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Topics - mj

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ADARQ & LanceSTS - Q&A / Follow Program as Prescribed???
« on: October 02, 2011, 06:42:24 am »
I purchased Jack Woodrups Vertical Mastery recently. I ran the self tests as prescribed and it spat out the attached program. Basically all plyos and not one weight in sight. I have a couple of questions about it and hoping to get some solid advice.

* I do this for beach volleyball. Sand kills the stretch reflex. Is there enough benefit for me in the suggested plyo only 8 week block? Will it train movement coordination and rate of force development enough to help me?

* Because I play on sand I don't want to lose raw strength in the legs by not lifting heavy for 8 weeks. Should I worry about that? Can I add pin squats or something or am I just stuffing my progress by altering things?

Basically I think the software is great and would address my shortcomings on a hard surface for sure. But I don't want to bust my arse getting better on hard stand if it does nothing for my sport. If its ok I wouldn't mind Jack replying here too :)

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ADARQ & LanceSTS - Q&A / Program for a cricket player
« on: August 21, 2011, 06:22:47 am »
My little brother asked me today about training for cricket and asked me to draw him up a program. He's an indoor player so reaction times, explosiveness and power will be the main goals. He's only an amateur player and has really limited lifting experience. All inna-net bb program stuff really. I have to get him out of the mindset of lateral raises for athletic development  ::)

He's also a big dude. 6'3" and 130kg. Bf% must be over 30. Despite that he's freakishly flexible (atg squat in bare feet with no flexibility work ever, his warm up for a lower body day appears to be arm swings!) and has good leg strength (suppose you get that lugging 130kg around and playing wicket keeper). Based on the limited lifting I've seen him do his pc is pathetic.

I drew up the attached in 10 mins for him. I'll observe him over 6 weeks and test his running vs standing leap to see what needs more focus. Since he can't do any oly lift variations I can't think how else to test his ability to apply force. Any program tips? I've never done this before and just trying to help out my bro. I'd love him to dominate his amateur comp after a year or so  ;D

 

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Last night I was reaching over my weight tree and dragged a 5kg plate off by accident. It landed right on my left big toe where the nail joins on (I had only slip on shoes on). God damn it hurt! Not broken because I could still bend it ok, before the swelling anyway.

Bled like a mofo all night and I slept on the couch with my leg elevated. Its only a small opening but I think because its on the nail bed and the swelling is so bad the blood couldn't clot up. This morning its swollen as hell. And it fuckin hurts to even lower my leg due to the rush of blood to the toe. I can walk on it kind of but its painful and I worry about starting the bleeding again if I put too much pressure on it.

What can I do for it? I'm keeping it elevated, resting (duh) and took a few anti-inflammatories. Apart from ice, which I've avoided due to pain so far, what else could I do? I have a high threshold for pain generally but this sucks bad. And I have competition on Sunday!

Pic is about 2 minutes after it happened. Toe is about twice the size now


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Volleyball / Beach Volleyball Stuff
« on: August 13, 2011, 02:48:59 am »
Beach is my game  :D

I'm the kind of guy who reads widely about things I enjoy so I'll post up interesting stuff here as I find it. Most training discussions etc center on hard court games (b'ball, v;ball, athletics). Playing on sand is very different.

1st addition is this. How to jump in sand! Very important!

http://www.njvb.com/jsvba/jump.htm

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Talking anderson squats, pin squats, pause squats, floor presses, oh press off pins etc. Lifts where the weight is moved from dead stop. Would it be beneficial to use these as main strength lifts? Pro/ con?

The way I see it is that floor pulls are already like this and nobody questions their benefit as primary strength movements. Why would a pin squat not be the same? Sure you'd move less plates than a full squat but only because its mechanically less favourable. Does that mean you're recruiting less muscle or shortchanging your development...... dunno?

I appreciate you wouldn't be training the stretch shorten reflex under load. Whether this matters when you train same through plyos I don't know.

If nothing else a dead stop lift off pins would seem an honest test of strength to me. You can't cheat or bounce. What does everyone else think?




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Strength, Power, Reactivity, & Speed Discussion / Hill Sprints
« on: May 30, 2011, 02:04:43 am »
What athletic aspects do hill sprints train. I'm talking short distance (15m), really steep hills (45 degrees). I seem to feel really strong for a few days after doing them. Just more powerful.

I can't imagine they're about quickness so much as you don't move fast like a flat sprint. Are they more about power/ rate of force?

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Strength, Power, Reactivity, & Speed Discussion / Hip Belt Squats
« on: May 06, 2011, 08:16:15 am »
Anyone used hip belt squats before? Real squats rule of course but I'm always looking for functional (not leg press) ways to overload the legs.

I have long mofo legs which make back squats pc dominant no matter how high the bar is. My quads are pretty weak compared to my hams and glutes. Its particularly annoying cause my VMOs need more work to minimise my tendonitis issues.

