Some insights on my athletic life:
*started with soccer, average overweight goalkeeper, until 11 y.o.
*dedicated myself only to high jumping until age 16, training just once a week, max. was 1.80m
*at age 16 started with some long sprints, hit 38.2 for 300m with no training
*at age 16 during summer did a lot of distance cycling training, it destroyed my bouncyness, was unable to jump 1.60, yet long jumped 6.19. Then had a skiing accident which led me to a 3 month lay off and “resetting” of my body. Just one two months and a half after surgery I jumped 1.80 again.
*On 2008 I had: overtraining, hamstring strain grade II (due to butt kicking while sprinting), several groin pulls (4, mobility issue) and left ankle astragalus edema (multiple severe heel striking while lj-ing due to everybody saying “look for height”). ALL these injuries were avoidable.
Development resume:
(last year I did not do a single session over 150m after the 2 month layoff and all the marks were hit after that, in a span of 3 months)
I stopped training on 20th november and have been travelling since then. Until 1st of april I won’t be able to run due to the ankle issue, which is slowly but steadily healing.
I have the national junior championship on may 24th, so I will only be able to qualify during a month long window and will be able to fully train only for 5 weeks. I have to hit 6.50 to qualify, I hit the mark last year in only a month of training after my hamstring issue so I know it’s possible. In october I am moving to germany, so I will miss the last and most important part of my season (Argentina).
Some kind of short-long scheme. If I do some speed endurance sessions later this year there will be no intensive tempo, following the guidelines recomended on this forum and due to the lack of success I have had with it in shorter sprints. (200 or less)
Since right now I am uncappable of running or jumping I will just do a shitload of circuits and upperbody lifting in order to adquire work capacity and recruit more motor units. Last year this helped me a lot mantaining my accel capabilities during injury (I read somewhere in this forum that Ben did the same, I did it and worked). I still don’t know then to start lower body lifting, I suppose mid march. I will try to have acces to an ellyptica (sp?). Since I am going to run short of time I hope to somehow develop some accel capabilities with all the work until april and then jump directly to work arround 40-60m. Btw this are some ideas from Allan Wells’ training applied to my precarious situation.
I believe that my strength relies on my short gct. I have very poor maximal strength as seen above. Therefore I rely mostly on my plyometric abilities for jumping.
My technical targets:
*Plantar flexion previous ground contact helps me to activate my hamstrings
*Glute contraction during a more active take off
*Fast backwards pull/push with a COMPLETELY stiff leg
*Remain fast during take off
*Dominate the hang technique (landing issues with hitch kick)
*Powerfull knee drive with free leg (right one)
*Look for distance, and height just through trying to get on an imaginary low box on my target distance
My take off has been way too passive after aug 08, thereby I was jumping just with my quads, it was some kind of run off the board jump. I luckly have never had steering problems, I usually am a 6/6 guy. I also tend to run very relaxed.
Another key element of my training has been visualization: while being at home I slowly rehearse technique or the last steps of my approach. This works perfectly and f.e. has helped me to learn extremelly fast the hitch kick.
lots of stretching
some drills
3 x stadium stairs walking (2 steps each time)
each down step was done slowly, some kind of eccentric bw work
3x5x40kg bench (I injured my elbows in january while lifting my very heavy travel bag so I am just trying them)
dips
abs
Wed 18th February:
still proceding carefully with my elbows, very sore glutes and hamstrings from stadium steps
stretching + drills (lj take off rehearse, always walking)
row: 3 x 8 x 50 / 55 / 60kg
arm curls, altn front raises and lats
Elbows are doing fine and my ankle doesn’t crack crazily like in december anymore.
Thursday, 19th feb.
Today was crazy hot, as high as 41ºC, and almost 80% humid, so I skipped any kind of training. Glutes and hamstrings are still a little bit sore.
I forgot to mention I train mostly on excellent grass, in a nearby rugby club. The grass there is top notch and I feel extremelly comfortable running there. I have no kind of pain after running there, whereas on synthetic tracks I really feel the pounding.
WHAT THE HELL!!! Today I confirmed that vj test wasn’t right at all (CMJ):
5 min bike + stretching + drills + mobility work
cmj from less than 1/4 squat onto box: 5 x 6
squat 4x6 x 60 / 60 / 70 / 70kg (tremendous glute / ham activation, very little quad)
bench: 4x5x 40 / 45 / 50 / 55kg 3 x 60 kg
some easy biceps work
New less than 1/4 squat CMJ pb: 31.5 inches
In the CMJs, the last 3 sets were performed onto a platform 80cm high (31.5 inches) and I was always landing completely standing up in some of them, some were performed with very little knee bend. I find this awesome since it totally obliterates the previous “real” CMJ (44cm), which was even performed from a deeper squat position. Today I jumped from less than a quarter squat, very little knee bend at take off and landing. I could feel my hamstrings and glutes making the work.
