Big Bird Training, Training From The Bird Nest Options

[s4lnj]

i hav e a question, i asked twice, it kind of got lost in the mix here, so i started a thread that vanished.....twice

[quote name='s4lnj' date='Mar 25 2012, 12:25 AM' post='1164332']

i raced today, season opened today e in the northeast.

i'm not as fast as i felt!!!

made the main, but have some work to do.


so i have been reading back through the thread-- if guys are only doingmax strength like every 10-14 days, i would assume i would be better suited setting up for 2 weeks instead of trying to fit it all in in one week?
[/quote]

[quote]so everything was going great, training was going well, i was into a solid groove and feeling fas and strong.


then i finally got my handson a squat rack. i have wanted for so long to have access to squats at home.

but it kinda threw everythingoff. fiting it all in was really hard.


so i think fr a while i'm dropping heavy squats. i'll still do lighter weight box squats, but for max effort days i want to stick with deads.

any thoughts?
[/quote]

[BS]

s4lnj,

When I was training and racing a lot I would couple strength training with speed work. My regular weekly routine was:

Tuesday Night: Practice night at the track with a focus on single straights or two-straights.
Wednesday morning: Max Effort Squat day (heavy good morning, box squat, or deadlift variation, vary it)
Thursday: Chillax, ride the trails or skatepark or something
Friday Night: Local race night at the track. Go hard. Race my buddies. Full laps at full speed with complete recoveries between them.
Saturday Morning: Dynamic Effort Squat Day (speed box squats, or power cleans or speed deadlifts could go here)
Sunday: Chillax, ride the trails, BBQ, watch a ballgame, etc. Maybe sprints or intervals in the evening depending on weaknesses.
Monday: Whatevs... ride the trails

I would do speed work and then try to do the max effort or dynamic effort work as soon after as possible, then get a full day or two rest and then do it again.

I had three types of sprint workouts - acceleration (short, distance to first jump), max speed (simulate a single straight or 2 straights) and speed endurance (full laps at full speed)
Two types of weight workouts - Max effort and Dynamic effort
Assistance work on those workouts would be Good Mornings for reps, Romanian Deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, and abdominal work.

Couple one of those speed workouts with one of the lifting workouts (same day or the morning after) and then take a day or two off, then do it again, and again, and again. Taper for the bigger races but otherwise use racing days as your speed workouts. This way you'll always be fresh when doing speed stuff. You'll go into the gym a little depleted but we're not lifters we're racers. Leave a little in the tank in the gym but try to keep making progress and go all out on the bike. You'll find that you CAN break records without going to failure. You're essentially doing two sprint workouts and two force workouts per week and resting in between.

This is what worked for me. NAG 4 & ROC 1 in 2006 in 36 & Over Expert.

I know it's Big Bird's thread but it had been awhile since you asked those questions so I thought I'd chime in.

[s4lnj]

thans bs, this is the direction i wanted to get back to.

with no squat rack, it was simple.

day 1 lift
day2 sprint
day 3 rest

i did the same thing, one workout was maximal strength (deads, bench, weighted chins) the other was explosive (cleans, power overs, box jumps, ect)

but when i got the squat rack i had issues fitting it all in, because to do maximal deads and squats in the same sesion was killing me it threw off my 3 day simple plan, now i needed 2 mximal strength days, or i tried to squeeeze maximal and explosive together..... with crappy results.

i've gone back to my previous wa of doing things, with my explosive strength days including box squats.

we'll see how it works out

thanks again

[BS]

I think you could alternate your heavy squat and deadlift days. Like squat one week, deadlift the next rather than trying to do them both in the same week. And I think working up to 3 and 5 rep maxes rather than 1RM is sufficient for a BMXer. No need to kill yourself in order to increase your ability to exert force. It's all relative. You can still improve without going all the way to 1RM.

I guess what I'm saying is maybe try to think in terms of a 10 to 14 day microcycle rather than 7-day microcycle (or workout week). I've heard of a lot of older lifters adapting Westside methods to a 10 day program and lift 3 times a week in order to build in extra recovery. I often did that to build in extra recovery but also to fit in speed work on the bike, which is what we're actually doing.

[protour77]

Want to put a four week plan together to improve my first 6 cranks. Anyone have a good plan they would like to share?

[Jake77]

The biggest bang for your buck in improving your first 6 pedals is to really focus on good mechanics of your gate and first couple pedals. Unless you look like Sam Willoughby down the first straight, this is what you need to focus on. I always thought I could just do some more squats and deadlifts to add speed to my first straight, but I was always dissapointed in the results. I've recently started realizing that I was doing a few things wrong in my gate and the way I stood when I tried to bring the second pedal around.

This is easier said than done, but this is the most important thing you can do for your first straight. Buy a video camera and start filming yourself and compare what you're doing to what the elites are doing. Look at the angle of your head, arms, shoulders, back, hips, and legs while doing gates. Once you get this dialed then you can add in more of the training to really build a fast first straight. Your training would include lots of core work, maybe some deadlifting, and lots of speed and agility work. I really anyone over the age of 25 need to be doubling down on the amount of agility and speed work. Simple things like jump rope, skipping, hopping, playing on the playground with your kids is really helpful in staying quick and agile on the bike and in life.

[s4lnj]

i agree. a while back i posted this video in the cafe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPV7-UCu2dM

now i am willing to bet that they don't have state of the art gyms, or post workout shakes, and they aren't searching for the next new "best" thing. they are just out there jumping over camels.

i often forget what's important is becoming better at your sport, whatever that may be. if you want to punch harder, start spending time on the bag. you want to nail more 3 pointers, you better be on the court. you want to jump 6 camels, you better start setting up ceral boxes and start jumping.

so while deads, box squats and plyos are important, just dont forget that to get better at something you have to do it.

[Jake77]

[quote name='s4lnj' date='Jun 16 2012, 05:24 AM' post='1175665']
i agree. a while back i posted this video in the cafe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPV7-UCu2dM

now i am willing to bet that they don't have state of the art gyms, or post workout shakes, and they aren't searching for the next new "best" thing. they are just out there jumping over camels.

i often forget what's important is becoming better at your sport, whatever that may be. if you want to punch harder, start spending time on the bag. you want to nail more 3 pointers, you better be on the court. you want to jump 6 camels, you better start setting up ceral boxes and start jumping.

so while deads, box squats and plyos are important, just dont forget that to get better at something you have to do it.
[/quote]
It's true, but the one thing that I think most people get wrong is the way they practice. You have to practice with intention. Don't just go out and do what you've been doing for the past 5 years.

Practice doesn't make perfect it makes permanent

[s4lnj]

[quote name='Jake77' date='Jun 18 2012, 01:30 PM' post='1175914']
Practice doesn't make perfect it makes permanent
[/quote]


this quicklly became one of my favorites. before this i always said "practice makes perfect, but only if practiced perfectly"

[liketohelp]

Very good read thank you.

So what do you think about kids training? A lot of parents want to see the kids exhausted from doing off the bike exercises and non stop laps and sprints, i personally don't agree with this. Whats your opionion? should we be focussing on bike skills or leg speed??