Gaining Mass/ROM for College Javelin

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1

Hi all,

Just starting a new thread since my training regiment will be significantly different than what I was doing in my last journal. I compete in college track and field. Freshman year I walked-on to my college’s team as a sprinter, but, since I do not have great speed endurance or top speed, once my coach say me throw a tennis ball and found out that I could throw a javelin 160 feet with very little formal training my event got switched to the javelin. I will not be returning to the team until Spring 2014 where I will have sophomore eligibility. Until then, I am suppose to try and get up to a weight of 165 lbs and get very flexible to make up for my lack of size compared to the other javelin throwers in the league. I have trouble adding weight as far as adding bodyfat (can never get above 10%), though even if I don’t eat very much, as my weights go up I definitely see muscular hypertrophy. I will especially be keying in on hypertrophy and stretching for the first month and will evolve my program from there depending on my needs (may try to compete in a Summer meet). The key for me will be to make sure that my weights are not plateauing and that I give significant time to stretching after workouts (flexibility is average with shoulder mobility a bit below average). I plan to use a pretty simple program to start, which I will be writing myself. I will outline some background info and my plan. As usual, any input or questions about what I’m doing would be much appreciated!

sex: male
age: 19
height: 5’7"
weight: 144 lbs
bf%: ~5%
latest max numbers:
-bench 200
-squat 385
-power clean 250
-snatch 160
PR’s:
100m - 11.3h
55m - 6.89
60m - 7.43
vertical jump - ~3’

Plan:
1 - off
2 - lower
3 - upper
4 - yoga
5 - lower
6 - upper
7 - yoga

-will ice throwing shoulder every day after training. will take ibuprofen, too, after throwing sessions

lower:
-5xpower clean
-5xsquat
-2x10:
hamstring curl (alt single leg negatives)
calf raise
-ankle dorsi-flexion, x-bandx20

upper:
-5xbench, lat pull-down
-2x10:
incline db bench
(each) one arm row
triceps ext
(each) db biceps curl (alt)
lateral raises
incline flys
shoulder press
seated row
bench dips
bentover raise
-shoulder complex (thumbs up raises, abduction/adduction, scarecrows), bandpulls, pullover stretchx20

-will go 10,8,6 as far as reps go for major lifts, going week by week. will start with easy first set and move weight up accordingly over the five sets
-2x10 lifts are really just beach lifts. wont go too heavy or really even keep track of weights for those. really just to get the volume i’ll need for hypertrophy
-x20 lifts are for injury prevention/stability. easy lifts to end the workout

-after lifting, I will do ~500 reps of core, and then will stretch the corresponding body parts
-on yoga days i’ll get some blood flowing then will use yoga to improve my balance and ROM
-I’ll use the thrower’s warm-up from my school before each workout and will do a couple athleticism checks (backflip, human flag) at some point each week (a major reason I was able to walk-on to the team was I proved to have some raw athleticism, so I think it’s a good idea to maintain some of the skills I have that can help prove this)
-after warm-up, before lifts, i will do 5 reps of each of the olympic lift catches. this is not only to improve my technique in them, but to work on hip, wrist and shoulder ROM

goals:
(before Spring 2014 season)
-gain 10 lbs
-throw 185 ft
(by end of Spring 2014 season)
-weigh 160 lbs
-throw 60m
(down the road)
-weigh 165 lbs
-3xbw squat (495), 2xbw power clean (330), 1.5xbw bench (250)
-throw 70m

my previous journal can be found here: http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?22409-2nd-Year-College-Javelin

