Week 75 and 76 were both great weeks. I’ve been able to push the envelope with intent and get some testing in, which has been great!
Week 75 I did some plyo testing with the results as follows (for perspective my PR’s will be in parentheses):
Roll-Ins (mph)
Red: 80, 80 (81)
Yellow: 85, 83 (86)
Gray: 93, did not read (94)
Rockers
Red: 76, 78 (80)
Yellow: 81, 82 (87)
Gray: 85, 87 (91)
As you can see my numbers weren’t all amazing, but for the first testing day in months I was pretty happy with the results. I’m always looking to beat PR’s, but obviously that can’t happen every week, so here’s what week 76 plyo testing results looked like:
Roll-Ins
Red: 84 (new PR), 83
Yellow: 88 (new PR), 86
Gray: 90, 93, 92
One of my roll-ins:
Rockers
Red: 78, 79
Yellow: 83, 83
Gray: 85, 88
Last week was a pretty solid week. You can see I beat all of my numbers from the previous week, except for one that I tied, and I PR’d on two different ball weights. The other thing that’s encouraging about this is that most of my plyo PR’s were set when I did that drill first. For example, when I set my rocker PR’s that was the first drill I did, rather than roll-ins like I’ve been doing. So the fact that I’m relatively close to those PR numbers is very encouraging.
I think there are two big things that are helping with these improvements; I’m pretty healthy right now, and I’ve been hammering on specific patterning work that will help me get into more extreme positions.
Roll-in variations have been a huge focus since my hip/shoulder separation was not very good. I decided this is one of my “big rocks,” or a variable that if fixed will also help fix other smaller issues. Along with that I’ve been working on more specific intent with my movement during lower intensity work. My back leg has never been great, so I’ve been focusing on pushing the ground away from me and that seems to also be getting me into better positions. Rather than trying to cue arm action I’m working on the bigger, proximal pieces, focusing on later intent, and allowing my arm to fall into place. One caveat is that during testing or high intensity throwing I’m not thinking about all of these things.
The weight room has been great. I’m in a power block right now and I’m moving weights pretty fast. The volume has remained relatively low since the goal is mainly neurological adaptations. Each rep needs to be done at max intent, so my main lifts are all done in the 1-3 rep ranges.
My med ball velocities are improving and I’m using drills that will challenge me in positions that I’ll need on the mound. I’ll write about this in more detail in a week or two.
Anyway, thank you for following me on my journey to the show. Check back later this week for more content.