My legs were incredibly tired last night when I played basketball. My knees weren't hurting, but jumping took a lot of effort. I'm trying not to get discouraged, but I am considering cutting back my training volume on the Jump Manual. Other programs, like the Science of Jumping and Jumpsoles, have you start out with lower training volumes with a gradual increase as your body adapts to the stress. I'll probably cut the number of sets in half and add back a set every 2-3 weeks. Part of me doesn't want to do this since, in a way, it seems like I don't want to work as hard. Of course, this is the same attitude that got me injured the past two basketball seasons (all of my injuries were related to overuse).

Here's my progress with my squats: I'm up to 245 pounds on my sets and feel like I could do much more. However, I am sticking with the plan to slowly increase the weight because of my knees. According to the plan I have in place, and if I don't stall, I should be able to put 315 pounds on the bar for a set of 5 at the end of these 12 weeks. That will be my goal, but I will deload by 10% when I can't complete a full set. This is a basic training philosophy taught by many trainers, including Pavel Tsatsouline who authored Power to the People. A deload helps the body recover, continue to gain strength, and, hopefully, break through the plateau that had just been reached.

I blog again in a week or so and let you know how the decrease in training load effects my progress.