2

3/10/2013

weigh-in -> 144 lbs

3

3/11/2013

-thrower’s warm-up
-acrobat checks
-1x5:
front squat
overhead squat
snatch squat
(full depth, 45 lbs)
-5x10 power clean@135,145,145,145,145
-5x10 squat@225,185,185,185,185
-2x10:
hamstring curl (single leg negatives alt)
calf raise
-1x20:
ankle dorsi flexion
each x-band
-500 reps core
-self-massage
-lower body and core stretch
-15’ ice r. shoulder

notes:
-forgot how much it sucks to really try and eat a ton. i feel like dieting and being hungry is so much more comfortable than stuffing myself to the brink of vomiting. perhaps when my metabolism slows down i’ll change my mind, haha
-pushed the weights bit too hard. didn’t really think about how enormous the volume for the workout was, really should’ve stayed at 135 for the cleans. doing 40 reps at 1x my bw really knocked my legs out, so i had to drop down weight in the squat. on the bright side, clean form is really beginning to improve, weight is starting to pop off my thighs and i’m getting a nice, full pull before my elbows bend. i will definitely consider lowering volume for the other lower body day this week, or at least i will definitely not go above 135 lbs for cleans

4

3/12/2013

thrower’s warm-up
oly lift checks
5x10:
-bench@135,135,135,115,115
-lat pull-down@90,90,90,70,70
2x10:
-db incline bench
-each single arm db bentover row
-overhead db triceps ext
-db biceps curl (alt)
-lateral raise
-db incline flys
-each db shoulder press (alt)
-seated row
-bench dips
-bentover raise
1x20:
-shoulder complex (thumbs-up raise, adduction/abduction, scarecrows)
-band pulls
-pullover stretch
500 reps core
stretch (upper, core)
ice 15’ r. shoulder

notes:
-lots of lower body doms, mostly lower back and hamstrings
-felt great going into workout, got fatigued and nauseous when i dropped weight on major lifts, felt re-energized for core, but got hammy cramp in middle

5

I’m getting tired reading those workouts…

6

Agreed.
tb, one thing to consider for smaller guys trying to bulk up. Is calories in/out
Most smaller guys hate or simply can’t eat enough, and they try to do this with massive workouts.

Consider keeping your workouts down to 30 min
Full body, 2x week.

Sounds insane, but, i train guys in this way all the time, and growth happens!

Less volume = less calories out

Only compound movements
Chest, back, shoulders, legs
30-45sec between sets

Protein = 2g per 1kg, so around 130g day.
Maybe keep a track via smartphone apps?

7

I would suggest maybe looking at a workout more along the lines of a Starting Strength style program where you’re only lifting 3 times a week but you’re increasing the weight in a fairly linear fashion for each workout. If you search for Starting Strength WIKI there are a whole host of good bits of info for someone relatively new to weight training who’s looking to put on a bit of mass and really increase strength numbers.

In my opinion, when you’re first starting out limiting the work so you can stay concentrated and motivated is a huge help. Doing Squats Bench and Deadlifts or Squats, Press and Cleans in alternating workouts is concentrated enough to keep you engaged but also a surprisingly effective complete workout if you’re being honest with your form and numbers.

8

hi guys, thanks for the responses.

I generally would agree with all the things you’re saying, but after a few years of training and training on my own (I trained myself my last two years of high school, and have been in both the sprinter and thrower groups at college, so i’ve seen a ton of variety in my training as far as the weight room goes), I think that what I am doing is the best route for me (short term) and that my program will move more towards what you guys are suggesting starting in april and that you may be misled by the amount of text that are in my posts. granted, i will definitely consider your input since i am pretty much writing my program weekly at this point (unsure of nearest competition, may not be until next spring)

rb34, I agree I overdid volume in the workouts. keep in mind though, for exercises like squat or clean, I was lifting at about 50% of my max. and for the 2x10 stuff I wasn’t even very close to failure. I’ve found that as far as muscular growth, I tend to respond much better to high volume, low intensity, at least while my fitness levels are low. the soreness is practically unbearable, but once I start doing technical work again (throwing drills) I will have to lower volume so that I am fresher for specific work. two weeks from now i plan to do 6 reps per set of the primary lifts so for squat it look something like this 5x6 squat@185,225,275,295,295. I just happen to not only be currently out of shape, but awful as far as reps go compared to maxes (put up 215 in the bench when I couldn’t 3 rep 185 at a point)

