Its better to squat a little high than to have low back flexion. Hips are what limits depth. Keep working on those.

Is SMR stuff more important or the exact right mobility stuff? It would seem doing what I'm doing isn't enough. I guess I'd be surprised if I needed to do more SMR stuff - I've gone to Dr. K like 8 times now in a month and there has been enough progress in all areas that I'm down to 1x/week now.

I haven't deviated hugely in the last few months except I don't do SMR & mobility very often on non-lifting days when I don't exercise at all). One thing I often do now is do SMR sometime in the day after lifting, not necessarily right before I lift (I still usually do SMR before though).

After careful review of my DL form against a proper setup. It looks like I should be able to sit down further with my butt when going "chest up". For some reason I wasn't doing that. I may try taking video of my warmups next time and watching them in between sets to see how I can create that correctly and *feel* what it's supposed to feel like b/c up until now I always set my back angle by being close or behind the bar. But it makes sense my hips go up right away with a lower back angle if what I really should be doing to keep my back lower is something different.

The more you roll, the better imo. I'm pretty sure all my additional rolling and DMS work I've been doing since I got hurt is making me better faster, and its helping all over - not just my back. The more I roll my hips, the deeper I can squat with my back straight. It also makes everything else feel looser and like everything is working right.

I'm not sure what exactly to say about your DL that can be said here, but maybe you're onto a good cue with the "chest up" idea.

We can talk about it next time we see each other.

From very closely watching Ripp's "anatomy" classroom videos and comparing to several of my DL videos (paused at different points of my setup, over many different reps), it seems pretty obvious to me my setup is flawed for Deadlifts and it is making it harder for me to correctly lift heavy weights.

As for SMR, it can't just be "more will fix it" b/c I've done a ton. I will review what I'm rolling when I get home today and maybe incorporate a few others. Also, when I next visit you maybe I can show you the full routine and you can let me know. But, I mean, what I'm doing now isn't helping me squat deeper, it may be helping me not get worse depth than I get now, but I still get significant back flexion if I go more than an inch or so below parallel, even if I do extra rolling/mobility beforehand.

If you've done enough so that it doesnt hurt at all when you roll your glutes and other hip muscles with the lacrosse ball, then you're right, you've done enough. If you arent pain free & feeling loose when you do that, and if you arent getting all the muscles, then its not enough. I'll spend as long as 15 - 30 minutes per side (30-60 minutes total), just on that area, sometimes. I'm older and probably have more knots than most people, but I think you get the point.

Well I'm getting there, . But yeah, if I wasn't feeling anything I wouldn't be rolling. My point is that given the progress I've seemingly made on soft tissue, I haven't noticed my squat depth get better, so my guess is I'm missing an area rather than doing the rolling wrong or not enough. I guess you disagree but that confuses me as it's not clear why.

I do feel many things have improved tremendously from SMR. Being able to get my arms in place to grip grip it in the squat was helped a ton (and now finally doing shoulder dislocations), I can run continuously without my leg going busto, and a bunch of other things. But my squat depth doesn't seem much better and I wouldn't say I'm tremendously more flexible than I used to be (I would guess I'm relatively flexible even when I did no SMR or stretching). I just have fewer issues with my muscles and seem able to put them under more stress without getting injuries (so far anyway).

Press looks pretty good to me. Just try to be more consistent. A few reps get too far away from you imo. Also try and stay tighter. Flex quads and glutes if you aren't.

Have you ever been in a game where there is bad matchups for just about your whole team defensively?

I find myself doing a really good job at getting inside of my opponent everytime someone shoots, but if the ball misses it bounces out of the key and he gets it anyway. Amidoinitrong?

Whats the best way to play defense in a 1 on 1 fast break situation?

I'm drinking and thinking of questions for u

This is great encouragement, thanks!

I don't consciously tighten my legs at all on OHP so I will do that and make sure to tighten my abs up as much as possible right at the start.

If there are bad 1on1 matchups for my whole team (playing pickup) either the opposing team is just way better (oh well) or I would step up and get my team to rearrange the matchups (or at least in the next game). Even though people don't take much pride in their defense, they sometimes can get a bit offended so I usually just say something like "let's give them a different look to keep them off balance" to sell my team on the idea.

