Adarq.org
Performance Area => Strength, Power, Reactivity, & Speed Discussion => Topic started by: Harvey on April 03, 2012, 05:31:20 am
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(Why so late? For me, everything revolves around March. March is when I'm offered scholarships at the academy of sport which is why I've left this thread till now to post, now that I've been offered a scholarship and can focus on training)
Flexibility – Stretch everyday
Power – Work on Olympic lifts
Strength – Work hard on heavy squats/DLs and target weaknesses: hip thrusts, rdls, seated calf raises
Speed/Quickness/Agility - Sprints
Reactivity – PLYOMETRICS
Diet – Lose fat
This year I want to make +14cm or +5.5in on my RVJ (will give me a 350cm spike reach).
Don’t care if I squat more or dl more this year than previously. I really want to focus more on plyometrics. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of strength work and not a huge amount of reactivity/jumping which lead to mediocre results.
Because of that, I’ve decided that I want to incorporate a good mix of strength/plyo work. It is common knowledge that training both strength and reactivity will lead to greater results and quicker.
I’m going to be doing a lot more static stretching probably on a daily basis. Flexibility has and always will be important to jumping athletes and I know that it will help me improve my vertical.
I’m going to be looking to refurbish my diet completely as well. Recently, I’ve been eating whatever. Feel like crap doing so. I want to get down to about 8-9% BFP this year. I’m talking ripped – that fat weight is useless to me.
I’ll be doing a lot more core work since I’ve been doing virtually none. Working on the core + 8-9% BFP = six pack as well so that will be nice.
Because I’m going to be looking at training up to 5 hours a night most nights of the week, I’ll have no other option but to train in the morning before school. My only concern is over training. Most days I’ll be lifting in the morning and at night. I’m hoping to avoid injury/declining results by working on my flexibility and diet.
Here’s a lift of everything I need to squeeze into my training.
- Low bar back squat
- Deadlift
o Hip thrust
o Seated calf raise
o Romanian deadlift
o Those are the strength lifts I’ll be doing. Back squats and deadlifts simply because they are what they are. Those are the main lifts I’m relying on to get big overall strength.
o The other three lifts are aimed at targeting and isolating particular muscles groups and weak areas: glutes, calves, hamstrings.
- Power Clean
- Med Ball OH Toss
o I’ll be doing power cleans as my primary power related exercise.
o Really looking forward to getting down and dirty with some med ball tosses. Only problem is that I don’t currently own a med ball. I will probably improvise.
- SL Skipping
- Depth Jumps
- SVJs
- RVJs
- Sprints
- Continuous Broad Jumps
- SL Tuck Jumps
o These are the plyo/speed/jump exercises I’ll be doing this year. Plain, simple, proven to work.
With such a huge workload and so many hours in the gym and on the court, I’m going to have to really look after my body this year. The flexibility and diet aspects should help a lot with this but also resting where possible and resting well. Icing knees, doing hydrotherapy and using the sauna as well as academy recovery sessions will be important.
Since I’ll be on and off with training because I’ve got so many tournaments and events throughout the year, I’ll have to make sure that when I am training, I am training. No quitting, no giving up, no ‘having a break’. I’ve got to go hard the whole year round and when I am on tour or at a tournament, I can use this time as a break from the weightroom.
As far as upper body goes, I’m not going to be doing much apart from abdominal/core work. Ideally, triceps and shoulders for arm swing, but they’ll get trained at the academy anyway. I won’t be doing anything personally to target them.
I want more plyometrics than strength work this year. Probably 1.5-2 times as much.
From all of the above information, I’m going to have to formulate a sturdy and tough training program but efficient nonetheless.
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TL;DR :D
But seriously though, you are falling into the same trap that you fell into with your Smolov attempt. Keep it simple IMO.
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TL;DR :D
But seriously though, you are falling into the same trap that you fell into with your Smolov attempt. Keep it simple IMO.
I think it's a lot more targeted towards my goals of increased VJ than Smolov. How can it be improved?
