Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

On saturday:

4 x lrlrlr

4x220m @ 60% 30s rest
circuits (incline bench, pull overs, ghr, ovh squat)

Today:

multiple medball throws (backwards ovh, forwards, side twists, jav like)
double footed hurdle hops 3 x 5 hurdles

javelin throw > lots of @ 600 / 800g

My javelin is improving. I believe I was flexing my elbow too much and was holding the javelin like a tennis racket. I feel much more comfortable and throw more with the 800g than the 600g one. Right now I am throwing from standing and from 3 step since it was awful to see it fly, it landed backwards, etc. I just also got the feeling of the quick quick plant and felt the pull on the javelin.

Nice to see the progress on the javelin.  How far are you getting it now?

Barely over 30m with 3 step but I am not trying to throw hard /fast at all. Just trying to get used to the feeling of it. IMHO I will throw much further from a faster approach, I don’t tend to lose any speed in the last steps. I am also not wrecking my elbow after every throw anymore.

Is it normal to feel some kind of discomfort in the lower back while planting well?

Thanks

Yesterday:

5 x LRLR + j
short approach lj (6 step)
4 x sfs (90m, easy)

clean: 3x2x 70kg, 1x75kg
squat: 4x3x 90 / 90 / 95 / 95kg
bench: 4x4x 50 / 55 / 60 / 65kg
complex: 3x5 x   (jump squats 27kg + dinamic step ups 27kg)

The sfs were done with a very big technical emphasis. I run well under 90% but got me on tape and am running taller than ever, legs straigt at contact.

Today:

a little bit of hurdles during the warmup
hj from 4 steps (letargic > aborted)
javelin throw (incredible)

4x250m @ 60% 30s rest

Worked with a thrower today. He corrected on spot my grip and literaly twisted my shoulder a little bit. Made wonders. It feels like a complete new event to me now, the javelin flys perfectly and my issues are suddenly gone. Extremely extremely pleased with today’s session, even thought the HJ sucked, had no pop.

Today:

discus throw 1.5kg
5 x LRLR+J 2 steps walk in, avg 16m
4x short app ljs

3x40m from blocks
aborted session

It went wonderfuly well until the 3rd 40m, I had a weird feeling in my right hamstring and the lower back of my knee. It was nowhere near a twingle, mostly like a “muscle distension”. Hammy hurts if I push something backwards.

Cause? Sprinting in 5ºC and pushing it harder than I should have. I was perfectly warmed up but the long recoveries made me cool down. So no sprinting till next week, I will have to figure out a way to train with no indoor track. And perhaps the 250 from yesterday were too much.

Btw. I video timed some LJ approaches:

4.00s / 30m avg for progressive accelerations
3.87s / 30m for hard accel

Things going bad.

Saturday:

Jerk: 5 x 4 x 40 / 45 / 50 / 52.5 / 55kg
Front squat: 3 x 4 x 60 / 75 / 75
Row: 3x5x 60 /65/70kg
I bench: 3x10

Today:

Warmed up but during strides hammy hurt. Went to lift but felt very very very letargic. I had trouble cleaning 70kg. On top of that my right ankle still gets swolen and hurts while squatting / cleaning in the medial side since I believe to have twisted it inwardly while learning to snatch some weeks ago. Called it a day (a week?) after the fourth clean single. Just felt unmotivated to continue training.

I believe I will take the week off or at least from lower body work (again). It’s really annoying starting the season well but not being able to train over a week without some kind of hampering.

Btw. I am evaluating seriously “calling it a season”.

Things going better. Taking it relatively easy these day and hoping to pump the volume up a little bit this week.

On thursday:

hurdle jumps x 6 (3 each leg)
med ball throws (ovh, side twits, jav like, backwards) + circuits
discus

On friday:

javelin throw (x25) 3 step with 800g
short approach lj x 10
3 x 120m @ 90%

Started working with a cuban coach in the javelin. 3 stepped arround 35m consistently, using wider diameter javs feels much much better and the javelin doesn’t slip anymore. The ones I used at my former school are too small for my grip.

Today:

snatch 2x3x40kg 2x45 2x2x47.5kg
third squat 5 x 4 x 90 / 100 / 110 / 115 / 120kg
bench 4 x 4 x 50 / 55 / 60 / 65kg
ghr 3x12

Weirdest day of my lifting time. Started very very sluggish with the snatches, and until the fourth squat set I was bein totalled by the weight. Then suddenly something clicked in my head and 120kg felt easy! The same happened with the bench. It seems to me that pressing my teeth and tensing up my body makes me lift much much more.

I am going to continue with my LJ mechanics overhaul. During the last bounding sessions I realized to have found a good balance between relaxation and power. I tended to overrelax both running and jumping / bounding. I am suddenly able to bounce down the runway much more powerfully, since march I was “asleep”, or affraid of attacking the board and also slowed down unconciously on the runway, I also started feeling bounding and jumping more as a whole body thing rather than localized in the legs. I felt this specially while triple jumping, where my hop take off felt great and was getting more height than in my LJ take off. Weird, isn’t it? It’s as if I felt my whole body acting as a big spring.

I am switching to a much more agressive style (mostly thanks to Nik). Main focuses:

*good posture during runup and jump (no butt out, high hips)
*attack the board, don’t slow down
*free leg knee drive
*kick far in front of my during landing

Target before october is still 7.10m.

Regarding mid air tech I don’t know, I might even end up doing something simil sail. Whilever I don’t crach into the sandpit anything is acceptable. Once I am in the air I will start worrying about it.

