Aren't you like 6'3 84kg? How can you be 20% bodyfat at that height and weight???
lol.. i dunno. i just don't know. i try to think of it positively that when i'm 75kg i'll be leanish and then i can bulk a whole 10kg and still be only average weight for someone my height.
@adarqui haha damn you've got an active imagination. whatsup bro. i chose entropy cos I've been spending too much time learning probability stuff and it just popped up in my head when i was trying to think of a name. Nothing deep, sorry to say! btw i've been reading your posts on the geek board, I see you're a fellow hacker too. Good stuff.
How often are you squatting?3x a week. I try to sneak in a really light workout on one my rest days to make it 4x - but not all the time.
If your squat is stagnating, it can be that you are over-trained/not fully recovered. Make sure your squatting days, the day before you get enough sleep/eat well/ and rest or just light stuff for your lower body. Nothing CNS intensive the day before, unless you are well adapted. For me personally, I COMPLETELY rest before my lower body day, cuz without a fresh CNS, I can't squat for shit.
I'm really bad at taking good advice so help me out here - how would you change my program
weds: squat, bp 3x6, dl 1x5, bball match
friday: squat, bp 3x5, dl 1x5, bball, jumping, sprints
sunday: squat, bp 3x3, dl 1x5, bball/sprints
oh yeh and i do chins (and weighted ones) but lets not worry about them for now
if having two meaningful squat sessions, would I keep the 5s and 6s and skip the 3s? Or keep 3s and drop one of 6s or 5s? Must confess I love 6s, so i'm reluctant to drop them :P Dont care much for 5s except they're heavier than 6s and I find them challenging. 3s im neither here nor there.. dunno.
Just to another piece of info - i have no problem hitting the 6s and 5s, usually only struggle with the 3s on sunday cos i'm not well recovered from fridays death by hours of pickup ball..
You have a basketball match AFTER heavy lifting? You can still play like that?
Anyways, my advice is, take out your squats and dead lifts on Friday. Just do upper body and basketball/sprint/jump, but don't go too crazy with the volume on these. You should be fresher on each squat session and therefore, more likely to progress your strength.
Sunday you do sprints BEFORE squats right? If not, do so.Usually get the lifting out of the way, then head to the park. Is this bad? I figure I can go all out on the sprints that way, and not have to save myself to lift later, cos I don't know how to limit myself.
Of course I can't say for sure, cause I don't know you and I don't train with you, but it seems like you're not going that heavy on your squats. 6 reps being 20kg lighter than 3 reps is a lot, unless you're purposely trying to go lighter. Lifting heavy is important when dieting.
If your really frequency sensitive with squats, at least make Friday a light day (~60% 1RM). If you believe you really can recover with your current routine, and it's the basketball that's messing you up, reduce that.
You gotta reduce one or the other, or you'll keep on being chronically fatigued and not progress your squats. You said your squat stagnated for 3 weeks. At your strength levels, this should not happen, ESPECIALLY considering your doing pretty high frequency. So obviously something is wrong, and most likely overtraining/ lack of recovery so up to you. Take something out, if you want to keep progressing. Gotta sacrifice some things for the bigger goal. I know the feeling, I hate giving up basketball time, but if "CHASING ATHLETICISM" is your primary goal at this point, gotta make the necessary changes.
Sprinting/ Max effort jumping/ and other plyo's should be done with the same mentality as how us athletes treat heavy lifting days. Quality over quantity, and train at your peak.
Sprint BEFORE you lift, so you will train your body for sprinting at it's best. The reason it doesn't work the other way around is, lifting will hinder sprint performance for the day, but sprints (OBVIOUSLY GO FOR QUALITY AND NOT MUCH VOLUME) will not hinder your lifting, in fact it is a good warm up for max lifting. How much plyometric volume one can handle before risking lifting performance varies by individual but play it safe and go for low volume first and keep adding until you know your limits. More volume on sprints/plyo's/jumps is not worth it to risk lifting performance.
Yes, conditioning/fitness is athleticism as well. But when you watch the NBA, do you look at Rip Hamilton (one of the most conditioned players) and say "DAMN HE ATHLETIC"? Or do you look at Lebron James get his head on the rim and say "DAMN HE ATHLETIC". Most of the time it's the latter because that's what most people associate athleticism with in regards to basketball players. So, that's what I thought you meant. I still think you should put your vert goals ahead of your conditioning goals because getting well conditioned for basketball games, you can do any time in a short amount of time. You just basically show up to ball frequently and play hard and up goes your conditioning. Up to you though. If you feel you're too fat right now, then yeah get that weight off first.
post vid of dl form. it'd be odd for ankle mobility to be the limiting factor there.
Iono if i were you i wouldn't quit playing basketball. At least don't quit playing organised basketball coz it's a skill so overall you'll be a better player by just spending a lot of hours practicing on top of all the stuff you doing atm to improve your athleticism. While your playing you can still look for better teams. I can understand quitting pick up ball though. With pickup sometimes you get people that can play but 90% of the time you're just playing with scrubs who aren't gonna help you improve your game. Just my 2 cents.
Passing isn't the only way to get the ball in your hands, you can also grab the rebound and keep it. If i'm on a team and I don't feel like I'm getting enough touches I focus on getting the rebound. If the pace is too slow for your liking get the defensive rebound and push the ball yourself. You may need to work on your handle, if you do the drills here the prescribed # of times every day for a week you should have more than sufficient handle for pushing the ball. Bottomline, if they're not giving you the opportunities you deserve create your own opportunities and show them why they're better off with the ball in your hands.
I know you're easing back into things after an injury but I'd still focus on picking up the speed of your runs as opposed to worrying about distance. 7km/hr is very slow especially for someone who prefers an uptempo game. To give an idea of what that would require, the really fit guys on my team who can run up and down the court all day train intervals in the 13k-20k/hr range for 20-30min.
Anyway, good luck w/the team and keep up the hard work.
Can you bail on that team?
I know you're shopping around for teams more at your level but it sounds like those guys are really bringing you down. I'm sure you enjoy the organized play, counted points, refs calling fouls, shit like that...But is it really worth it? With your knees acting up the amount of time you can ball hard is reduced and I think you would benefit more from doing some solo drills.
saw your question yesterday about training w/a heavy basketball. I know a few basketball trainers and coaches and I've seen them used to improve ball handling skills, develop soft hands for catching passes in traffic and to increase upper body stamina at the end of workouts via layup drills, tipping drills or Mikan drills but I've never seen anyone use it to improve shooting. Personally, there's no way I'd use one for shooting because of the risk of it throwing off the mechanics of my shot.
Game sucked. My team mates played like pussies, not much more to say.
okay, compare the text book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euY_hdJc4nM
where there the elbow snaps violently upwards ending in an almost vertical arm
and durant at 01:29s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDhz_ZyMigI
he does not snap his elbow.. he straightens his arm but it ends up being somewhere between horizontal and vertical to his body.
my footage from yesterday below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56J2W8eP7g4
Consider the difference of leverages. Stephen Curry needs that shot to be released very quick and high so that his shot isn't bothered by more athletic, longer guards/forwards on him. Durant is basically 7 feet and has a very long wingspan, so his shot is very fluid and more natural-- following through towards the basket.
Btw chris, last night I watched a very long video [1] on shooting, and in it the coach says holding the ball in the fingertips is a mistake. He actually encourages his shooters to touch the ball with the whole hand for better stability and control.
Today for some reason I thought to try partial squats. Looking at the video, with my long limbs, it still looks like a legitimate exercise. I can imagine a small person not doing much work with partial squats, but for me, it looks like a genuine lift. I mean someone 5'7" even full squatting looks a bit like a ezy peazy curtsey to me, nevermind their partial. But discovering how wonderful partial squats are to do makes me question the whole zealous dogma surrounding full squats. But for me right now, the main advantage is that works well with restricted ankle ROM. I also felt it target my quads very well, which was surprising. Will explore them further. Wish I had sooner, I guess I could afford to be even more open minded than I thought I was when it comes to training.
Thought to look on youtube for how to tape an ankle. Was blown away with some of the stuff i came across. So I went to the pharmacy and came back with some new stuff, and as a result, I've taped my ankle really well for the first time, feels amazingly stable and firm, and it doesn't feel like I could hurt it by accident. Feel 100% safe and secure.
The only downside, and I was hoping it wouldn't happen, is losing much ROM that I can't squat down. I will have to lay off squatting and do a lot of RDLs and focus on upper body. I could even join a gym for a few weeks. They will have dumbells and machines there. Should be fun. Ideas on upper body training? Would like to add a few inches to my guns and look like somone who lifts. Thinking lots of bench press, overhead press, chinups, lat pull downs, rows and curls. Perhaps 4-5 times a week.
empirical evidence for benefit from ankle taping is scanty at best.
I would never play with a taped "fixed" ankle... no thanks, I don't want an injured knee because of it.I would have said the same thing but somehow taping it PROPERLY made a huge difference. I haven't had knee probs since taping it firmly.
Technical failure." What it basically means is that the set ends
when you can no longer do another correct rep. I'm a big believer in the technical failure concept. The set
ends at technical failure, not when you can't cheat through another rep. I'd always rather undertrain than
overtrain. Tomorrow is another day. The tortoise beat the hare. The healthy trainee lives to train another day
while the hurt guy goes to PT.
empirical evidence for benefit from ankle taping is scanty at best.
pretty general remark bro, in which case in particular? Preventative? Rehab? Chronic? Etc.
Sounds like a good plan, the only thing I would caution you of is using ONLY front squats for the lower body, especially with your build. It very often ends up in knee issues, especially when switching from a more bent over style squat. Push one glute/hamstring exercise up along with your front squat, and you can easily avoid these issues.
If you dont have problems loading the front squat due to the rack position, and keep some solid hamstring work in your program, it can work very well as your primary knee dominant lift in your set up.
front squat and RDL is a good combo.
only thing that i don't like with the FS is the limited leg loading you will get eventually because your lowerback/torso gives up a lot sooner.
this is my torso already getting beat at 345x1 FS, after doing a top paused single of BS using 425x1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u64a-e7HwaA
props to you for building your strength with the heavy compound lifts. tall + strong = :headbang:
Training
SQ 1x127.5, 3x117.5
FSQ 3x3x85 (PR)
Sprints 5x~30m (Best Time: 04:65, equalled previous PR)
Jumps - some running some standing (PR hit the rim 1.5" below my wrist. You'd think I'd be dunking easily by now :( )
BP 1x87.5, 8x75
RDLs 3x110, 8x87.5 (PRs)
10 sets chinups
Workout was too long. I need to figure out how to better schedule this stuff, I can't be spending all day in teh gym like this!!
If my standing reach is 98" - means I need 22" to hit the rim. I measure 9" at that point below my wrist, so does that mean my RVJ is 31"? I find that hard to believe considering the highly athletic Russell Westbrook has a max vert of 36" and we have a similar height and reach and i'm highly unathletic. 5" difference in vert isn't much esp considering i'm rocking too much bodyfat atm. Something has to be wrong somewhere??
