Author Topic: chasing athleticism (Read 1464041 times)

maxent · « **Reply #2580 on:** February 22, 2016, 07:50:42 am »

So merrick i have to agree with you that getting down to 165 (actually ive settled on the goal of exact 164lb instead of the vague <165) is not so good for basketball. When i weigh 180-190 and I drive ppl dont wanna fuck with me and get in the way cause i have hte momentum of a steam engine and ppl will stay away. Everythign changes when you are a lightweight cunt .. they step up and challenge you on a drive cause they dont fear you in any way and welcome physical contact because they fancy their chances. Now im not even say pppl are consciously thinking about this shit during the split seconds of a basketball game, it's def subconscious but ppl do size you up in the heat of the moment and decide whether they wanna contest or not based purely on these factors. Very interesting to say the least.

Another observation i made today, on defense when i consciously slow myself down and setup for a double leg jump on defence i block the shit out of a player. WIth the important caveat the offensive player is not very good and doesn't take advantage of quickly launching a shot before you can do that Otherwise im going off SL and im beyond mediocre SL. So yeah, basketball does not in any way suit me .. im so bad at this sport ... i have no redeeming skills whatsover lol

maxent · « **Reply #2581 on:** February 22, 2016, 11:10:07 am »

Food:

I got tired of eating chicken breast wrapped in a roti or just straight up (as in rest days) so decided to make a pizza. Surprisingly do-able and quite good with macros .. so i might make this my go-to active day meal. Extra bonus the protein content makes for a very filling pizza, after the first slice or two i felt full .. normally i can eat a fast food pizza in minutes and still be able to polish off a good fraction of another and then dessert so that was insightful .. i guess if i make clean eating my normal regime i will be able to make good use of such satiating qualities of protein.

Interesting macros of the lowfat cheese was the almost zero carbs? That's interesting. I didn't know that was a thing. In australia at least it's new and im no stranger to dieting ive never come across cheese with such macros in the local supermarket. Cool!

Activity:

According to the fitbit i had a TDEE of around 2700.. which is cool!

maxent · « **Reply #2582 on:** February 22, 2016, 11:18:51 am »

Quote from: T0ddday on February 22, 2016, 03:42:48 am

Quote from: maxent on February 20, 2016, 05:57:51 pm
From competitive bball, yeah i think im just bout done with the sport. From vertical trainign and stuff, idk, probably there too, it may not be possible to do much better than what i've achieved .. did start with a 20" vert so im not sure there is much left but diminishing returns from training. Will see though, once i stop playing bball i can explore other things like using PEDs and that may allow me to unlock more vertical gains but not really sure about going down that road tbh.

PEDs to unlock vertical gains? Dunno about the utility of that, haven't seen PEDs benefit any male explosive athletes yet. There is this one PED called food and muscle that will do wonders for you. The idea that there are diminishing returns after the move from 20'' to 27'' is really one that is so defeatist it's actually disheartening. I would bet a lot of money on the idea that I could get you to 35''. Your extremely disciplined which is the number one untrainable thing - everything else can be fixed.

The biggest problem you have is a lack of belief and a lack of positive motivation/competition. I really don't know anything about Australia so I don't know how much you can change this but if you were in a different training environment you would be shocked to see what you could do. I hardly even dunk because my knees can't take pounding but today I trained a dunker along with a football player. Having never trained a pro-dunker before was eye-opening, a local guy whose internet name is young-hollywood came to one of our sessions to learn about speed and rehab and just seeing him jump was so motivating. I was always skeptical of internet dunkers and videos and imagined a lot of camera artistry and exaggerations about height... But this guy was no more than 5'11 and had a legitimate 50'' two footed jump. Even though I didn't plan to jump I was motivated to jump at the vertec and got some 11' 3-step vertec touches in for the first time I can remember. That of course is slightly below the guys standing vertical. Lol. The motivation a group of positive athletes has on each other really is helpful, you could unlock gains you don't know exist with the right environment - far more than what PEDs can give you.

