Adarq.org

nah man don't do it! or are you gonna start a new log?

Yep new log! Let me summarise this log. The problem with this whole journey was i wanted athleticism but instead i chased a big squat and didn't really make much of a dent in my lofty pursuit of athleticism. Dont get me wrong, squats went a long way from where I started athletically never been able to do a dunk until my late 20s when I made this log. Evenually I was able to do powerful dunks off a drop step or two - but squats had essentially transformed me into a double leg jumper, which is good cause it meant i could express more power that ever before, more than almost everyone i faced on the court -- i won pretty much every single jump ball at the start of the the games we played as a result.

 Beyond that though the problem was i was never wired up genetically to be athletic and be able to express my power in a game situation; you never have that much time to set up and launch for a dunk of two when you're as slow as I am. I never got a single game time dunk and as far as i am concerned I never will either. I practiced drop step dunks and was pretty good at them but never had the opportunity during a game. Opposition never gives you that much room especially in FIBA rules. The only time i had an attempt at a dunk was on a fast break and this is funny - i hit the rim cause im not athletic enough. Athletic means reactive, and its no coincidence that single attempt was a one leg jump one.

Now injuries have made it impossible to squat heavy and even more jump off two - so this journey comes to an end. Not by choice, if it was up to me, i'd keep working away, adding a few kilos to my squat, dieting off the fat, and eventually hopefully getting enough strength to satisfy me to turn to reactivity. But this choice has been made for me now - i can't jump off two, i can squat heavy. Today something happened which convinced me that it was time to start something new. A new chapter begins now.

BS 10x10x62.5

Squat notes:
blah

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^bc there was a clarence here as well. You were prob thinking of damien who turned into a pretty good PL who was friends with clarence (the irish one). That and associative memory of beasts of lore, eg rutgersdunker and lossy memory with passed time and it's easy to make that mistake.

Thanks acole & LBSS. I'm 31. The fact is the last 4 weeks or so, i've already tried to do those things but it feels very much like shutting the door after the horse has already bolted. The opportunity or window has closed. It's like how OKC could have won multiple championships when Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden were healthy - but mismanagement meant they never did even though everyone knows they could have - it's too late now with trades, injuries and lost opportunities. Sure you could Westbrook healthy dropping triple doubles but if Durant isn't there, it's all for naught. Or without the right championship calibre coaching.

 I'm just saying, my window probably has closed now. Ankle has healed but the damage done to my back isn't going away. It's just not just heavy squats, i haven't gone over 100kg in a month, i can stay away from them but when every single ME jump (which is what a dunk takes now) hurts my back acutely, it's not worth it to even try. Im pretty sure it's my spine not muscular so not sure what massages would do - sometimes they make things worse if it's spinal not muscular which probably respond better to that stuff. I have found the less i do, the better in this case. When i went overboard with SMR stuff, it didn't help at all. Better left alone which is what i've done the last couple of weeks and it's worked though jumping is out.

If it wasn't for that, i do think i could get a lot out of my body yet, just don't know if that will ever be the case now or if this is going to be chronic.

Not only did I not film here is what else I didn't do:

peak my jump using
1. a dedicated training block focused on jumping (legs were never fresh for jumping bc of training: squats or bball etc)
2. jump first and use stimulants prejumping - i always did jumping after squats, hours after taking caffeine, rarely if ever first up
2. explore plyos and reactivity training in general (never did that)
3. use banded plate swings as potentiation for jumping (ive tried this before ages ago and it gave an inch or two)
4. use good shoes (i purposely used heavier/bigger shoes for "training effect")

If i had tried all those things TOGETHER AT ONE TIME and then filmed the dunks i would have something i could say was the best i've ever been athletically. But i kept saving it for the right time..

My thoughts were to reach some major squat milestone X first then turn to the above list as the icing on the cake. Never got to that stage though and the icing just went to waste.

BP 3x90, 0Fx101 (PR attempt)
BS 7x7x92.5 (PR)

BW: 87.9kg/193.8lb (LPR)

BP notes:
Just too wrecked from last workout to bench. I am scheduled to ohp sunday but i'll just bench instead and make up for today.

Squat notes:
After bench i thought i was gonna have a bad time with squats and thought i might be forced to have an off day there too. But it didn't feel too bad once i got into them, thankfully and what followed was prob one of the best squat sessions ive had in months. I like what this all this volume is doing for my technique. Remind me to do a seperate post to summarise my learnings on my ideal squat form.

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workout all done! have time to go play pickup at the local rec center for the first time in like 9 months!

BS 7x7x87.5 (PR)
OHP 3x6x52.5 (LPR)
HPC 6x40 (LPR; new ex), 6x50 (LPR), 3x3x57.5 (LPR)
RDL 6x60 (LPR; new ex), 8x80 (LPR), 8x70
WCU 6x88.5, 5x93.5, 5x91

BW: 88.5kg/195lb

Squat notes:
These are getting a lot harder... but so far im handling the volume ok. That should be the last workout below bodyweight lol.. nexst up is 7x7x92.5!

Hip hinge notes:
Started back on hang pcs and added RDLs as grip assistance. Grip was challenged by rep 8 of 80kg... heh.

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Thoughts - i need a hip hinge exercise. In the past  I have fallen in the trap of omitting things in my lust for squat progress but i wont continue that trend any longer. have to become a generalist and explore other areas of self improvement. conditioning, bodycomp, speed, power, gripwork, hip hinge stuff, 3pt%, single leg, reactivity etc. Will strive to bring up any weak points. I'll still continue to chase a big squat but not at the cost of the others. it just means i'll have slower squat progress but as long as it comes steadily and consistently im ok with it. No reason i can't aim for something like using 130kg for worksets of 6 or maintaining a 130kg FS while weighing 80kg or less and having all of the above. imho.

BS 7x7x75 (PR)
OHP 3x6x50
WCU 6x89.6

BW: 89.6kg/197.5lb

SQ notes:
Okay so FS has been jettisoned. Had a pain free squat session and I feel good about getting my first Pins Into Pillars squat session (7x7~50reps). Only occured to me that this sort of program prob wont work while im eating 1500kcal a day :/ Can't have everything. Still the weights will be light for some workouts yet and by the time it gets heavy i'll be able to increase calories so it should be okay.

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Sucks to hear about your lady friend. There seems to be a lot of this happening lately.

Thanks bruh. Im not sure if it's a set in stone thing or if it's salvegable. She seems pretty adamant/upset so maybe. I could have played things a lot better but spilt milk and everything.