I wonder now how big my full VJ is. I love this because it doesn’t correlate at all with my poor strength. I will try to get it on tape next time. I even wonder if I measured correctly because it’s way too much.
edit: I in fact miscalculated, it’s just 80cm instead of 88cm
Mobility + stretching + drills
Box jumps: 6x6 from static 1/2 squat onto 80cm high box
Snatch grip deadlift: 4 x 8 x 60 / 70 / 80 / 90kg
Front squat: 3 x 10 x 50kg (killer)
Overhead dumbell press: 4x10
shoulder mobitility work for javelin and pull overs
I find jumping onto the box more difficult from this static 1/2 squat than from the tiny ROM of the CMJ.
Today some light bike tempo, the very little muscular endurance I had is now leaving. Even ciclying steadily at a very slow pace makes my muscles hurt.
Drills + stretching
Box jumps onto 80cm from static 1/2 squat: 6x6
Squat: 6 x 5 x 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85kg
RDL: 3x10x50kg
Lacked depth in the squat, I noticed I was going just to parallel, so didn’t come even close to the hamstring / glute activation of tuesday. I also wasn’t pushing through my heels. Had the same problem with the box jumps, every glute/ham dominated jump is way more powerfull than any kind of quad movement.
Yesterday:
Box jumps onto 80cm (CMJ) 6x6
Squat: 4 x 6 x 60 / 70 / 75 / 80kg
Back jerk: 3x6 20/25/30
Dumbell lounges: 3x12 with 12.5kg on each hand
The squats felt pretty easy today and there was a lot of hamstring / glute activation. Almost fucked up my elbow doing the back jerk.
The squats were easier than last week, sets done faster, but I avoided using my hams and glutes today. I do this by avoiding the backwards hip push at the bottom of the lift. The quarter squats were done just to see if they felt easy. They were really easy for my legs yet not for my back. I will do that kind of work in the leg press. I almost went to hell doing the quarter squats because I didn’t expect to bounce with that much energy back. Please criticize my squat form:
squat 3x6 75 / 80 / 85kg
quarter leg press: 3 x 6 175 / 190 / 205kg
dumbell lounges: 3 x 12 [/i]
The cmj was tremendously powerfull, it’s as if I had been pumped up. I got pretty easily on the box and two times I landed completely upright. The squats felt relatively easy and fast. The quarter leg press was ridicuously easy, I could make the thing jump under my feet. Next time I will start with 230 kg. My goal is to simulate the quarter squats, since these destroy my back. In need them in order to improve my elastic strength.
I hope to be able to dominate! In fact anything over 7.20 would be as a wr for me.
yesterday:
[i]
drills
6x6 box jumps from sitting position w/o using arms
snatch grip dl: 4x6x 80/ 85 / 90 / 95kg
front squat: 4 x 6 x 60kg[/i]
My knees got sore from the front squats. I have been playing arround with Kinovea and my jumping videos of last year. I measured angles and got f.e. for a slow 6.30m jump 12º, for a stuttering 6.10 just 9º, very very flat jumps and that’s how I had been jumping last year:
snatch pull: 6x6x 80/80/80/85/85/85 kg
slow eccentric squats:
Back 2x6x60/65
Front 2x6x50kg[/i]
The snatch pulls were supposed to be snatch grip dl’s but I was doing them so fast that during the pull they ended up flying upwards even surpassing my stomach. I feel nothing while doing the eccentric squats, I suppose I will do these with a supramaximal load but from the front to drop the bar since I have no suitable rack.
Btw I have never had soreness from this lifting only training, I had always thought the usual soreness came from lifting but now I realize it comes from sprinting.
Power cleans: 6x4x 60kg
[/i]
First running workout! The ankle felt good. It was also the first time ever I tried LJ spikes, they are really stiff but felt good. The cleans were really easy but I still want to polish my technique, hadn’t done a clean in ages.
In the last three weeks I gained 2kg (4.4lbs) and I don’t know where they came from. Now weighting 74kg.
Good day! It was pretty hot here in Buenos Aires but I still managed to pb in the squat. I even had one extra rep in the tank but prefered to back it up. I am happy because I pb’d after such a long lay off and hit a major metric milestone, it’s a sign that my strength training works. I am doing better than I had thought.
8x100 extensive tempo pace
Lots of less-than-jog-speed lj take offs
6x100 extensive tempo pace
First LJ session since 15th november. Very slow jumping.
Right now:
*working on having a penultimate step under me (used to overstride, shin angles were bad)
*good take off motion (used to just “grasp” the table instead of making full contact with the foot, like running off the board)
*having a moderate angle (neither 9º nor jumping high and landing one meter away)
*full extension off the board