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TL;DR :D
But seriously though, you are falling into the same trap that you fell into with your Smolov attempt. Keep it simple IMO.
I think it's a lot more targeted towards my goals of increased VJ than Smolov. How can it be improved?
I agree with that. I'd be more worried about the sheer amount of physical activity you'll be doing over the week. As for improvements, there are definitely more qualified and knowledgeable people on the forum who can give you advice, but for me, a few things stand out:
- IMO, I would care about your squat/DL numbers improving this year if you want your vertical to improve. You shouldn't neglect getting in a decent volume of strength work, as all the plyos in the world won't get you to 50'' RVJ if your squat 1RM max is still 265 lbs.
I know you want to make sure you're doing a bunch of different exercises but given you're training so often, I'd try and do two 30 min morning weight sessions a week MAX: squat one day and DL the other day with some calf raises and maybe cleans or hip thrusts thrown in. Again, other people are better at this than me (Adarq, Lance, Raptor etc), so ask them.
- What does your 5 hours of training involve? That sounds like a hell of a lot if you're doing it several times a week. I'm assuming there's going to be a lot of running, jumping drills so factor all of that into your total plyos volume for the week. Rest is super-important to improving your performance (obviously), but I'm not just talking about icing your knees in-between trainings or matches, I mean full days of rest where your physical activity is minimal/none while you ensure you're getting adequate protein/water/nutrients etc. Is that going to be possible for you if you're doing everything in your plan? I guess it would be clearer if you had a day-by-day breakdown of your gym sessions and volleyball trainings.
- Lastly, I'm guessing you care about your volleyball a lot. What are your ambitions for the sport? You've always seemed to be obsessed with gaining huge inches on your vert (as most of us Adarquians are), but I'm sure that keeping your spot in the academy is important too. Training should always be specific towards goals, but sometimes trying to achieve too many goals at once ends up with you achieving none of them. For instance, I'd love to have a 300lb bench and speak fluently in three languages as well as trying to dunk on 10', but I don't think I can achieve that all at once. If training for vert means that your performance on the court is suffering, then you need to think about what's more important.
But it's up to you mate. It's your body so if you think you can do all this, go ahead. Just don't let yourself get burnt out.
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Thanks for the help.
What does your 5 hours of training involve?
2 Hours gym and 3 hours courtwork. Gym usually consists of well, let's see. This is what I did last night.
05/04/12
Practiced Cleans
Barbell Squat Jumps
Back Squat 85kg 1x5
Back Squat 90kg 1x5
Back Squat 95kg 3x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
That's just the lifting, there's more such as core, mobility, foam rolling etc.
Courtwork is mostly just volleyball related drills involving mostly passing and setting stuff. Some nights will involve hitting in which case there will be a considerable amount of jumping involved.
Rest is super-important to improving your performance (obviously), but I'm not just talking about icing your knees in-between trainings or matches, I mean full days of rest where your physical activity is minimal/none while you ensure you're getting adequate protein/water/nutrients etc.
Agreed. Basically, I need these 14cm this year. Do or die. That's why the training volume is so high, I feel hopeless if I don't train almost everyday. My diet and sleep patterns will certainly help support such a volume but I've dedicated Sunday to absolutely no physical training. I'll probably just do some extra hydrotherapy/recovery sessions on that day.
When I tour, I consider that as rest also since I'm not in the gym. For instance, next week I'm going to Thailand for two weeks and won't be doing any training at all. Gives my CNS a chance to recover slightly.
I guess it would be clearer if you had a day-by-day breakdown of your gym sessions and volleyball trainings.
I can send you an excel document with all my sessions on it with exercises, sets, reps, etc. That's only my personal sessions, not academy sessions, though.
Lastly, I'm guessing you care about your volleyball a lot. What are your ambitions for the sport? You've always seemed to be obsessed with gaining huge inches on your vert (as most of us Adarquians are), but I'm sure that keeping your spot in the academy is important too.
