Buk's Log: Let the Games Begin

[Buk]

Buk's Log: Let the Games Begin

Time for me to get a new log started. My primary focus is beach volleyball - for which this season is rapidly approaching. I plan to travel and play a lot this year. My partner lives in Delaware and there isn't much to speak of in the way of high quality play in my area so that makes training tough, but I make do with some decent indoor lunchtime ball, hopefully some decent outdoor doubles pick-up ball this year on campus, and on the job training at tournaments.

For those who don't know, I am 28 years old and about 5'11" tall. Shorter than average on the sand, so I really need to be in top shape.

I don't currently have an exact plan lined out, but I rarely do. Basically I will be playing ball, lifting heavy, and working hard. I may come up with something structured pretty soon, but I don't think it is entirely necessary.

That being said, it is time to Let the Games Begin!

[Buk]

Monday, April 24, 2005
12:15 PM

Indoor Volleyball:
1.5 hours
3 on 3 all day today.
I felt strong and fast today. I was a little slow moving(getting started) horizontally when blocking, usually causing me to end up floating too far outside. Other than that I was fast on the court, ball control was good, and my sets felt better than they have in a while.

[Buk]

Monday, April 24, 2005
5:00 PM
Weight: 188

Gym Workout - Conditioning:

Barbell Combo Lift(9 lifts)
(Full Clean, Press, Thruster, Push Press, Front Squat, Jerk, GM, Snatch Grip Push Press, Overhead Squat)
93(40Kg)x6
93(40Kg)x6

Jump Rope Circuit
(regular,right,left,alternatin g,double unders,alternating)
500 skip circuit(100,50,50,100,25,100)

Comments: That was enough for the day. That combo was tough - 54 reps without stop, except for maybe a second or two between the overhead squat and the next full clean. Paula was there cheering me on and pushing me to keep the speed up, my form good, and getting in all the planned reps. The Good Morning kind of broke the flow in a bad way so I might alter the combo next time around, maybe add in or replace the GM with a squat. I went slowly through the jumprope circuit to finish off a quick, tough workout.

[ninja]

Duuuuuuuuuuuude...... solid name and all, but you didn't invoke me. That's negative 5 points right there......

[kuri]

Good to see you back Craig!

Man that's a brutal combo lift with a ton of overhead pressing. Hartman would not approve

Nice job and I agree the GM does break the flow a bit. In fact after thinking about it for a second I'm not convinced it adds anything to the conditioning aspect of the lifts. hmmm

[Bill2380]

That combo does sound brutal......why aren't I surprised.

[hard_rox]

I don't know Craig, that combo looks kinda light. I think maybe you could add curls and lunges to the rotation too.

Good luck with the training and getting some games in.

[BamaDave]

Good to see you back in here logging, Craig... I agree with Greg -- why didn't you run a 5K or something with that bar overhead as one of the reps???

That sounds 100% brutal. I'm impressed that you could keep track of the order of the exercises from one set to the next!

[K-Court]

I look forward to following your log, Craig, and hearing all about your ball victories this summer. Awesome workouts. That no-rest combo routine made me sick just thinking about it. :0 Did you do some of those sick shoulder rotation things to warm up? :p

[Marykaa]

Let the games begin! but this is serious work!

nice going! and my boyfriend will surely look in at you log as well since he just loves volleyball and now has been playing a couple of years.

[Buk]

Thank you guys. I am so glad to be back and working hard. I dropped the 10 pounds of Disney almost immedately which pleases me.

I really liked the combo lift except for the flow disruption of the good mornings. Keeping track of the lift order and rep count wasn't as hard as I expected, but I did setup a note sheet in my line of vision. There was a lot of overhead work which I might reduce a bit in favor of some more squat variations, but most of the vertical lifting was leg assisted(thruster/push press/jerk). Next time I might experiment with going lighter and faster but for more reps.

Rob, I am not sure if I will never not do at least a few of those sick shoulder rotations during my warm-up. But I have been doing them with a wider grip putting much less stretch on my shoulders. Hopefully there will be lots of victories to report, but we are going to be playing mostly very high level ball this year. I need to be doing something to improve every single day.

