Adarq.org

Training
FS 1x135
SqM 1x152.5, 157.5 (PR)
BS 1x150, 5x4x130 (PR)
CND - 1 lap around oval, 10 mins shooting practice

FS notes:
Was tempted to go a PR but i didn't wanna jeopardise my chances of getting a squatmorning PR.

SqM notes:
Like any good squatmorning, this was done with a belt, a velcro one for now (yes i know). When i've peaked with the velcro, i'll use the leather one which will give more assistance. I'm worried my squatmorning might not be unathletic enough. I will try hard to make it less athletic. But at least I got a PR today. I will go for 160kg on friday!

BS notes (RSR):
Not a bad day at all. It was tough going though, especially in the heat. I figure I should hit 150kg regularly enough that it becomes easy so when time comes to PR i'll be better prepared to lift a heavy PR max. So Rx was 6x4x130, but i decided to cut it a set short, just because i'm watching diet and b)i want to make sure i'm well recovered for friday. On friday i'll go for 5x5 instead of 6x5 and then the following rx of 6x6x130, will be come 5x6x30, which i think is good enough if i can do it while cutting.

Conditioning notes:
Here we go, here we go. I started off very conservatively. I figure at my bodyweight even walking is a good conditioning sesh lol. I mean it's like putting on a 20kg plate around me and walking for 8 mins, that's not super easy on paper. Yet it was of course. I'll add a lap every day even on rest days and then start jogging a lap. Wore new basketball shoes, will break them in (literally at ~100kg bw) so they're nice and comfy for when i start balling seriously later on. They are light weight lowtops as i always wanted, but they sucked on the first wear so we'll see if they improve.

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A squatmorning allows you to use a maximal load in an exercise that resembles halfway between a goodmorning and a backsquat. It's a great builder of spinal erectors, buttocks and hamstrings --

“There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that provides the level of central nervous activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed squatmorning.”

Unfortunately my SqM isn't quite correct. It still has too much athleticism to it (==quad), i will slowly remove any traces of it as I perfect my form.

I ended up taking 6 melatonin tablets (!) last night and I still couldn't feel sleepy. Apparently training wires up my CNS so much that it made them completely ineffective. 2 nights before when i took the supplement for the first time, 5 tablets totally knocked me out. My star burns so bright in the gym, i know lifting heavy 3x a week isn't sustainable but i dont know any other way. I am hungry for success. Today and yesterday have been good diet days so far. Somewhere along the lines i found discipline but lost others.

Is it to do with training? Apparently Bryant uses a polyphasic sleep pattern like that where he'll take a nap, do stuff then nap later when he feels tired. For me it's totally related to training.

We've discussed this before in discussing "The Myth of HIIT"  where the author talks about this in his book

Aerobic training, by virtue of lowering the resting heart rate, can
reduce overall stress on the body during times of inactivity. This is one
of the coolest parts of developing the aerobic system: it improves how
the nervous system functions.

Developing the aerobic system has a positive effect on the nervous
system by making us more parasympathetic-dominant (also known as
carrying a vagal tone).

 The parasympathetic nervous system is known as our “rest and
digest” control center because it’s responsible for relaxation.
 Can’t sleep? Performance sucks? Parasympathetic nervous system
is probably out of whack.

The easier your parasympathetic nervous system kicks in, the
better off you are. You recover from stressful events faster, which means
you can perform at higher levels with consistency and frequency.

He goes on to say

Turning yourself off is just as important as turning yourself on.
Ever notice how some athletes play a ton of video games? After practice,
they go home, rest, and escape from it all. Personally, I’d prefer you do
something more useful like read a book. But everyone has their
preferences.
Taking naps and falling asleep quickly are hallmarks of being able
to suppress your sympathetic nervous system to expedite recovery.

I particularly love this quote

Training yourself to relax is training yourself to become
parasympathetic-dominant—part of aerobic training’s job description.
It’s like this: a developed aerobic system kick starts the relaxation
and recovery process. More time recovering means more recovery.

I'll stop quoting there but the next section is titled "On an Off switch". I need to re-read this again, i definitely have a lot of room for improvement in turning off. I can't even sleep at ALL before big games. I would stay up all night. And then play all day, get no sleep again that day, and play the following day. It completely wrecks you.

I ended up taking 6 melatonin tablets (!) last night and I still couldn't feel sleepy. Apparently training wires up my CNS so much that it made them completely ineffective. 2 nights before when i took the supplement for the first time, 5 tablets totally knocked me out. My star burns so bright in the gym, i know lifting heavy 3x a week isn't sustainable but i dont know any other way. I am hungry for success. Today and yesterday have been good diet days so far. Somewhere along the lines i found discipline but lost others.

Melatonin doesn't work like that.  It doesn't have anywhere close to a linear response.  In fact more melatonin can make you feel less sleepy.  Why are you taking 6x the amount of something? 

Some thoughts on squatting. I am looking at my BS form and I don't like it at all. I still want that nice textbook olympic form. But i can't get a good bottom position. My hips are too far back and i don't know why they dont come forward. I suspect it's a flexibility mobility thing - which leads into my second point - i will one day become a daily squatter to fix this problem. I got this idea from Broz. He says he doesn't have his lifters do any mobility work. Which makes so much sense to me once it clicked that the best way to get good at having a decent position is frequent practice. It's really that simple. Squatting 1-3x a week isn't enough, you need to really hammer it in daily. And by simply squatting you get the mobility and flexibility just by regular training. I still have some doubts about daily training which i'll elucidate later.

Olympic squats when I master them will be the best way to squat. It will mean instead of doing frontsquats, backsquats and squatmornings i can just do one exercise (olympic squat) and get all the benefits. Will get really good at one squat too, making it possible to move a lot of weight, very efficiently. My current backsquat form is very inefficient owning mostly to a far from optimal descent phase. I don't descend into an ideal bottom position which costs me leverage and efficiency.

In the mean time i'm finding squatmornings have already done wonders for me because they're fixing a weak point, erectors, glutes and hamstrings are getting a lot stronger and bigger and this is carrying over to normal backsquats and even front squats. My lower back isn't as smashed after volume squatting as it used to get, thanks to including squatmornings. When i've achieved a decent squatmorning (~180kg) at a low enough bodyweight (≤ 80kg) i'll be a far better athlete. My leg strength has gone up too since last time so together, with big strong glutes and hamstrings and quads i'll be more powerful. I should have at least a 150kg frontsquat raw and a 160kg raw backsquat. But that's just one facet of my training there are other dimensions i need to focus on. I need a lot more sprint work to build my reactivity. I need to hammer down my conditioning to a high level to make up for my lack of natural athleticism. All things I can improve on from my current position, the former less than the latter. Exciting times ahead for the summer!