New month, new week, and I was reinvigorated with optimism and delusion. Instead of living in a constant state of caloric deprivation, I thought: why not go hard for one week—super low calorie—and then return to maintenance the next? You know, get the fat loss out of the way fast so I can get back to gains and gym glory.
Let me save you the suspense: it didn’t work. I tried to starve the beast…. It ate me instead.
You can’t cage the beast (referring to your appetite) and then expect it to sit quietly in the corner when you finally let it out. I went 5 days strong eating only 1500 calories per day, which for a grown man who trains almost daily, is basically a hunger strike.
And then… the beast got out. For 3 days, despite my best intentions, I ate over double that amount each day. Because as I’ve said before: “The bill comes due… always.”
Contrast Training Continues
On the performance side of things, I’ve continued using contrast training during my plyo court sessions. I’ll finish every plyometric session with two heavy-and-explosive circuits:
- Heavy compound movement (like squats or hex bar pulls)
- Followed by unloaded plyometric movement (like broad jumps or pogo hops)
The key? Keep it intentional. Not just moving weight, but moving weight with intensity, and executing the plyos with max intent.
Active Recovery and Isometric Work
On my active recovery days, I’ve shifted focus toward:
- Hip mobility drills
- Light cardio (just enough to break a sweat)
- Isometric holds for tendons and joint health
These are slight resistance, maximal contraction holds—usually held for 10–20+ seconds. Research has shown that isometrics can improve tendon stiffness and reduce pain, especially in chronic conditions like tendinopathy (Rio et al., 2015).
I don’t push too hard—after all, it’s a recovery day—but I treat these holds as neuromuscular tune-ups.
Enter: Eccentric Deceleration Training
Inspired by that legendary podcast with Stuart McMillan, I finally dove into eccentric strength training. If you recall from my earlier posts, McMillan dropped this bombshell: eccentric strength is what separates average athletes from elite athletes.
So here’s what I’ve been doing:
- Load a hex bar with 65–75% of bodyweight
- Stand on stacked bumper plates (about 6” height)
- Step off into a depth drop while holding the weight
- Relax the posterior chain into normal jump mechanics
- Decelerate as fast as possible to stop the weight before it hits the ground
These drills train the body to absorb force quickly and efficiently. During sprinting and jumping, your joints can experience forces 4x your bodyweight. If you’re not trained to handle that, your body engages the Golgi tendon organ, a neat little feature that shuts off muscle activity to prevent injury (aka the “collapse like a noodle” response).
Progressive eccentric training like this can help desensitize that GTO response, improving your ability to accept force, and eventually produce more of it.
Behold: A PR Standing Vertical
Despite a pretty exhausting week of chronic under-eating followed by gluttonous rebound eating, I finished strong.
This week I hit one of my highest standing vertical jumps ever: 10’1″ touch with a standing reach of 7’8″—that’s a 29” standing vert.
Let me just remind you:
- Average vertical jump for males? 16–20”
- NBA average? Around 28”
So despite what TikTok or YouTube might tell you, I’m not average. And yet… still not dunking.
Why?
Well, as I graciously admitted: “My standing vert is just a few inches short of Shaquille O’Neal’s… and he can dunk, and I can’t.”
But that’s because he’s 7’1” and his standing reach is somewhere near 9’5”. So yeah, there’s a little problem,
“You can’t coach height.”
Wrap-Up: Feed the Beast… Strategically
This week was a lesson in biological rebellion. You can try to cheat your metabolism, but your body has been around longer than your willpower.
I’m sticking with my contrast and eccentric training, will start a new nutrition protocol next week so stay tuned.
One more inch at a time on that vertical.
“Rome wasn’t build in a day”
References:
- Tillin, N. A., & Bishop, D. (2009). Factors influencing post-activation potentiation in humans and the effects on performance. Sports Medicine, 39(2), 147-166.
- Rio, E., Kidgell, D., Purdam, C., Gaida, J., Cook, J., & Pearce, A. J. (2015). Isometric exercise induces analgesia and reduces inhibition in patellar tendinopathy. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 49(19), 1277–1283.