[Buk]

Tuesday, April 25, 2005
11:45 AM
Weight: 188

Gym Workout - Strength:

Clean
137(60Kg) x 3
181(80Kg) x 3
203(90Kg) x 3+3+3

Alternating Sets:

Dip(holding dumbbell with feet)
(bw) x 6
(bw+50) x 6
(bw+85) x 1
(bw+100) x 1
(bw+50) x 6
(bw) x 16

Chin-up(holding dumbbell with feet)
(bw) x 6
(bw+50) x 6
(bw+100) x 1
(bw+50) x 6
(bw+110) x 1 - slight kip to get the last few inches.
(bw) x 13

Alternating Sets:

GHR
(bw) x 8+8+8

Step-up 22" alternating legs(reps posted are per leg)
115 x 8+8+8


Comments: Recovering from the catch was the toughest part of the clean, not exactly sure why because I was front squatting a whole lot more than that not too many weeks ago. I screwed up the wave loading for the dips, after carrying the dumbbell to the rack, I was ready to put it to work and forgot my lighter set of 6. I am as light as a feather compared to me holding a 100 pound dumbbell. I was flying on my last set of unweighted dips and pull-ups. I felt real strong on the GHRs. I planned 3 sets rather than 2 because I expected to be in the 4-6 range on reps. Knocking out 8 was awesome, and I stuck with the planned 3 sets.

I still have an issue with my left groin, and it reminds me quite readily on the step-ups. I wonder if that is affecting my front squat strength? I only feel in certain positions, mostly unilateral squat variations. It was slightly painful, but didn't feel much weaker than my right on the step-ups. It did affect some one legged squats off of a box I was doing the other day, but less so when I did heel-elevated pistols. So the pain is very dependant on positioning, and so strength may also be affected differently in different positions.

[Deserve]

What was Hartman's recomendation for you?

[Mahler]

Craig,
Nice to see you posting this. It should be interesting to see what a sport oriented routine will look like.

[Buk]

I will try my best not to disappoint the Prime Motivator!

I wish Bill was my own personal coach and trainer. "You don't have to be a good Olympic lifter to be a good volleyball player!" Bill's most direct recommendation was to eliminate overhead work, this includes overhead pressing(handstand push-ups), overhead squats, and to some degree pull-ups. As an overhead athlete(beach volleyball) I get plenty of this, and I need to make sure I am doing enough external rotation work to balance the demands of my sport. "Is overhead lifting worth the risk it creates for you?" It is not likely for me to completely drop overhead lifting, but I am going to make a conscious effort to keep the volume in check, especially relative to counter-movements and external rotation work.

Bill also commented on my overactive rhomboids and underdeveloped serratus - with a solution of learning to properly activate and then strengthening my serratus. This should help improve scapular mobility and function, shoulder function too?

The movement screening tests demonstrated mostly a need to improve ankle mobility, rotational stability, and hip/hamstring flexibility. I have a rotational imbalance that most likely also has volleyball to blame. Also, unilateral work is a must due to the two footed nature of volleyball, so expect to see a lot more of that to come.

You will see corrective work in my log, but much of it is in my general mobility and warm-up which I don't usually detail.

[Buk]

Wednesday, April 26, 2005
12:15 PM

Indoor Volleyball:
1.75 hours
3 on 3 and 3 on 4. I was always 3.
Good day today. Blocking was better than Monday, but it is by far my biggest weakness. My sets were great, but I do need to be sure to keep getting a few minutes of pratice setting a medicine ball each day.

[Buk]

Wednesday, April 26, 2005
7:00 PM
Weight: 189

Plyo Workout - Acceleration & Horizontal Power Focus:

Quickness Complex
2 x 5 yards - Rapid Fire
4 x 5 yards - Hammer Hops

Power Transitions(intermitent tuck jumps)
2 x 15 yards - Hammer Hops(6/1)
2 x 15 yards - X-Jumps(6/1)
2 x 15 yards - Ski Jumps(6/1)

Power
2 x 20 yards - Tuck Jumps(horizontal emphasis)
5 x 30 yards - Alternate Bounding

Acceleration Complex
2 x 20 yards - "A" Skip(High-knees)
2 x 20 yards - "C" Skip(Butt-kicks)
2 x 20 yards - "B" Skip(High-knees-up-and-out)
2 x 5/20 yards - "A" Skip(Fast) -> Sprint
2 x 5/20 yards - "C" Skip(Fast) -> Sprint
2 x 10/5 yards - "A" Skip -> "A" Skip(Fast)
2 x 10/5 yards - "C" Skip -> "C" Skip(Fast)
2 x 30 yards - Start + Accelerations
3 x 30 yards - Acceleration Sprints


Comments: The weather put me on the indoor track which got a little crowded for this whorkout, but I made due fairly well. I imagine that a lot of the exercises are not very well known. I may get a video of a few of them up eventually.

I felt good my first time through these exercises in quite a while. The transitions in the Acceleration Complex didn't feel completly smooth, but everything else flowed well. This program is designed to be used in conjunction with strength shoes for about 2/3 of the exercises in a contrast method. I have a pair and have used them before. I did not use them today, and I am not sure if I am going to use them this cycle. I have seen the evidence against them, but I have used them before with success and personally seen teammates do the same.