Basketball Training schedule - designed to avoid overtraining

Working 2 to 3 VJB sessions a week in with any other regular training/exercise you do is tough. In early stages of doing the VJB, I noticed I was feeling lethargic on court and had trouble playing out full games without being completely exhausted afterwards. This was because I was overtraining - on some days, I'd be doing plyometrics PLUS weight training PLUS playing ball - my leg and back muscles were being totally overworked and didn't have time to recover after my workout days, which then meant I wasn't training as hard, and of course, couldn't play as hard. So, I designed this new routine, and since using it, I'm seeing much better performance on court. It could probably still use some tweaking, but it ensures I have 4 days in the gym working on what I want to aswell as 2 days playing ball and a free day's practice, all without burning out.

MONDAY:
VJB Training
- Intermediate Balanced program
Shoulder and traps exercises
- Upright dumbell row
- Dumbell shrugs
- Dumbell shoulder press

TUESDAY:
Chest and arm exercises
- Barbell bench press
- Dumbell Bench Press
- Dumbell fly
- Dumbell bent-over row
- Bicep curls - wide grip (works inner bicep)
- Bicep curls - narros grip (works outer bicep)
- Hammer curls
Abdominal exercises
- Glut-ham raises
- Hanging leg raises
- Crunches on exercise ball
Basketball
- Men's D-Grade - easy league, but still fairly physical

WEDNESDAY:
No weight training
Basketball
- Men's B-Grade

THURSDAY:
Repeat of Tuesday, swapping hanging leg raises for bicycle crunches

FRIDAY:
Repeat of Monday

SATURDAY:
Light shooting practice

SUNDAY: rest

This program allows me a full 2 days rest after each VJB workout, which is required in the Intermediate Balanced program. I'm seeing better results from both the VJB training and upper body strength training by focusing on each 2 days a week, going hard, then allowing my body to fully recover. I have at least a full day of no leg work before each VJB workout day, which is working well for me so far.

I also changed my diet up a little. Sticking to these times is hard when you work during the day, but eating 5 smaller meals rather than 3 bigger ones has given me more energy when I get to the gym;

08.00am - BREAKFAST
10.30am - Morning tea - protein or good oil snack, such as can of tuna or a handful of almonds
12.00 midday - Lunch - 1/3 carbs, 1/3 vege, 1/3 protein. I try to eat at least 2 hours before a workout, because I'm trying to burn fat. Any less than 2 hours, and I'm just burning off my lunch, not body fat.
01.00pm - Protein shake before 2pm workout
01.30pm - Coffee (caffeine is a great pre-workout boost)
02.00pm -Gym.
03.30pm - Immediately after gym, I take another snack for afternoon tea, again focusing on trying to get some good oils or protein into me rather than carbs. You need to have this snack within 30 minutes of finishing your workout, because this is when your body is crying out for nutrients. A good post-workout snack will also help your muscles recover.
7.00pm - dinner.

If you have any questions, post them in the comments section and I'll get back to you.

N.O Xplode did nothing for my workouts for VJB

In a post a week ago, I mentioned I was starting on a supplement called N.O. Xplode as a 'Performance Igniter' (those are the manufacturers words, not mine) in addition to re-commencing my protein supplements. The idea behind this was that N.O Xplode would help me go harder in the gym and hopefully get gains in strength quicker by lifting more. I had high hopes for the product, as I'd read in forums that it had really lifted some people in the gym, but I have to say, I'm very disappointed.

I've followed the usage instructions exactly, yet on the workouts where I was taking N.O Xplode, I actually ended up feeling more fatigued than in the session I did today, where I had a protein shake about mid-morning, as I always do, but then hit the gym for weights at around 2pm without N.O Xplode. Maybe I'm one of the people who it doesn't work on, or maybe the benefits are all psychosomatic... I can't make that call.

At any rate, I'll keep using it for 4 weeks, and if at the end of that period I'm still not seeing positive results, I'll stop using it... and probably give it away to a reader if anyone's interested.

Week 3 - Starting with supplements for Vertical Jump Bible

This past week, I've been finding myself feeling a bit flat on the court during games. I originally thought it might be overtraining, but then again, I didn't the same feeling in the first 3 weeks of the program, when my conditioning would have been significantly less. I realised that the dip in my energy co-incided with me stopping using nutritional supplements pre- and post-workout, so now I'm going to be using the below as pre-workout primer / post-workout recovery aid to make sure I'm gettign enough nutrients to my body. Hopefully these items will give me back that energetic feeling:

Protein
I've chosen a soluble protein solution from Musashi, an Australian sports nutrition company. It's a bit more expensive than the bulk discount proteins you can get, but it comes recommended by a number of people I've spoken to, including personal trainers and my sister, who is a trained nutritionist and natural therapist. The protein in question is Musashi WPC blend. It's a high whey-protein, lo carb blend, which I'm going to be taking an hour before working out, then immediately after working out. This should help ensure my muscles have all the fuel they need to effectively finish my workout, aswell as all they need to repair themselves post-workout, and be ready to go for the next workout or game day. I chose the lo-carb blend, as I'd ultimately like to drop 2 or 3 kilo's of body fat to help with the hops. I'd been using Musashi's P30 formula prior to this which is much higher in carbs, so I'll see if reducing the amount of carbs consumed post-workout effects energy levels at all... I can always go back to the P30 :)

N.O-Xplode
In addition to the protein, I've chosen to go for a workout booster - NO-Xplode. This is the first time I've used one of these products - I've seen mixed reviews of N.O-Xplode online - it is effectively an energy booster, designed to help you mentally focus and have higher energy levels during your workout. BSN, the company who make it, call it a 'Performance Igniter' - after reading plenty of reviews on the web, many people seem to share that description of it. N.O-Xplode also has a whole bunch of synthetic substances in it too, and generally don't like the idea of using highly synthetic products, but I figure I'll give NO-Xplode a go to see if I can go harder during my weight sessions, and thus try for better results. I'll report back on the effects I see.

I've just finished the final week of Phase 1 of the Novice Plyometrics program and Phase 1 of the Novice Weights program - and I'm taking the weekend off before starting Phase 2 of both programs next week. You know what that means... time to measure!! I'll wait until tomorrow to measure, because my legs are thrashed, but be sure to come back tomorrow to see my gains from the first 3 weeks of training.