I think that is fair about lack of belief and positivity. I'm guilty of that, and ive been told that by someone else recently too but unrelated to training. And i do agree if i could find even one person (not online) who had similar interests and wanted to train hard to improve athleticism i'd benefit from it greatly. But i think a lot of as are in pockets of isolation where we don't have the group training dynamic .. except yourself i dont know anyone else who has that here, at least that i can recall reading about in logs.

But i must say im kinda optimstic a little .. not about anythign in the short term .. that's all too daunting at the moment .. but in the medium term when ive got lean enough to start gaining muscle and strength.. i do think i can do some amazing things for my athleticism. I just have to do the hard work now and stick it out through these dark times. Sucks having to psyche up for a dunk (when not cutting it's natural like walking, cud do a tomahawk submax getting out of bed cold!) or even a lift that is usually a warmup becomes a 2RM effort that now needs psyching up.

i really wanna become the hip dominant athlete you described earlier.. still dont know how to go about it and im not in the mental state to start reading random internet training gurus either .. dont really need training ADD right now.

adarqui · « **Reply #2583 on:** February 22, 2016, 11:30:24 am »

Quote from: T0ddday on February 22, 2016, 03:42:48 am

I hardly even dunk because my knees can't take pounding but today I trained a dunker along with a football player. Having never trained a pro-dunker before was eye-opening, a local guy whose internet name is young-hollywood came to one of our sessions to learn about speed and rehab and just seeing him jump was so motivating. I was always skeptical of internet dunkers and videos and imagined a lot of camera artistry and exaggerations about height... But this guy was no more than 5'11 and had a legitimate 50'' two footed jump. Even though I didn't plan to jump I was motivated to jump at the vertec and got some 11' 3-step vertec touches in for the first time I can remember. That of course is slightly below the guys standing vertical. Lol.

what?

must have been sick watching haneef jump. he's such a freak. he also has some of the cleanest/most effortless ~50's i've seen from a dunker.

Quote

The motivation a group of positive athletes has on each other really is helpful, you could unlock gains you don't know exist with the right environment - far more than what PEDs can give you.

ya environment means so much. it's not discussed enough in s&c.

if you train alone, you really need to figure out how to be competitive with your "self". it's much more of a mental war IMHO.

maxent · « **Reply #2584 on:** February 23, 2016, 03:21:50 am »

BW: 75.9kg/167.33lb (2016 PR)

Visibly leaner with skinfolds diminishing around the waist (abdominal & lower back). Now my female fat storage patterns are starting to appear more prominent as my upper half of the body looks skinny/small while the lower half looks big/flabby! Moobs still unchanged though. I will have a six pac way before my chest/legs/hips/butt is lean .. which sucks cause what remains will be that hard to mobilise stubborn fat. Much much more difficult to lose in comparison to the usual male fat storage areas. So maybe hours and hours of fasted cardio needed in addition to dieting lol. That's a job for a future cut of 164 ->159 sometime after the late march bball tournament.

Finally got around to opening my replacement weight vest. MY experience with the last one was really awful so i had put it off til now. First impressions are this one is a lot better than the previous model which I returned. But i dont know if it will last long, the other one literally fell apart in a few days use. It feels more comfortable than the last. There is a weird factory smell just like with the last one which I find repulsive .. sigh. Looking on amazon, americans are really spoilt for choice, so many nice weight vests. Only cheap shitty chinese stuff available here though

I took out half the weights so shud have about 10kg on there now (didn't count). I'll weigh and check in a bit.

effective bodyweight = 87.5kg .. feels somewhat burdensome on my legs .. haha, wonder how long it takes to adjust to it. Will keep it there for a while then work up to +20kg by tournament time to get peaking benefits (if there are any). I cant imagine dunking at this bw though so maybe it's too heavy and i should start lighter and progress it? Piece of shit sand bags. And the shoulder straps limit ROM so im not sure i could even dunk with it even if it were lighter. Oh well.

