Adarq.org

13 January 2014

Bodyweight@session : 90kg
Soreness : quads, hamstrings, glutes, chest, shoulders
Injuries/aches :  none

HIGH BAR FULL SQUAT:
10@20kg
-Wanted to do low-weight sets of 10 reps to speed up DOMS recovery but felt a sharp pain in right hamstring with empty bar so had to stop.

Substituted with:
SEATED HORIZONTAL LEG PRESS MACHINE:
15@200lbs
15@250lbs
15@300lbs
-That went much better, hamstring bugged a bit but nothing like the squats.

STANDING SHOULDERS DB LATERAL RAISES.
12@8kg each hand
12@8kg each hand
12@8kg each hand
-Nice, less challenging than what i expected.

WIDE GRIP LAT PULLDOWN:
8@150lbs
8@150lbs
8@150lbs
-Didn't get sore at all at back from row machine so thinking of substituting it, let's see if i get sore with this.

PAUSED STANDING CALVE RAISES MACHINE:
20@50kg
20@50kg
20@50kg
-10 kg lighter than where i was to ease back to them.

WEIGHTED CRUNCHES MACHINE:
20@80lbs
20@80lbs
20@80lbs
-25 lbs lighter than where i was to ease back to them.

Vag, can you palm the ball with both hands?  Obviously, you L-R-L dunk is better than your L-R-R dunking but is your L-R-L maximum vertical touch higher than your L-R-R maximum vertical touch?   I probably should take your route and suck it up and learn to dunk with my left hand but I can precariously palm the ball only in might right hand and I've gotten pretty coordinated at keeping it in that hand!   Do you bring it up with both and switch to left?

Yes i can palm the ball the same with both hands. When i began changing it, highest touch was the same for LR-L and LR-R too. Dunk/highest touch sessions were mixed, like 50-50 LR-L LR-R. Session by session i started using more and more left, and after a couple of months or less it was pure left. Have not tried right ever since. That didn't happen deliberately, the LR-L efficiency naturally dominated.
I have it palmed before the runup but supporting it with the other hand during all runup and plant, i seem to release the right hand when starting to rise.

Also, FWIW and from my n=1, it is much easier to change your dunking hand than your plant. It is weird in the beginning but you adapt to it pretty fast ( i am talking weeks, not even months ). At least that is how it worked for me. I am still 100% right handed except from dunking, and LR-L is 100 times better than my previous LR-R. I did play around with plants too but there was no way to get the RL down right, it always feels awkward and has me jumping 2-3 inches lower. To be fair also, at my all time peak my plant was more like a jump stop than a true LR, but still, if last step before that was with L, it wouldn't work again. Agree once again with toddday, play around with all plants, bring them all up.

Indeed, Amare's  standing reach is 9'0,5'', so 10' for him looks like 9' for us ~8' reachers. Toddday's reserve argument is still valid of course. Amare's draft measurements are 32'' SVJ / 35,5'' RVJ. He can touch 11' with 24'' of leap, which is only 75% of his SVJ. If his numbers were lower, he would have a harder time dunking ( no shit Sherlock! ).
Forget Amare and anyone else, focus on yourself. You have a 8'3'' reach, you need 21'' to touch rim, you can palm the ball easily so you need 28-30'' to dunk. Get to 38-40'' of vert, have 10'' of reserve between barely dunking and max vert, enjoy in-game dunk-fest!

Work was hectic till Christmas Eve's night, couldn't train. After that I am already one week off now, resting body and mind. Not eating that good, drinking too much but oh, well!

Updated wave 3 results of 5/3/1 , see bottom of this post:  5/3/1 beginner template

Great success at this 3d wave despite not unloading, big PRs and improvements in all lifts. 5/3/1 has been working very well for me. I think i will continue as planned and do a couple more  waves, then start a cut and switch to Lance's 3-set-progress thing.

21 December 2013

Bodyweight@session : ~91,5kg
Soreness : none
Injuries/aches :  none

5/3/1 beginner template
Wave 3 :: Week 3 :: Day 2

ROMANIAN DEADLIFT ( 5/3/1 ):
5@82,5kg
3@92,5kg
7@102,5kg , heaviest load i have ever done for reps so obviously 7RM
-However predicted 1RM a bit lower than last week's. Still 2nd best ever.

STANDING OVERHEAD PRESS ( 5/3/1 ):
5@37,5kg
3@42,5kg
5@47,5kg , heaviest load i have ever done for reps here too, so obviously 5RM
-Predicted 1RM a bit lower than last week's but still 2nd best ever here too.

BARBELL LUNGES:
8 each leg@40kg ( +20kg )
8 each leg@45kg ( +15kg )
8 each leg@50kg ( +10kg )
-As expected, getting the groove of the movement allows huge initial gains.

BICEPS EZ BAR CURL:
12@34,5kg
12@34,5kg
12@34,5kg
-Damn hard.

TRICEPS CABLE PUSHDOWN:
12@35kg
12@35kg
12@35kg
-Unexpected easy, could have done 37,5.

@raptor: Thanks! Dunno about the 'nature' of the gains. I think it's true strength, because even after the 3x8 phase the volume was not so low as you think, i was doing 3x5 submax on a different day which also featured 3x12 deep leg press, recently substituted by supramax half squats. Thighs are bigger than ever too currently ( 67cm / 26 1/2'' ).

@gukl: I have them for a bit more than 1 year. Very happy with them, although it is the first o-lift pair i ever bought so nothing to compare to. Compared to normal sneakers it is a different world as expected. Did you by the Power Perfect IIs that i own or the Powerlift Trainers? Hope the former, because the latter looks alike but is a different ( worse ) shoe. Relevant discussion here : http://www.adarq.org/progress-journals-experimental-routines/vag%27s-journal-age-vs-vertical/msg77722/#msg77722