To play international volleyball, you really need at least a spike reach of 350cm. Given my standing reach of 257cm, if I want to reach that, I'll need a 93cm vertical or 37 inches. For me to leave my state based academy in Queensland and go to train in Canberra at the Institute of Sport (my ultimate goal at this stage), I'll need two things by the end of this year. 1 being that 350cm spike reach and two, improved courtwork skills. The courtwork skills come with training hard on the court which I'm sure I can achieve and it also involves playing well in game situations. The spike reach is more difficult and requires a lot more effort. Currently, I'm only getting 4 hours a week at the academy in the gym which, to me, isn't enough to get that extra 14cm on my current PR spike reach (336cm).
If training for vert means that your performance on the court is suffering, then you need to think about what's more important.
Since my only real opportunity to improve on the court is during my courtwork sessions at the academy, there's no real way in which my vertical goals can hinder the skill development. Only, of course, if I was so tired I couldn't dig or set a volleyball. I'm confident that if I train hard in the gym everyday, my ability to increase my courtwork skills will still be there.
It's your body so if you think you can do all this, go ahead. Just don't let yourself get burnt out.
It's going to be a hectic year that's for sure. I'm just hoping my diet/flexibility/sleep/rest patterns will support such a huge workload.
Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.
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2 Hours gym and 3 hours courtwork. Gym usually consists of well, let's see. This is what I did last night.
05/04/12
Practiced Cleans
Barbell Squat Jumps
Back Squat 85kg 1x5
Back Squat 90kg 1x5
Back Squat 95kg 3x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
DB Bench Press 35kg 1x5
Eccentric Chin Ups 5kg 1x5
That's just the lifting, there's more such as core, mobility, foam rolling etc.
Courtwork is mostly just volleyball related drills involving mostly passing and setting stuff. Some nights will involve hitting in which case there will be a considerable amount of jumping involved.
That's more than enough volume for strength work if you're doing it several nights a week. Seriously, don't bother doing morning sessions, get the extra sleep.
It's great that you set ambitious goals, but I really think you just need to relax, stop over-analysing things and making huge plans for yourself. Just let your coaches know that you want to push that squat weight up over the year and do some low volume plyos to supplement the jumps you are already doing (no need to go all-out and fatigue yourself if you're training for 5hrs several nights). You're lucky to be in an environment where you can train to your full potential; just train hard, recover well and let the gains come. Given your age, commitment and training environment, it would be hard for you NOT to make gains to be honest.
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It's just that the stuff we do in the gym isn't always targeted to vert results. I'm happy to do my 3 nights a week gym sessions, but I won't get that 14 cm increase I need. I don't really have much of a say in what we do either.
My dilemma is this: Do I do my normal sessions and make gains hoping they'll be enough? Or do I go all out on the brink of overtraining to ensure I get the volume necessary for the +14...
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It's just that the stuff we do in the gym isn't always targeted to vert results. I'm happy to do my 3 nights a week gym sessions, but I won't get that 14 cm increase I need. I don't really have much of a say in what we do either.
My dilemma is this: Do I do my normal sessions and make gains hoping they'll be enough? Or do I go all out on the brink of overtraining to ensure I get the volume necessary for the +14...
How do you know this? Cleans, barbell jump squats, regular squats with heavy weights, and upper body and core work sounds pretty vert-targeted to me. Don't your coaches want their players to increase your vert? From where you're at (17 y.o., 32'' max vert, 265lbs 1RM max), three nights of gym a week working on improving leg strength and frequent practice jumping, 5.5 inches over a year is completely reasonable IMO. It's almost becoming ludicrous that you're continuing to doubt this. Do NOT push yourself to the brink of overtraining: that is blatantly obvious. You'll probably more likely hurt yourself.
Anyway, you don't have to rush into a crazy training plan right away. See how you progress over the next month or two. If you don't think you're jumping any higher, maybe increase your weights volume a little. But I'm sure you won't need to.
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I've been involved in the same program for two years now doing similar things and last year improved my PR 12cm. I'm going to need a little more this year. While I respect and appreciate everything you've said, I'm set on going hard - at least for a couple of months to see if I'm improving, otherwise I'll scale it back while I'm shitting my pants.