COACH THIB’S TRAINING JOURNAL 1

 

TRAINING

My Concentrated / Block periodization macrocycle looks like this:

Mesocycle I – DEVELOPMENT

Block I (Jan 2 – 23): Power

Block II (Jan 4 – Feb 20): Strength

Block III (Feb 21 – Mar 27): Power

Block IV (Mar 28 – Apr 17): Strength

Block V (Apr 18 – May 29): Power

Mesocycle II – PERFORMANCE

Block VI (May 30 – Jun 26): Start and initial acceleration

Block VII (Jun 27 – Jul 31): Maximum acceleration

Block VIII (Aug 1 – Aug 31): Top speed

In the development mesocycle I’m using purely concentrated loading, meaning that one main capacity is trained per block (75-90% of the workload) and a secondary capacity is also trained.

For me it comes down to having four workouts per week, the first three being for the target capacity and the fourth one being for the secondary one (but still with some work for the primary quality).

The structure of the performance mesocycle I’ll use more of a concurrent approach, complexing one strength or one power exercise with a sprint exercise. But more on that when we get there!

A weekly schedule could look like this, for my first phase:

DAY 1

A1. Vertical jump series (“series” means that I jump back up as soon as I land) x 3

A2. Single leg vertical jump series x 3/leg

*There is 90-120 seconds between A1 and A2 and 2-3 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when my performance on A1 drops off by 3% (using power output measurements)

1. Power snatch from the hang x 3

C1. Trap bar jump x 3 using a load that I can jump with at around 1.4m/s

C2. KB swings x 5-7

*There is 90-120 seconds between C1 and C2 and 2-3 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when my performance on C1 drops off by 3% (using power output measurements)

1. Medicine ball throws from chest in half-kneeling position x 3 (20-12lbs balls)

3-4 sets

DAY 2

A1. Maximal vertical jump with reset x 3

A2. Maximal single-leg vertical jump with reset x 3/leg

*There is 90-120 seconds between A1 and A2 and 2-3 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when my performance on A1 drops off by 3% (using power output measurements)

1. Power snatch from the hang x 2

C1. 90 degrees safety bar squat (35lbs of chains/side + weight on bar) x 3 using a load that I can move at, at least, 0.75m/s

C2. Reverse hyper (with band and weight) x 5-7

*There is 90-120 seconds between C1 and C2 and 3-4 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when I cannot reach 0.75m/s on C1

D1. Bench press with 1” wide bands (and weight on bar) x 3 using a load that I can move at, at least, 0.75m/s

D2. Front raise drop and catch x 5-7

*There is 90-120 seconds between D1 and D2 and 3-4 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when I cannot reach 0.75m/s on D1

DAY 3

A1. Depth jumps x 3 (work up to the height with the maximum jumping speed*) x 3

A2. Single leg low altitude drop (30-45cm) x 3/leg

*When you are fairly advanced with explosive work, you should jump higher (which also means more peak velocity) using the proper height for depth jumps than for vertical jump. If you can’t the box is either too high or you are not ready for the drill. For example, from a 90cm box I jumped with 0.18m/s more peak velocity than on a vertical jump.

*There is 90-120 seconds between A1 and A2 and 2-3 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when I can beat my vertical jump peak velocity from my chosen height (established on Day 2)

1. Power snatch from the hang x 1

C1. 90 degrees safety bar squat (35lbs of chains per side plus weight) x 3 using a load that I can lift at, at least, 0.5m/s

C2. Reverse hyper (bands and weight, more weight than Day 2) x 5-7

*There is 90-120 seconds between C1 and C2 and 3-4 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when I cannot reach 0.5m/s on C1

D1. Bench press with 0.5” wide bands (and weight on bar) x 3 using a load that I can move at, at least, 0.5m/s

D2. Rope hammer curl x 5-7

*There is 90-120 seconds between D1 and D2 and 3-4 minutes between sets.

** I stop the complex when I cannot reach 0.5m/s on D1

DAY 4

A1. Altitude drops (using a box height 20cm higher than the one used for the depth jumps) 3 sets of 3 reps

A2. Snatch-grip high pull from the hang x 3 working up to the heaviest weight I can lift at 0.75m/s

Rest 2-3 minutes between sets, stop when I can’t reach 0.75m/s

C1. 90 degrees safety bar squat work up to a heavy double

C2. Barbell hip thrust x 5-7 reps

*90-120 seconds of rest after C1, 3-4 minutes between sets.

** Stop when I reach my top weight for 2 solid reps on C1

D1. Bench press with 0.25” band, work up to a heavy set of 5 reps

D2. Pendlay row x 5-7 reps

*90-120 seconds of rest after D1, 3-4 minutes between sets.

** Stop when I reach my top weight for 2 solid reps on D1

There are some variations from time to time (e.g. sometimes I’ll use Bulgarian split squat jumps or split squat jumps instead of single leg vertical jumps) but the lifts and the lifting parameters stay the same.

NUTRITION

Since my goal is to get faster, I need to get as lean as possible. Fat is just dead weight that will slow you down. And at 44 (close to 45) I will need any advantage I can get!

When I ran my fastest 40, I was 220 and my lifting metrics were:

Power snatch: 115-120kg (255-265lbs)

Back squat: 230-240kg (505-530lbs)

Vertical jump: 40” (100cm), but this one was measured with the reach and touch test, so I suspect the true height to have been only around 36-37”.

If I can get back to similar numbers I should have a shot provided that my explosiveness, which is what tends to go away first, is maintained.

But just in case, I reason that if I can hit similar strength numbers at 190-195 instead of 220, I’ll have a shot.

So far, I did not need to voluntarily cut carbs or calories. But I’m not eating any crap either. I don’t follow a diet with a name (carnivore, keto, paleo, vegan, vertical, etc.) I just eat lots of fruits and keep my protein high.

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s the novel stimulus or that I’m still eating a caloric deficit despite not really trying to, my weight dropped down from 215 to 204 and I’m pretty much as lean as I was in my latest photoshoot (minus dehydration/peaking). I might have lost a few pounds of upper body muscle mass because I’m not doing that much for upper body. But probably not that much because my performance is Improving on the upper body lifts that I have.

I’m sure that I will have to “diet down” at some point. My weight seems to have stabilized at 204lbs and it will likely go up a little during my upcoming strength block.

But I don’t plan to diet down until Block V.

That’s it for now. I’ll do my best to keep you guys update weekly about my progress and training plan. This is my first one of these, I’ll get less bad and more interesting in the next ones!