Adarq.org

lol.. i'm so regreting over sharing now ..

lets change the subject matter



 

Quote from: entropy on January 30, 2013, 05:08:39 am

Million dollar question right there and very timely. I've always ran into this problem myself. I mirror your observations but lifting the day after game time meant having very sore knees which meant lifting was a bad idea. Lifting on the same day as games meant tired legs. Think the balance might be something like legs in the AM, games in the PM - giving a bit of spacing there?

Yep. That's what I'm thinking right there. Lifting AM and playing PM. I'm going to give it a shot Monday so will let you know how it goes.

Awesome, keep us updated.

Training
FS 1x90, 1x100, 5x103.5 (PR)
BS 3x90, 1x100, 5x102.5
BP 5x73.5, 5x72.5, 5x70
SVJx5, RVJx3

BW: <75kg

FS notes:
Finally got the PR. And I did it at a BW under 75kg which makes me doubly pleased. I reckon my max is now over 120kg. Feels good man.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDdhTsgcS-I" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDdhTsgcS-I</a>
Form imperfect but honestly even the 100kg warmup was heavy, i kind of did really well to get the PR so I'm ok with it.

BS notes:
Ok.

Jumping notes:
Felt slow and sluggish today but still was able to jump as good as ever. I landed all my dunks didn't miss any, even the first warmup one which was a SVJ one btw! I did the first double hand SVJ dunk on this rim which i couldn't do before. And then did a coupla RVJ just to see how easy it is for me to dunk now, it's almost effortless. Oh did crash one powerful SVJ into my face though, knocking off my glasses, damn, that sucks, they're bent now.

---

Didn't sprint/run today, just feel too fatigued, will save it for sunday's bball training.  Too fatigued.

jesus christ, you're not fat. you've done an incredibly impressive job cutting down. the discipline is there, no question. but you're starting to get like adarq circa 2011 with his athletic anorexia shit. i realize you're kind of kidding but distorted body image ain't a joke. you're getting to the point where no matter how much weight you lose, you won't look that much leaner because you're thin. t0ddday had a good post about this a while back. three 6' tall guys at ~10% bf, one weighs 165 pounds, one weighs 175 pounds and one weighs 185 pounds. all else being equal, who looks leanest? the heaviest guy. adarq, even when he was under 150 pounds, never looked super lean. whereas t0ddday and kingfish look ripped despite weighing more at shorter heights and probably having equal or higher bf%.

what i'm saying is, let's do a bit of a bulk together, my brother. you can always lose the weight again later.

awesome depth on the front squats, btw.

Oh shit! First of all I appreciate the looking out dawg! And I totally get the impression of being reversehypetrophy 2013 EDITION. You'll prob seize on this revelation but the other day for the 2nd time this year, I put a hot chip (or french fry in USA speak) in my mouth, savored the taste but then sooner expelled it into the bin than injest the unwanted calories. And that sounds borderline admittedly lol. But you'll have to believe me when I say i'm still very much fat..! I've got snitch tits that could fill a 34A cup (i just measured lol) and a generous gut and plenty of back bacon around my waist.

Plz alow me at most another 6lb weight loss - at 159lb i'll be done cutting and then i'll be in that kyle macdowell ideal zone of ~10% bf for bulking. I'm terrified of doing a bulk now in case I end up spinning my wheels only to wind up where I first started off so I wanna finally do things the right way by finishing the job (cut). I'm hoping to spend the rest of the year either bulking or maintaining - so it's not like i'm going to cut forever, just enough to reset my bodyfat to athletic levels. Also I think i'm a special snowflake because most ppl who lift, nevermind guys above 6ft would be ripped at 165 and i'm definitely not.. so i have to accept the painful reality that i'm always going to be a lot lighter than most ppl unless i'm fat.