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/russell-westbrook-5062/
Thinking about vertical. Once i've cut to a lean bodyweight of 80kg, I will add Plyos to my training. I'm confident that will be the best time to add them since i'll be light enough to spare my joints and tendons and hopefully by then my ankle will be fully healed and able to handle the stresses associated with plyometrics. I'll also hopefully have a 1.75BW back squat then (by maintaining my current backsquat of ~ 3x130kg BW), and optimistically a 1.5BW front squat, which would make me pretty well placed in terms of strength for dabbling in the elastic stuff. I hate how I move so slowly, and I can't see more strength improving my reaction speed and step. Hopefully that's not too long away now.
i think the depth you go to is more a factor in hamstring recruitment in the squat than stance width. If you are pushing your feet down through the floor in the majority of squats the start out of the bottom is all about hamstring contraction to start then becomes quad quickly as you approach parallel from the bottom. In the specialized low bar wide stance squat out of a monolift in high end gear, you are sticking your ass way back "into the hams and glutes" and literally doing a good morning from above parallel.
Takeaways are to hit hams more you need to go deep in squat AND push your traps through the bar (vice the feet through the floor) when squatting. On the other hand when pulling conventional to activate more quads you need to intiate pull with feet pushing down into floor.
Small but important details.
Nice bro. I remember when i got my first dunks I felt on top of the world. I didn't know you were an Aussie as well! We got a few on this forum haha. Congrats. :headbang:
Congrats, bro.
In my position, if you had 2 weeks to put 5-15kg on your squat, what would be the best way?
I woke up sore around the right glute area. That's new. I can't remember the last time that's happened. Using that as feedback, may mean I need to strengthen my glutes for jumping.
Could be a sign that your glutes are becoming stronger and providing a larger portion of the force in your jumps. That's what happened to me when I started doing box squats last year and my pc became dominant.
Training
FS 2x3x100 (PR)
BS 3x6x90
BP 3x6x75
pushups 2x10
cable rowz 2x10
Bodyweight: 84kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfLQDtDstvk
I'm halfway to my front squat goal now - another 20kg left til i'm using 1.5*BW for triples on front squats with my ideal bodyweight of 80kg.
I felt very weak today after the warmup with 100kg for a double on backsquats felt kinda heavy, but i forced myself to go ahead and front squat a PR after the backsquat warmups anyway. Feels good man. On a good day I would smoked it with perfect form, but today I was just happy to get my reps in. I think I have a couple more weeks of adding 5kg/week - and then i'll switch to 2.5kg/week. If i'm ambitious i'll hit 110kg by the end of August.
I owe a big one to Lance. I wouldn't have thought to break at the knees first on backsquats - it was the last thing i would have tried unless he had asked me to. So today I tried it even though i was skeptical. But im happy to say it has solved my good morning problem once for all. Even towards the end of the set with fatigue setting in, when I would have gotten folded over out of the bottom, it didn't happen, my positions were good even on the limit reps. I'm so blown away what a difference it makes.
Afterwards I analysed the video carefully, breaking at the knees first on backsquats (and fronts too for that matter) means my knee position is further forward; this SOMEHOW preserves my back angle out of the bottom of the hole, improving my positions at the bottom all the way to the top. It's genius. It takes an experienced person to make a suggestion like that and i'm very grateful to have received the wisdom. Thank you so much Lance :D
We have very similar squat issues, forward lean due to long limbs etc. I use the knee break too , it has helped me a lot, although i have a long way to go yet.
But the main reason i am posting is the front squat. That 100x3 is very tight! Drastically improving form while hitting 3RM PRs is no joke!
:highfive:
Glad that helped man, those front squats looked great too!@! :highfive:
I will never understand, in my lifetime, how it's possible for people to keep their elbows forward like that in that position.
two days is nothing, be patient. fat loss just seems to happen that way sometimes. see lyle's article, "of whooshes and squishy fat": http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html.
not usually a big fan of icing becos i dont wanna intefere with normal healing
lol tru bro. what if ur family is starving, is it ok to steal a loaf of bread to feed them? and what if they dont like bread, they want cigarettes, thats ok right? :P im trying to remember this absurd analogy i had running thru my mind earlier today
My lowtop basketball shoes arrived. They're pretty nice. But a bit too roomy. Might have to wear 2 pairs of socks, will try them out on sunday for pickup ball. I didn't really tighten the shoelaces but I could pretty easily slip my foot out of the shoe which was a bit disconcerting. Hopefully I can jump in these shoes without bothering my ankles like my other hightop boots! I just realised I haven't tried dunking in over 2 wks now. And it's been around the same since I ran sprints. I missed a session due to rain, and last wk due to injury. Will def do both jumping and running this wk, weather permitting.
re: fred hatfield: i stopped reading at, "Do NOT allow your hips to drift backward, your knees to drift inward or out beyond your toes, or your torso to incline forward," because it's physically impossible for you not to do those things. look at any picture of him squatting, he's doing every single thing on that list except letting his knees drift inward.
you're thinking about the positioning of the weight in completely the wrong way. look harder at the picture raptor posted. the lower the bar, the closer to the center of your torso, the closer to the center of your torso, the more of your torso needs to be on the other side of your center of mass for you not to fall backward.
getting stronger in the squat will make your squat go up, full stop. don't pick at the minutiae like that, you're getting distracted. just work on getting stronger, both of those squats look fine.
Btw i realised that what I thought was a groin strain is actually probably my quads. It was fairly high up my leg so easy to confuse. The reason I mention this is, it makes sense that my leg strength has been lower this wk for that reason. By that I mean the front squats have been a lot harder than they should have been (not being able to triple 105 maybe cos its heavy, but 100 and 85? yeah thats def odd).
The other thing is today i was practicising squats and trying to figure out a way to make my backsquat more upright and athletic. I tried putting a plate under my heels, and using a highbar position (incidientally this makes no difference whatsoever to my backsquat form whether its highbar or lowbar placement). But I can't do it, no matter what I try my back isn't upright its always always angled as usual.
(http://s9.postimage.org/jll5u0asv/bsvsfs.png)
What I dont understand and i'd be grateful if someone can point it out to me, why can't I get my backsquat to be similar to my front squat? What is it about putting the bar on my back which makes this impossible? I can do an upright looking front squat - but all my backsquats regardless of stance, bar placement, knee break and so on makes no difference.
Knees point ahead?
Wish me luck going lower than half squat depth with my knees pointing straight forward...
That looks pretty good to me considering your levers.
If you want to remain more upright in your squat, start with the weight centered more towards the heel a little. This will enable you to push the knees a little farther forward, without getting onto the toes and affecting the knees in a negative way.
The position you have there in the hole is a world away from a 90 degree torso low bar hump squat, and will generate tons of quad/glute activity!
Knees point ahead?
Wish me luck going lower than half squat depth with my knees pointing straight forward...
I think its a fine idea if you want to switch to high bar, but keep plenty of direct ham work in your program so your knees dont start bugging out.
The low bar position is easier on many peoples knees and helps the imbalance issues that many have, but should still be done in a similar manner to a high bar squat and intentionally made into a deadlift so you can lift more weight.
I dont think that picture is optimal for everyone, it was only to show that there are many different opinions on squats than what rippetoe preaches has to happen.
I think its a fine idea if you want to switch to high bar, but keep plenty of direct ham work in your program so your knees dont start bugging out.
Definitely, i'll not stop doing RDLs, they're always staying in my training now regardless of what squats i'm using.QuoteThe low bar position is easier on many peoples knees and helps the imbalance issues that many have, but should still be done in a similar manner to a high bar squat and intentionally made into a deadlift so you can lift more weight.
ive been having knee problems lately but never had them when i did only LBBS. I think from bad reps on the FS. Understood though, i'll keep that in mind.
Thanks again lance.
Also that picture (raptors) was drawn by lon kilgore. i can't remember who drew the 2nd one but it might have been kono but i could be wrong
also, didnt see your question earlier on chest/hip drive, but I like the cue of "driving the floor away from you". Think of staying tight and upright on the way down, then push the floor away from you, while maintaining the torso position. This seems to work the best for most imo.
What are your top 5 priorities or goals in order 1-5?
What are your top 5 priorities or goals in order 1-5?
1. Get down to 10% bf (prob around 80kg bw)
2. Get bench unstuck and progressing smoothly towards 120kg (1.5bw)
3. front squat 1.5bw triple
4. Jump higher, move quicker on the court, well conditioned
5. Add 2" to my biceps so I look like I lift
(http://i.imgur.com/NXUFe.png)
ok guys tell me why its stupid or what i should fix .. or do differently
also shud i be doing PENDLAY ROWS? What day?
Anything else i shud add or remove
2. I'll add the extensions as bench assistance
3. I'll try doubles and singles. Should I aim for around ~10 reps total? 15?
5. The only one I FEEL in my arms is the cable curl, i like that cos it holds tension continuously like you said. But i recently started doing straight bar curls as well, 3x8x30kg and i'm thinking if I get that up to 3x8x60kg i shud see some growth from that alone too.
cool i'll do them when i have a workout that feels easy
cheers lance!
Think about it this way man, your body is getting into a position it needs to be to use the muscles that are the strongest, or the movement patterns its most familiar with.
In most cases, the lean happens when guys want to use their lower back more to aid the lift. Plenty of quad dominant people squat upright as hell, in fact, they tend to miss the lift very quickly with even a slight lean.
I havent read the article your referencing, but if he is talking about a low bar squat it would make more sense.its titled "Powerlifting, Year One" - by gary gibson if you're interested
That makes sense but are we on the same page. I'm not talking about the last half of the lift which is a definite GM. I'm talking about the segment consisting of moving out of the hole up to 1/4 squat position, which then finishes with the GM in the next segment. To get to the 1/4 squat position what musculature is responsible for the movement out of the hole. That's not the lower back is it. The last segment (GM) definitely is all back without doubt
In my video, at the 1/4 squat position after coming out of the hole, my back is fully horizontal. No doubt whatsover that the rest of the lift is all good morning. and if thats my body getting itself in a position to lift the weight then that's happening because the bar went fwd and i lost the back angle
its titled "Powerlifting, Year One" - by gary gibson if you're interested
When ppl do 1/4 squats, their back isn't horizontal obviously, but if it was, then the lift wud not be a quad dominant movement. but in my case with a horizontal back, it was all GM, no quad. I think Gary is wrong anyway, quads dont move the bar out of the bottom of a LBBS. And in later years he changed his mind on the LBBS and he thinks HBBS is better become its more leg dominant than is LBBS
or simply having not placed a priority on staying upright long enough for it to become habit yet, and having learned "drive your hips up" vs staying tall and driving the body up as a unit, chest and shoulders up first, in the way you do in any athletic movement in history.
or simply having not placed a priority on staying upright long enough for it to become habit yet, and having learned "drive your hips up" vs staying tall and driving the body up as a unit, chest and shoulders up first, in the way you do in any athletic movement in history.