I front squat and BSS regularly but these don't allow the same balls out linear progression as a big back squat due to the difficulty of stabilising the weight. Wondering if BSS and front squat as primaries with hip belt squats as a secondary might be a good approach?

Any thoughts? I lift at home and building a couple of platforms ain't a thing.... I'm handy like bob the builder mang  8)

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Strength, Power, Reactivity, & Speed Discussion / I heart my trap bar
« on: April 12, 2011, 06:44:34 pm »
I bought a trap bar about 3 months ago. I spent a month before that agonising about whether it was a good idea, reading every forum post about trap bars I could etc. There's no gyms anywhere near me that have one so I couldn't try before buying.

At first I didn't like it much. Used it once and put it in the corner to collect dust. More recently though I've grown to really like it...... because;

* I can do a heap of concentric only lifting with it after squats or front squats. I use it every session now to beef out volume without trashing my nervous system
* I can do concentric only lifts without learning oly lifts or having a platform and bumpers (I'm learning them... just slow)
* I can get into a pretty upright position by pushing knees out, ass down and get decent leg volume after my back is stuffed from squats
* I can flip the bar over and get more ROM, just above paralell squat depth
* I can just drop the thing on grass
* I can also use it for more hip dominant pulls by standing back in the diamond a bit
* Its good for shrugs etc as well
* I have a few complete novices who come to use my home gym and even they can do compounds on it

I won't ever use it as my primary lift.... but its the best secondary out there for me  8)

That is all

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Strength, Power, Reactivity, & Speed Discussion / Safety Squat Bar
« on: March 18, 2011, 09:39:46 pm »
Hope this is the right place for this. What does everyone reckon about the safety squat bar (SSB)? I don't do machines or gimmicks but this thing gets awesome wraps pretty much everywhere.

Reason I'm interested is that I have really long legs and back squatting with a really upright torso is farkin impossible (at any kind of decent depth and weight). My best torso position is in the front squat. Actually I love front squatting. But I can't bear enough weight in front position to overload my legs proper.

SSB puts the weight out in front squat kinda territory and high on the back. Seems ideal for my goofy mechanics.

I've read that it can be easier on the back than a high bar back squat cause you can stay bolt upright, specially if you free the hands and hold an upright on the power rack. I've also heard it can be a mofo on the back. Not sure what to believe.


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Nutrition & Supplementation / Cutting on a reactive training program???
« on: February 12, 2011, 07:42:27 am »
Hey, please tell me if I'm being reasonably clever and economical with my training strategy or setting myself up for poor results.

I'm just winding up a bulking phase. I've added 20kg to my squat and 30kg to my deadlift but got up to a hefty 92kg in the process (though I was biggish to start with). I accepted the weight gain and kept it under some control using the Anabolic Diet.

The next 3 - 4 months I intend to cut fat. I do not believe I can make material strength gains on a calorie defecit. More power to those who say they can... I've tried before. But what I intend to do is pick a reactive focused program from the Vertical Jump Bible, which will be 2 days per week focused on plyos and speed work for 16 weeks. There's enough heavy lifting in there to maintain the strength I've built too, but not progress it very far.

I'm also going to join a new oly gym in my neighbourhood to learn the oly lifts (1 night a week). This will not only compliment the speed development but its a good time to be learning new lifts with an empty bar. I'll be ready to bulk again just as I get the lifts nailed.

So is it ok to be doing speed and plyo work on a calorie defecit? Seemed to me this work was all about training myself to recruit things fast and jump coordination. If its largely neuro-muscular in nature I should make vert gains while on a defecit, both from improvements in reactive and explosive ability and the drop in body weight.... yeah?

Hope that makes sense!

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Introduce Yourself / G'day from Australia
« on: February 12, 2011, 03:31:19 am »
Hey all. Cool site.

I'm from Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. I'm a beach volleyball player and train to improve my vertical out of sand primarily. I play outside left hitter. Big wind up, try to kill some dudes  ;D

I used to go to a commercial gym but got sick of bro's tying up the power rack for curling. So I went to night school, learnt to weld and built myself a rack at home. Now I have enough gear to do all my workouts at home. No waiting. I'll post some pics shortly.

I'm 5'9" and 92kg. No idea what my vert is but its heaps better than a year ago. I've squatted 160kg x 1, 145kg x 3 (low bar athletic stance, past paralell) and deadlifted 180kg x 3 (never done a 1rm). Just finished a vertical jump bible intermediate program and freestyling for a week while I decide whether to bulk or cut next. I'm carrying a bit of extra fat from bulking since November. Not serious fat, but I was always a chubby kid.

I have a few specific questions about jump training that I'll put up in the relevant sections. Look forward to sharing the love with you all  :)

EDIT - link to my home made power rack build

http://stronglifts.com/forum/f10/home-made-power-rack-21385.html


 

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