boldwarrior, ironically, that’s what i’ve been telling many of the kids on my team who simply aren’t adding muscle, yet eating more and moving less never seemed to work for me. for some reason, if i eat more than I need, I tend to just get an upset stomach and go to the bathroom much more often, I have a feeling my body just spits out what it doesn’t need. I can barely add any bodyfat, even if i don’t workout and eat as unhealthy and as much as i can, i never gain any belly fat. i recently began receiving treatment for a sleeping disorder, and since that has started, I’ve seen very quick gains in muscle mass, without eating nearly as much as before. what I will be curious to see is once I get up to the 150 lbs range (about the heaviest I’ve ever been) if I will continue to gain weight. also, as far as time spent in the gym, it usually looks like this for me:
-bodybuilding phase 15’ warm-up, 45’ exercise, 15’ cool-down
-spp 30’ warm-up, 1 hr event work, 1 hr exercise, 30’ cool-down
i know it look like a lot of volume, but its really just two lifts (with the first few being warm-ups, just at a high rep range and low fitness couldn’t move weight up), 2 middle intensity circuits and a couple injury prevention exercises then core. could definitely fit it into 30’ if i was diligent. and i actually am trying to stay away from just compound lifts because I tend to see lots of growth in my chest, back, quads but barely any in my limbs. even if just for aesthetics (i’m so far out of season anyways), i’m trying to even out my build
I eat a lot anyways, naturally. i’ve never seen more results from eating more, but if i let myself ever be hungry, yes, i drop weight fast. so long as i keep my stomach from growling, i will tend to add or hold weight even. if i’m getting stronger and getting sore, i add muscle. if i’m not, i stay the same weight. i think making sure i’m constantly overloading/surprising my muscles is very important for me. whereas i didn’t seem to respond to any speed work that my hs coach, colege coach or i gave myself, strength gains have always come very easy to me. just i also lose them very fast so the fact that i lift very light for most of the last 4 spring seasons mean i lose like 75% of my yearly gains each outdoor season. as a thrower, i bet this wont happen

Janic, my lifting over the last 6 months or so actually sounds pretty similar to what you are saying. what i found, is i was consistently adding a couple pounds of weight every easier week (did 65%, 75%, 85%, 70%, 80%, 90%… type of pattern) but not in heavier weeks. i plan to up intensity linearly and to unload every 3rd or 4th week. i’m just starting april with some submax, high volume work because I usually see huge gains from it, but only if its done while my fitness levels are pretty low. as I get closer to doing specific work, I will move away from high volume and more towards looking to get some heavy weight on the bar with primary lifts. i also plateau if i don’t unload, and i almost never see anything bu benefits from easy weeks, so long as the few before it were challenging

9

3/13/2013

10’ elliptical
yoga
specific stretches
self-massage
ice r. shoulder 15’

notes:
-man, yoga is gonna be perfect. my large muscles tend to be pretty flexible. my smaller, more concealed muscles however were definitely exposed in even the beginner poses
-legs even more sore today. probably will take tomorrow almost as a recovery workout. chest and shoulders getting sorer as the day went on
-its cool to see the muscular changes that occur after hard workouts. could see decreases and increases in muscle tone/size based off where they are in the recovery process. i already look more fit after just two workouts. could just be in my head, and the scale doesn’t lie! broke 150 before bed one night, haven’t seen it that high in ages and my bf% seems to be its lowest ever (can see striations in shoulders fairly easily). i’ll be curious to see my morning weigh-in next week

10

occurred to me that i should probably include some more info about myself as far as to explain workouts

only will lift 4x per week, 2x per upper/lower. if i lift a body section more than 2x per week, almost always is overkill. saw big gains only lifting heavy 1x per week full body and easy 2x fullbody per week

recently got a diagnosis for narcolepsy. have struggled pretty severely with excessive daytime sleepiness for years and i live a pretty healthy lifestyle. everyone assumed i was just lazy, rude and bored when i would fall asleep in class, couldn’t pay attention hen people talked to me, claimed i was hallucinating because i was so tired. academic success convinced people that i must be fine. exercise was my only cure until recently, it always seemed to wake me up a bit and feel better throughout the day in general. recently been prescribed methylphenidate (ritalin) to take. usual side effect is decreased appetite and weight loss, but my hunger increased and i am now gaining weight/muscle much easier. asked doctor about it, she said must e performance enhancing for me. i think i was so tired that exhaustion was preventing me from being hungry or gaining weight more than taking ritalin does. because it is being given to me for a disorder, i should be all set as far as ncaa drug testing goes