Sounds like urdoinitright. At least the first step in getting a rebound. In order of priority (off the top of my head) or order of when these things happen, for rebounding:

1) Having inside position vs. your opponent

2) Clearing them out backwards as much as possible (you should have a great type of strength for this as it doesn't have to be as explosive as jumping b/c ur pushing against them essentially over more than a split second)

3) Being in the higher % area of where the rebound will go. This isn't something I consciously do at all. I do know it's something Kevin Love has talked about a bit and allegedly he studies where shots are most likely to go on a rebound depending on the type and place where the shot was taken. My understanding (having done no study) is that the ball more often goes to the other side of the basket on a rebound than where the shooter shot from. But really, I don't think intentionally about this much but do have a feel for where the ball may go on a shot and so I go to the area that "feels right" and then get inside and get my ass on my opponent and then push back (if I'm playing well).

4) Holding your position. Again, your lower body strength will help do this but you still have to work to stay there if your opponent decides to push into you or someone comes running into you from behind. This is super important for defensive rebounding as getting position should be easier and your time is spent protecting your position rather than establishing it.

5) One of the most important things to getting good position on a rebound is having a good feel for when your teammates or the other team is going to jack up a shot. Imo, this is much more important than timing your jump for a rebound (which may not be necessary with good enough position) b/c if you anticipate the shot before everyone else, you can get that inside position, or set up first, and get entrenched. This is what all great rebounders do better than everyone else. It's why Kevin Love gets more rebounds than Dwight Howard and why Dennis Rodman could get rebounds even when his opponents would face him up on rebounds.

6) Timing your jump for a rebound. I can barely jump so I don't worry about this. Often other ppl will mis-time their jump so that extra inch or two can be the difference. I often jump just so that when players go over my back it gets called, b/c some guys are tall enough to just jump and reach over me without initiating contact for a foul, . This is much more important for athletic rebounders who get them via leaping ability. Which I'm not and I'll assume you aren't (yet anyway)

I'm by no means an expert on rebounding, I just say I'm good at it, lol. So if anyone else wants to pitch in with tips I'd be curious and love the discussion.

Stay in front and try to anticipate when/where your opponent is going to take their shot (hint: usually at the 3 point line or on one of the blocks for a layup). If you kind of know what spot they are trying to get to, you can often play to stop just that and allow a different shot, like a pull up jumper in transition which many players suck at, or a layup out of rhythm, which some players aren't great at. Basically, use whatever smoke and mirrors you can to get your opponent to have to take a slightly harder shot. Often in pickup with players who aren't amazing dribblers, this just involves staying in front and then giving some body contact to keep them off balance. In a league with FTs, either avoid the body contact or wrap them up so they have no chance of making the shot. I've learned ppl get pissed enough when I wrap them up in a refereed game, but they get irate if you do this in pickup, so ymmv in pickup when wrapping someone up, lol. (note: I only wrap up if it's a fast break situation not close to the basket where I can't make a play on the ball, I can either wrap them up or foul and they'll keep dribbling and score, or foul to take them out and risk injuring them)

Yeah, love the bball Qs, .

9/14 log

My g/f is sick and was home all day with a fever yesterday (not for more cowbell) so I didn't take any video or have a partner today.

I did a lot of lacrosse ball rolling on my glute/hip area below my lower back. I have been doing this the whole time but I saw in a video if I cross my legs while doing it's super duper painful and I can barely do it. Which imo means I've been "doing it wrong" and I have some really tight **** back there. So I'm hoping working on that may make it a bit easier for me to do things I'm having trouble with (knee cave, back flexion).

Squat
45x5x2
80x5
120x3
160x2
200x5x3

200 baby! My form was likely very bad on this. I felt significant knee cave and was going "too low" b/c I had a lot of lower back flexion. My lower back is actually really stiff/sore today. It doesn't feel like I "hurt" something specifically, but what I did definitely wasn't good for it. I had to sit down to put on my socks this morning, which unless I have ridic DOMS, isn't something I ever have issues with. (And tbh I could have done it without sitting down but it would have been quite tricky giving how tight my lower back was/is).

Any good tips for tonight? Rolling my hip area a bunch and maybe icing my lower back? Taking some ibuprofen?

Bench
45x5x2
80x5
110x3
140x2
160x5x2

I def had trouble getting my last rep up on each set so I asked a guy to spot me for the third set. I asked if he could help with "lift off" until the bar was above my chest but then only help if I got trapped.

So of course I started my set and he is touching the bar for each rep. I racked after 2 reps and asked him not to touch the bar. Then proceeded to do 1-2 more reps (he started assisting again without me being trapped). Soo......

160x2 and an immediate 160x1-2
140x6

I'm just going to not ask for a spot ever again until I don't think I can roll the bar off if I get trapped. It's such a mixed bag and going up in weight for bench is a fine line for me so when ppl screw around I basically can't tell whether I can count my work sets and move up or not.

