The Quest for Dunkage

The Culmination of the Quest

2010-07-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

Its over, I did it. I finally dunked a basketball. Last Friday I dunked on one of the outdoor hoops at Redwood High School in Larkspur with my friend and colleague Robert Schleihauf as my witness.

Throughout the process I assumed that I would feel amazing when I finally dunked a basketball, but in reality I was a little bit disappointed. I had been training intelligently and constantly researching different training methodologies for 36 weeks. I thought I might feel a sense of enlightenment followed by an onslaught of training-related epiphanies. Don’t get me wrong, it felt great to finally achieve a goal that I set for myself 6 months ago, but I had so much fun throughout the process that I was reluctant to let the quest end (this was also made evident by the fact that it took me a week to piece together my final blog post).

It reminded me of something that I heard Brett Favre say in a short television documentary of the Green Bay Packers 1996 season in which they won the Super Bowl. After they had won Brett said to himself, “this is it?” Although Brett was overjoyed to win the Super Bowl, he was more disappointed that the season in which he and his teammates performed incredibly well and became very close as a team was over. He realized that the journey was far more important that the end result.

I feel entirely empathetic (accept for the whole winning the Super Bowl thing obviously) towards Brett. I am happy to have finally achieved my goal, but I am a little bit upset that the journey is over, because I enjoyed it so much. Now I just want to continue to perfect my craft as a dunker and work towards bigger and better dunks.

As a side note, I also learned quite a bit about goal setting throughout my quest. Although telling everyone that I wanted to dunk a basketball in 12 weeks through this blog held me accountable it also set me up for an onslaught of criticism. In Dave Tate’s “9 Secrets to Training Success” he writes, “Set your goals high and keep them to yourself. The reason for this is simple: 90% of everyone you meet are negative pricks who will go out of their way to tell you why you can't do something.” I don’t agree with his 90% dictum, but I would absolutely agree with the general premise of Dave Tate’s argument. Over the course of the last 36 weeks numerous friends, clients, and acquaintances told me that I couldn’t do it or that the timetable was too short. Dunking in 12 weeks was obviously an extremely ambitious goal considering that I couldn’t even touch the rim at the beginning, but if I had kept my true goal to myself (per Tate’s recommendation) and simply told everyone that I wanted to jump higher, everyone would be very congratulatory now that I can dunk. At this point I feel almost as if many of the followers of the quest became a bit bored simply because it took so long and I don’t blame them.

What next? The answer is simple: more of the same. Although the quest to dunk is over I am not going to stop striving to increase my vertical leap any time soon. I am going to keep training in a very similar manner and writing performance related articles/posts. This will be my last post on http://thequestfordunkage.blogspot.com, but it looks like I will be writing a weekly blog post for the CrossFit Marin blog: www.crossfitmarin.com/blog.

This is blogmaster Ben signing off. I am going to leave you all with some amusing quotes about dunking that I just found on www.brainyquotes.com:

"I'm not a big sports fan, but I love it when they "slam dunk." That's sexy."
Emma Bunton

"I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."
Charles Barkley

"If I weren't earning $3 million a year to dunk a basketball, most people on the street would run in the other direction if they saw me coming."
Charles Barkley

"It's like all guys want to do is make a dunk, grab their shirt and yell out and scream - they could be down 30 points but that's what they do. Okay, so you made a dunk. Get back down the floor on defense!"
Oscar Robertson

"My first dunk was actually in sixth grade."
Vince Carter

Week 36 Day 5

2010-07-23T18:31:00.001-07:00

Workout:

1. 20 Dunk Attempts

Technology: Helping Athletes Regress One at a Time

2010-07-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

If you have glanced at any of my weekly workouts you will quickly learn that I am not an endurance athlete. Despite the fact that I rarely partake in any continuous athletic endeavor lasting longer than 30 seconds, I have learned quite a bit from some of the best endurance athletes in the world. Here is a picture of a barefoot runner: http://donmcclellan.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/cimg2820.jpg

Notice that this runner has exquisite running technique (some might call it POSE) and this runner is not so coincidentally barefoot. At this point I have read so many articles that reference the various studies on the numerous benefits of barefoot running (i.e., no heal strike, reduced occurrence of running-related injuries, etc.) that at this point I find them almost as tedious as long runs themselves. If you are interested in learning more about the host of advantages associated with barefoot running check out this website run (pun intended) by the Harvard Skeletal Biology Lab: http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/

All of the assertions in these various studies regarding barefoot running made sense to me right off the bat. Neolithic people started having knee problems because shoe companies began marketing padded running shoes that allow people to get away with heal striking relatively unscathed. Modern people should learn how to run properly instead of purchasing shoes with a massive shock-absorbing heel in order to mitigate the occurrence of “overuse” injuries that have become all too common in the long distance running world.
Now people are slowly assimilating (following the various Harvard studies produced recently http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/foundations/articles/barefoot-running-easier-feet-running-shoes) the barefoot running revolution. There is even a shoe made to make you feel like you are barefoot (http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/). Why one needs a special shoe to mimic the effects of being barefoot is a concept that I will never understand--but the shoe sells (thanks to the ever increasing popularity of CrossFit and primal fitness), so more power to the Vibram people.