T0ddday · « **Reply #2585 on:** February 23, 2016, 09:58:57 am »

Quote from: maxent on February 23, 2016, 03:21:50 am

BW: 75.9kg/167.33lb (2016 PR)

Visibly leaner with skinfolds diminishing around the waist (abdominal & lower back). Now my female fat storage patterns are starting to appear more prominent as my upper half of the body looks skinny/small while the lower half looks big/flabby! Moobs still unchanged though. I will have a six pac way before my chest/legs/hips/butt is lean .. which sucks cause what remains will be that hard to mobilise stubborn fat. Much much more difficult to lose in comparison to the usual male fat storage areas. So maybe hours and hours of fasted cardio needed in addition to dieting lol. That's a job for a future cut of 164 ->159 sometime after the late march bball tournament.
Finally got around to opening my replacement weight vest. MY experience with the last one was really awful so i had put it off til now. First impressions are this one is a lot better than the previous model which I returned. But i dont know if it will last long, the other one literally fell apart in a few days use. It feels more comfortable than the last. There is a weird factory smell just like with the last one which I find repulsive .. sigh. Looking on amazon, americans are really spoilt for choice, so many nice weight vests. Only cheap shitty chinese stuff available here though I took out half the weights so shud have about 10kg on there now (didn't count). I'll weigh and check in a bit.

effective bodyweight = 87.5kg .. feels somewhat burdensome on my legs .. haha, wonder how long it takes to adjust to it. Will keep it there for a while then work up to +20kg by tournament time to get peaking benefits (if there are any). I cant imagine dunking at this bw though so maybe it's too heavy and i should start lighter and progress it? Piece of shit sand bags. And the shoulder straps limit ROM so im not sure i could even dunk with it even if it were lighter. Oh well.

1. Despite all the silly things you do.... congrats on doing them. 95% of people with dumb ideas like "i should cut into the 150s at 6'4"" dont have the dedication to actually do it. You do. Then you supply us with data which I appreciate.

2. Stop making unverified claims that are easily verifiable. Its clear you have some type of body dysmorphia. Common in athletes. But do you have female fat storage and low testosterone? Are you insulin resistant? I dont know. But you could easily find out. Hell, when you come to LA you can come to my hospital and an hour we can sequence your genome, measure your free testosterone, hemoglobin A1c, and fasting glucose. My bet is your far more normal than you think.

3. 20kg is far too much weight to you. Your slow and light. Thats almost 30% of bodyweight. Studies have results at 10-15%. I like to push the envelope, so I have tested as much as 16%.... Although I think percent is far less important than adaptation. If you add a 5-10lb vest and cant jump within am inch or 2 of PR you have too much weight.

LBSS · « **Reply #2586 on:** February 23, 2016, 11:20:06 am »

Quote from: T0ddday on February 23, 2016, 09:58:57 am

I like to push the envelope, so I have tested as much as 16%.... Although I think percent is far less important than adaptation. If you add a 5-10lb vest and cant jump within am inch or 2 of PR you have too much weight.

interesting statement. i have gotten within 1-2" of my PR for SVJ with a 10lb vest on, but i don't think i could get that close to my RVJ PR.

T0ddday · « **Reply #2587 on:** February 23, 2016, 08:43:31 pm »

Quote from: LBSS on February 23, 2016, 11:20:06 am

Quote from: T0ddday on February 23, 2016, 09:58:57 am
I like to push the envelope, so I have tested as much as 16%.... Although I think percent is far less important than adaptation. If you add a 5-10lb vest and cant jump within am inch or 2 of PR you have too much weight.

interesting statement. i have gotten within 1-2" of my PR for SVJ with a 10lb vest on, but i don't think i could get that close to my RVJ PR.

I might be being slightly too stringent but I think the point holds. I should also say it's your daily PR not lifetime obviously... So if you jump 40 and add the vest and get reduced to 33, it's probably not a good idea. The return is easy to calculate - it's a minimum of BW+V / BW * (Vested Jump). I state that as the minimum because usually our movement efficiency and power actually go up when we remove the vest - but that's the calculation if it didn't. Anyway, if you are a 40 inch jumper weighing 200lbs doing a bunch of training with a 10lb vest and getting no higher than 35'' you may be sorely dissapointed when you take off the vest and don't find yourself going that high...