The other day you gave me the tip to have the weight back on my heels when starting a squat, which was a great tip because im realising i wasn't even upright and actually leaning fwd at the top when about to start squatting down. I guess I have to work very hard to correct these patterns cos they've become ingrained. What I'd give to start from scratch but with better squat instruction!
prob obvious to you lance but when you look at the right pic, if that guy kept going deeper, his back wud get more vertical (this is prob true for any squat regardless of bar placement?) as well as his knees more forward. of course that might not possible with low bar with hips way back. I only just made that connection recently. Am thinking when I switch to highbar, i'll work on mobility so my squats are deep and upright.
and drive your chest and shoulders, not your hips.
The worst part imo of all that is driving your hips up vs driving YOU up. What happens most of the time, in that picture if he were to go lower, he would simply get more leaned over, and keep the same or very similar knee angle.
Looking at your front squat, I dont think mobility will be your issue, I think motor learning and getting stronger around the knee will have to take place to really make you comfortable with it. You can squat pretty upright with a low bar position too, and this is not a bad way to do it, you have to groove the squat differently though than your typical low bar, and drive your chest and shoulders, not your hips.
Here's my argument for (F)SQ over BS
Have only been doing SQ for a short time but already
1. SQ is quickly catching up to BS, last wk I did 105x3 on SQ vs 110x2 on BS - very little to differentiate them
2. SQ form is better than BS form
3. progress in BS comes at the cost of form - squatmornings happen because legs are weak and back is much stronger, lighter backsquats do nothing for legs, and heavier backsquats are too much for legs and eaten up greedily for breakfast by much stronger back
4. SQ is remedial for squatmorning BS pattern - it fixes that and it teaches uprightness which will carry over to BS, in fact already has to some degree
Here's my argument for (F)SQ over BS
Have only been doing SQ for a short time but already
1. SQ is quickly catching up to BS, last wk I did 105x3 on SQ vs 110x2 on BS - very little to differentiate them
2. SQ form is better than BS form
3. progress in BS comes at the cost of form - squatmornings happen because legs are weak and back is much stronger, lighter backsquats do nothing for legs, and heavier backsquats are too much for legs and eaten up greedily for breakfast by much stronger back
4. SQ is remedial for squatmorning BS pattern - it fixes that and it teaches uprightness which will carry over to BS, in fact already has to some degree
fwiw, youre not nearly the only one thats come to this conclusion. As long as youre keeping balance in your legs with the hams and quads, go for it.
Here's my argument for (F)SQ over BS
Have only been doing SQ for a short time but already
1. SQ is quickly catching up to BS, last wk I did 105x3 on SQ vs 110x2 on BS - very little to differentiate them
2. SQ form is better than BS form
3. progress in BS comes at the cost of form - squatmornings happen because legs are weak and back is much stronger, lighter backsquats do nothing for legs, and heavier backsquats are too much for legs and eaten up greedily for breakfast by much stronger back
4. SQ is remedial for squatmorning BS pattern - it fixes that and it teaches uprightness which will carry over to BS, in fact already has to some degree
fwiw, youre not nearly the only one thats come to this conclusion. As long as youre keeping balance in your legs with the hams and quads, go for it.
I much appreciate your by-needs approach to training. It's suprisingly refreshing in this world of hard and fast internet experts. From stumbling thru pitfalls ive grown wary of dogmatic 'you must do X or you are pussy' thinking which doesn't take into account what's best for a given individual. And done, i'll heed your refrain to keep hamstring work. Either an extra day of RDLs to make 2x weekly - or try to setup a makeshift GHR or just keep one day, probably wednesdays for backsquats.
RDLs and Front Squats are my two special lifts. They come easier to me, form is good, and I am progressing well while enjoying my training. Compared to conventional deadlifts and LBBS backsquats it's a world of difference. I'm going to stick with them and make them my bread and butter and see how far they take me in becoming athletic.
Today was a bad diet day. I blew it both meals, meal 1 - I had a slice of cake and about a bowl of creamy chicken pasta. Then for dinner I had another slice of cake after eating dinner. It doesn't sound like much when i've written it down, but that's on top of my usual meals. It just brings home the lesson I learnt earlier today - that while cutting I have no business touching any food with excess dietary fat. Pasta is ok but that rich pasta was bad. Dietary fat will just go right back as bodyfat. Eggs and lowfat milk fat is ok, even a teaspoon of butter for cooking is ok. What's not ok are fatty foods that do not belong in my day-to-day, nutrition as a (wannabe) athlete. Lesson learnt I hope. I want to salvage the week/month and still hit my goal of being ~82.5kg. Will need to lose a just under a kilo in 10 days. Should be do-able.
Btw I realised I've actually looked leaner about a month and a half ago even though fatter and weighed more! How does that work you ask? It's because I was doing a lot more cardio then. I was playing basketball regularly and that preferentially burns bellyfat for me (maybe not for everyone in general). So I've got that trick under my sleeve in my battle against bodyfat. I've also had good success in the past with keto diets - I lost the majority of my weight from a heavy ~250lb/110kg using low carb diets. Another weapon I've not yet used is using stimulants. I was hoping to get under 15% before pulling out any special tricks but we'll see how it goes, the option is always there. I'd rather save them for when I need them though. That way I still have them under my disposal to break plateaus.
appreciate the kind words man. We are glad to have you here man, I see big things coming from you in the future if you keep busting ass and training the way youve been. Keep up the good work in here, always like to read this log.
I think i'm close to moving from average to fitness in bodyfat
Ripped (<10%) --- Athletic (<13%) --- Fitness (<15%) --- Me --- Average (~20%) --- Fat (>20%)
I'll prob be in the "fitness" category when I get to 82kg. And athletic at around 80kg.
On a tangent, if I were to start doing a lot of cardio, my bellyfat would go down appreciably and i'd look a lot leaner but without changing my strength/weight ratio much. But i'll do that later, even though i'm sick of being fat :/
I think i'm close to moving from average to fitness in bodyfat
Ripped (<10%) --- Athletic (<13%) --- Fitness (<15%) --- Me --- Average (~20%) --- Fat (>20%)
I'll prob be in the "fitness" category when I get to 82kg. And athletic at around 80kg.
On a tangent, if I were to start doing a lot of cardio, my bellyfat would go down appreciably and i'd look a lot leaner but without changing my strength/weight ratio much. But i'll do that later, even though i'm sick of being fat :/
That's me too. We are the same bw, same bf, more or less same responses to diet/bulk.
But i never get unlazy enough to do my cardio. I also don't want to go below 82-83 kg, probably because i was weak and skinny all my life. So i end up cycling between 15-20% bodyfat / 85-90kg. 15% feels good for me, i could use some less belly slab but oh well...
Keep it up man , i enjoy this journal a lot, both the training progress and the insight/literature.
squat looked good man. :highfive:
Thanks raptor. Do you think if you jump faster you can jump higher? I try to get as much power out of the jump thats why i jump slow, i could try speeding it up and see what difference it makes. Will try that next time.
Also, i was thinking recently that I shud do some hang cleans as an assitance ex to build some traps for highbar squats. might kill two stones with one bird that way, if i can improve explosiveness as well. does that sound like a good idea? i'll prob leave the fancier plyo, jump specific stuff for when i've finished cutting and then maxed out on my squats though.
Good to see you're taking the common-sense approach of [cutting fat --> increase strength --> increase reactivity] to increase vert/athleticism. Intelligent training goes a long way.
How is not being able to hold a 10s plank even possible? Never met anybody that can't do it.
Core Stability
You'll also want to test your basic core stability.
TEST #1
PERFORM A PLANK: Get into a pushup position, then rest your forearms on the floor. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet (don't let your hips sag). Hold the position as long as you can. You pass if you can hold it for two minutes or longer.
(http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/images/frontplank.jpg)
You fail if you collapse before the two-minute mark, or if your hips dip at any point within that time frame.
TEST #2
PERFORM A SIDE PLANK: Turn onto your side and, keeping your body in a straight line (just as in the plank described above), rest your weight on your forearm. Hold the position as long as you can, then repeat on the other side.
(http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/images/sidebridge.gif)
You pass if you can hold the position for 90 seconds or longer.
You fail if you collapse before the time is up, or if your hips dip at any point within that time frame.
Fortunately, if you fail at either of those tests you can remedy the problem with the same exercises you used in the tests.
For the next 3-4 weeks, perform both tests 3 times per week, doing 2-3 sets of 30-second holds for each, and working up from there.
Ok i reviewed my time and it was 17s -slightly more than 10 but not significantly. This was a wobbly, struggling effort. It wasn't an effortless this-is-a-waste-of-my-time-i-could-do-this-all-day type of thing. I don't think I had good form either. Is it easy for the rest of you guys to do > 1 minute?
Yeah it depends. You could also do a russian plank... both Bret Contreras and Pavel demonstrated that one.
I tried it and got over 2 minutes easy.
Yeah it depends. You could also do a russian plank... both Bret Contreras and Pavel demonstrated that one.
Uh yea I don't have a kettle bell bro.I tried it and got over 2 minutes easy.
Ok thanks, if you've never done one before and managed 2 mins easy, then i've got some work to do. Will work up to 2 minutes over the next few wks.
Ok i reviewed my time and it was 17s -slightly more than 10 but not significantly. This was a wobbly, struggling effort. It wasn't an effortless this-is-a-waste-of-my-time-i-could-do-this-all-day type of thing. I don't think I had good form either. Is it easy for the rest of you guys to do > 1 minute?
Ok i reviewed my time and it was 17s -slightly more than 10 but not significantly. This was a wobbly, struggling effort. It wasn't an effortless this-is-a-waste-of-my-time-i-could-do-this-all-day type of thing. I don't think I had good form either. Is it easy for the rest of you guys to do > 1 minute?
Yeah, you need to work on your core strength. I think this is something that can be progressed easily, though.
Myself, I honestly get bored just doing minute after minute of planks so I weight mine, lol. I go for around 20+ seconds that way.
Yeah it depends. You could also do a russian plank... both Bret Contreras and Pavel demonstrated that one.
Uh yea I don't have a kettle bell bro.
Yeah it depends. You could also do a russian plank... both Bret Contreras and Pavel demonstrated that one.
Uh yea I don't have a kettle bell bro.
fucking LOOOOOOOOOOOOLL!
What about carrying bags etc for example for school? Some people always carry on the same side all the time, right or left... it can develop some imbalances.
"ideal" is kind of hard to define with any exercise. so much depends on body mechanics. your "ideal" squat will look different from mine, even (especially?) if you rendered us each as stick figures, because we're such different shapes.
still, it'd be cool to have something like dartfish but combined with moving versions of the still images vag creates of his squat. watch the stick figure move up and down, and watch the bar path. i'd pay $4.99 for that.yep .. working on it :)
HBBS is good much better than LBBS because it keeps me upright out of the bottom. It's fixed the squatmorning problem but there is still work to be done.
Things to Try Next Week
From reading clarence I have a plan for what to do next. I have to do slow perhaps even paused, heavy backsquats out of the bottom. And ensure I never let my body go fwd out of the hole. It's as simple as that. That's how i'm going to fix my squat. I know kingfisher might not approve because athletic squats aren't done slowly - but my problem is STRENGTH - and specifically strength in the bottom position.
Once i've got good positions at the bottom and out, I can work on getting faster. Bouncing is easy and will come naturally once weakness are addressed and positions are good.