I never thought that these theories regarding barefoot running would be applicable to jumping, basically because I thought that there was too much impact involved in a max vertical leap. It turns out that my initial hypothesis was wrong. Thanks to Joe DeFranco’s article (http://www.defrancostraining.com/articles/38-articles/54-dirty-tricks-for-higher-vertical-jumps.html which I posted a while back) in which he suggests that an athlete wear snug track waffle shoes when testing his or her vertical. His theory is that normal basketball/ running shoes absorb a great deal of the force that one produces against the ground in order to jump as high as possible. When attempting a max vertical leap the goal is to produce as much force against the ground as possible, consequently wearing shoes that absorb the force that one produces is counterintuitive. This made sense to me, I tried it out during a max box jump workout two weeks ago and I added 3 inches to my previous PR. Lately I have been wearing some tight-fitting, low top Chuck Ts (pretty close to being barefoot) when I jump on outdoor basketball courts. I should probably just sack up and jump without shoes on.

More Vertical Jump Tips From Joe DeFranco

2010-07-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.defrancostraining.com/articles/38-articles/53-top-15-exercises-for-higher-vertical-jumps.html

This article lists Joe D's 15 favorite vertical jump exercises and explains how they benefit his athletes.

Week 36 Day 4

2010-07-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 36 Day 3

2010-07-21T09:45:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Want to Become Batman?

2010-07-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested in actually becoming batman here is a cool book (http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Batman-Dr-Paul-Zehr/dp/0801890632/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279671538&sr=1-1) by Dr. E. Paul Zehr, a kinesiology professor at the University of Victoria.

Week 36 Day 2

2010-07-20T16:55:00.002-07:00

5 Rounds of:

1. 5 Handstand Holds

2. 200 Meter Row

3. 10 Rep Left Arm Shoulder Press

4. 5 Band Front Squats

5. 2 Pullovers

6. 5 Left Leg Pistols

7. 20 Hollow Rocks+ 20 Arch Rocks

Week 36 Day 1

2010-07-20T16:55:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 35 Day 7

2010-07-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

20 mins of:

1. 5 Handstands

2. 10 Reverse Hypers

3. 2 Pullovers

4. 2 P-bar Passes

5. 10 Second False Grip on Rings

Week 35 Day 6

2010-07-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 3x5 Weighted Dips

2. 3x30 Rhythm Squats

3. 5x100 Yard Sprint

4. 5x50 Yard Sprint

5. 20x Dunk Attempts

Week 35 Day 5

2010-07-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Clean and Jerk

2. 3x5 Deadlift

3. 6x L-Sit Static

Defining Fitness

2010-07-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am going to throw two very different definitions of fitness on the table. Greg Glassman the creator of CrossFit, an increasingly popular fitness protocol (often called the sport of fitness), has taken a very good stab at defining fitness. Here is his definition:

"Fitness in 100 Words:

• Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not bodyfat.
• Practice the major lifts: deadlift, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-up, press, handstand, pirouettes, splits, flips, and holds. Bike, run, swim, and row fast and hard.
• Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.
• Regularly learn to play new sports."

Although I really like many of the elements of this definition of fitness I find it a bit dogmatic. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of spectrum or freedom of choice within Glassman’s definition.

In my humble opinion the definition of fitness is not a one-size-fits-all concept. The definition should be malleable, so that it has the potential to be sculpted to fit one’s own unique definition that is only applicable to that person.

Dan John defines fitness as “being better at what you want to do.” Although this definition is somewhat vague, I think that it is a step in the right direction in contrast to the inflexible CrossFit description.

Here is my own attempt at defining fitness, I call it “Fitness in 15 Words;”

“Actively seek progress as an athlete by setting reasonable athletic goals and continually achieving them.”

This definition is applicable to anyone and everyone. You can set any goal you like as long as it is quantifiable and reasonable. I would wager that 70-90% of the people who are concerned with their physical fitness simply want to look better, which is fine. So set a goal, for example to be able to see your abs, getting below 10% bodyfat, or having a certain sized waist or butt or whatever. Maybe your goals are related to health and longevity, for example reducing your A1Cs (a test that measures a form of hemoglobin used primarily to identify the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time; people with high (above 6%) A1Cs may have diabetes, people with good A1Cs (in the 5% and below) live for a very long time on average). This link delineates the importance of the A1C test: http://www.longevity-and-antiaging-secrets.com/A1C-blood-test.html.

One of my goals right now obviously is to dunk a basketball. Maybe your goal is to impress people with your athleticism, in which case you probably want to be proficient in gymnastics movements like handstands, backflips, planches, etc. The goals don’t really matter, what matters is that they are at least transiently related to athletic endeavors and that they are achievable (within reason). Maybe your first goal is a pull-up, then your next goal is a muscle-up, then your next goal is a backward roll to support on rings, and so on.

Once you achieve your goal there is always another more difficult goal to achieve, consequently the search for fitness is never truly complete. In my opinion one is fit when one feels fit. Fitness is all about perception.