Where your curve is depends on the individual. I actually tried really loading up one day and found my jump going down linearly with weight at 15lbs, 20, 25 to 36'', 34'', 32'', etc.... Then when I tried 45bs.... My jump plummeted. IMO better to load up and do squats or jump squats when your movement efficiency is that poor... The disadvantage of the vest is obviously load... The advantage is movement efficiency, when your jump no longer looks like a jump, there isn't much reason to do it.

maxent · « **Reply #2588 on:** February 24, 2016, 05:22:15 am »

BS 1x132.5 (LPR; 1.74xbw)
JS 2x8x152.5 (PR; 2xbw)
Barbell Calf Raise 15x170 (LPR; new ex)
Push Press 3x5x62.5 (PR?)
Depth Jump 3x6x20" @78.2kg
Weighted Dunks ~ 10 @ 84.5kg (PR; new exercise)
HIIT Sprints 6x(20s on, 25s off)

BW: 76.1kg / 167.77lb

Squat notes:
Next week i'll double 132.5kg while weighing less. Can't wait!! My erectors are about to get stronger which is exciting cause i can usually push my squat up once that happens.

Upper body notes:
Figured out something about my PP technique (on locking out) which i wasnt doing before. So should be able to go for a PR of 3x6x64.5kg nxt week which will be exciting. Or maybe if im ambitious even go for 3x6x65kg tho i may not be capable of that jump. Will see.

Dunking notes:
Left home wearing the weightvest weighing 87.35kg .. could not land a single dunk. In fact, even just touching the rim was challenging enough. Went back to my car and took out some weights to what i thought was around 85kg. Then i could dunk, with some warming up and technique refinement. It's interesting how being overweight forces you to be more efficient. Then i took off the vest and did some easy tomahawks. For training effect i used my big heavy size14 shoes. Of course later on when im testing and peaked i'll switch to my better fitting, lighter bball shoes. I do think if i had one more weight i could prob have dunked at 85kg - nevermind. Next week i'll go for .. 86 or so? But the other change i want to make is dunk on the highest rim i know. That way i'll get more training effect.

Im not doing the hypergravity experiment yet by the way. waering the vest for weighted dunks on weds only. Later on i might consider wearing it chronically but not right now while im still below PR vertical levels.

Conditioning notes:
Did sprints a lot better this week! Felt good. Was a lot quicker and covered most of the ground (~125m) on each sprint. Next time slightly less rest, maybe reduce to 22s? Last week i did 5 intervals, added an interval. Going to stick with 6 from here.

maxent · « **Reply #2589 on:** February 24, 2016, 12:01:22 pm »

Quote from: T0ddday on February 23, 2016, 09:58:57 am

1. Despite all the silly things you do.... congrats on doing them. 95% of people with dumb ideas like "i should cut into the 150s at 6'4"" dont have the dedication to actually do it. You do. Then you supply us with data which I appreciate.

2. Stop making unverified claims that are easily verifiable. Its clear you have some type of body dysmorphia. Common in athletes. But do you have female fat storage and low testosterone? Are you insulin resistant? I dont know. But you could easily find out. Hell, when you come to LA you can come to my hospital and an hour we can sequence your genome, measure your free testosterone, hemoglobin A1c, and fasting glucose. My bet is your far more normal than you think.

3. 20kg is far too much weight to you. Your slow and light. Thats almost 30% of bodyweight. Studies have results at 10-15%. I like to push the envelope, so I have tested as much as 16%.... Although I think percent is far less important than adaptation. If you add a 5-10lb vest and cant jump within am inch or 2 of PR you have too much weight.

1. Thanks, that's quite the compliment even though we disagree fundamentally about my bodyfat% i am okay with it because I know i am an extreme outlier somehow and it's easier to believe i am exaggerating and dsymorphic than believe the less plausible possibility that i am right about my high bodyfat levels!