When core fatigue sets in, the belt can be used to do additional sets for further volume for leg strength.
Another big weakness I have which the belt wont help with, is upper back/chest dropping. That needs desperate remedial work. So have to do the rows and hang cleans. May just add an extra session JUST for that. Perhaps evenevery day I train.
For the (front) squat I need to drive my elbows up out of the hole. I did this on my last front squat set, and lol it worked - but my body found the position unfamiliar (it is used to upper back rounding) that I just stalled and then failed! (my first fail btw). I think part of the reason that happened is because I "forgot" to keep pushing with the legs at the same time, because I was concentrating so hard on the elbows? Maybe.
If I do the above and i've got good positions out of the bottom of the hole, and my core is strong, my upper back and chest are strong - then i'll be ready to push my squat (front & back) up aggressively. That should happen, at the latest when i've finished cutting and ready to gain some mass. Hopefully before that though.
form is the very first thing you should be focusing on.. so you have the right idea here.
do not pay attention to the weight on the bar. just make sure there is enough load there to push you down and give you a challenged concentric.
What people discover at this moment is a basic physiological fact: the legs are NOT stuck like stilts under the torso. Rather, the torso is slung between the legs. As you go down, leaning back with arms straight, you will discover one of the true keys of lifting: you squat “between your legs.” You do not fold and unfold like an accordion, you sink between your legs. Don’t just sit and read this: do it! To develop the ability to squat snatch or squat clean hinges on this principle!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dtaWqzV6d7M/TB45nbhN4II/AAAAAAAAAtY/MyuICqOC7ZA/s1600/DSC04689stubb.jpg)
See the homeboy above, that V - I had that visible earlier this year when I was playing basketball despite weighing about 4-5kg more. That means i've lost 4kg of bodyweight and since i'm stronger and more muscular now than then, it has been 4-5kg of bodyfat.
How do you guys explain that? Cal in vs Cal out sermons can't explain it to me. I'm willing to accept I was burning more calories then than now. But i also know i was eating more then than now. So how does that affect balance? Now think about this for a second. I've maintained a caloric deficit to lose 4-5kg of bodyfat, so im definitely in a deficit, but yet that V above, yea I dont have it right now!!
I WONT cut more calories from my diet. I'm practically eating 2 square meals, 2000-2700 calories a day. I wont drop below 2000 and if you tell me to cut more than that. I REFUSE TO CUT ANY MORE CALORIES. My metabolism will get fucked up if I have a bigger deficit from diet than I already have and that's no way to live.
But I dont need to cut any mroe calories because there are other ways to burn bodyfat than thru diet. Aerobic steady state and HIIT will do that very well. I know that from experience.
I think I have it figured out tho. It's the mix of aerobic and hiit that I need to add. And sensibly, not 10+km of cardio a week like I did last week. No it has to be a reasonable amount. And it has to be both aerobic and hiit. I cant' and wont go back to playing basketball (cos then i cant train properly), so i'll have to be really smart about this.
tentative plan
daily 500m-600m fasted TM (~5-10mins, weekly progression: add 0.1km/hr and 50m)
1x a week HIIT (tabata mountain bike), steady state cardio (30-60 mins riding mountain bike)
3x a week - ~3mins/session - TM warmups - before weights, stick to about 3 minutes, not too high intensity, just get warm and blood flowing.
1x week pickup basketball (max of 3 games, and no more than 2 games back to back).
Playing pickup, I wont/cant play 2-3 hours straight like i did sunday because then training gets fucked up.
But basically i'm going to keep a bit of daily aerobic work, nice and gentle, pure fat loss, little impact on lifting. And slowly ramp it up over time. Then ride a bike trying to simulate my magic fat loss from basketball (mix of HIIT and aerobic) by doing tabata sprints and then just riding casually for 30-60mins.
On off days, i might go for a long walk but not a treadmill and maybe shoot hoops. dunno maybe.
I don't want to do much running/jogging cos it fucks up my knees/ankles and tires out my calves/hamstrings/quads and makes for shitty squat sessions. So i'm going to try riding a bike instead. Hopefully that will give the conditioning without the side-effects i just mentioned. It also gives me a chance to go outdoors since i have a nice bike trail 5 minutes near my place.
I want a nice balance of aerobic (2x a week) and HIIT (1x a week). Just what I had when I played basketball earlier in the year and saw good spot reduction of belly fat.
-There's no magic fat loss from basketball.
-Cutting under 2000 calories doesn't fuck up your metabolism to any significant degree.
-Other ways to burn bodyfat other than diet? Other things help, but how effective these other things are comes down to your diet...
-There's no such thing as spot reduction.
-As for an explanation of your "argument" above, it's impossible to tell from the information you gave. There can be numerous factors involved.
-Your plan will probably work for getting you leaner, that's not what I'm arguing. I'm just saying your facts are totally wrong.
Quote-There's no magic fat loss from basketball.
-Cutting under 2000 calories doesn't fuck up your metabolism to any significant degree.
-Other ways to burn bodyfat other than diet? Other things help, but how effective these other things are comes down to your diet...
-There's no such thing as spot reduction.
-As for an explanation of your "argument" above, it's impossible to tell from the information you gave. There can be numerous factors involved.
-Your plan will probably work for getting you leaner, that's not what I'm arguing. I'm just saying your facts are totally wrong.
lol aren't you pushing the calories-in dogma a little too far dude? I agree its the main thing if you eat like crap it probably doesn't matter what you do training wise, you'll still stay fat. but that's not my situation, im eating 95% clean and under maintenance, so i've got that in check. I'm not someone spending 10 minutes on the treadmill and then going to have double whoppers "for recovery" post workout!
basically my argument is this, whenever i've played basketball seriously, i'd be unwittingly doing HIIT and aerobic training and this burns bodyfat. Period. And it does this regardless of whether or not i'm in a caloric surplus or deficit or maintenance or whatever. That's my experience. When I was in university i was on a high caloric intake and yet i was very lean because of basketball. And recently, earlier this year when I played basketball (as compared to not doing any HIIT or aerobic exercise) - i burnt bodyfat - bellyfat to be specific even though my caloric intake was slightly surplus to maintenance.
But now i'm on a caloric deficit while not playing basketball i've lost 4-5kg of bodyweight and yet I have more bellyfat than I did when i weighed more and wasn't cutting but was playing basketball. 'm not generalising to everyone out there, just describing my personal experience.
And btw there is spot reduction but not in the way you are thinking of. For example if you take someone very obese, and you put them on a low carb diet and have them doing cardio, they'll take off belly fat preferentially according to the science. Or even if you take some one obese who is sedentary, the experts say first goes the visceral bodyfat and then the subcutaneous. Is that spot reduction in the sense of someone doing high rep bench press to burn man boobs? Not quite the same thing
But if you're going to talk about facts you have to admit that aerobic and HIIT are good at burning fat and introducing them to someone who doesn't do them will have a fat loss effect (provided diet is in check which it is for me but i'm not getting the results i want with just diet alone)
Where the hell in that quote of my post am I further pushing the calorie in vs out concept?
All I'm saying is, burning 100 calories from jacking off = burning 100 calories from HIT/basketball/cardio/whatever... There can be a myriad of reasons to explain your argument, but to think basketball has had magical effects on your fat loss efforts is wrong.
Just play basketball and keep eating relatively clean. Do whatever your body responds well to. If that's playing basketball than play basketball. As long as you eat pretty clean and exercise than you'll lose fat without having to worry about excessive dieting. Plus eating more helps for playing sport and gyming.
Maybe you stay a ton on your heels or something?
Nah man I use oly shoes and never come up on my toes.
Have you ever tried putting a block under your TOES (not heel). Wonder what will do for quad activ
Grats on getting under 180 man, keep up the good work !@! I wouldnt worry about dexa right now, use the scale and the mirror. Measure your WAIST regularly, that will give you good feedback for a long period of time.
(http://i.imgur.com/epITU.png)
Conditioning will be on a mountain bike. I'm thinking tabata sprints 3 mins and 30-60mins w/o sprinting. For variety or in bad weather, once a month i'll play basketball with my old team.
Upper body assistance will be an exercise from chinups, banded chinups, curls, widegrip bench press, push presses, cable curls, cleans or rows.
I'm doing descending sets for backsquats and bench press btw.
When I feel like it, I can take Tue or Sat completely off.
Time to find those abs, great form, become stronger and powerful, jump higher and run fast.
:headbang:
Well , i am not a diet expert but there is a missing link here. What was your bodyfat percentage before the cut?
BTW, i don't mean to insult you or call you fat or something. I am not muscular either and i have a very hard time going under 15% or a 35'' waist. I was jsut very surprised to see you at 20% in the middle of what looks like a well planned and sucessful cut.
And why was it that high? BTW, i don't mean to insult you or call you fat or something. I am not muscular either and i have a very hard time going under 15% or a 35'' waist. I was jsut very surprised to see you at 20% in the middle of what looks like a well planned and sucessful cut.
Well , i am not a diet expert but there is a missing link here. What was your bodyfat percentage before the cut?
BTW, i don't mean to insult you or call you fat or something. I am not muscular either and i have a very hard time going under 15% or a 35'' waist. I was jsut very surprised to see you at 20% in the middle of what looks like a well planned and sucessful cut.
If we work backwards, my bodyfat at 86-87kg would have been around 22%. I thought it was over 20%, so i wasn't too much off. I never got a DEXA though. If I had, it might have showed I was maybe 24-25%. I don't know.QuoteAnd why was it that high? BTW, i don't mean to insult you or call you fat or something. I am not muscular either and i have a very hard time going under 15% or a 35'' waist. I was jsut very surprised to see you at 20% in the middle of what looks like a well planned and sucessful cut.
No offense taken. Why it was that high. Good question! I got measured twice with a 7point caliper test as follows:
+ 100kg BW - bodyfat 25% (fat mass of 25kg, lean mass of 75kg).
+ Charts and BMI measurements for my height and bodyweight also suggested the same thing.
So that means at 85kg, i should have been 12% bodyfat.
When you were at 100kg there's no way you could've been 35% bodyfat. If you were 35% bodyfat you'd have a 45+ inch waist. If your waist was 40 inches at 100kg than your bodyfat would've been around 23.
With that said I completely agree with what you've said about cutting down and getting lean so you know where you're actually at. You're defs getting leaner though so obviously what you're doing is working but yeh I guess i'm just trying to say that even with meticulous attention to detail and calorie deficit you're still going to lose muscle when you cut it's inevitable.
With the weather warming up, i'm feeling good about being lean, the idea of a summer without being fat is a novel thing.
Hmm I wonder if this has any ramifications for backsquat. Perhaps I could do some warmup RDLs before squatting and see what difference it makes.
i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that low back strength is not what's limiting your PC. 75kg is light weight. you can DL way, way, way more than that even with solid form.
post video.
Thats better man, and yea, the bar will sit right over the joint of the big toe in most cases. You sweep it into the hip as you "press" the floor. You still have a little hitch there but its getting better, nice.
Thats better man, and yea, the bar will sit right over the joint of the big toe in most cases. You sweep it into the hip as you "press" the floor. You still have a little hitch there but its getting better, nice.
