Buk's Log: Let the Games Begin

[Buk]

Wednesday, May 31, 2006
6:00 PM

Beach Volleyball:
1.5 hours
Doubles

Started off with some hitting pratice, then we got in a few games. None of the games were real intense, but it is always nice to be in the sand.

[BamaDave]

Craig, great job on all of the Skills Tests. Those sound like fun in a CrossFit torture kind of way. All of those 365# DL's are very impressive, but as usual so is everything else.

[Buk]

Thanks Dave, the Skill Tests are a fun measure. I gotta be deadlifting big, I have a strongman contest coming up in 5 months. I also should probably be running more, I haven't been doing any of that in a long time. And now you have me thinking that I need to do something unusually impressive!

[Buk]

Thursday, June 1, 2006
12:30 PM
Weight: 189

Gym Workout - Strength:

Clean
159(70Kg) x 3
203(90Kg) x 2
225(100Kg) x 1
247(110Kg) x F

Bench Press
135 x 6
185 x 6
225 x 1
195 x 5
235 x 1 (PR)
135 x 14

Alternating Sets:

Reverse Hyper
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10

Bulgarian Split Squats with 2 dumbbells
(dumbbell weight(each dumbbell))x(reps right)a(reps left)
45s x (10)a(10)
45s x (10)a(10)
45s x (10)a(10)

Straight Sets:

Seated Row
140 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 9


Comments: I had a good workout today, I went for 2 PRs and hit one of them. The clean just wasn't there. I think that it and the snatch are going to need some focused attention to make much progress, right now I am treating them more like an accessory or warm-up. The bench was nice to put up, but was as close to a true max as you can get. It was somewhere between a 10 and 12 second lift. It was funny too because I was setup on a bench with safety pins, I got a lift off from my friend, but told him not to spot me - I wanted to fight it out to the end, up or down. So he gives me the lift off and right as I start to stall out half way back up, he walks off - anyone who saw it must have thought he was trying to kill me; but after about 6 seconds of fighting I got through the sticking point, and it slowly rose from there. Any spotter in the world would have reached in and negated my lift.

Everything after was good too. The reverse hypers were powerful through all 10 reps each set, and the Bulgarian split squats didn't look girly at all. I was solid as a rock on the rows and kept jumping the weight up from what I thought I found as a good weight last week.

[kjcreigh]

Nice workout, Craig. Good job on the PR, too. I'm sure it probably wasn't pretty, but hey, who cares? You got it up safely.
-Kevin

[kuri]

OK, wow..damn. Hitting a new PR on bench after all those cleans makes it even more impressive. Great job.

why the seated rows rather than bent-overs? Any particular reason?

Do you like to wear a skirt when doing split squats too?

[Buk]

I don't think the bench PR was necessarily ugly, just really, really slow. And it was only after 4 sets of cleans, 6 total reps and a failed attempt - with adequate rest. Not that I wasn't happy to get it up, heck, I will be happy just to repeat it next week.

As for the seated rows, I have never had them in a program and I almost always include bent-over rows. So one, just to do something different, but also because of this:

Originally Posted by Eric Cressey in "Shoulder Savers"
For some reason, the seated cable row just doesn't get the love it deserves. This might be my single favorite movement for overall shoulder girdle health; you won't find a stricter means of training scapular retraction effectively with appreciable loading.

And its not a skirt, its a kilt.

[Buk]

Friday, June 2, 2006
7:00 PM
Weight: 190
Countermovement Jump: 24.06 inches
Reactive Jump, 16 inch: 24.31 inches

Gym Workout - Test - Vertical Jump:

Best of 3 jumps each style/height recorded:
Countermovement Jump - 24.0625
Pause Squat Jump - 21.125
Reactive, 12inch Box - 24.3125
Reactive, 16inch Box - 24.25
Reactive, 19inch Box - 23.8125
Reactive, 21inch Box - 24.25
Reactive, 24inch Box - 24.0625
Reactive, 29inch Box - 22.625

Round 2
Best of 3 jumps each style/height recorded:
Countermovement Jump - 23.25
Pause Squat Jump - 22.0
Reactive, 12inch Box - 24.25
Reactive, 16inch Box - 24.3125
Reactive, 19inch Box - 23.875
Reactive, 21inch Box - 23.875
Reactive, 24inch Box - 24.1875
Reactive, 29inch Box - 23.125




Comments: Pause Squat Jump is a two footed jump from the floor, jumping from a squat position that is held for at least 2 seconds. A countermovement jump is a regular two footed jump with no approach, dip and explode. Reactive jumps involve stepping off of a box of the specified height and immediately jumping off of the ground. There should be an advantage gained from the stretch-shortening cycle on these from a moderate height.

This is the first time I have actually measured my vertical. I am not taking these as my true maxes yet because of my recent training frequency and being my first time doing the actual test, but the different jumps should be relative to one another. I think doing my second round of countermovement jumps directly after 29 inch reactive jumps is what brought that number down, most everything else was fairly consistent. I went through all the jumps twice to see if fatigue was having an effect, but it doesn't seem that it did. The entire workout consisted of 48 jumps spread over a fairly long time.

