early morning performance. Biol Psychol. 1984 Aug;19(1):45-54. Gillberg M.
[14] Effects of Exercise, Bedrest and Napping on Performance Decrement During 40 Hours. Psychophysiology 13(4):334-9, 1976 Jul. Lubin A, Hord DJ, Tracy ML, and Johnson LC
[15] Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night. Nature Neuroscience 6, 697 - 698 (2003). Sara Mednick, Ken Nakayama & Robert Stickgold
[16] Effects of caffeine, sleep loss, and stress on cognitive performance and mood during U.S. Navy SEAL training. Psychopharmacology. Harris R. Lieberman, William J. Tharion, Barbara Shukitt-Hale, Karen L. Speckman and Richard Tulley
[17] Caffeine effects on marksmanship during high-stress military training with 72 hour sleep deprivation. Aviat Space Environ Med. 2003 Apr;74(4):309-14. Tharion WJ, Shukitt-Hale B, Lieberman HR.
[18] Caffeine Use in Sports: Considerations for the Athlete. J Strength Cond Res. 2008 May;22(3):978-86. Sökmen B, Armstrong LE, Kraemer WJ, Casa DJ, Dias JC, Judelson DA, Maresh CM.
[19] Maximal aerobic exercise following prolonged sleep deprivation. Int J Sports Med 1989;10(6):419-23. GOODMAN J, RADOMSKI M, HART L, PLYLEY M, SHEPHARD RJ.
[20] Sleep deprivation and cardiorespiratory function. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. M. J. Plyley, R. J. Shephard, G. M. Davis and R. C. Goode
[21] Circadian variation in sports performance. Sports Med. 1996 Apr;21(4):292-312. Atkinson G, Reilly T.
Instant RFD Part III : High Frequency Squat
By: Andrew Darqui
The information in this article is for educational purposes only. I do not advise or encourage anyone to attempt to apply the information in this article. Do so at your own risk.
In this small article I will demonstrate an EXPERIMENTAL method of stimulating performance results that last for days to weeks. The short term stimulation will result in an oscillation of peaks and valleys in performance. The peaks (or rebounds) will result in very high levels of performance. Just as effective as the peaks, the valleys will have you feeling like total crap. Depending on how long the high frequency squat routine is performed (2-4 weeks), further gains can then be realized for several weeks due to the effect of the highly concentrated loading block (high frequency squat block).
Video of a major PR i hit during high frequency squat routine below
WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Before actually going into my high frequency squatting experiment (HFSE), I would like to tell you what I would do differently. This is important, because even though HFSE was a complete success, it definitely had it’s drawbacks:
- Mostly up’s, hard to predict down’s. Due to the use of triples instead of singles, it was hard to predict exactly when I would rebound.
- Squatting DEEP and heavy nearly every day took it’s toll on my hips and back.
- My squat most often felt weak, yet my performance was soaring; again this is due to the triples. At times, even though my squat felt weak, it was still actually strong. This "weak" feeling seemed to be highly psychological at times.
I’ve been experimenting with a new high frequency routine with much better success. Not only has my performance increased, but my squat has gone up with extremely low volume & no direct focus on it. I will go over this routine in a future article, but briefly this is what I am doing:
- DAY-1: Above parallel squat singles using close stance COMPLEXED with explosive/ballistic exercises - full recovery.
- DAY-2: Barbell lunge OR barbell stepup singles COMPLEXED with explosive/ballistic exercises - fully recovery.
- REPEAT UNTIL NEED FOR REST DAY
The above parallel squat singles with close stance/neutral-feet hits my hamstrings/quads very hard. The barbell lunges/stepups are used to target the glutes & hamstrings with emphasis on unilateral hip extension. Back, knees, and hip feel much better on this routine. I may only perform 1-3 max or near max singles in a session, so the volume is very low.
HIGH FREQUENCY SQUAT EXPERIMENT
This was an experiment to see how my body would react to high frequency squatting (approx 5 days per week). The idea behind this experiment was simply; if i could become adapted to squatting relatively high loads nearly every day, then just like Pavlov’s dog begins to salivate at the sound of a bell, my body would begin to salivate (ew) at the thought of training. Instead, my body’s salivation (ew) is analogous to increased neural arousal & increased force production.
Halfway through this month long experiment I became very irritable. Just the thought of squatting & the upcoming training session would send surges of adrenaline throughout my body. Squatting heavy 21 times in 30 days will do this to you. To my surprised, i recorded 10 personal bests in a 30 day period. These PB’s ranged from running verticals, depth jumps, broad jumps, drop step verticals, and squat. I knew something was happening to me when I felt my warmups change. Performing my normal active-dynamic warmup seemed very springy, with effortless power. This power was expressing itself reflexively, without conscious effort. My warmup jumps also increased; normal warmup jumps were 2-3 inches higher. My squat had its ups and downs. Some days it would feel horrible, yet I would PR on a jump. Some days I would put up loads that were once difficult - very easily. By the end of the high frequency squat routine my jumping, sprinting, and squat was at it’s best levels ever.