Sunday:

extensive tempo 10x100 5x110 2x100 hopping knee drive
incline bench 4x10 50kg

Monday:

short approaches lj (sucked)
4 x 50m
clean 3x60kg

Way way too cold! 5ºC and windchill. Ran the 50m repeats at 90% and then called it a day, I just cooled down between reps. When I came to the weightroom was already too sluggish.

Tuesday:

javlin throw

(rest 1 min between reps)
clean singles 5x70kg 3x75kg
full squat 4x4 90 / 95 / 100 / 100kg PB
row 4 x 5 x 60 / 65 / 65 / 70kg
ghr 3x12

Was supposed to do bounding but it was again too cold and windy, my jav sucked since I had no mobility. 8:30pm workout, 3ºC, 85% humidity and wind, great conditions.

Total PB in the squat, felt easy and could have gone for 6 reps. I am squatting barefoot right now because with trainers my ankle twisted inwards. I am having some achilles light pains so I believe it’s related with increased rom at barefoot squatting, gotta get some weightlifting shoes. The cleans felt easy too.

Today I was supposed to do extensive tempo but work at the factory is killing me. Came home and dropped dead on the bed.

What factory is it? I’ve worked in many when i was younger…

We make ovens and gas equipment (valves, venturri, etc.). In three weeks I am switching to foundry.

Today:

short approaches lj (4 step!!) x 10
5 x 60m

In the LJ I am switching back to a style I used one year ago for what I believe to be my best jump given the circumstances.
Switched back to grass training, felt weird. Could feel the unlevel terrain and bothered my running. The grass was wet so the accel wasn’t hard as it could have been.

Haven’t posted in a while.

Friday 26:

3x6 cmj + 10 x LRLR
snatch 3x40kg 3 x 2 x 45 kg
third squat: 5x4 90 / 100 / 110 / 115 / 120kg  
bench: almost died

Was very tired during this workout. Made the biggest fuck up of my lifting career while bench pressing, missed the rack and released. Elbow hurt after that. The rack layout saved me. Conclusion: don’t lift when you are falling asleep during the warm up.

Saturday:

short app jumps
16 x 100m tempo

UNLOADING WEEK

Monday:

1 x 90m progression until 90%
30 x very short approach jumps

Was too cold and windy outside. Jumped in a handball court onto some gymnastics mats. Focused on landing and some postural issues. Jumped from a jog approach.

Today:

4x4 cmj
5 x LRLRL

squat 2 x 6 x 60 / 70   2 x 4 x 90 / 100KG EASY

Squatting 100kg felt easy today. Don’t know what’s happening to my body, this month and since the implementation of special endurance (i.e. 2x130 @ 90%) my BW has gone up by 3kg to 76.5kg at 1.85m tall and strength seems to be skyrocketing. Interestingly enough I am equally skinnier as before. So where is the weight gain visible? I have gained 7kg in the past only with intensive tempo, but never 2kg within a month. It might be also that my usual winter weight (Fat) gain adds.

My left achilles is a little bit irritated. Big jumping volume + lifting + running + pressing a pedal constantly in the factory are doing the job. Will skip tomorrows tempo session and do some achilels strengthtening instead.

On saturday I will compete, will run 100m at 13:30pm and LJ at 15:30. Will be interesting since I haven’t run nor jumped as much as I wanted due to weather. Lately I have focused more on plyos and added some SE. This month I have just done:

* 8 max v sessions
* 4 speed endurance sessions (mixed with max v, ie 90m sfs)
* 14 jumping sessions
* 10 lifting sessions
* 7 extensive tempo / circuit sessions

I am aiming for sub 11.20 on saturday.

Today was a wonderful day here in Buenos Aires, warmer than the average, clear, no wind but meet got suspended. Motherfuckers of the government didn’t implement swine flu curfew because of elections one week ago and magically the day after elections they suspend almost every type of activity. Right now I have no facilities where to train at but a park. So no weights for an undetermined period of time, for the moment a week but will definitely be longer than that. Thoughts on how to replace them are welcome.

I am crazy about this because I am excellent right now, running really fast, relatively unloaded and last year I got fucked up the same way by the gov. They were unable to control forestal fires (shitty landfires for other countries standards) so Buenos Aires got covered by a dense smoke. Meets were suspended, I was in really good shape and after that got injured. So if you are looking for a serious country were to train avoid Argentina.

On top of that some people came from Brazil and Uruguay for this meet, so I am still not taking the worst part of this crap.

Btw on thursday and already knowing meet was going to be suspended:

short approach lj

all out:
4x30
3x60
1x100

Right now I want to see some politician’s heads rolling on the ground.

Instead of typical weight work - just get creative with body weight and body weight + weight. 

You can also do a lot of medball and throws work and not lose too much.

Well, at least now I can use a rugby field but still no weights and I am feeling the effect of it.

On sunday 5/7:

2x30 uphill
2x30 downhill
3x130 @ 90%  unlevel terrain

On tuesday:

4 x 30 + 4 x 60m

Today:

short approach jumps ( best one off 8 step +/- 5.80m)
4x60m

Here are some pictures of my actual facilities. As you can see the pit is a little bit rough (it’s a kids playground) and the surrounding surface is unlevel. I don’t jump off that board much because I skid too much, but the surrounding terrain is very soft with lots of sand and dirt.
Off an historic perspective on the very same pit it was jumped during the 1918 south american championships held in San Isidro, Buenos Aires. The board seen there dates back from those years. The argentinean team of those years also trained there.
The rugby field I am sprinting on has very very long grass, it’s extremelly soft and when you run on it it feels as if you were running on a matt in slow mo.