Adarq.org

Wow it's been ages since I posted (although it's sad that my journal was only 15-20 or so from the top, not as many people journalling these days). My leg got infected which meant I had to take antibiotics and have a few extra days of no training. It's good now though. Played a soccer game today which was good for a run/warmup then a few sprints and skips on the track, nothing intense, just easing back into it. Back to normal training now 

Jumps (vertec):

Pogos, box jumps, depth jumps to warm up

5 SVJs (highest 32'')

5 SLRVJs (submax, working on run-up)

Track:

Warmup

4x50m sprints

Bounds: 3x30m LRLR, 3x10m LLLL/RRRR, 1x20m LLRR

1x6 DL bounds for heights

Raining today, track was soaking wet but still able to run and jump OK. Couldn't film though, next time.

How has your dorsiflexion been improving in the bounds so far?

Have you been doing any direct glute strength exercises? Like Lance's glute iso hold, hip thrusts, KB swings, even dumbbell vertical back BSSs or straight leg deadlifts (more on the hamstring side here, but still no quad involved)?

I'm planning to do moderate to high volumes of glute dominated exercises every day and see how my quad dominance reduces.

I think they are maybe a little better. I'm making a conscious effort to focus on dorsiflexion during warmups. I'm definitely holding the bound longer by keeping my foot extended and not worrying so much about the increased force on landing. Plus I've had no pain or anything after doing them now. I'll film my next session so you can see.

I haven't been doing glute-only strength exercises as such. I sometimes do some glute bridges before squatting and get a good burn in the glutes from lunges and squats, as well as sprints. But yeah maybe I should throw a glute exercise in 1-2x a week and see how that helps.

Jumps and bball

4 SVJs

About 5 SL and a few DLRVJs (submax)

2hrs of 4v4 basketball

Track:

Warmup

3x50m sprints

Bounds: 4x30m LRLRLR

Depth jumps: 3x6@18''

Today was just to focus on my alt bounding technique. I figured that there's no point doing max LLLL/LLLRRR bounds until I can master the LRLR. I know what I need to work on which is good, just gotta get it down.

Quote from: acole14 on May 07, 2012, 06:06:14 am

Gym:

Foam rolling warmup, light UB stuff

Squat: 2x8@70kgs, 1x@6-7@110kgs, 1x6@130kgs

GHR: 2x10@25kgs, 2x10@35kgs

Jump squats: 2x8@20kgs, 2x8@30kgs

SVJs: 2x6

Foam roll/stretch

Low volume squats today, just one heavy set, felt fresh enough to do some extra jump squats and SVJs (found a good spot in the gym to do them).

Lol 130 lightweight for you man. You do sets with 160 for reps so 130 isn't heavy. I wish 130 felt light for me instead it's like close to my 1RM. How long did it take you to squat as much as you do?

Haha yeah I guess, it just felt heavy because I haven't squatted above that since I hurt my leg a couple of weeks ago; I've probably lost a bit of top-end strength, plus my hips are still bothering me a bit. It's taken me ages to get to that level though, I started squatting about two months or so (can't remember exactly) before I starting journaling and was pretty much at your current level, just getting around 1.5xBW. I got some beginner's gains to get me up around 140kgs for reps, then I plateaued for a few months, and only in the last few have I got it higher. I've gone up and down with it for sure, but I guess it's like that with lifts unless you fully commit to raising it, maybe by using Smolov or Texas method or some crazy program like that.

So yeah I guess what I'm saying i don't stress too much about your numbers because so long as you're consistently lifting and trying to PR (+eating right), they should go up. If you really want to boost them up think about doing Smolov jr or a similar squat-specific program. But you gotta decide whether it's a goal you want (or need) to go for.

Thanks for the advice!
I'd never consider doing smolov though coz i'm defs nowhere near smolov level. Even if i was I've got rugby 3x a week so I wouldn't be able to do it. I looked up the texas method- http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_texas_method
It seems like a good program but the trouble is I always feel shit on Mondays so I don't think I'd be able to handle that volume, and than on Friday it's probs not the best idea to max out coz I got games on Saturdays. I'll do that program in the off-season though because I like the look of it. When i was searching for Texas Method I came across this othr program called Madcows.
http://stronglifts.com/madcow-5x5-training-programs/
I'm going to incorporate Madcows into my training. I'll probs modify it a bit but I like the theory behind it of squatting 3x a week but having 1 of those days as like a recovery day and than still getting a 5lb weight increase a week. But yeh ultimately I just want to get my squat from the 1.5x region up into the 2x region.

Yeah madcows is another one. I reckon that could work for you if you were to do it. I've looked at those programs and yeah they're difficult to fit into your regular sporting life (unless your sport is powerlifting lol). Smolov is just ridiculous. Any program that starts with 3 consecutive days of squats is gonna be bloody hard.

But yeah once you get to 2-2.5x I think you'll see a big increase in your SVJ because it's mostly a strength jump. From memory I was at prob 26-27'' (or less even) before starting (couldn't get close to rim standing), but then when I started squatting heavy it got to around 29'', then consistently 31'' when I got to 140kgs for reps, now ~33'' max. So if you're at around 30'' now, then you could put quite a few inches on when you get up to 2x.