The aches and soreness I expected to get from this routine were also a surprise. The initial first week had me feeling sore, achy, and tendonitis-like symptoms in my knees. After that first week was over, I felt very good for the rest of the month. One symptom that did arise was an ache in my right hip. Deep squatting with my build tends to hit my hips and low back pretty hard. Usually it’s very minor, but the high frequency squat really exacerbated this issue.
THE ROUTINE
There were only a few guidelines to my high frequency squat routine:
- Push my squat to the limit when i felt very good
- Go heavy but not max at all other times, but not heavy enough to cause further drain
- Jump for PR’s off different approaches or depth jumps prior to a rest day
- Jump for PR’s in running vertical jump after a rest day
- take additional rest days if I absolutely had too
So that’s it, very simple. No percentages. No true structure. This is how the routine evolved:
Sunday: warmup, try and PR on running jump, squat for submax triple, RFI/HOPS
Monday: warmup, hops, squat for submax triple, RFI/HOPS/REVERSE HYPER
Tuesday: warmup, try and PR on 1-or-2 step approach jump or depth jump from 18”-24”, squat for submax triple, RFI/HOPS
Wednesday: REST
Thursday: warmup, try and PR on 1-or-2 step approach jump or depth jump from 18”-24”, squat for max triple or single, RFI/HOPS
Friday: warmup, hops, squat for submax triple, RFI/HOPS/REVERSE HYPER
Saturday: REST
Anything in that routine could have changed based on how I felt that day, but generally that’s the structure my routine fell in to.
DATA FROM HFSE
Squatting During HFSE:
02/25/2009: 245 x 1
02/26/2009: 225 x 4
02/27/2009: 225 x 5
03/01/2009: 185 x 10 (dont do this)
03/02/2009: 185 x 10 (dont do this)
03/03/2009: 245 x 3
03/05/2009: 255 x 2
03/06/2009: 225 x 3
03/08/2009: 235 x 3
03/09/2009: 235 x 3
03/10/2009: 235 x 3
03/12/2009: 245x3 , 265x1
03/13/2009: 235 x 3
03/15/2009: 245 x 3
03/16/2009: 225 x 3
03/17/2009: 205 + 80 chain x 3, 225 + 80 chain x 1
03/19/2009: 225 + 80 chain x 3
03/20/2009: *PR* 280 x 1 *PR*
03-22/2009: 205 + 80 chain x 3
03/23/2009: 205 + 80 chain x 3
03/24/2009: CLOSE STANCE 245 x 3
03/27/2009: *PR* 285 x 1 *PR*
Various Jumping PR’s during HFSE:
02/27/2009 : 2 step lead in RVJ PR: 129" touch : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8UsNy6cNY0
03/01/2009 : 2 step lead in RVJ PR: 130" touch : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvOaIcCCpP8&feature=email
03/02/2009 : broad jump PR 99"
03/08/2009 : 132” vertec RVJ touch : PR : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=933pde0SvTM
03/10/2009 : 18" dj's, TIED PR, but tied it 3x. 3x10 hitting 124" each set.
03/13/2009 : 1 step lead in RVJ PR : 129.5" + 18" dj PR: 125" then 125.5" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgdfklVEUHk
03/15/2009 : full run up RVJ PR: 132.5" : http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/adarqui/3-15-2009-adarq-132p5-prRVJ.jpg
03/24/2009 : PR 18" DJ. 126" touch : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0efalqyxhRM
CLOSING
This experiment was a complete success in my opinion. In the strength & conditioning industry you often hear things such as:
“Only squat 1-2x/week.”
“You need more rest.”
“That’s overtraining!”
Being able to achieve significant PR’s while squatting 21 times in 30 days is just proof that traditional & conservatives views of performance enhancement are not the end-all-be-all. By most people’s accounts, such a routine should have left me completely drained, overtrained, injured, and less powerful. These same people might say that in order to receive the benefits of such a routine, I would have to deload for a month or so for the concentrated strength work to yield a positive effect on my performance. This obviously IS NOT the case. By significantly increasing your work capacity, performance training can be taken to new levels; High frequency routines & the use of shock can then be applied rather safely, but with any very intense training system they do carry their risks regardless of your preparedness.
High frequency routines are very rare in the industry. This is understandable since many strength & conditioning coaches must apply a level of caution with their athlete’s. With that said, I refuse to believe that the human body is so weak that It can somehow practice sport at high intensity day in and day out, yet only strength train a certain movement 1-2x/week.
When mental limitations are created, they become a reality.
Instant RFD Part II : ISO EXTENSION STIM
By: Andrew Darqui
The information in this article is for educational purposes only. I do not advise or encourage anyone to attempt to apply the information in this article. Do so at your own risk.
