Vertfreak101 Week 1 Summary

Well I made it through the first week of Vertfreak101 and am more excited than ever about this summer and how much I could gain on my vertical.  The program flat out makes sense and feels like if I put forth my best efforts it will show in the results.  Time will tell though.  My two main leg weight-lifting days were a test no doubt, and I am sore with every step, but I know it will be worth it in the end.  The program, vertical jump workouts, and weight lifting all significantly test every aspect of your athleticism, and I would be lying if I said it wasn't hard.  Things such as balance and flexibility are VERY important in these workouts, and it become quickly apparent if you are lacking. 

There was one particular exercise that involved squating on one leg that I was not near flexible enough to do, and this caused my balance to be off as well.  I did the exercise to the best of my ability and will continue to work on it throughout the program.  Hopefully in a few weeks I will be performing perfect reps.  There was also one squating exercise I chose to eliminate that involved pausing in the middle of a squat.  I am not a fan of this, as I am big guy and it is not favorable on my knees.  Maybe some of you guys will be able to pull this one off, but it was not for me.

I only squat ATG (ass to grass for those of you who don't know).  Although it can be difficult to learn, and you may not be flexible enough right away, you will learn to love the ATG squat.  In my personal experience it has not only been easier on my knees, I personally attribute it to the fact that I haven't had a knee problem since I started doing them consistently.  Although I am no expert, I would say it is because once you descend into the ATG position at the bottom of the squat (otherwise known as "the hole") you butt is resting on you calves/ankles, there is minimal pressure on the kness, if any at all.  A lot of the upward motion is generated through your butt and hamstring muscles, which is a lot less stressful on your kness than the quad dominated motion of parallel, or quarter squatter.  If you are stopping at parallel or higher there is a significant amount of stress on the knee and throughout the entire motion.  This is my opinion, however, not scientific fact. 

Give ATG squats a try, you may find you end up loving them just as much as I do.  Be prepared for a SORE butt the next day though.  Most people have weak glutes and hamstrings relative to their quads, so there may be some catching up to do (having unequal quad strength, relative to hamstring and glute strength can cause stress on the knees too).  I highly recommend squating to parallel or deeper.  You wouldn't believe how many people think they are squating deep enough and are not even close to hitting parallel.  Try to have someone watch you and tell you if your quads are reaching a parallel depth relative to the ground, or try taking a picture or video.  You may be suprised with what you find out.  This will probably mean you have to lighten the weight load to hit a deeper squat, but it will be worth the adjustment in the end.

Back to talking about the first week of Vertfreak101 ;)

As far as recovery goes, I hit 8 hours of sleep every night so far which is a good thing.  Sleep can be one of the most over-looked aspects of any training program.  Don't skip out on a full nights sleep!  I am guilty of being a poor sleeper in the past, but I want to maximize my gains so I am making sure to get a full nights sleep every night from now on.  My diet is going well so far.  I haven't really cheated yet, with the exception of my morning energy drink.  Maybe I will eventually suck it up and cut this out as well.  The staple of my diet this week was definitely skinless chicken breasts, along with lots of fruits, carbs, and water.  I am happy with the diet aspect so far.

My one weakness this first week was stretching!  Dumb, because it should be the easiest and least time consuming thing to accomplish.  Yet I have only bothered to stretch twice.  Rest assured I will fix this in the coming weeks. 

Thats about all from week 1 of Vertfreak101, on to week 2 we go starting on Monday.