Adarq.org

2013 plan

Goals:
- Stay injury-free
- 36-37'' SVJ
- 40'' RVJ (don't care which ut of SL/DL)
- Get a good squat (~2xBW) at ~80kgs, low BF (whatever is achievable without compromising strength etc.)

I think a 40'' RVJ is achievable this year. Got 37'' last year so adding 3'' on that will be challenging, but looking back my setup was not great by any means. Been reading some stuff from Joel Smith and Jack Woodrup (my two favourite vertical jump authors) and got some good tips. Will be following a proper periodisation setup:

Phase I (Preparatory phase)- Core stability/flexibility/reducing BW
Mon, Wed, Fri
- Core: Front planks, ab pulldowns, Roman chair crunches \\ Side planks, Roman chair side crunches \\ Back ext
- Flexibility: Foam roll/stretch everyday

UB:    - Push: Dips, DB shoulder press
   - Pull: Pullups, Conc. curls

LB: Leg curl, calf raise, squats (parallel), hip flexor/abduction/adduction cable extension - all low intensity/volume

Light cardio work occasionally

Checkpoint: ~81-82 kgs, 8% body fat

Phase II: Strength (6 weeks)
3x/week - gym
   - Squat: Day 1 & 3 (1x6, 4x10)
   - RDL: Day 2 (3x5) (Might do back ext (3x10) as well)
   - Calf raise: Day 1 & 3 (High volume Day 1, Low vol, heavy Day 3)

UB: Alternate push/pull on gym days, low volume.
Injury prevention: Proper warmup/activation exercises before workout. Do planks/stretch/foam roll at home every night.

Checkpoint/s:  1x6@140kgs/ 4x10@120kgs (Squat), 120kgs 3x5 (RDL)
              Ideal: 2x BW Squat @80kgs
 
Phase III: Power/explosiveness (4 weeks max)
2x/week - gym
   - Squat/half-squat (90-95 % for singles)
   - KB swings
   - Step-ups
   - Maintain calf work (less volume)

1x/week - Low level track work:
   - Short sprints
   - SVJs*
   - Consecutive broad jumps*
   - Box jumps (may replace with depth jumps after first cycle)

UB: Alternate push/pull on gym days, low volume.
Injury prevention: Proper warmup/activation exercises before workout. Do planks/stretch/foam roll at home every night.

* Will record and monitor for progress

Phase IV: Speed/reactivity(2-3 weeks)
1x/week - Gym
   - Squat (90% singles, low volume)
   - REA squats
   - KB swings (lighter, focus on speed)

1x/week - Track
   - Sprints: Pyramid of longer tempo sprints (e.g. 80m-120m-80m)
   - SL/DL bounds

2x/week - Jumps
   - Mix of SVJ/DSVJ/RVJs*
   - One low volume/high intensity session (2-3 jumps per style after warmup) // One higher volume (15-20 jumps total), submax efforts

* Will record and monitor for progress

UB: Alternate push/pull on gym days, low volume.
Injury prevention: Proper warmup/activation exercises before workout. Do planks/stretch/foam roll at home every night.

After 2-3 weeks, deload week, then test. Alternate between Power and Speed blocks.

Feedback welcome! Definitely expect some of it to change over time as I adjust to it.

FWIW, I like it. If i had to correct something , i would say that the purely explosive phase III is too long, 4 weeks without any heavy strength training doesn't seem like a good idea imho. You could throw in some heavy singles like in phase IV or you could make the phase III shorter and IV longer. Just a couple of cents

Also, since you are into periodization , there was this awesome template that kellyb posted, i would have done it but was already in the middle my own periodization thing at the time it was posted. LBSS was also very tempted from it if i remember well. Take a look if you like , it's in the end of this article:
http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/trainingweaknesses.html

Yep fair point vag. I think it will end up being more like 2-3 weeks (what I meant by 4 weeks max). I will be doing heavy singles though in Phase III so hopefully my strength won't suffer too much.