Week 35 Day 4

2010-07-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 3x5 Weighted Chin-ups

2. 3x5 DB Bench Press

3. 2x20 Kroc Rows (w/100lbs)

4. 5x 100 Yard Sprint+ 5x 60 Yard Sprint

5. 20x Rim Grabs/ Dunk attempts

Pre-Game Ritual

2010-07-15T10:21:00.001-07:00

I have discussed pre-game/WOD/lift rituals in previous posts. Here is big John Henderson's pre-game ritual:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAN9qsRGQts

Week 35 Day 3

2010-07-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 35 Day 2

2010-07-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Snatch

2. 5x1 Back Squat

3. 3x5 Shoulder Press

4. 5x Straddle-L Rope Climb

5. 3x15 Reverse Hypers

The Olympic Lifts: A Multitude of Misunderstandings Round 2

2010-07-12T11:03:00.001-07:00

Lately I have been reading quite a few articles from T-Muscle Magazine (http://www.tmuscle.com/). I know, it sounds like the ultimate thickheaded testosterone- laden publication on the planet and to a certain extent it is, but the weekly issues of this free online magazine are full of incredibly interesting and sometimes revolutionary information regarding all topics related to strength training. If you are not already reading this free mag, I suggest that you start soon. Despite the thickheaded name, I guarantee you will learn more than a thing or two about training, diet, and performance optimization if you simply take the time to virtually leaf through this online publication.

All of this being said, I read an article the other day entitled, “The Russian Approach to Size and Strength” by John Paul Catanzaro. The vast majority of the information in the article was well researched and very interesting, but in one section of the article John wrote, “Please skip the Olympic lifts unless you are already competent at performing them” in a caption underneath a photo of a loaded bar falling on a lifter after his arm had dislocated (http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_629#the-russian-approach).

It would be extremely gentle on my part to simply call this asinine statement a misunderstanding. I would categorize it as an oxymoron. The absurd notion that an individual should not perform the Olympic lifts unless he or she is already competent in them is an excellent depiction of the way in which many of the most accredited and respected strength and conditioning practitioners fearfully tiptoe around the Olympic lifts—mainly because they themselves have no experience coaching or performing the lifts and they are afraid to struggle with them.

If an individual is not competent in the Olympic lifts, he should LEARN how to perform them correctly, not avoid them. I learned how to do the Olympic lifts simply by watching online videos of the best Olympic lifters in the world and through practice. At first I was far from competent in the lifts and if I had read this article at that time and taken John Cantanzaro’s advice I would still be incompetent in the realm of Olympic lifting. Instead I decided to spend some time learning how to safely and effectively perform the lifts and implement them into my training regimen. I can honestly say that if I had not found out about the Olympic lifts (about 1 year and a half ago) my vertical leap and overall athleticism would not be anywhere close to where it is today.

Many coaches believe that the costs outweigh the benefits when it comes to the Olympic lifts. I believe that these coaches are lazy and shortsighted.

Week 35 Day 1

2010-07-12T11:02:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

New Box Jump PR

2010-07-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

I jumped onto a 56 inch box yesterday (a 3 inch PR). Implementing some of Joe DeFranco's vertical jump tricks (http://www.defrancostraining.com/articles/38-articles/54-dirty-tricks-for-higher-vertical-jumps.html) helped me set this new PR.

Week 34 Day 7

2010-07-11T12:33:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 34 Day 6

2010-07-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Standing Box Jump

2. 5x1 Stride Box Jump

3. 3x10 Rhythm Squats (w/ bands)

4. 5-3-1 Shoulder Press

5. 5-3-1 Dumbell Bench Press

6. 3x Arms only rope climb

7. 4x Hill Sprint

Week 34 Day 5

2010-07-09T22:30:00.002-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Clean and Jerk

2. 3x3 Snatch Grip Deadlift

3. 4x3+ Weighted Dip

4. 3x15 Reverse Hyper

Week 34 Day 4

2010-07-09T22:30:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

A Cool Article About Matt Kroc (The Inventor of the Kroc Row)

2010-07-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_628#more-man-than-you

Week 34 Day 3

2010-07-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 4x2 Snatch

2. 3x3 Back Squat

3. 4x3+ Chin-up

4. 3x Arms Only Rope Climb

Week 34 Day 2

2010-07-06T19:29:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 34 Day 1

2010-07-05T11:51:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 33 Day 7

2010-07-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 6x 100 Yard Sprint

2. 4x 50 Yard Sprint

3. 10x rim grab

Week 33 Day 6

2010-07-03T10:40:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 33 Day 5

2010-07-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Clean and Jerk

2. 5/3/1- Deadlift

3. 5x legs free rope climb

4. 3x 8 left arm presses + 5 left leg pistols

5. 10x 6 second L-sit

6. 3x 10 Weighted Reverse Hypers

7. 2x 10 Kroc Row w/ 100lb Dumbell

Super Freak

2010-07-01T17:15:00.002-07:00

Check out this video of a dude with a 54 inch vertical:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UBkRpMStjM

He also has a 635lb 5 rep back squat. Maybe there is some validity to the concept that high level relative strength begets high level explosion (i.e leaping ability).

Week 33 Day 4

2010-07-01T17:15:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 33 Day 3

2010-06-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 7x2 Speed Squats @100kgs

2. 5/3/1- Weighted Chin-up

3. 5/3/1- Weighted Dip

Week 33 Day 2

2010-06-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 33 Day 1

2010-06-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. Snatch 3x1

2. Back Squat 5x1

3. 3x 8 One-arm Kettle-bell Shoulder Presses + 10 Second Front Lever Hold

4. 2x 10 Kroc Rows

5. 10x 6 Second Pseudo Planche Hold

6. 6 x 10 Second L-Sit

The Olympic Lifts: A Multitude of Misunderstandings Round 1

2010-06-26T20:25:00.002-07:00

I am frustrated. It seems like everyone in the world of fitness, and every other world for that matter, is afraid of the Olympic lifts for a variety of equally absurd reasons. I am going to do a little monologue-style, self-interview in which I debunk the 5 most common misconceptions regarding the Olympic lifts and the corollary effects that they have on the human body. My answers to these questions are pretty detailed so I am going make this a five-part series (5 round fight). Round 1: Here we go . . . ding ding!