2. Wow that's an incredibly generous offer and i'm more than thrilled to accept! Sure thing, happy to do any test you like

3. Agree 20kg is too much for me. I found out today that 87.5kg was too much given my morning bodyweight is 76.1kg .. so that means i was using 15% of morning bodyweight. But here is something to consider if i use my gym weight it was around 78.2kg so was ~12% of gym bodyweight. And yet here is another thing to consider, we're probably working on the assumption that most ppl who do this experiment wil be reasonably lean (10% bodyfat), if i'm higher than that, say 15% then that shud be factored in. I guess lean body mass would be the best thing to use in that case? But if you're reasonably lean then lean mass ≈ morning bodyweight ≈ gym bodyweight so it doesn't matter too much.

maxent · « **Reply #2590 on:** February 26, 2016, 05:48:08 am »

Weighted Dunks ~ 18 @ 85kg (LPR)
Pickup Bball ~ 45 mins

BS 1Fx127.5
OHP 6x3x60 (LPR)
RDL 8x140 (LPR), 6x150 (PR)
BHT 2x8x120 (PR)
WCU 3x100, 5x97.5

BW: 76.05kg / 167.66lb (blah)

Bodycomp notes:
Sucks how the scale hasn't really moved from ~76kg ... praying for the day i wake up magically low 75s / high 74s . damn :/ i need a steady stream of progress to keep me motivated. been stuck around here for ages. and to make things worse the longer i cut, the fatter i look which sucks .. makes me think i was right about needing to diet down to 70kg eventually to be lean which is what i realised last time i got in the low 70s in 2014. Anyway im just gonna keep at it and see where i end up by tournament time.

Bbball notes:
Had the bright idea do a weighted dunk workout on the high rim with my heavy oversize 14 shoes. Then i did some vestless and could do tomahawks easy. But here is the depressing thing. In dec i think when i last came here, i was doing the same dunk while weighing 85kg LOL. So pathetic, tbh tho, the rom and movement pattern with the vest might be the main reason i cant land tmhawks with the vest. Doesn't matter, just gotta keep working at it. In addition to being vestless, i was also quite a lot lighter from sweating because i did that dunk after pickup .. so that's prob another factor, weighing around 77kg (including shoes+clothes) makes it a very submax, meaningless thing.

Played pick up in the vest. Missed 100% of everything, shots and layups. i'd blame the vest but im just shit. I met one of the guys who organised the team i played for end of last year, asked him if he could let me fill in during march. he took my number but i dont really think he'll call me

oh well, we'll see.

I realised im prob not getting any game time dunks .. as a RL jumper i want to approach from R side of the rim but as a left handed player i'm stronger offensively on the L side So im just a hot mess .. better basketball player on one side and more powerful athlete on the other!! . And im not even sure how it translates on defense, need to figure out which side im better on. It prob depends whether im facing the rim or away? If im shot blocking or rebounding it's a trade off either way i'd imagine. Any thoughts on this welcome.

Lifting notes:
On a day i failed my BS warmup of 127.5kg on the 2nd rep of a triple, i convinced and forced myself to go through with the workout anyway. In hindsight, thankfully. I got PRs across the board on RDLs and BHTs and LPR on OHP. Woooho. If my stupid bodyweight was ≤75kg that would be a 2xbw RDL set as well .. but it's fine, i'll go for 8x150 when im ≤75kg.

On barbell hip thrusts i took a 20kg jump from last week's PRs of 2x8x100 .. next wk i'll prob go for 2x8x140kg? My goal is 2x8x150kg by tournament time. Or if i can keep taking big jumps maybe even 2x8x160kg which is more pleasing cause the 2x10kg plates are more aesthetically impressive. This is either a meaningless lift that is doing nothing for me (probably) or it's helping my hip strength but like ive conjectured before .. my posterior chain is strong compared to my quads (in my humble opinion) and i need to bring up my weak point (leg strength) to become more athletic. Still, if it helps me squat more then my quads will also grow so it can't hurt. Lets just give it a chance and see what happens, ive never really done posterior assistance exercises like RDLs and BHTs .. so it's worth experimenting there even though i think my squat style already has that area covered (imho).