I was thinking I could do better. I'm not getting that pop out from hips in my PCs the way I do from my hang cleans. I could probably hang clean more than I could PC right now, because my PC form is so bad. Haha. I'll keep working on it! :)
^ yes, its one fluid movement, and the most important part of the first pull is getting it into a good spot for the second pull. There is an old saying that goes the first pull cant make the lift, it can damn sure fuck it up though. The second pull IS the lift. And youre spot on with not chasing the barbell up into the air. Youre trying to move the load AWAY from you, not go chase it.
Mccauley has another video where he shows at the end of second pull, youre actually SHORTER than you are standing straight up.
vids are private, can't see 'em.
vids are private, can't see 'em.
try now
Nope, is it a character from there? I'm saving HP for when I have a child to watch it with haha.
I looked and I can't find anything! There are of course hardware timing gates (i think this is the technical term) but they cost a fair bit. And i dont need anything fancy just smething I can roll out on my own as a personal project. There are a whole bunch of fitness related apps out ther but nothing for timing sprints unfortunately.
ya man i'd rather be able to do it accurately on my phone too.
nice man sounds like a fun project.
i can't even get that android simulator to run on any of my systems.. really crappy specs.. takes like 20 minutes for it just to load up.
what lance said. also, it seems kind of weird to go for a 3RM pr, a 2RM pr, and then a 1RM pr. i'd pick one of those three and focus on that for the workout. personally that tends to be 1RM because it's the most fun. but if you've put enough effort in to pr for three reps, what makes you think you'll have enough left in the tank to set a real 1RM pr?
THE BEST LAID SCHEMES O' MICE AN' MEN
GANG AFT A-GLEY
robert burns. that poem is awesome, the opening lines are just awesome:
wee sleekit, cowrin' tim'rous beastie,
oh what a-panics in thy breastie?
thou need na start awa sae hasty,
wi' bickerin' brattle!
i wid be laith t'rin an' chase thee
wi' murd'rin' prattle!
cheers seifullaah73 ;)
(http://i.imgur.com/iS8cm.png)
dinner which is my 2nd meal of the day. Today it is rice w/ snow peas, potato & caulliflower and chicken, banana protein shake in lowfat milk.
This is pretty much how I eat most days, so i'm not starving myself, I just avoid the junk and let the caloric deficit do its work. Maybe when i'm closer to 10% i might have to eat like a bodybuilder w/ steamed veges and chicken breasts, but so far I haven't needed to thankfully. I owe most of my success to getting my breakfast right 100% and sticking to it day in day out without fail.
damn looks good..
im absolutely starving right now, that didn't help any.
entropy, did the new forum mess up your sig? i remember you had a picture in your sig.. or did you just take it out?
peace man
damn looks good..
im absolutely starving right now, that didn't help any.
hah sorry!Quoteentropy, did the new forum mess up your sig? i remember you had a picture in your sig.. or did you just take it out?
peace man
Nope my sig was getting a bit long but it still works w/ images, i just checked.
Also have you watched dexter ep1? spoiler: omg so crazy. you almost feel sorry for deb. they have done an amazing job with the start of the season.
THE BEST LAID SCHEMES O' MICE AN' MEN
GANG AFT A-GLEY
robert burns. that poem is awesome, the opening lines are just awesome:
wee sleekit, cowrin' tim'rous beastie,
oh what a-panics in thy breastie?
thou need na start awa sae hasty,
wi' bickerin' brattle!
i wid be laith t'rin an' chase thee
wi' murd'rin' prattle!
Sets Reps Weight
6 6 85
7 5 90
8 4 95
10 3 102.5
6 6 90
7 5 95
8 4 100
10 3 107.5
6 6 95
7 5 100
8 4 105
10 3 112.5Never seen this before. I think it's just my scale being funny. It probably can't differentiate weights around 80kg accurately and it's appearing to round to 80.
Bodyweight: 80.6kg / 177.69lb (PR)
(http://i.imgur.com/97NqE.png)
The thing that kills me if I saw this progress yesterday I would never have broken my diet lol. The whole reason I lost motivation was out of frustration at the lack of progress on the scale. Anyway i'll start from scratch today, lets finish this thing.
Why do we fall sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up
Nice ideas there adarqui. Reminds me of batman -Quote from: Alfred PennyworthWhy do we fall sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up
Of course it explains why after a day of falling off the diet, you sometimes re-double the efforts the following days in trying to get back on track. Nice.
You're right about mind playing games - my thinking was I had stalled out, that to go further in my cut i'd have to cut more calories (scary) or train more (my poor knees) or worse take supplements (while still a long way from when i should need them ~10%).
RE: fasted walking, yeah. I think it might be partially because i'm not hydrated enough and my joints aren't well lubricated or whatever? I should try walking while hydrated see if that helps but I tend to just jump into it while hungry/thirsty.
One day i'll join a gym and then i'll have a bunch of different ways to train without beating up my knees. I'd use a SSB to hit my quads hard without breaking my knees with too much high bar/front squats. I'd use a bike or rower and get my fitness levels up without the knee beatup. I might even do it over nov-dec if i'm dangerously close to being lean and strong as a reward for my hard work lol.
Training
FS 3Fx102.5, 1Fx102, 2x97.5, 3x95, 4x92.5, 4x92
BS 2x90, 3x95, 5x90, 6x85, 8x80 (PR), 10x75 (PR)
Sprint 5x30m (best attempt was inside 1m away from finish line at 4 seconds)
SVJx5 (best attempt hit the rim at my wrist, that might be a new PR? dunno - doesn't matter)
FS notes:
I wanted that 4x102.5 but it wasn't to be. It's defied me the last 3 attempts but one day i'll get it. Actually, next time go for 4x102. I might have a better chance of getting that than 102.5.
Form was great. YES YES. Did not hurt my knees once, i've got this shit mastered now. I'll upload a vid after coming back from sprints but things are going well for me now. No there are no PRs but they will come eventually - be patient - for now just know I have progressed in technique and depth and if I keep working hard PRs will come.
BS notes:
High rep sets are a revelation. Im using a high bar placement but without fwd knee travel of HBBS squats. So basically it's a hybrid of sitting back and high bar placement. Net result is no squat mornings, and no knee discomfort. It's the holy grail. And I go plenty deep to stimulate glutes and hams while giving adductors plenty of work as well.
For the first time I am on top of squatting. I am not going to bother with any half deadlifts (so called RDLs) or full deadlifts (so called back-snap-shit-uppers). Just plain old PC dominant backsquats and glute dominant front squats. I still don't know how to make my quads big and strong - but for now i'm nudging them along ever so gently.
brb sprinting
Sprinting & Jumping notes:
Keep in mind my running and jumping was done straight after ~40-50 reps of squatting but ..
I started off rusty but my last sprint felt great, i was quick off the ground and finished strong. Came close to hitting my 30m in under 4s goal but not yet. Maybe once i'm closer to 10% i'll crack it. Yes i will and then i'll be athletic!
Jumping, i haven't jumped in like 2 months? Feels like ages. Anyway i was surprised that even after not having jumped for so long, I could easily hit the rim at the wrist off a SVJ. That was cool. When i'm a legit under 80kg - then i'll go to the gym and test my leap properly. I'm loath to jump maximally on concrete because it bothers my ankle every time so I didn't try any max attempt RVJs or any RVJs for that matter. That makes a 30" SVJ? Cool but I want more.
So good training today. I saved the best for last, made a judgement call not to do conditioning (HIIT or SSA) today. I'll do it on teh weekend that way I wont beat up my CNS/joints too much today.
I figured out how to make my squats more quad dominant. Paradoxically it means cutting depth to just around parallel. This is what I was doing earlier with my front squats when I set my old PRs. Back then, I always felt the lift in the quads. That's no longer the case now that I go a lot deeper, it's all glutes, they power me out of the bottom. Now at this point if I was perfectly setup, quads would be in a good position to contribute and finish the lift. That's not happening, I think because the bar has moved fwd, so quads cant contribute from that disadvantageous position. But cut depth and the quads can be perfectly positioned to drive the bar up since there is no fwd movement. I think I will experiment with depth. I like deep squats. And I will keep doing them. But I will also look at cutting depth when wishing to make the movement more quad dominant, perhaps as an assistance.
ya i notoriously under-hydrate.. i used to underhydrate on purpose too, for dunking.. lose an easy ~5lb water or so, one more inch.
but ya, when im underhydrated, i'm much more achy.. since you're doing fasted walks, down 8-16oz of some propel-like liquids.. it's basically 0 kcal so that's not a problem.
ssbar is great.. i no longer have to worry about my shoulders while squatting & it feels more like a front squat, which i've always loved but hated racking the weight, especially when i was really lean/skinny, would kill my bony shoulders lul.. ssbar seems to hit "core" pretty hard too, it's definitely a great investment.
can you swim good? i've never used swimming as a form to improve fitness, but it makes sense.. probably would be a great tool for people like us who have to be careful with join inflam/various aches+injuries.. i doubt i could swim good enough to get a decent workout.. i can swim fine but i've never felt tired when trying to swim 'fast+long'.Funny you should mention swimming. I learnt to swim last summer and i was thinking of getting back into it now that it's warm again. But the only problem is for me swimming is an anerobic activity lol, im not a great swimmer (probably worse now that im less of a whale than I was last summer!). But i'll get back into it, and if I adapt and it becomes aerobic, i agree its a great way to get some extra conditioning in. Good suggestion. I'll ask my homies if they wanna join me again this summer.
one thing that always made me uber-achy was performing jumps after squatting, unless my volume was very low (such as with the crazy high frequency ltmp/rested max stuff).
nice on that SVJ.. good sign after not jumping or 2 months.
ya that's why I always half'd.. saved my hips/knees & hit my quads hard.
one other possibility is eventually investing in chains or LIGHT bands.. I used to hit quads pretty hard by going deep (light) and then really loading up the weight on those chains.. so quads would really have to work once I got above parallel.. accommodating resistance is definitely effective for improving 'the best of both worlds'.
otherwise, you could just do your deep sets and then just do one progressive workup above parallel.Will try this next time I squat. Thank you.
PEaCE!
I hate you LBSS.
Why do you worry about all that at your strength levels?
Troll factor = me being a fan.
+1
Also I think you need to consider the troll factor of doing banded squats with 60kg and pissing off the hardcore strength guys who care so much about what other ppl do in the gym
just remember that if you haven't made it to 175 in exactly a week, YOU HAVE NOT FAILED.
I'd go for the 4x102.5 just think it's only a 500 gram difference from the 102. Plus it'll give you the confidence to knock off the heavier triples and single you want to do.
VICTORY.
:highfive: :highfive: :highfive: :highfive:
If I remember right, one of your knees used to bug you. Any issues with that recently?
If I remember right, one of your knees used to bug you. Any issues with that recently?
Hey long time. Yeah my right knee sometimes acts up. I've kind of figured out how to keep it under control. I used to do daily treadmill walking which was a problem. But with discussing it adarqui and others I realised I wasn't well hydrated when I was doing those walks in the morning. So i've been drinking more water before fasted TM. That has helped. The inner bro-scientist things it lubricates the joints or something like that. The other thing which I think has made a difference is i've dropped the incline from 2 to 1. I just do much longer sessions now which is probably better for fat loss anyway. Like 20-40mins compared to the paltry 7-10mins I used to do.