1. Complaint (misconception) #1: All of the lifters competing in the Summer Olympics look fat and out of shape. I don’t want to do the Olympic lifts because they will make me fat. I want to be cut and lean, so why would I want to incorporate the Olympic lifts into my training regimen?

Rebuttal #1:

You are absolutely right, some of the competitors that you see in the Summer Olympics do look overweight, but I have a little secret for you: IN THE SPORT OF OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING THERE ARE DIFFERENT WEIGHT CLASSES! Consequently, there are weightlifters of all shapes and sizes who compete every four years in the summer games. Here are the men’s weight classes: 56 kg (123 lb), 62 kg (137 lb), 69 kg (152 lb), 77 kg (170 lb), 85 kg (187 lb), 94 kg (207 lb), 105 kg (231 lb), and over 105 kg.

The reason you think that all Olympic weightlifters are overweight is because the “main event” in Olympic weightlifting is the heavyweight class (105kg and over). The heavyweight class (I like to call it the “overweight class”) has the biggest guys, which means that they lift the most weight and set the highest records. The heavyweight class has no weight cap, so the athletes in that class get as big as they can so that they can lift more and more weight. If we were only discussing the heavyweight class I would agree with you, but there happen to be seven other weight classes which are packed full of guys who look like they are in excellent shape.

Here is a video of Rezazadeh, the best heavyweight Olympic lifter in the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOE-PZJq2sk

Yeah, Rezazadeh is definitely overweight, but he is overweight for a reason. The more he weighs (while retaining mobility and agility) the more weight he can lift. Although the heavyweight lifters’ bodies look like they are completely de-conditioned, they are actually pretty amazing athletes. Check out this video of a heavyweight American weightlifter doing a high box jump and tell me that he is a bad athlete: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoCZne0g-e8

Here is a video of Pyrros Dimas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOWcrqOSevs

If you think that Pyrros is fat you need to get your head checked out.

I have another secret for you, Mr. I-Don’t-Want-To-Do-The-Oly-Lifts-Because-I’ll-Get-Fat, the lifts themselves will do little to nothing to your body composition, unless you are completely deconditioned (in which case you will probably LOSE weight performing these multi-joint lifts regularly). Rezazadeh is overweight because he chooses to be overweight, in other words he eats way more calories than he uses up in a day. The old adage, you are what you eat, is right in this case. If you eat really big (granted that you don’t have the metabolism of a jack rabbit on crack) you will get really big. Plain and simple. So if you don’t want to get fat performing the oly lifts find out how Razezadeh eats and don’t eat like that.

Week 32 Day 7

2010-06-26T20:25:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 32 Day 6

2010-06-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Band Front Squats from the bottom

2. 5x1 Front Box Squats

3. 4x3+ Weighted Chin-ups

4. 2x10+ Kroc Row

5. 6x 100 Yard Sprint + 4x 50 Yard Sprint

6. 25 Dunk Attempts

Week 32 Day 5

2010-06-25T21:44:00.001-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Clean and Jerk

2. 3x3 Deadlift

3. Handstand work

4. 5x legs free rope climb

5. 3x 6 ice cream makers + 7 Good Mornings + 7 Weighted Reverse Hypers

Week 32 Day 4

2010-06-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 32 Day 3

2010-06-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x2 Speed Box Squats @ 70%

2. 5x1 Standing Box Jump

3. 5x1 Stride Box Jump

4. 3x3 Weighted Dip

5. 3x3 Handstand Push-up

6. 2x10 Kroc Row w/ 100lb dumbell

7. 5x 100 meter sprint (full recovery)

8. 10x rim grab

Week 32 Day 2

2010-06-22T19:27:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 32 Day 1

2010-06-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Snatch

2. 3x3 Back Squat

3. 3x Band Front Lever Hold + 5 Leg Lifts + 7 weighted reverse hypers

4. 3x Legs free rope climb

Wendler 5-3-1. . . A Plan, not a Program

2010-06-20T11:08:00.002-07:00

I have seen a pretty significant plateau in my lifts in the gym over the course of the last six weeks or so. I came to the realization that I am no longer a novice lifter and just trying to hit max lifts everyday is not going to work anymore. I decided that I needed to be a little bit more methodical, but not too methodical. The Wendler 5-3-1 approach is the optimal way for me to overcome my various strength training plateaus, while minimizing my tendency to overanalyze everything. It is a simple and effect progressive overload programming that he created to improve his raw lifts. Jim Wendler is a formed division 1 football player and 1000 pound squatter. Needless to say, I respect and often agree with anything that he has to say regarding strength training.

I am currently wrapping up my first week on the Wendler 5-3-1 cycle. Here is how he organizes the progressive overload in the four-cycle variant of his system (he also has 6, and 12 week cycle plans):

• 1st week 3x5 65, 70, 75 (or more reps)
• 2nd week 3x3 70, 75, 85 (or more reps)
• 3rd week 5,3,1 75, 85, 90(or more weight)
• 4th week (deload week) 3x5 35, 45, 55

I am refraining myself from calling the Wendler 5-3-1 a training “program,” because Jim hates that word. He prefers to call it a plan. He believes that the word “program” is a corollary to the commercial bullsh*#@ that we see on late night infomercials that simply does not work.