I did have a look at that article a few weeks ago - it's good stuff and I got a few ideas from it. The reason I didn't just go with that template is because there was a lot of depth stuff from the start and I want to avoid that for awhile, at least until I'm 100% confident in my knee again. I thought I would just modify my last effort at periodisaiton (not really periodisation but a noob attempt at it) because it did give me some decent gains. But it will definitely evolve over time as all good plans should. Thanks for the advice, appreciate it as usual.

Gym - GPP phase Week 0 (warmup session/test out legs)

Foam roll warmup \ Gute activation (bridges and iso back ext holds)

Squat: Warmup, 2x8@70kgs, 1x5@90kgs, 1x8@40kgs --> strength felt fine, but will work back up slowly to give body a chance to adapt again

Back ext: 3x10@10kgs

SL leg press: 2x12-14/leg@40kgs --> because I have a bit of disparity between my legs now, will do this for a few weeks, just repping each leg til they feel about the same

UB: 3x6 pullups \\ 3x12 dips

Core: Med ball side crunches - 3x10/side@5kg

Gym - GPP phase:

Foam roll warmup // Activation: Leg curl hold (2x10@15kgs), Back ext holds

RDL: 1x8@40kgs, 3x8@70kgs

Back ext: 3x10@5kgs

Core: Standing side crunches (2x10-12/side@28kgs) // Ab pulldown (4x8-12@65kgs) // Roman Chair Side lifts (lift legs from left to right in a V-shape)

TKEs: 3x20-25@lightweight // SL Leg press: 1x8-10/leg@70kgs

Dips: 3x12@BW

My evolving GPP plan is to separate squat, RDL and calves into one day a week for each with some random assistance work. Once I've done that for a few weeks and my knee is feeling good (which it is), will start to do a very low number of non-gym exercises like hill sprints, light pogos, box jumps and maybe some HIIT cardio stuff. Nothing too intense.

Basketball starts back next week and I haven't decided if I will sit out yet  . It's hard because I really like playing and even just watching gets me excited and wanting to play. But I know I should probably skip this season (about 10-12 games depending on finals) for the sake of my body.

Gym:

Foam roll warmup // usual activation stuff

BB calf raise: 3x20ish@70kgs // Seated calf: 2x20@25kgs // SL DB calf: 2x20/leg@20kgs --> Didn't really feel anything from this, probably need to go a bit heavier.

Incline sit-ups: 3x12-14 // Hanging leg raise: 3x10

Also did a bench strength test to see how my weight loss (see below) is affecting strength. Did 8 reps at 90kgs and 5 reps at 100kgs with pretty good form so my UB strength hasn't dropped too much.

Body recomp: Dieting is going well. Bodyweight is now low 83 kgs (morning weigh), and I've lost ~2'' off my waist since cutting carbs down to <150g per day and ~200/day calorie deficit. I got some Accu-measure BF calipers two weeks ago and have been practising with them a lot. I've got the technique down pretty well now in terms of getting consistent measurements. Two weeks ago I was around 9-10mm at the suprailiac and now I'm at 8mm so I've lost a bit of body fat. I've probably lost a bit of muscle along the way because losing ~4kgs in about a month is pretty fast (maybe some water weight as well but I have been drinking the same as usual, ~4L/day) but I don't feel my strength hasn't dropped too much.

cutting carbs causes water weight loss, so that you've been drinking the same amount doesn't really matter. 4L seems like a lot, btw.

Right, so I've definitely lost some water weight. I am an absolute rookie when it comes to this stuff as I've never really had to worry about it.

The ~4L includes food as well. I think it's OK as I just drink when I'm thirsty, plus lately it's been around 30-31C (86F) every day here and I sweat like a pig in a nightclub.

Gym:

Foam roll warmup/activation exercise (is back ext holds, glute bridges)

SL leg press (3x20/leg@unloaded)

Squat (parallel): 3x10@40kgs

Core: Roman chair leg raises (full leg): 3x15-16

Dips: 3x12

BW:~82.5kgs

Um... does the "roman chair" mean the same thing to everybody?

Um... that's not a roman chair. I have no idea how it's called but it's not.