In this small article I will demonstrate an effective method of stimulating instant performance results that last several minutes, yet also provide an effective training stimulus for the erector spinae, glutes, abs, hamstrings and calfs.
Before I go on, it would not be fair to explain any of this without pointing you towards one of the best sources of information I have ever read: “ SUPERMETHODS OF SPECIAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR THE HIGH CLASS ATHLETE” By Yuri Verkhoshansky. Most of the information in these series of articles are derived from my own experimentation & implementation of the concepts detailed in SUPERMETHODS. If you would like a comprehensive discussion of shock and stim, refer to SUPERMETHODS. You can find this publication at www.verkhoshansky.com.
1. ISO EXTENSION STIM (IES)
ISO EXTENSION STIM (IES) began as an experiment, to see if I could replicate Verkhoshansky’s use of squat in his stim methods. I wanted something that would keep the knees relatively fresh and highly activatate the plantar flexors (calfs), hamstrings, and glutes. Athlete’s that are not at an advanced level don’t generally experiment with heavy squat singles to stimulate subsequent jumps/weighted jumps etc. Beginner or Intermediate athletes who use heavy squat singles as stim, most often feel drained, achy, and less explosive. For this reason, intense stim methods are only prescribed to advanced athletes who are very experienced in explosive & intense training.
IES works by creating a large amount of tension in the calfs, hamstrings, glutes, and erector spinae. This tension highly activates these muscle groups. Above normal activation in these muscle groups will lead to more powerful lightly loaded movements; such as jumps, sprints, and broad jumps. The one main difference between ISO EXTENSION STIM and SQUAT FOR STIM, is that the later will induce much more CNS fatigue. The amount of weight that can be used in a squat, in addition to the utilization of more muscle mass (quads), creates more CNS fatigue. For advanced athletes with excellent work capacities, this fatigue can be overcome quite easily. For less advanced individuals, this fatigue will negatively impact subsequent performance exercises.
2. WHO CAN USE IES?
Only intermediate to Advanced athletes should use this method. Beginner’s risk injury to the spine or hamstring insertions.
3. WHY USE IES?
This method is used to maximize training sessions in a few ways:
- Increase the probability of obtaining a personal best in a jump or sprint
- Take an athlete out of a state of staleness/fatigue to a state of hightened nervous system excitability/feeling of “freshness”
- Strengthen the posterior chain
- Possibly potentiate greater p-chain activation for a few days
4. HOW TO PERFORM IES?
IES is performed using a 45 degree hyperextension. Feet are to remain pointed into the plate, knees extended, glutes squeeze, and focus on maintaining position. A barbell (or EZ-curl bar in this example) is held by the hands in double overhand grip with shoulder blades retracted. Below this is pictured:
INCORRECT VS CORRECT FOOT POSITION PICTURED BELOW
*WARNING* Make sure to maintain a neutral spine during this lift. DO NOT round your back. *WARNING*
Warmup sets are done using light loads by holding the bar in position for 15-30 seconds. The goal here is just to warmup the musculature for the heavier work sets. At least 3 warmup sets should be done. These warmup sets can be done at the same weight, or they can be progressively heavier warmup sets.
Once the warmup sets have been completed, it is time to begin IES. Since IES is the prolog, you now need to choose an epilog. The epilog can be anything you’re trying to enhance such as running vertical jump, broad jump, 10 yard sprint, and squat. Once you have chosen your epilog exercise, it is time to get to work. Each IES rep should be held for 7 seconds. Using holds for 7 seconds allows us to maximally stress the ATP-PC energy systems. Stressing this energy system ensures we are using enough intensity to stimulate gains in the epilog exercise - since the epilog uses the same energy system.
There are a few ways to program IES:
prolog, rest, epilog, rest, prolog, rest, epilog, rest ...
prolog, rest, prolog, rest, epilog, rest, epilog, rest ...
Here is the original video on IES
5. EXAMPLE USAGE & SESSION
4-07-2008
session 1:
standing vert touch: 122"
running vert touch: 129.5"
iso extension stim for broad jumps, experimenting:
round 1: broad jumps: 89, 90, 91, 93, 92.5, 92.5
round 2: stim: iso extension: 45 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
round 2: broad jumps: 94.5, 93.5
round 3: stim: iso extension: 95 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
round 3: broad jumps: 95, 95
round 4: stim: iso extension: 115 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
round 4: brouad jumps: 97, 96
round 5: stim: iso extension: 135 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
round 5: broad jumps: 97, 95
results: 93” to 97"
EXAMPLE BROAD JUMP SESSION
6. REFERENCES
“SUPERMETHODS OF SPECIAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR THE HIGH CLASS ATHLETE”. Yuri Verkhoshansky. SSTM of March 2007. www.verkhoshansky.com