In terms of lifting - my technique was a problem. I was bouncing off my knees at the bottom of a squat. I have fixed that now by using my self-discovered cue of bringing the bar down into my ankles. When It goes there, there is no tension on my knees and I can bounce of the hole pain free. So these two things have made a huge difference.
Forgot to mention. The other big change I made was ceasing high bar squats. I like them, just doing them AND front squats, it's a bit redundant. And together they probably beat up my knees way too much. So now I do a PC dominant squat which is much easier on the knees while continuing with front squats which I love.
Having said that, i'm going to get a pair of Rehband knee sleeves. I don't have massive robust knee joints, so for someone like me, not genetically predisposed to heavy lifting, prevention is better than regret later. So i'll get some knee sleeves and keep my knees nice and warm and secure while I do my shitload of squatting (50 reps, 3x a week!).
(http://i.imgur.com/IHRA0.png)Cutting from 5th JulyBW=78.75kg / 173.834 lbGOAL ACHIEVED!
Start: 86-87kg (~190lb), >20% bodyfat
End: 79kg (~174lb) <15% bodyfat
All in all, im happy with the results. Have got a lot leaner and lighter and i suspect i'm only a few kilos away from being at an athletic bodyfat level (~12%).
After this 2 week maintenance break, i will have time for another 6 weeks of cutting - which should permit getting to 10% mid dec.
I will post regular bodyweight updates to keep myself honest and don't let my bodyweight drift up while on the maintenance break. Feel free to yell at me if i start slipping!
I want to test my vertical and sprint time while fresh now that i'm lighter and finished cutting. May do it today but i've got a lot of work to do over the next coupla days. Sigh, we'll see if I can finish up and take an hour or two to drive down to the gym to jump. If weather permits i'll sprint today though. Failing that i'll just do it later towards the end of the week, even if I'm a bit more fatigued then. I expect to gain some rebound bodyweight after doing a carb reload though, cos i'm fairly glycogen deprived i suspect, but we'll see what happens on the scale over the next coupla daysd following the refeed (sometime today).
That was a great cut. Losing 7kg and losing 5+% bf is really good.
Success! Great work man. :headbang:
I really like the chart you use on your log, really helpful.
(https://cuces.soc.srcf.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1309300880715.jpg)
How did your strength evolved over all this process?
both squats look great man, nice work.
Hey bud, I am about a month away from going on a cut. You gave me a good advice on eating about 80% great, rather than going for 100%. Should I focus on restricting carbs or restricting fat more. In other words, which poison should i pick? I am quite fat right now, with a rubber ducky around my 6 pack.
were they running double-leg jumps? when i first started practicing them a lot i got asymmetrical soreness/aches because i always plant LR. left hip ended up feeling wonky. but it went away with time and i do enough bilateral stuff that i'm not worried about it.
Hey how come it seems like you are focusing on front squat rather than back squat? Is it because you are more posterior chain dominant rather than quad?
the only pure exercise is the snatch. all other exercises are unclean to some degree.
I like the front squat myself and i've also read that you get the form right ( which is the main problem ) its more 'functional' than back squat.
Having said that, the compare videos are terribly biased, you can't compare someone a submax 5-reps 200kg raw front squat with powerlifting meet sutied 350+ kg back squats.
Any day's video of your FS vs BS would be convincing and unbiased enough! ;)
visible abs all day = you're out to lunch if you think you're still at 15%. unless you have some really weird fat distribution. i have blurry but visible abs and my guess is i'm around 12%.
Pressing Notes:
Employed Lance's bench cues.
crazy depth.
low back soreness might be related to your butt tucking at the very bottom. you don't NEED to go that low, you're way past parallel before the butt tuck starts. i notice more soreness when i can feel the tuck happen during squats (well, it hasn't happened in a long time but i remember it).
still, looks/feels cool to be true ATG.
update. oh crap i know why i failed it. the eccentric was too fast. i shud go slower. also i will do heavy partials from near the top. im ok coming out of the hole now. that used to be a problem but it's good enough atm. have to nail down the last 1/4. experienced folk - do you concur?
hey lance or andrew can you give me some tips for how to schedule fs and bs w/o grinding myself into dust? Atm i do the following program while reversehypertrophing:-
mon
FS 4RM, 4RM (-2.5kg), 4RM(-5kg), 4RM (-7.5kg),
BS 5RM, 6RM, 8RM, 10RM
weds
FS 2x~5RM
BS 5xRM, 6RM
fri
FS 5x~1RM (heavy singles)
BS 5x~1RM (heavy singles)
and i've hit a brick wall with this, am sore and beaten up (joints, ligaments etc) and burnt out cns'ly and kind of dread squatting now
will be cutting for another 4wks btw hoping to get sub 75kg/165lb ..
hey lance or andrew can you give me some tips for how to schedule fs and bs w/o grinding myself into dust? Atm i do the following program while reversehypertrophing:-
mon
FS 4RM, 4RM (-2.5kg), 4RM(-5kg), 4RM (-7.5kg),
BS 5RM, 6RM, 8RM, 10RM
weds
FS 2x~5RM
BS 5xRM, 6RM
fri
FS 5x~1RM (heavy singles)
BS 5x~1RM (heavy singles)
and i've hit a brick wall with this, am sore and beaten up (joints, ligaments etc) and burnt out cns'ly and kind of dread squatting now
will be cutting for another 4wks btw hoping to get sub 75kg/165lb ..
While your cutting I would keep the really cns intensive stuff to the front squat, and use the back squat for your volume. One way-
mon- ramped front squat in singles up to heavy single ( whatever youre capable of for a single without much grinding. Shouldnt have to psyche up for it, and shouldnt miss.)
then 3 x 5 back squat around 8rm to start with. ramp weight if its easy
weds- 3 x 3 front squat ramped sets up to a heavy triple. 2 x 10 back squat (easy weight, could get 15 to start with)
friday- 4 reps front squat, rack the weight, 4 reps back squat, 4 sets. Try and improve the load each week you do this.
only an example, though that will make progress easier and still give you nice volume.
Nice squats. It's hard to keep focus on front squat and back squat while cutting but this is what I have been doing for awhile.
Warm up with front squats, triples up to one or two challenging but not impossible work sets for front squats. Then switch to back squat and do higher-volume paused reps until I hit a rep goal.
For example if I am going to work with 315 (which is about a 6-7rep max for me in fsq): Front squats: 3x135, 3x225, 3x275, 3x315, 3x315 THEN switch to paused back squats: 5-10x315 until I hit somewhere between 20-40 reps.
That might be a bit volume intense, but I really like using the front squats for ramping so the movement pattern doesn't get old, but limiting the heavier sets you are not too fried for your back-squat. I've cut around 10 lbs and been able to keep this up while raising my reps/set in the backsquat. A fair compromise.
try some other kind of cardio? jump rope? rower? light bodyweight circuits?
try some other kind of cardio? jump rope? rower? light bodyweight circuits?
I tried skipping earlier this yr, hurts my knees & ankles. Don't have access to rower or bike (that would be ideal tho). I will try your circuit suggestion. It sounds crossfitty but it might just do the trick. Thanks.
YAAARRRRRR crossfit did not invent circuit training! they just fetishized it! circuits are fun.
How do you feel so far vs where you started... in terms of everything?
Nice. You'll be 165 sooner than you thought at this rate.
go and get it.
:headbang:
at this point why are you still worried about going deeper? your depth is great, you need to keep adding weight to the bar!
If you're front squatting I think you'd be better suited to do low bar squats and/or very hip dominant compound movements like RDLs/isolation glute exercises like hip thrusts. You should get plenty of quad hypertrophy from the front squats, no reason to be redundant with high bar squats.
at this point why are you still worried about going deeper? your depth is great, you need to keep adding weight to the bar!
Pretty sure you wouldn't approve of my depth on back squats. In fact I remember you told me to squat deeper in the first place in my old log :) But have a look at the video first :-
Btw is it ok to backsquat to parallel or just slightly below if i'm doing ATG front squats as well?
at this point why are you still worried about going deeper? your depth is great, you need to keep adding weight to the bar!
Pretty sure you wouldn't approve of my depth on back squats. In fact I remember you told me to squat deeper in the first place in my old log :) But have a look at the video first :-
Btw is it ok to backsquat to parallel or just slightly below if i'm doing ATG front squats as well?
word, i guess i figured that because your FS depth has improved so much your BS depth had followed. on that video, you could be deeper but you're at or below the plane.
whether it's okay to BS to parallel or slightly below depends on what you're trying to get out of the BS. hell, some of adarq's best vert gains came when he was half-squatting to pins.
If you're front squatting I think you'd be better suited to do low bar squats and/or very hip dominant compound movements like RDLs/isolation glute exercises like hip thrusts. You should get plenty of quad hypertrophy from the front squats, no reason to be redundant with high bar squats.
Fuck your half deadlifts dude.
If you're front squatting I think you'd be better suited to do low bar squats and/or very hip dominant compound movements like RDLs/isolation glute exercises like hip thrusts. You should get plenty of quad hypertrophy from the front squats, no reason to be redundant with high bar squats.
Fuck your half deadlifts dude.
lol'd
What rep range/volume did you use for your quarter deadlifts?
OHP notes:
Kinda tweaked my back on OHP. I hate this stupid lift, always gives me back problems. I should focus on maintaining perfect form and only adding weight once i've mastered the weight. Patience will probably go a long way as long as I'm consistent over a period of 6-12months.
OHP notes:
Kinda tweaked my back on OHP. I hate this stupid lift, always gives me back problems. I should focus on maintaining perfect form and only adding weight once i've mastered the weight. Patience will probably go a long way as long as I'm consistent over a period of 6-12months.
I have the same problem and i don't even lift as heavy as you , currently at 7-6-6@45kg if i remember well.
Why don't you switch to push press , the back problems for me appear at the bottom of the ROM and they all dissapeared when i switched to push-press. Lance is a big fan of push-press too , it's also supposed to have a much better athletic carryover ( which seems logical since there is a violent triple extension involved ). I hate the OHP and i loved the push-press ( but now i'm stuck with OHP because of my quad injury , FML , irrelevant ).
Just some thoughts material.
:lololol:
Do you purposedly not lock your knees at the end of the movement (back up)? What's up with that? It looks like you're so weak when you stand tall, at the knee joint.
I am personally locking my knees and even trying to actively hyperextending them (I know, sounds terrible) and also am doing the same thing with the hips (going for a posteriorly rotate pelvis at the top) - these two things help me really squeeze the VMOs and glutes, a thing that normally doesn't happen if I don't actively think about it. If I'm just doing "normal" reps these things don't occur. It's a pretty big difference for me (I can feel the VMOs and glutes do work doing this).I might be misunderstanding you (probable) but are you saying that if you consciously exaggarate the movement at the end of the cocentric you get better activation in VMOS and glutes? I'll have to try that out and see for myself.