I took the liberty of altering the original Wendler 5-3-1 to suite my specific goals (pull-ups and dips for bench and military press) but I am confident that Wendler would be totally fine with my tweaks to his program as long as I stick to the plan that I laid out. I am curious to see how the Wendler 5-3-1 will affect my pull-up and dip strength. My goal is to add about 30lbs to both of these movements. It might take a few Wendler cycles, but I confident that I can add a significant amount of weight to these movements over time.

Wendler keeps it simple and when it comes to programming for strength and conditioning the simple plan usually outperforms a complex one. Wendler states that his plan is a compilation of some of "the basic tenets of strength training that have stood the test of time." He is also a big fan of the ego check, with which I am in total agreement. When discussing the overzealous mindset of the average underachieving weightlifter he says, "They want to start heavy and they want to start now. This is nothing more than ego, and nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego."

I am going to go with the Jim Wendler flow and see how strong I can get. Now is a perfect time to use one of my favorite Dan John quotes, “The plan is to keep the plan the plan.”

Week 31 Day 7

2010-06-20T11:07:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 31 Day 6

2010-06-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 3x5 Weighted Chin-ups

2. 5x3 Band + Weighted Standing Vertical

3. 10 Rim grabs

4. 1 100 yard sprint on the minute for 10 minutes

5. 5 rim grabs

6. 10 volleyball dunks

Week 31 Day 5

2010-06-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Clean

2. 3x5 Deadlift

3. 5 legs free rope climbs on the minute for 5 minutes

4. 3x 5 Weighted Straight Body Lifts + 10 weighted reverse hypers

Week 31 Day 4

2010-06-17T21:41:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 31 Day 3

2010-06-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x3 Back Squat with Bands

2. 5x3 Explosive Jumps with Bands

3. 15 Three Step Rim Grabs

4. 1 100 meter sprints on the minute for 10 minutes

5. 10 volleyball dunk attempts

Week 31 Day 2

2010-06-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 31 Day 1

2010-06-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 3x5 Back Squat

2. 3x5 Weighted Dip

3. 3 rounds of:

1) Arms only rope climb 2) Max duration L-sit on rings 3) 15 back extensions

Week 30 Day 7

2010-06-12T18:35:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 30 Day 6

2010-06-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 800 meter farmer's walk w/ 35lb Dumbells and a 20lb weight vest

2. 5 standing backboard slaps with 20lb weight vest

3. 5 striding cylinder slaps with 20lbs weight vest

4. 10 tennis ball dunks

5. Short MetCon: 10x 10 Squats + 10 push-ups (all w/ 20lb weight vest)

6. 15 tennis ball dunks

7. 800 meter farmer's walk w/ 35lb Dumbells and a 20lb weight vest

Bashing the Bench Press

2010-06-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

For some unknown reason the phrase “what do you bench?” has been cemented into the meathead vernacular. People ask this question because they think that the bench press is the best determinant of strength and in many people’s minds it is the only determinant of strength and overall fitness. This is an absurd and preposterous notion and I would like to dismantle this asinine misconception once and for all.

The bench press is a poor determinant of absolute strength for a couple of reasons. First of all, the movement covers an extremely small range of motion and engages a very limited amounted of muscles in the body. Check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlDWdfTAx8o) of the 2006 world record bench press. Sure the guy lifts over 1000 lbs, but watch the path of the bar. How far do you think this enormous dude pushed the bar in order to lock it out? At most I would guess that big Gene pushed the bar 12 inches in order to complete the lift. You move a dumbbell more when you do bicep curls. The only movement I can think of that covers a smaller range of motion is the calf raise. Don’t even get me started on the calf raise (it makes the bench press look like the pinnacle of fitness). Now check out this video of Pyrros Dimas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0xjPNGtLM) setting the 85kg class world record in the clean+jerk in the 1996 Olympics. He transmits a jump to the bar, moves the weight from the ground to fully extended over his head, and completes a full front squat out of necessity in the process. Pyrros is 5’11 and his arms are pretty damn short, so let’s just say that with his arms fully extended over his head he is moving the bar 7 feet. This means that Pyrros is moving the bar through 7 times the range of motion that Gene moved the bar in his bench press. Pyrros weighs about 180 lbs and lifted 468 lbs over his head. Let’s be nice and say that Gene weighs 300 lbs (he is probably closer to 350, meaning that he is twice as heavy as Pyrros) and he moved 1000 lbs 12 inches. Which athlete would you rather be? Of course you would rather be Pyrros, so maybe your training regimen should look a little bit more like his does and a little bit less like big fat (I get winded walking down the street) Gene’s training regimen looks like.

The second reason why the bench press is a poor determinant of absolute strength is that it is performed while lying down, which consequently minimizes full body muscle recruitment. The fact that the bench press is performed lying down also lessens the neurological demands of the lift. Maybe this is a good thing, because the meatheads who live and die by the bench press need to save up all of the mental energy that they can so that they can properly blend dozens of protein shakes and remember how to turn the TV on and off.

In my mind, the universal admiration of the bench press in gyms throughout the country stands alone as the most glaring fitness-related paradox to date. If one were to stand at the doorway of a Gold’s Gym and randomly ask 10 guys what movements their workout would include, I can guarantee that more than 5 of those guys will be benching in their workout.