The point T0dday made is a good one but the difference between those 3 guys when ordered from lightest to heaviest is 9lb of muscle and 1lb of fat for the guy next to him. So to go up a 10lb weight category i'd need to add a whopping 9lb of muscle and only 1lb of fat. I'm not confident i'm in a position to naturally add that kind of ratio of muscle and fat, even if I allow for cutting excess bodyfat, it's just too much to ask, knowing my body, and it's reluctance to build mass. But the one thing I can control is dropping from a higher weight category to a lower one by cutting, that's totally in my control. If I could click my fingers and and add 9lb of muscle to maintain my bodyfat, I would so do it.  But unfortunately in the real world the only way to add 9lb of mass is thru a decent bulk, and it will invariably also push my total bodyfat to unacceptable levels. Im not willing to risk making no progress by bulking now, only to undo my hard work cutting so far, ending up spinning my wheels because I started bulking at my current level of fatness esp when i've worked so hard to get where i'm atm.

fwiw charlie francis was a big proponent of lower back strength as key to fast sprinting. i think it's in "speed trap" where he describes ben johnson's erector spinae as "the size of a man's forearm."

Guess I'm a bit late on the convo but I remember seeing this vid ages ago talking about the key to a cheetah's speed and one of the characteristics was the cheetah's spine.
This was the vid.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-zcA_mOa94" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-zcA_mOa94</a>

"Within 3 seconds it's reached 90km/hour. As it closes in it hits maximum speed- 120km/hour. A wide range of factors effect an animals speed. Environment, body type, predation, and more. And every one of those factors has come together in the evolution of the cheetah to create the ultimate sprinting machine. The head. Smallest relative size of any cat, it's aerodynamic design cuts through wind like a bullet. The collarbone reduced and free floating it's like a tiny axle for quick tight turns. A massive chest holding a huge heart and lungs to pump fuel to the muscles. Legs. Long and light with extended achilles tendons for superior shock absorption. Claws. Non-retractable like a dogs they dig into the earth with every stride providing traction. And the heavy tail, which helps the cheetah steer.
Speed is really generated from strides. Once every foot has touched the ground once. Any running animal to increase its speed needs to increase its stride length or its stride rate and cheetah's have managed to increase both of those. Scientists studying humans have shown that runners need powerful leg muscles for long strides. These muscles bring the leg down hard launching the runner into the air for long leap like stride. But the cheetah's legs are thin and fragile so how do they achieve long strides? Most people assume that cheetah's speed is generated from their legs. They must have really powerful legs. It's actually their spine. About 60% of a cheetah's muscle mass is packed onto its spine. So if you combine that with those long gaited legs you get an animal that has an average of about a 23 foot stride length and that's incredible. Flexing its spine like a coiled spring, the cheetah's body flies out airborne for a distance more than 5x it's length at a top speed of 4 strides per second the cheetah can cover an entire football field in a fraction over 3 seconds. The cheetah's speed is the secret to it's survival an asset that evolved sometime between 3 and 5 million years ago.
Every feature of the cheetah says speed. Bones are lightweight. A long flexible spine spring rolls each stride, which can cover almost 30 feet in a quarter second. To sustain this incredible speed the cheetah sucks in oxygen through oversized intake valves. Large nasal passages. It's lungs, liver, heart and adrenal glands are supersized to kick its metabolism into high gear".

Good job on getting back into basketball as well. You'll get back into basketball condition just by playing more games and getting used to it again.

^ Ehhh...  I don't want to bash the cheetah (an awesome animal for sure).... but comparing the mechanism by which a quadruped accelerates to bilateral bipedal human locomotion is pretty out of left field.   Active lower back strength is somewhat helpful to the hip hinge involved in a running vertical jump or in double leg bounding... but pretty much nonexistent in sprinting.   Isometric back strength IS essential to holding speed at high velocity but unless your at a pretty elite level it's probably not what's holding you back...  Guys running multiple <0.9 10m splits are so strong and have such tremendous leg stiffness that weakness in isometric strength can cause breakdown when they reach high speed.   Most amateurs lack the leg stiffness and even the basic hamstring strength necessary to run fast enough, essentially your breaking down way before you back is really that important.   