Obviously I'm not overdoing it or really exaggerating it to the point of injury, and I'm usually doing it with lower weights. You won't see me think about this doing 1RM stuff.Interesting. Yeah, it would have to be an effect seen over volume since it's such a small part of the ROM.
that ain't just quads, broseph. look at how much your upper back rounds on the concentric.
interesting analysis. you're obviously in a better position to know than i am.
Well I mean... you're probably going to load the quads quite a bit if you do bend forward and considering you're already doing front squats I guess you're using BSSs for glute development, which they're GREAT at.
For me, the BSS is the best glute exercise ever. Better than hip thrusts and RDLs.
you can shift the focus of BSS within your leg by moving your forward foot closer to or farther from the bench. closer = more quad, farther = more hip.
have you considered doing TKE's or something as part of the warm up?
you might just have trouble activating your quads at all, "feeling" them working.
for low back it's all about hypers and reverse hypers. you can do reverse hypers on a kitchen table.
Yup... it's the glutes for the BSS.
Listen, if I were you I'd do something like a 3x5 back squat (full) and then finish up with a 2x20 quarter squat for the quads. I'm actually doing that (+these in the video) in my volume day, but I'm using 8x5 + 2x20 partial leg presses for quad development.
If you have a slope (a hill or whatever) near you you could also do backward sprints uphill... or even pull your car going backwards (or a sled or something).
At least you can add some muscle now :strong:
I wouldn't worry too much about it bro. Just clean bulk for a few months up to low 80s or something and than try and cut down again. This time you'll have more strength and muscle anyway so when you cut down you'll look heaps better at 75kg.
aite so how about this, once ive got 6x60 for both legs, i keep the stronger leg on 60 while progressing the weaker leg to say 70. Then progress them both from there at the same rate
:derp:
thinking out aloud .. what is the bss? it's a kind of unilateral exercise but not really since it's not a true single leg exercise that is kind of a squat but not really because it's not below parallel. so for it to be an effective leg exercise you kind of need to be lifting a weight >> 1/2*FS_max. Why? because being a partial squat, by giving up depth we use more weight. and by giving up true unilateralism we can use more weight than 1/2 the bilateral weight. so i should be looking at building up to say 100x6 on BSS to get something out of the exercise. hows my logik?
Training
FS 1x90, 1x100, 1x110, 1x115, 0x120
BS 3x90, 2x100, 2x110
BP 1x77.5, 1x80, 1x82.5, 1x85, 6x75, 7x70
WC 3xBW, 3x83.3, 2x93.3, 1x98.3, 1x100.8, 1x103.3, 2x98.3, 5x93.3
BW: 77kg/170lb
FS notes:
My ego led me astray (yet again). I shuda gone for 118 or something for a 1/2kg PR instead of 120. Next time will do a better job picking the top weight. And another thing, I should try to get more volume in weights around 110kg cause I can do those without getting folded over.
BS notes:
Shit shit shit. When I think i've won ground, squat takes it back the next workout.
BP notes:
Finally got around to BP in over 10 days (!). Have lost some strength, rebuild time.
WC notes:
I didn't do any dubious reps - every single one I exploded way over the bar. That's how I like em. Will try to get more reps with 20kg next time, and keep in that explode range. Then once i've got some decent volume built up, try to set a new PR.
I feel like trying to dunk. I haven't dunked in like 4 months or something. I doubt I can even jump that high but I just have the itch. Will go try out in the outdoor court now!
update - damn!!!!!!!!
I was running late for picking up my sister from the airport who is come home for holidays. On the way there, i stopped at the court for a few minutes. I didn't expect to even get one dunk. But on the very first attempt, no warmup, landed it easily. Then tried another one but harder and I got higher and dunked it even better. Then tried a SVJ dunk - got that too!! That was only a dream for me and now it's reality! So exciting!
:goodjobbro:
:wowthatwasnutswtf:
:almostascoolasnyancat:
uploading a video now brb
Training
FS 1x90, 1x100, 1x110, 1x115, 0x120
BS 3x90, 2x100, 2x110
BP 1x77.5, 1x80, 1x82.5, 1x85, 6x75, 7x70
WC 3xBW, 3x83.3, 2x93.3, 1x98.3, 1x100.8, 1x103.3, 2x98.3, 5x93.3
BW: 77kg/170lb
FS notes:
My ego led me astray (yet again). I shuda gone for 118 or something for a 1/2kg PR instead of 120. Next time will do a better job picking the top weight. And another thing, I should try to get more volume in weights around 110kg cause I can do those without getting folded over.
BS notes:
Shit shit shit. When I think i've won ground, squat takes it back the next workout.
BP notes:
Finally got around to BP in over 10 days (!). Have lost some strength, rebuild time.
WC notes:
I didn't do any dubious reps - every single one I exploded way over the bar. That's how I like em. Will try to get more reps with 20kg next time, and keep in that explode range. Then once i've got some decent volume built up, try to set a new PR.
I feel like trying to dunk. I haven't dunked in like 4 months or something. I doubt I can even jump that high but I just have the itch. Will go try out in the outdoor court now!
update - damn!!!!!!!!
I was running late for picking up my sister from the airport who is come home for holidays. On the way there, i stopped at the court for a few minutes. I didn't expect to even get one dunk. But on the very first attempt, no warmup, landed it easily. Then tried another one but harder and I got higher and dunked it even better. Then tried a SVJ dunk - got that too!! That was only a dream for me and now it's reality! So exciting!
:goodjobbro:
:wowthatwasnutswtf:
:almostascoolasnyancat:
uploading a video now brb
wtf? sick@!$!@
i can't imagine not dunking for 4 months and somehow doing what you did..
you are now officially in the kingfish SVJ dunk club.
congrats man.
were you feeling bouncy or what? I mean you must have felt really good when you walked on that court?
:ibjumping: :ibsquatting: :wowthatwasnutswtf: :almostascoolasnyancat: :personal-record:
Being light helps eh?
sick, you're 6'3 i'm 5'8 and i weigh 10 lb more than you... that's how fat i am... i dunno if i should cut or maintain and go for more strength (maybe hit 385 full squat) before cutting. i guess cutting doesn't mean i can't still gain strength.
I envy you , in the good way! That approach was always my ideal scenario. Pick a workout scheme ( FS + cutting in your case ) , stick with it for a long time, then go to the court after a long time and enjoy the benefits. I know it's not even right , you ( we ) should keep up with jumping to maintain efficiency/mobility needed for ME jumps, its better injury-wise too.
But that feeling , hitting the court after months and being a totally different (better ) athlete, priceless. Hope it makes sense!
Keep up keeping up! :highfive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdl7cj_f70w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdl7cj_f70w
Nice to see tall people squat full with good form. :headbang:
Get out of that twig weight and lift more volumes. Good things happen the stronger you get - you also have more tissues to absorb the impacts of landing as you squat more weight.
nice to go away and come back to find people have been killing shit. you're right about the BS depth, nice job.
bf% guess is tough without a back shot, but i'd say about 12-13%. abs wouldn't be coming in at 15% unless you carry all your fat on your back.
Losing fat should have a pretty important effect on those aspects, especially if it altered your posture.
Why the heck it bothers you? :D
It's good you got rid of that. Sure it's kind of annoying not to know why but keep up the good work.
| Monday: FS 2x5 (ramped down) BS 1x6, 1x8 Squat assistance DB BP 3x6 (weaker arm more sets) | Wednesday: FS 2x5 (ramped down) Squat Assistance OHP 2x5 WCU (~20-25 heavy reps) | Friday: FS 1RM BS 1x5 BP 3RM Squat assistance DIPZ 3x6 |
Hey good job on the amazing progress in 2012. I was browsing your journal and saw you had some problems with ROM, older injuries, assymetry, etc. Try checking out mobilitywod.com and do some searches for your body part or lift.
so let go of intensity, for a while. you've disciplined yourself on diet, you can discipline yourself on training. you can always go back to the high-intensity stuff later.
Trap bar makes me happy. I just don't know how the fuck to load it because there is no rack for it? There must be a trick surely.
(defun vj (num-frames)
(let* ((t_ecc (/ num-frames 30.0))
(s (* 0.5 9.79403 t_ecc t_ecc)))
(/ s 0.0254)))
>(vj 11)
25.92
How do you go from airtime to SVJ? Trying to recall kinematic eqs while making dinner brb
Nice front squat.Thank you!
Do you usually dunk on outdoor/concrete courts?Usually I don't dunk anywhere lol. But the last time I dunked was just before xmas on concrete. Before that time, I dunked on hard-wood but that's going back 6 months or so.
Aside from the ring being higher there could be another reason why it's harder to dunk.You may well be right. Maybe I jump higher on concrete. The only way to test this is to try on another hardwood floor (the place I usually play basketball when I play) that will confirm whether it's a localised effect of my new gym. But here is the thing. When I weighed like 7-8kg more than I do right now, I could dunk on my old hardwood gym. But now that i'm lighter, stronger and more athletic, I can't dunk at all at this new gym. So that points to the new gym being the anomaly...? Unless my old gym is lower but I doubt that since it's a proper court.
I think your body gets used to jumping on concrete so than when you jump on hardwood it's harder coz your body isn't used to it. That's what I found even though most people say they can jump higher on hardwood (maybe that's another reason why my knees get fuked up- always jumping on concrete).Maybe you're right. I will try to get to the bottom of this by trying a few more gyms. Thanks for the thoughts. It may well be the surface. Btw your experience mirrors mine - I could never jump properly on concrete because it would mess up my ankle & knees. But now I think it's because I was too heavy then (=84-85kg) and that's why it was bad for me. At 75-76kg my body doesn't mind concrete at all.
Nice one vag, let me plug in the numbers and see what comes out. I am starting to think it's better to work with time t=t* where t* is the time taken taken to reach the peak rather than total airtime. This is because I can get the exact frame where the peak occurs - which saves having to work out which frame is where one lands which is more subject to error.
The other thing i'm not positive about is - do you take the first frame F_0 when you are airborn? Or when the heel visibly begins to rise? Not sure.
#Frames vertical (inches)
10 21.421762904636918
11 25.920333114610667
12 30.847338582677168
13 36.2027793088364
14 41.98665529308837The dunk attempt SVJ is lower but it doesn't count as the ball in the hands ruins the hands windup and the highest reach at peak. Unless we are talking about kingfish but he is not human anyway.
Let's stick to the 1st SVJ video. Around 30'' is my estimation, and i am arrogant enough to say i am the certified eye-vertec of adarq.org! :P
Your reach is probably ~99'' in shoes, so wrist at 10' rim is 29''. Now this rim could be a bit lower OR a bit higher , it looks legit compared to your height. Also you won't find gym rims more than 2'' different than 10', you can tell from the first look if they are higher than 10'2'' or lower than 9'10''. So my estimation is 29'', no way lower than 27'', no way higher than 31''.
:highfive:
You should've added a noise reduction filter too :P
Congrats on the SVJ dunks. You make it look so easy.
How come playing full court bball is detrimental to your training? I didn't get the CNS part.
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."