I have absolutely no idea why the bench press is such a revered movement and why almost every guy who works out at a normal gym bench presses at least once a week. More often then not these guys who plan on benching during their workout at Gold’s Gym are going to bench without anyone spotting. This is just insane to me. The bench press is far and away the most dangerous lift that anyone can perform. If one fails a bench press the weight is headed straight for the lifter’s sternum, clavicle, and possibly his neck. Check out this article (http://www.usnews.com/blogs/paper-trail/2009/09/29/scary-injury-for-usc-football-player.html) about Stephon Johnson a USC running back who “lost control of the bar” when benching. The bar crushed his throat and larynx. These types of injuries just do not happen in lifts that are done while standing because the athlete can simply drop the bar with no ill effects.

So if you want to move a bar 12 inches, perforate your larynx, and not improve as an athlete, then be my guest: bench up a storm. But if you want to improve as an athlete and move external weight a respectable distance, you should probably consider implementing the clean+jerk, snatch and back squat into your training regimen.

Week 30 Day 5

2010-06-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Split Jerk

2. 3x5 Weighted Dips

3. 2x legs free rope ascents

4. 5x 100 yard sprints

Week 30 Day 4

2010-06-10T23:58:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 3x5 Deadlift

2. 3x3 Ascending Depth Jumps

3. 25 Rim Grabs

4. 5x3 Straight Body Lifts

Week 30 Day 3

2010-06-09T11:09:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 30 Day 2

2010-06-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Clean

2. 3x5 Weighted Chin-up

3. 3x3 Handstand Push-up

4.100 yards sprint on the minute for 10 minutes

Week 30 Day 1

2010-06-07T14:43:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 29 Day 7

2010-06-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 3x5 Fast Backsquats

2. 5x1 Standing High Box Jump

3. 5x1 Running High Box Jump

4. DB Olympic Complex

Complete for time:
3-2-1 of
Dumbell power clean 60/40lb
Dumbell power clean, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell power clean, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell squat clean 60/40lb
Dumbell squat clean, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell squat clean, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell push jerk 60/40lb
Dumbell push jerk, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell push jerk, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell split jerk 60/40lb
Dumbell split jerk, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell split jerk, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell snatch 60/40lb
Dumbell snatch, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell snatch, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell split snatch 60/40lb
Dumbell split snatch, one arm 30/20lb
Dumbell split snatch, one arm 30/20lb

NBA Players Are Weak!

2010-06-05T21:59:00.001-07:00

Warning: This post might be controversial.

NBA players are weak. There I said it. Although, NBA players are often considered the best athletes on the planet I have come to the conclusion that NBA players lack full body relative strength. I came to this conclusion after I watched the NBA Pre-Draft Combine on TV.

You are probably wondering how I determined this. I’m going to give you a hint: I am not basing this upon their lackluster numbers in the max rep 185lb bench press test which every NBA player drafted into the league must complete (although their numbers are pretty embarrassing). Before the 2007 draft Kevin Durant, the future rookie of the year, completed a measly three reps.

This might surprise you, but the strength-based metric that I am using to determine the relative strength of the future NBA players in the 2010 NBA Pre-Draft Combine was the standing vertical leap. The standing vertical leap, in my opinion, is one of the best tests of absolute relative strength and force production (along with the clean, backsquat and deadlift). The standing vertical leap is an excellent determinant of absolute strength because it measures how much force an athlete can produce against the floor in order to eventually explode off the ground as high as possible.

In the 2010 NBA Pre-draft combine the average standing vertical was about 28 inches. To put this in perspective, the last time I measured my standing vertical it was 28 inches (that was about 6 weeks ago and I am confident that I have gained an inch or two since then). So basically, I have a better standing vertical than the average participant in the 2010 NBA Pre-draft combine and my vertical is not very impressive. If I were to say this out of context, I would sound like a crazy person, but in reality it is true.

Many of the linemen in the NFL combine, all of whom weigh more than 300 pounds jumped higher in the standing vertical, than did the average NBA prospect. For example John Wall (6’4” 195lbs), who will be the first pick in the NBA Draft later this summer jumped 28 inches in his standing vertical test and Bruce Campbell (6’6’’ 315lbs), on offensive tackle, now a member of the Oakland Raiders, jumped 32 inches high in his standing vertical test a few months ago in the NFL combine.

How is it possible that a gargantuan 315lb offensive lineman could out jump a wiry NBA combo guard, who happened to be the best player in college basketball last year? What does all of this mean?

It means that Bruce Campbell is strong and John Wall is not. It means that NFL players lift weights regularly (with a plan and a goal in mind) and NBA players do not. It means that NFL players are strong and NBA players are weak!
To me the standing vertical leap test determines how much intelligent training an athlete has done. All variations of the deadlift, squat, clean, and snatch, include a closing and opening of the hip. It is no mystery why these lifts translate so well into the standing vertical (hint: jumping = a closing and opening of the hip).

All of this being said I do not want to downplay the immense athleticism that the average NBA player possesses. The average NBA player is 6’7’’, runs the floor like a gazelle and can change directions extremely quickly. And many NBA players can jump, but normally they can only truly elevate from a running start. When a player has a running start it minimizes the strength element of the jump and turns it into a more technical movement and since basketball players jump around all day they are constantly reinforcing good jumping technique from a running start (this is only true for the basketball players who jump the right way naturally—these athletes are often called natural leapers).