What I am seeing in the graph is that I am not really getting much benefit from the reactive jump, meaning that I need to focus on my speed and plyometric capability. I need to better transfer the energy captured from dropping from the box into my jump. I have already incorporated speed squats into my routine, and have been doing the plyos. So I am going to stick with my current plan and monitor progress. I am going to test my countermovement jump and probably one reactive jump a few times a week - they will be listed at the top of the entry.

This is my new priority, with a specific goal of 30 inches. First from a reactive jump, but eventually from just a countermovement jump.

[Buk]

Saturday, June 3, 2006

Grass Volleyball Tournament:
Virginia Tech Volleyball - "Digging for Dollars"
Blacksburg, Virginia
Mens Open Doubles, pool play to playoffs; 4 team pool(2 games vs. each team)
Partner: Dave Carter
1st place
5-1 in pool play, 2-0 win in semis, 2-0 win in finals.

I teamed up with Dave for another local tournament. This one was actually on campus at Virginia Tech. The wind was fierce all day. Our pool play was like an easy warmup, but it made getting into the game difficult. I wasn't sure if we were going to be ready for the semis or not. Dave really stepped it up though. He handled the wind well, even hand setting a good part of the day. What is usually one of his biggest faults, serving, is what won us the tournament. He had so many aces in the semis and the finals. I stuck with float serves that moved a lot in the wind, and we earned quite a few points on blocking and defense. Dave didn't even let the win affect his hitting too often. He was jumping high and hitting the ball hard and over quite a few blocks. I worked on hitting the ball line all day and created quite a few frustrated opponents. Turning late and pushing the ball down the line behind the block is something I do better than almost anyone, and now one was able to adjust enough and handle it - so I just did it all day long. I think I only hit crosscourt something like 5 times. This was the first doubles tournament that Dave has ever won.

[Mahler]

Craig,
A BIG congratulations to you and your partner, Dave.
First Place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is amazing.

[gobbla]

That's terrific! Great work!

[kuri]

Nice work Craig! All your hard work pays off.

You earned some Dr Pepper for the big win

[Buk]

Thanks guys, but a local tournament isn't that much to brag about. Southwest Virginia isn't exactly a hotbed of volleyball. It was a fun tournament though, and a win is a win. I didn't recognize a few teams including the team that we played in the semis, and had heard that one team was coming down from Maryland; but I don't think this tournament was worth that drive. I wish we could get bigger tournaments in the area, but there just hasn't been that much demand around here lately.

Originally Posted by kuri

You earned some Dr Pepper for the big win

Thanks for excusing my bad behavior which I have indulged in a few times since the tournament, but now, back on track. Gotta be prepared for next time too!

[Buk]

Sunday, June 4, 2006
12:00 PM
Weight: 188
CV Jump: 23.75 inches(98.7% previous best)


Comments: I went to the gym today, but decided that I should take a rest day. I did do some mobility work and test my vertical. I feel good and strong but am not sure what my optimum frequency is yet. I have been going at it fairly frequent lately and making good gains, but taking today off isn't going to have a negative effect.

One of the reasons that I am going to continue to frequently test my vertical is to try to measure fatigue and supercompensation throughout my training cycle. Today's max jump was slightly less than my previous best, but my previous best wasn't necessarily done after full recovery from my previous workout. So I could be fatigued quite a bit from my true max, which is understandable due to yesterday's tournament. This is me trying to be intelegent and responsible - I have been reading a few things that suggest it may be optimum to do less training than I am doing.

I don't think that the volleyball I am playing indoors or outside during the week is frequent or intense enough to have much of a training effect. The core of my planned training is 3 fullbody weight workouts, 2 plyo workouts, and sometimes a conditioning workout each week. I have been dropping 1 or 2 plyo workouts for each tournament, but typically replacing them with a short conditioning session. My "life stresses" are minimal, and I have not been feeling overtrained, but there is no reason not to document as much as I can and play with the programming a little to learn as much as I can.

After I finish a few more weeks of my current workouts, I am going to switch to an even more jump specific routine. I will achieve my new primary goal!

[kuri]

Do you have a specific height in mind as a goal?

Have you tried the DB shoulder presses yet?
I'm betting you will be able to do 70s.

[Buk]

The vertical jump is my new priority, with a specific goal of 30 inches. First from a reactive jump, but eventually from just a countermovement jump.

I didn't try the dumbbell shoulder presses yet. I am not sure why I didn't give them a try when I was at the gym today, but I am planning on doing them with my next workout in place of my jerks/push presses, which optionally(because I have been reducing overhead work) precede my squats. Alternating dumbbell overhead presses are planned for my deadlift day, but last week I did handstand push-up instead just to get a baseline for the Crossfit North Skill Tests. Dumbbells may soon make up a very high percentage of the overhead work that I do though, even my push press and jerk work. The log press will likely be an event in the strongman contest that I am planning on doing again this fall, and that event was my biggest failure last year. I do well jerking and push pressing a bar, but I was unable to transfer my leg power into the log. Dumbbells will help simulate that. In the contest, I couldn't even jerk a 160 pound log, so deep strict pressing 80 pound dumbbells should help me keep from getting a goose egg next time around(assuming they don't up the weight on us).

[hard_rox]

Congrats on the V-ball tourney and the bench press PB!! Geesh, don't check in for 5 days and miss all the action.

Those Xfit tests look interesting and might be a fun thing to do for a week or two between programs.