played baseball all the way until my senior year when i switched to track full time. could hit homeruns and throw nearly 85 mph (and this was before i really started getting decent in the weight room and was only 16 years old) but i was so bad at hitting for contact and so inaccurate that i really was useless. not really taking care of my throwing arm has left me with shoulder and elbow stiffness, but i have seen very easy gains since starting to “rehab” them. this is how i ended up in javelin

made track team at my school because my bw ratios in the weight room were so good for a college freshman, especially one who essentially trained himself (put up 2.5xbw in the squat and 1.7xbw in the clean and 1.5xbw in bench freshman fall). never actually showed any aptitude for track besides block starts, but my coach is hoping my strength potential will lead to track success with proper coaching

lactose intolerant. still occansionally take weight gainer or protein supplements with lactase pills, but will always cause me an upset stomach so i have to determine whether the timing is worth the risk of ruining my appetite for my next meal. drink a ton of lactaid whole milk or choco soy

11

Have you checked whether you need a therapeutic use exemption for Ritalin? Just having a prescription may not be enough.

12

I talked to my coaches and it appears that ncaa d1 drug testing only requires coaches to be aware of what drugs their athletes are being prescribed and so long as its not off label usage, should i get informed that i will be drug tested, i just need the coach and my physician to submit proof

13

3/15/2013

weigh in -> 148 lbs

thrower’s warm-up
oly lifts checks
5x10 power clean@95,115,125,135,135
5x10 squat@135,185,205,225,225
2x10:
-hamstring curl (single leg negatives, alt)
-calf raise
1x20:
-each x-band
-ankle dorsi-flexion
500 reps core
self-massage
lower/core stretch
15’ ice r. shoulder

notes:
-made claim on here that i’ve already been successful in adding muscle. didn’t want to make a false claim so i weighed in during the am. i generally add 5 lbs after off time in the first week i start to lift again, but to do it after only 2 workouts and after only about a week of no lifting im pretty happy with. once i enter the 150s is when things will get interesting
-volume should look much better now, i just overestimated my fitness so my early sets were far too heavy on monday. this set up gives me enough volume to pack on some pounds and allows me to get some heavier lifts in without killing myself
-power clean form much improved. second pull has gotten much more effective. got bruises on my quads for the first time and didnt scrape shins as badly.

14

3/15/2013

ice r.shoulder 15’

notes:
-no major soreness today

15

3/16/2013

thrower’s warm-up
oly lift checks
5x10:
-bench (95, 115, 125, 135, 135)
-lat pull-down (45, 70, 80, 90, 90)
2x10 upper body circuit (10 exercises)
1x20:
-shoulder complex
-band pulls
-pullover stretches
500 reps core
self-massage
upper/core stretch
ice r. shoulder 15’

10’ elliptical
yoga
specific stretches

notes:
-minor leg doms
-really starting to see some flexibility gains
-changed lift notations, i remember that a friend once inquire if 5x5@225,250, 275, 295, 300 was 25 total reps or 5x5 at each weight, i mean the weights are for each set. 225 for set 1, 250 for set 2, yadda, yadda. i hope people didn’t think i was doing 250 reps of cleans!

16

3/18/2013

10’ elliptical
self-massage
yoga
specific stretches
ice r. shoulder 15’

notes:
-because of a couple commitments early this week, i will be doing 1. yoga 2. yoga 3. lower 4. upper 5. lower 6. upper 7. off. this means i will make sure to be cautious on the first lifting days to make sure that i will not be sore for the next two. i will think of them as prep days so i can figure out how to maximize the weights for each set later in the week