Although most NBA players are great athletes, and many of them can jump very high from a running start, they have shown year in and year out in the NBA Pre-Draft Combine that they lack absolute strength through their poor performance in the standing vertical jump.

Week 29 Day 6

2010-06-05T17:28:00.001-07:00

Active rest day

Week 29 Day 5

2010-06-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5 on 5 pick up basketball

New PR!

2010-06-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

I hit a nice PR today on my weighted dips. I successfully completed a dip with 108lbs of extra weight attached to my body. My previous PR was 93lbs.

Week 29 Day 4

2010-06-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

Workout #1:

1. 5x1 Clean

2. 5x1 Back Squat

3. 5x1 Dip

Week 29 Day 3

2010-06-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Basketball Workout:

1.400 shots

2.3x UNLV sprints

3.Hard Moves off the dribble

Week 29 Day 2

2010-06-01T19:57:00.001-07:00

Workout #1:

1. 7x1 Deadlift

2. 7x1 Chin-up

Basketball Workout:

1. 400 Shots

2. 2x Championship Sprints

3. 5x Hard Dribble weave through chairs

Week 29 Day 1

2010-06-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Rest Day

Week 28 Day 7

2010-06-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Rest Day

Week 28 Day 6

2010-05-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 4x10 Fast Squats

2. 2x Dumbell Bench Press Drop-Set

3. 2x 10 Close grip press

4. 3x5 Straight Body Lift

5. Max Weighted Sit-ups

Week 28 Day 5

2010-05-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 1 hour and 30 minutes of 5 on 5 pick-up basketball

2. 5x3 Deadlift

3. 5x3 Weighted Dips

4. 5 Dumpster Sprints

5. 10 dunk attempts

Week 28 Day 4

2010-05-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x3 Back Squat

2. 400 Shots

3. 3x Championship sprints

Almost There

2010-05-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today was my planned day to finally realize my goal of dunking a basketball and although I came very close I did not do so. I dunked a somewhat flat volleyball clean, but I just couldn't get enough lift to get a clean dunk with a regular basketball. I am almost there. It'll happen very soon.

Week 28 Day 3

2010-05-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Workout #1:

1. 10 rim grabs

2. 15 dunk attempts

3. 3x3 Weight Pull-ups

4. 2x20 Kroc Rows

Workout #2:

1. 400 Shots

2. Hard Moves off the dribble

Why Is Ben Resting So Much?

2010-05-25T18:48:00.002-07:00

I have taken 6 straight "rest days," because I am planning on attempting to dunk tomorrow. I have been getting very close recently and at the end of last week I was feeling a bit overtrained. I'm hoping that my fresh legs will allow me to achieve my goal tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Week 28 Day 2

2010-05-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 28 Day 1

2010-05-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Rest Day

Week 27 Day 7

2010-05-23T21:22:00.001-07:00

Rest Day

Week 27 Day 6

2010-05-22T19:49:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Food For Thought

2010-05-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

A few of the followers of the quest have asked me to discuss nutrition a bit more regularly. What better way to present my take on nutrition than to post a food log. So here is what I ate today:

Breakfast—Egg Scramble: 4 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, spinach, mushroom, and onions

Pre-workout snack—Small piece of chicken and some coffee

Lunch/Post Workout meal—A bunch of chicken and half of a sweet potato

Dinner—Ribs, asparagus, and salad

I try to keep it simple. I eat protein at every meal and at most meals I get my carbohydrates from vegetables. I am not afraid of fat. I don’t weigh my protein out, but I definitely eat more than a gram of protein per lb of bodyweight. Most days I eat three meals, some days I will have a small piece of protein before I workout to give myself a nice amino acid boost heading into training, but I don’t do that religiously. On days when I know that my workouts are going to deplete muscle glycogen I will have a dense carbohydrate source like yams or sweet potatoes with some protein following the workout. That’s about it.

Week 27 Day 5

2010-05-21T00:38:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

New PR on 4x400 meter run

2010-05-20T20:16:00.001-07:00

Set a nice PR on a 4x400 meter run today. I ran my first two sprints in 1:05 and 1:03 (a PR for a single 400). Then I fell off big time running my next two sprints in 1:20 and 1:22. My goal is to break 1:00 on a single 400 meter time trial and run four sprints under 1:10 in the near future.

Week 27 Day 4

2010-05-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Standing Box Jump

2. 5x1 Stride Box Jump

3. 3x5 Weighted Dips

4. 4x400 meter sprints (2:00 minutes of rest between each sprint)

Week 27 Day 3

2010-05-19T20:41:00.001-07:00

Workout:

3x5 Deadlift

Week 26 Day 2

2010-05-18T20:41:00.001-07:00

Workout:

1. 400 shots

2. 2x UNLV sprints

3. 2 games of 2 on 2

Week 27 Day 1

2010-05-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 3x5 Back Squat

2. 3x5 Weighted Pull-ups

Water Yourself

2010-05-16T17:59:00.002-07:00

A dehydrated athlete is an unprepared athlete and more often then not an unsuccessful athlete. A 1% state of dehydration will negatively affect one’s performance by as much as 10-12%. When dehydrated, athletes will experience increased muscular tightness and decreased mental acuity. So, needless to say, one of the easiest ways to optimize one’s performance on a daily basis is to stay hydrated.