maxent · « **Reply #2591 on:** February 27, 2016, 12:35:41 am »

I wouldnt even call yesterday's <200g carb day a refeed but today my bw spiked like a proper refeed would have triggered .. weighed 169.76lb / 77kg. FML. Just when i was thinking i need to hit a low of 74kg / 163lb by competition time! Hahah. All good. I must say the saving grace for me right now is doing weighted dunking. I can't help think it's the thing which will bridge the gap from cutting making you lighter and more athletic .. but also at the same time weaker and less powerful because dunks are less challenging. I def think i can be landing powerful dunks at a weighted 90kg by competition time at which point if i'm also decently light 75kg (ish) i shud be able to jump higher. But i do find myself thinking this is submax .. instead of "wow im getting so high" .. so that's a concern. I believe i jump to the rim as opposed to as high as possible on my dunks .. like if the rim was higher id jump higher and if the rim was lower i'd jump lower .. because my body makes the rim a target and inverse inferences how much force to generate. Is there a mental trick around this to jump higher regardless of rim height?

maxent · « **Reply #2592 on:** February 27, 2016, 01:35:50 pm »

Interesting... pretty wicked glute and hamstring doms .. which is something new. I must confess im pretty excited bout the prospect of sprints + weighted dunks + heavy RDLs + heavy hip thrusts + heavy backsquats + low bodyweight --> lifetime PR level athleticism??

maxent · « **Reply #2593 on:** February 28, 2016, 04:18:42 am »

I've settled upon 74kg/163lb as my final goal bodyweight for this cut. Then i'm taking a diet break, no exception. I know I won't be satisfied with how lean I am and i know i wont be at 163 either but i'll stop there. Will come back for another cut later down the line in April to 72.5-70kg, depending on how low I need to go.

The reason i'll stop at 74kg is if i keep cutting too long, i'll probably succeed but when i come off the cut my hormones will be crazy and try to pile the fat back on like what happened in 2014 when i gained all the weight back in a matter of weeks through binging. This time i want to save discipline and will power and so on for the most important part of cutting -- maintenance.

So now I need to figure out how to get this shit done asap so i can stop cutting and get my body in a more anabolic environment for performance sake before the tournament. The final phase begins tmr, will weigh and start a new cycle -- probably looking at a worst case scenario of 76kg -> 74kg but we'll see how it goes. For the record today the scale read 76.3kg which is about where i've been stuck for ages. Looking at another 10-21 days of dieting. If i'm not at the goal weight i may just stop wherever i am? Will see.

maxent · « **Reply #2594 on:** February 28, 2016, 11:18:32 pm »

So as I expected (dreaded?) on Monday morning i am 76.05kg / 167.66lb .. call it 168 and my goal is 163 by end of March. That means I have 5 pounds to lose or 1.25lb a week .. tall order when ive already been cutting a while and weight loss has slowed down considerably.

I am suspecting something funny is going on, either i'm recomping and building muscle (lol) or water retention or smething else. I have been using food scales to measure my food intake down to the grams so either my maintenance has plummeted which may explain it. My activity levels are lower now than they were before .. just dont have the energy i had earlier in the year but im still averaging 5k steps a day and going up to 10k on active days (3x weekly). According to the fitbit for example, yesterday i had a TDEE of ~2350 and my food intake was 1500 so i shud have a 850 kcal deficit which is pretty decent and enough to show decent w/l but it just isn't happening.. weird.

Anyway the main thing is im leaning out in the mirror .. so im not too worried .. as long as lifts are going up and fat loss is occuring visually .. it's all good. Here is a summary of where i am and where i wanna be:

Adarq.org

News:

Author Topic: chasing athleticism (Read 1464041 times)

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism

maxent

chasing windmills (W1D1) continued

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism

adarqui

Re: chasing athleticism

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism

T0ddday

Re: chasing athleticism

LBSS

Re: chasing athleticism

T0ddday

Re: chasing athleticism

maxent

W1D2 of 4 week peaking phase

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism

maxent

W1D3 of 4wk peaking phase

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism

maxent

Re: chasing athleticism