@Entropy:

How is the sprinting coming?  How have your times coincided with your diet?  I am a little late to the party as far as your extreme weight loss but while I agreed initially with LBSS I am essentially puzzled by your numbers.   Your 6'3, 160 pounds, and just posted a video of 5 reps of bottomed out front squats (so you have decent strength).   You also posted that you were >=20% bodyfat at 190lbs and still look "fat", despite the fact that you should be closing in on 5% now.   And you are training as a sprinter which is IMO the best training for body composition....

While at first glance it seems you should stop trying to lose weight.... It seems you have gained strength despite getting really small.  This certainly isn't in-line with extreme weight loss.  I can maintain strength while cutting into the single digits, but strength absolutely tanks at around 5% bodyfat.  By tanks I mean squat goes from 400's to 200's.  And speed endurance becomes non-existent which makes track workouts impossible.   

Either:

1) you have hollow bones (pretty awesome, like a bird)
2) Your scale/ruler is broken
3) You think you look fat but suffer from body dysmorphia (you should post a picture for the sane members of the forum to evalute)
4) You were extremely inactive/fat for a lot of your life, have a small frame, and have added decent squat strength despite an overall lack of musculature and some stubborn fat deposits/extra skin which keeps you from looking lean with your shirt off despite the fact that you actually have a low overall percentage of bf.  You store almost no fat on your legs, glutes, back, but have a bit of adipose on your love handles/chest where a few pounds can keep you from looking lean...


If I had to guess I would say it's probably a tiny bit of 3 and a lot of 4 (although I'm holding out hope for #1).   As such I would advise you to stop the active cutting right away.  It's great that you have built up some decent squat strength while cutting...  But now that your neural gains are likely plateauing the worst thing you can do is sabotage you ability to push up your basic strength with a restrictive diet.  I understand that you want to look lean but you are already 6'3 160.  I also know that you probably look a lot better at 160 than 190 and you want to continue the progress.  But you are already REALLY small.   If the problem isn't total fat but fat storage then putting your body in a poor hormonal state from restrictive dieting is only going to exacerbate where you put fat.       

Just my two cents, but you are at a good point and here is what I would do if I were you.   Stop cutting.  But DO NOT BULK.  At least not the bulk that 95% of people do to gain strength.  You are spot on when you say you fear spinning your wheels by making your progress and then fattening up and adding some strength but losing or maintaining relative strength.   You have built up a lot of discipline from dieting.  You can summon on that discipline to maximize your potential.  Keep the training up.  Add some carbs post-workout [~50g] and one other time per day (preferably morning unless you train really early) get a minimum of 100 grams of protein and some oils in your diet and when you are hungry try to reaching for primarily good protein sources and eat until your almost full.  You still shouldn't eat that "hot chip" and probably never should.  Stay away from alcohol and keep the training intense try and the volume decent.  Consider adding other compound movements like standing barbell presses, oly lifts, and deadlifts to your training.  You could even bench press.   Get on the track all the time.  Do speed work but don't neglect speed endurance workouts.  They will hurt but they will get you to win races and they will get you lean and they will get you to recomp.   I have yet to see a guy who doesn't neglect his weight training and runs himself into basic track shape (example:  3 400m's in sub 60 w/3 minutes rest or 10 200's under 30 with 1 min rest) who looks "fat".  This holds even for idiot college athletes who subsist on orange soda and dorm food.   These guys look remarkably leaner after a couple weeks of two-a-days despite binging on pizza each night.   You get sufficient protein and don't binge eat and you tilt the equation even more in your favor.  Take a picture now and take a picture after... My bet is you might be a few pounds heavier... But who cares.  You will be a hell of a better athlete... and that is what you are chasing...

Again, just my two cents.  Hope you improve no matter what path you choose. 

for the record, by "bulk" i did not mean "GOMAD!!!" or "pizza every day!!!"