Adarq.org

So apparently the season ended Monday, and no one told me -_-

Soo.. I guess this means i'm back to gym workouts

4/24/13: 7 hours sleep
Frisbee practice after school - did some running, and got a sweet layout. Experienced very mild lower leg pain

First Gym workout in like 2 weeks -
Tricep Pulldowns: 4x8 80-100lbs
Ham Curls: 4x8 150-170lbs
Ab Crunch Machine: 3x8 130-150lbs
Bosu Ball Balancing: 120secs x2 per leg
Chest press: 2x8 + 1x4 150lbs
Glute Raises: 3x12 175lbs (max machine weight ) x each leg
Curls with bar: 3x8 60lbs

what is a machine glute raise? trying to picture it and failing.

Dunno if It's actually called a "Glute Raise" machine

4/25/13: 10 hours sleep

Diet: Breakfast: Cereal
-Some dark chocolate
Gym Workout
-Protein Shake
Dinner: Meat on Sticks, Rice, Salad

Gym Workout
Varying Leg Step Ups with dumbbells: 1x16 60lbs, 1x16 80lbs, 1x16 100lbs, 2x16 110lbs
Weighted Planks: 1x60s 45lbs, 2x30 90lbs
Side planks: 1x45s 45lbs
Squat (HB, ATG): 1x5x45, 1x8x135, 1x7x225(failed ATG on last rep), 2x8x185
Seated Calf Raise: 4x8 110lbs
Weighted SL Glute Bridge: 3x30secs 45lbs each leg
Bar Curls: 3x8 65lbs
Chest Press: 1x8 150lbs, 1x2 170lbs

Didn't do Plyo's today or yesterday
My glutes and hams were sore

Okay, I think It's time to establish a concrete goal, and how I plan to achieve it

I think a 40 inch vert by the end of the year is doable, with plenty of hard work
The way I'm going to go about this is to increase Quad, Glute, Ham, Calf and Core strength, as well as increasing reactivity with plyo's
I think I will take it one step at a time, and do all out workouts focusing on only a few of the previously mentioned groups at a time
I want to start with Quads, Calves and Core
Maybe later on I will focus on Glutes and Hams
By the end of this week, my goal is to obtain my 1RM for my squat, which I expect to be around 280 at this point (1x8 225)
Standing calf raises get a lot of praise on this website, so that will most likely be another exercise I will focus on
Weighted Planks are probably going to be my main core exercise
However, I'll research calf and core exercises more before deciding on my set workout
Starting next week, I should have a fully developed workout combining several routines to emphasize Quads, Calves and Core (mostly Quads, though), and maybe some upper body
I'll probably do low intensity plyo's on off days, and leave high intensity for another time

I might skip Squats in tomorrows workout, depending on if my Glutes/Hams are still sore because I want an accurate measurement for my 1RM

So I'm still mulling over the exercises, sets/reps and schedule I want to use for the routine
Here's what I've got so far though

Leg Strength Exercises I want to use for sure:
Squats, RDL/DL, Calf Raise
Leg Strength exercises I might use:
Ham Curl, Power Cleans, Weighted SL glute bridge, Lunges, Step-ups, Weighted Hip Thrusts, BSS, 1/2 Squat, Reverse Hyper,

Reactive exercises I want to use for sure:
Bounds, Depth Jumps
Reactive exercises I might use:
Shock Jumps, Ankle Jumps (pogos), Consecutive Vert Jumps, Jump Squats, Weighted Jumps, Sprints, Power Skips, Med. Ball Throws, Side-to-Side box jumps

Sets/Reps
5x5, 3x5 most likely
maybe an extra set to failure at the end

Schedule
2:1 Strength: Reactivity
mon:Foundation Strength
tues:
wed:Muscle Specific Strength
thurs:
fri: Reactive
sat:
sun:Foundation Strength
mon:
tues:Muscle Specific Strength
etc.
3-4 workouts per week

What making this workout feels like:


Any Advice? I could really use some

lmaoo i love that doggie.

I used to workout kind of like that, I had strength days and intense plyo days scattered throughout the week with all sorta of backwards sideways pogo jumps.

But now I think it's better to focus on strength for at least 3-6 months for a beginner, with some jumping, and then more plyos and serious jumping later. Full ROM strength work isn't just beneficial for improving your vert, but for better posture, knee tracking, fixing muscle imbalances, and preventing injury in the future. A 34'' running vert surely isn't bad at all.

So if I were to make a recommendation, I would suggest you pick the exercises that are not crossed out.

Leg Strength Exercises I want to use for sure:
Squats, RDL/DL, Calf Raise
Leg Strength exercises I might use:
Ham Curl, Power Cleans, Weighted SL glute bridge, Lunges, Step-ups, Weighted Hip Thrusts, BSS, 1/2 Squat, Reverse Hyper,

Reactive exercises I want to use for sure:
Bounds, Depth Jumps
Reactive exercises I might use:
Shock Jumps, Ankle Jumps (pogos), Consecutive Vert Jumps, Jump Squats, Weighted Jumps, Sprints, Power Skips, Med. Ball Throws, Side-to-Side box jumps

I would add in bounds and sprints later after a phase of developing strength, along with reverse hypers if you like em. In my experience doing too many things at once confuses your nervous system and prevents you from getting really good at one movement. Even doing too many lunges could take away from your squat for example. Bounding, even worse. Depth jumps, probably not since they are a similar movement.

As far as programming, I would just focus on squats and deadlifts for a while 2-5d/wk and add in once a week a jumping day (maybe integrate it with a fun activity like pick up bball) with some of your "msucle specific strength" exercises, which I'm just assuming you mean jumping specific.

Skimmed some of your posts and read that you want to focus on quads and calves. I'd recommend you get both quads and hamstrings stronger, at the very least. Strong hamstrings can only help. They also protect the knee, so, y'know, that's a big plus right there.