Btw the tournament I was preparing for has been cancelled because 3 friends have bailed on the team which sucks because I was really looking forward to it. Especially returning to my beloved melbourne with my friends would have been a great deal of fun. Now I have to find another way to motivate myself to train hard. I might start playing with my old team again but I don't really want to do that either. May just give up on the idea of playing basketball even though i'm in the best shape of my life and it seems a waste of training.
find another sport? ultimate frisbee can always use tall dudes who can jump.
Btw the tournament I was preparing for has been cancelled because 3 friends have bailed on the team which sucks because I was really looking forward to it. Especially returning to my beloved melbourne with my friends would have been a great deal of fun. Now I have to find another way to motivate myself to train hard. I might start playing with my old team again but I don't really want to do that either. May just give up on the idea of playing basketball even though i'm in the best shape of my life and it seems a waste of training.
Seriously? C'mon get on it!
You're in great shape, dunking, lifting. Now is the perfect time to get back in the game.
I was in a training rut before I got back into ball. Hadn't played for a couple of years and it's been a breath of fresh air trianing wise. Always something to work on even though (for me) playing is purely social. We're competitive beasts. What's the point of training if you're not at least competing in something?
Rack pulls.
You think having longer legs to upper body ratio gives a person more of an advantage? Also 6'5 person vs 5'8 person, both have the exact same proportions and genetics and body shape. Both have equal amt of strength, but wouldn't the 6'5 person be able to jump higher because he has longer legs so more room to propel him up?
Good on you for getting back into ball. Was one of the best things I did motivation wise for trianing.
The only problem I have is timing the workouts. I find training legs the day before playing leaves me flat and the day after I fear the weights will suffer. Am thinking of training the day of playing and see how it goes.
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?
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.
^ nice... what's your vertical nowadays?
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."
How is the sprinting coming? How have your times coincided with your diet?I'll find out for you this friday, I haven't tested since I weighed mid 180s. Should be interesting to see how it goes!
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 have to agree with this. If I was as lean as it would seem for my height and weight, then I would be struggling bigtime with trying to progress my squat. But actually I am progressing even though it's very slow, my lifts aren't plummeting by any means, if anything im consistently adding weight to the bar (albeit over a timescale of several weeks and months). The fact that I originally thought I was 20% doesn't mean i'm 5% now, it just means I was a initially lot higher than 20% - prob high 20s? It's most likely that i simply underestimated my initial bodyfat which a lot of people do when they're fat.
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...
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...
I have to agree with this. If I was as lean as it would seem for my height and weight, then I would be struggling bigtime with trying to progress my squat. But actually I am progressing even though it's very slow, my lifts aren't plummeting by any means, if anything im consistently adding weight to the bar (albeit over a timescale of several weeks and months). The fact that I originally thought I was 20% doesn't mean i'm 5% now, it just means I was a initially lot higher than 20% - prob high 20s? It's most likely that i simply underestimated my initial bodyfat which a lot of people do when they're fat.Quote
I don't know what you looked like but I really doubt you were in the high 20%. High 20% male is REALLY fat. Like someone who walks into the room and everyone knows it's the fat guy. Since you are dieting right now you are probably holding a bit of water. I went from 210 to 190 once and my bodyfat (hydrostatic measurement) went from 9% to 5%. This only accounts for about half the weight, but this is typical. About half the weight you lose on a cut if bodyfat, a tiny amount (if you do it right) will be lean tissue, and almost half should be water from lack of glycogen. Remember hydrophilic glycogen isn't very efficient, about 4 grams of water are in complex with each gram (this is why the body stores fat), so we lose a lot of weight when you cut it. This weight loss comes off quick and comes back quick, it's why people think they are yoyoing and gaining/losing fat (for the most part they are not). I can gain 10-15lbs in one day from an extreme glycogen reload... I have a decent amount of muscle so this might be a bit more than some but most of us will be able to gain/loss a lot this way. If you were 195 and now your 165 I would estimate you were went from 18-20% bf to about 10-12% bf. Your bodyfat loss probably accounts for 15-20 lbs which is AWESOME.
(http://i.imgur.com/DUADQ2R.png)
This is taken 2nd of Jan this year. I'm leaner now though but not significantly. Weighed around ~168.
Let me put it this way. The fat around my waist and chest wont disappear if I suddenly gain 9lb of muscle. It will still be there. I'll still LOOK fat even if my objective bodyfat % has gone down from adding more muscle. And that what really matters to me. I guess at some point I decided I didn't care about what a DEXA would say about my bodyfat % (whether it's 7% or 17% means nothing to me), nor skinfold calipers and what have you. The only test that matters to me is looking in a mirror and seeing someone lean and athletic - or not - and since i'm not - i'd like to keep dropping bodyfat until I get there. I dont expect I have very long to go now. I'd say about 1lb of fat in my upper body, 1.5lb around my lower back. 1.5 around my gut. Maybe another 2lb around my body in general. A total of 6lb. At 159 I think i'll definitely be done. I'm around ~165 now. So it's not a long way away. We've all seen the video below or some model of bodyfat before, that's what i'm using for my rough estimate.
Let me put it this way. The fat around my waist and chest wont disappear if I suddenly gain 9lb of muscle. It will still be there. I'll still LOOK fat even if my objective bodyfat % has gone down from adding more muscle. And that what really matters to me. I guess at some point I decided I didn't care about what a DEXA would say about my bodyfat % (whether it's 7% or 17% means nothing to me), nor skinfold calipers and what have you. The only test that matters to me is looking in a mirror and seeing someone lean and athletic - or not - and since i'm not - i'd like to keep dropping bodyfat until I get there. I dont expect I have very long to go now. I'd say about 1lb of fat in my upper body, 1.5lb around my lower back. 1.5 around my gut. Maybe another 2lb around my body in general. A total of 6lb. At 159 I think i'll definitely be done. I'm around ~165 now. So it's not a long way away. We've all seen the video below or some model of bodyfat before, that's what i'm using for my rough estimate.
yeah for the record i did not mean GOMAD BRO!!!!!!!!!!
not sure what t0ddddddday means by my "advice to cut" -- maybe just mistyped. my advice was to stop cutting and to begin thinking about adding muscle. that can obviously be done the rippetoe way, but the rippetoe way is sub-optimal in this context as we have all discussed. for what it's worth i agree completely with t0ddday and i think we were saying the same thing. he just did so in greater depth and fewer references to jesus.
Re lower back strength, you guys have convinced me. Im going to push my lower back strength up like crazy. My legs are weak but my back is even weaker. Squatting makes my legs a bit stronger sure. But nothing is making my back stronger which is a problem. If I want to be a good sprinter i'll def have to prioritise my lower back.
Re lower back strength, you guys have convinced me. Im going to push my lower back strength up like crazy. My legs are weak but my back is even weaker. Squatting makes my legs a bit stronger sure. But nothing is making my back stronger which is a problem. If I want to be a good sprinter i'll def have to prioritise my lower back.
Making your legs stronger will help your sprinting and athleticism around 200355459084458000.7 times more than worrying about your lower back. Youve made great gains in athleticism so far doing what youve been doing, why start spinning your wheels now?
True Lance. I'll keep dancing with the girl who brought me to the ball. Thanks for reminding me. Btw do you think it's ok to keep cutting to 159? Or do you think I should stop now? I don't want to give up when i've come so close. I don't think I have long to go now.
edit. Thinking about it, there are only 3 weeks left in Feb. I can't lose much weight now anyway and 159 is out of the picture from around 165. At best I'll be in the low 160s at the end of Feb. So how about a compromise. I'll cut to say 163-162. And stop cutting there. But since I'm unhappy with my body composition, i'll believe T0dday that thru training I can continue to improve my body composition, or specifically that doing tempo work will improve body comp, I can continue to improve bodycomp even once i've stopped cutting come march. This way I'll be able to train better by getting off the caloric deficit and my body comp will improve thru training. Sort of a best of both worlds.
Training (Lower)
FS 2x90, 1x100, 3x104.5, 3Fx105.5
BS 3x90, 1x100, 5x95, 5x90
SVJx5, RVJx2
5x30m sprints (~4s per 30)
And that was it. Then 8 hours later when i'm driving home, I realised I had this weird thing going on in my right pec. It's a kind of searing pain. It scares me because last time I had this was when I tore my intercostals and I had to stop training completely for weeks before it healed. Back then I made it worse by training thru it. Hope this is nothing and it goes away but i'm going to be cautious. Bother.
Anyway the sprints were good. I've never been this close to breaking 4s. Which is remarkable because I haven't been sprinting for months and this was the first time. So hopefully once i'm done cutting and I work my sprinting harder i'll be under 4s.
Just wondering, what do you run 30m sprints?
That distance is almost immeasurable as far as hand-timing goes and thus really hard to gauge improvement. It doesn't even let you hit top speed. I doubt Usain Bolt could hit 4s for 5 reps without spikes.
Why not just run 60m and 100m sprints. They will allow you to measure your improvement with much less noise, allow you to work on accelerating to much faster speed, and have measurably good benefits for body competition, which you are concerned with... I would be afraid an athlete training his self timed 30m is training moreso his ability to reflexively react to his stop-watch press than actually training his legs to get stronger...
I guess after training hard for the last 12 months or so, this is the first week off i've had. and my knees are happy everything feels good and rested. It might even do me good. I hope I dont get too fat though from being inactive.
I guess after training hard for the last 12 months or so, this is the first week off i've had. and my knees are happy everything feels good and rested. It might even do me good. I hope I dont get too fat though from being inactive.
IMO this is the hardest part about dieting/maintaining leanness. Like I have been stressing, with proper tempo work and high-workout capacity you can become/maintain very lean without restricting calories much.
Additionally, it's not that hard to eat clean when you running quick times on the track, throwing up big weights, and looking great. If you run a couple season PR's in the morning and then get in the weight room and kill some squats that afternoon, when you go out with your girl that night it only makes sense to say "I'll take the grilled Salmon". Poor quality food doesn't even seem right for the well oiled machine you are.
The problem is when the activity falls off. Those little injuries/or life/work events where you don't/can't train for a week. You forget that you are the pinnacle of fitness and ice-cream doesn't sound horrible anymore. Without the positive feedback of training and improving/maintaining excellent body composition it becomes easier and easier to fall off the wagon... Then a two week injury gets accompanied by a few lbs of fat gain which causes some more injuries and your season goes...
Don't let this happen! The hardest thing is when your inactive you actually should eat CLEANER than when you are training heavily. If you can master this you will be healthy for the rest of your life. There will be times we can't train whether life or injury, and as you get older dealing with these times correctly is probably more important than your actual training.
Don't let this happen! The hardest thing is when your inactive you actually should eat CLEANER than when you are training heavily. If you can master this you will be healthy for the rest of your life. There will be times we can't train whether life or injury, and as you get older dealing with these times correctly is probably more important than your actual training.
kyle's main audience is people whose primary concern is aesthetics.
kyle's main audience is people whose primary concern is aesthetics.
Don't know who Kyle is but IMO people who train primarily for aesthetics rather than performance end up looking like the train only for aesthetics. Which to me is a rather unaesthetic look.
maybe it's the fact that you're 165 pounds instead of 220.