A simple formula for calculating the amount of water that an athlete needs to take in on a daily basis is half of the athlete’s body weight in ounces plus 16-20 ounces for every hour spent training. For example, I am 190lbs, so regardless as to how much I train on a given day I need to take in a minimum of 95 ounces of water. If I play two hours of basketball, I will need to take in an extra 40 ounces of water, bringing my total intake of water up to about 135 ounces of water.

I know what you are thinking, “I can’t drink 2 gallons of water a day. I’m going to have to go to the bathroom too much. I don’t have time for that.” My response to these complaints is that if you want to improve as an athlete and strive towards a state of optimal performance you absolutely have to take your hydration seriously. If you do not water yourself adequately everyday you will fail to achieve your athletic goals, and your mental performance will tank as well.

All of this being said, this simple equation is only a reference tool, once you get a general idea as to how much water you run well on, simply make the consumption of that much water part of your daily routine and I promise you that you will feel and perform better.

So if you want to perform like a thoroughbred, you might have to pee like a race-horse.

Week 26 Day 7

2010-05-16T17:59:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 26 Day 6

2010-05-15T17:43:00.001-07:00

Workout:

1. 300 shots

2. 3 games of 1 on 1

3. 3x UNLV sprints

Week 26 Day 5

2010-05-14T19:10:00.001-07:00

Active Rest Day

Week 26 Day 4

2010-05-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

Workout #1:

1. 5x2 Deadlift

2. 5x3 Weighted Pull-ups

Workout #2:

1. Conditioning: 7x 100 meter hill sprints

2. 300 shots

3. 10x hard dribble weave through chairs

Week 26 Day 3

2010-05-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Basketball Workout:

1. 15 rim grabs

2. 300 shots

3. 7x 30 sec AMRAP defensive shuffle (length of the key)

4. Full court moves off the dribble between chairs

Week 26 Day 2

2010-05-11T20:50:00.001-07:00

Workout #1:

1. 5x5 Back Squat

2. 5x5 Weighted Ring Push-up

3. 5x5 Straight Body Lift

Workout #2:

1. 300 Shots

2. Conditioning: 5x Championship Sprints

3. Hard Moves Off the Dribble

Week 26 Day 1

2010-05-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Depth Jumps onto Box

2. 5x1 Depth Jumps to High Bar Grab

3. 10x1 Standing High Bar Grab with (1/2 with) 20lb weight vest (1/2 dunking a basketball over the high bar)

4. 5x1 Box Squat jumps w/ 20lb vest

5. 15x1 Dunks on High Bar

6. Conditioning 5x 10 spot High Bar grab

Week 25 Day 7

2010-05-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

Active Rest Day:

1. Light 1k row

2. Foam roller and bocce ball roll

3. Stretching the hamstrings and hips

An Ego Boost Followed By a Slice of Humble Pie

2010-05-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today I played pick-up basketball at the Hamilton Rec Center in Novato. We got a great run in, played a ton of games, and had a lot of fun. When we finished up, one of my teammates, Vito (if you were wondering, yes he would have been well cast for “The Sopranos”), said “Keep it up Ben, you are a great athlete.” I tried to be gracious, smiled and said, “thanks,” but I was stunned and realized that no one has ever called me a great athlete.

I have been told that I have a nice stroke (basketball shot), an acute ability to anticipate in football, a good work ethic, and impressive self-taught technique during my short-lived Olympic Weightlifting career, but I have never been told that I was a “great athlete” . . . until today.

In reality I’m not a gifted athlete, I don’t possess a great deal of innate speed, quickness, or explosiveness, but over the course of the last 25 weeks I have worked tirelessly and intelligently to improve my inherently lackluster, god-given athletic ability. Based upon the way I played in our pick-up games today and the fact that I was grabbing the rim with two hands and hanging on it between games, Vito called me a “great athlete.” Although I have yet to realize my goal/dream of dunking a basketball, I am making great strides and I have improved my athletic ability tremendously.

One of the guys playing with us, named Mike, was an incredibly gifted athlete. He was my age, about 5’9’’, and probably weighted a buck fifty soaking wet and he could absolutely fly. After the first game, I went up and grabbed a rim with two hands, and watched Mike as he proceeded to easily throw himself an alley-oop off the backboard. My jaw dropped. I asked him how long it took him to get the timing down on the alley-oop and he said, “I just tried it once and it worked.” I congratulated him and told him how impressive it was, but on the inside I was fuming. My internal monologue went a little something like this, “I have been training hard for 25 weeks to dunk a basketball and this kid, who has probably never really “trained” for anything in his life, just decided one day that he was going to throw himself an alley-oop off the backboard and it just worked.” Needless to say I was pissed and force-fed a gigantic slice of humble pie.

Week 25 Day 6

2010-05-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Basketball Workout:

1. 200 shots

2. 10 rim grabs (hung on the rim with two hands for the first time)

3. Conditioning: 16 defensive slides in the key for time+ slide, back pedal, sprint drill+ sprint lay up drill

4. about 2 hours of 5 on 5 pick up basketball

New Box Jump PRs

2010-05-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hit a new standing box jump PR (46 inches) and a new striding box jump PR (53 inches) today. My ultimate goal is to eventually get up to a 50 inch standing box jump and a 60 inch striding box jump.

Week 25 Day 5

2010-05-07T20:26:00.001-07:00

Workout:

1. 5x1 Standing High Box Jump

2. 5x1 Stride High Box Jump

3. 5x5 Weighted Ring Dip

4. 10x 100 meter sprints (1 sprint every minute on the minute for 10 minutes)