17

3/19/2013

off

3/20/2013

10’ elliptical
self-massage
stretch checks
jav specific stretches
injury stretches
yoga (1 routine)
ice r. shoulder 15’

notes:
-have been busy and not feeling well last couple days. I plan on having a bit higher volume stuffed into the net four days than I would prefer, but since I really am just lifting to gain weight, I’ll just make sure I’m limiting my soreness and will get back on track next week
-weight has been all over the place between some appetite and hydration problems (plus I’m sure not lifting for four straight days isn’t helping). I’ll just weigh-in the morning after a rest day next week (probably Thursday morning before work). i’m going to start eating a meal before bed because I keep waking up hungry during the night
-parts of my workouts are taking too long because I don’t have a definite routine written down to follow. I will get those worked out before next week (stretching, yoga, massage, supplements)

18

3/21/2013

thrower’s warm-up
ghost throws
acrobat checks
oly lift checks
5x8:
-bench (95,115,135,165 (f@5), 155)
-lat pull-down (45, 70, 90, 100, 100)
2x10:
-upperbody circuit (10 exercises)
1x20:
-shoulder complex
-band pulls
-pullover stretch (half normal, half supinated grip)
500 reps core
self-massage
stretching (upper, core)
15’ ice (r. shoulder)

notes:
-felt good to be exercising again. havent done resistance work in like 5 days. felt very fresh in warm-ups, over-rotated a bit in my backflip check, human flag was about as solid as ever and accels felt smooth and fast
-“f@5” means i would’ve failed so i stopped at 5 reps. i hope to rarely do this, but it happens! i prefer just to move on to the next set since i already did too much if i couldn’t make the reps
-by ghost throws i mean i just kind of fooled around getting comfortable with the jav throwing motion. starting to feel more natural to me than a baseball motion, which is great. did some crossovers too. looked at a couple in mirror and i actually look like i know what i’m doing! can’t wait til the weather’s nicer and i can start throwing the spear. the added ROM is gonna be huge
-will be putting together a more exact template this weekend for parts of my workout so that i can read off print outs instead of wasting time memorizing. i’ll probably post a copy here. will do an unloading week similar in structure to what i’ve been doing the last couple weeks for the first week of april, then probably will do a 8,7,6 unload before getting into some more fitness and specific work. really just trying to get started with a good strength base and pack on some pounds!

19

3/22/2013

thrower’s warm-up
ghost throws
oly lift checks
5x8 power clean (95,115,135,165(f@5),155)
5x8 power squat (135,185,205,225,225)
2x10:
-hamstrings curl (single-leg on negatives, alt)
-calf raise
1x20:
-each, x-band
-ankle dorsi-flexion
500 reps core
stretching (lower, core)
15’ ice (r. shoulder)

notes:
-felt good during the day today. can really feel the benefits of exercise as far as alertness, appetite and mood the day after
-minor doms in chest, lats, obliques
-began to rush into the second pull when i start to get tired on power cleans. i’ll stay lighter to look at improved technique. squats felt fantastic. 225 felt very smooth and easy, maybe i’ll increase weight on my next session
-significantly more comfortable in the single digit rep range. probably will be looking at doing my next cycle 8,6,4,unload instead since it feels better to me, i can get heavier weights on the bar and i believe i tend to experience more hypertrophy in lower rep ranges anyways. planning on finishing my 10,8,6,unload then doing 8,6,4,unload and then i will probably go to a 3 day, whole body lift schedule (probably drop extra lower body exercises (besides the 1x20’s), swap in pullovers for bench and keep with an upper body circuit and 1x20s) so i can look at having two off days and one day for some conditioning and speedwork and the other for throwing and yoga. not planning on doing any testing until end of summer since all i really care about is gaining weight at this point
-probably going to do ghost throws on the same days i do the acrobat stuff. tend to improve the most on mechanics when i work really hard at them and then dont do anything for a long time and come back to it
-setting the weights for sets by (easy, technique, minimum, reach, adjust) and technique for the 2x10’s and easy for the 1x20’s

20

3/23/2013

thrower’s warm-up
oly lift checks
5x8:
-bench (95,115,135,155,145)
-lat pull-down (45,70,90,100,105)
2x10:
-upperbody circuit (10 exercises)
1x20:
-shoulder complex
-band pulls
-pullover stretch (normal grip, supinated grip)
500 reps core
self-massage
stretching (core, upper)
15’ ice (r. shoulder)

notes:
-still a little upperbody soreness. did lift in the am
-little bit of gluteal doms