Read back thru my log, saw some interesting bits, a lot of cyclical realisations which seem to recur more or less regularly. What's that saying about learning from the mistakes of others instead of repeating them? something like that. I need to learn from my experiences better.
1. What i've seen I have this recurring wish to improve my PC strength (for whatever reason). Partly a greener pastures thing and I keep coming back to, or continuing on with, training quads because they've served me well so far. But I dont know if they have or if that was just an artefact of losing a lot of bodyfat? Hard to say.
2. I also trained suboptimally. In feb when I dieted down to sub 75kg, I had been mainly sets of 5 rep front squats. Why?! I should have been doing doubles and triples, it's not like i was going to gain mass while in the middle of a big cut. That was dumb. I probably would have got more out of front squats if I had been doing low reps. As i've learnt now, there is such a big difference between 5 reps and 3 reps and 1s in FS. It doesn't follow the 1Rm calculator at all. I think my 1RM is 10-15kg more than my 3RM FS rather than 7.5kg the calculator predicts. Each extra rep is a lot harder than it should be. I don't have a problem with higher rep frontsquats, they surely have a place too. But if your dieting, it's not appropriate unless it's for rehab or as a very distant assistance exercise for something else. But since it was a main lift for me, I should have been doing lots of sets of low reps instead. That's the first thing. So right now for instance i'm stubbornly clinging to my triples though i've stalled (for 3 front squat sessions). But perhaps I should embrace doubles so long as I can progress them?
2. I should hedge my bets. Perhaps with HBBS and FS i've got sufficient coverage for glutes, hams and back. But just in case it's ok to do other exercises (RDLs, hip thrusts, BSSs etc) even though I don't want to, it can't hurt to make a passing effort to do them with slow but regular progress. Bodybuilders routinely do a dozen exercises per session, there is no reason why I can't do one or two of these per week.
3. I'm way overfocusing on strength. I dont care about dunking, i'm not in it for the dunks or huge jumps. I wanted to be a good basketball player, which in my mind includes having excellent athleticism, true. But at this stage my skill deficit is much greater than my strength and power one. I need a lot more movement work specific to playing than I do with spending time in the gym. But. I don't like to give up on what I started, and i'm so close now to getting that minimal gold standard of 2xbw squats (FS and HBBS -- the latter for reps), that i will see it thru. I just need to slowly add back sports specific work so i'm ready for game time (~6-7 months from now).
4. As always i've neglected conditioning, it always seems to fall on the wayside. I know why it happens, sore legs don't help when you're focusing on pushing up squats. But whether I like it or not, it's just as important if not more important to have a big strong motor than raw power. I can play great defense. Or I can play great offense, but not both, because my conditioning didn't permit it last time.
5. A big one is speed. I haven't been working on getting myself faster. jumping faster. accelerating. Plyometrics. I could wait forever til i'm ready, but maybe that'll never happen and i should have started sooner and got some benefit rather than waiting for a day that isn't coming.