Planks
5 x 20 seconds
4 x 20 seconds
3 x 20 seconds
2 x 20 seconds
1 x 20 seconds

Supersetted with:

Pullthroughs
37.5 x 10
67.5 x 10
72.5 x 10
77.5 x 10
77.5 x 10

I tried very hard to keep good form on these and not let my back get too involved (and not flex). But this may also have contributed to the stiffness I feel as my lower back does have to stay set and stable during it, contributing to the fatigue of it maybe.

Anyway, at some point maybe I should quit pullthroughs and maybe even core work and do Power cleans like I'm supposed to. I didn't realize it before, but it seems I can do them without bumper plates or worrying about making too much noise as long as I can set them up like how I do for my g/f for DLs so I'm not pulling from too low.

I also went to the chiro yesterday. My neck is progressing decently and the Graston he did last week on my leg where I've had those issues and tingling I really think has helped. He couldn't feel any 'crunchy' stuff and when I stretch that area out with spidermans and quad stretch, it finally feels like I can actually get into a pretty deep stretch without burnination making me stop.

http://www.arshavirshomepage.com/Ars...Exercises.html

Only do 1 - 3 imo. Dont do the flexion ones. Only do 2 and 3 if they dont cause pain in your low back.

9/16 log

Failed everything, life sucks, I wanna smash something.

But, on the upside, I didn't injure my stiff back. So there's that. WHIPDO****INGDO

@%## @%^^# 236#26%# 235#65^##$$#$5$5#WQETWQE^T%%^#%AWSEGTFASDgi haot 8iyaogh asdl;ogh se

(It's like I've turned into Raptor, once I get unemoed I'll post some sort of proper log or something)

@%^#Q@%^#^T#QW#^%QWE^%Q@W^#QW#^QW#Q#W#ASETASD Gasweiletghj ahio asdogh asdgho

You wanna come up here and work out Sunday after the Vikings game? I'll put together something different for you.

9/16 log continued

So I had a glass of wine, listened to some Postal Service last night and then just got back from a lunch at Eddington's today where I had 4 bowls of soup and 5 breadsticks. Feeling a lot better emotionally now, .

Yesterday this is what I did:

Lots of SMR
Mobility warmup

Squats
45x5x2
80x5
120x3
160x2
200x5x3

So I did get all reps, but I was definitely not going parallel. Every time I felt any sort of load concentrated on my lower back I didn't go any lower. I also likely had some knee cave - although my knees feel better than they did after my last squat sessions.

But, I'm not sure these should count as I wasn't even going to parallel.

Press
45x5x2
50x5
65x3
80x2
95x3
95x0
95x0
95x3
85x5

So, yeah. I'm not sure if my lower back issue made it so my base wasn't as stable as it normally was or if I was concentrating too much on keeping my lower body and core tight, rather than pushing it up. But, I had a lot of issues with my Press work set too.

DL
135x5
135x4
140x3
205x2
245x2

So, I'm following Rip's setup, I've read several articles he's written on the deadlift specifically and several videos on the setup he's done. Maybe I have weird anthropomorphy or w/e. My butt CLEARLY doesn't sit low enough when I set up according to his rules. And without moving the bar more forward on my foot I can't get my butt down more. I really don't think that's a flexibility thing. Maybe I have a long torso or something? Or maybe my hips are supposed to flex more?

Either way, it's making it very hard for me to start DLs correctly. Also, even if I start with my butt lower, it rises until my back is about parallel with the floor before I get the bar off the ground. But I thought this was b/c I had the bar too far forward over my foot when my butt was low (which is true, but there doesn't seem to be a solution for this except for my butt to be so high my back is parallel with the ground).

As far as my lifts went, you can see. I spent tons of time edited out doing the setup as exactly as I could and even cheated the bar forward on my foot a bit more to see if I could get my butt down without putting the bar much further forward on my foot. It was all a huge waste of time obviously.

I gave up on my work set when I just felt too much pull on my lower back. Just wasn't worth it.

I'm going to Valleyfair tomorrow so I may be done at a reasonable time to come over, or I may not and just go to the gym. Or I may skip lifting altogether since I'm discouraged with the whole program right now. I can play it by ear and call you or we can plan for next Sunday I guess.

Either way, it seems really weird I can't follow a universal program that works for everyone when there's absolutely nothing special about me in any way imo.

omg are you gonna ride Wild Thing? I'm so jelly. They have sickkkkkkk power towers there, too.

Prolly. I've been to Valleyfair 2 times allegedly my g/f says but I only remember going once and all I remember is eating some pizza, feeling sick, then feeling really sick after some spinny ride, lol.

Once I'm there I'll likely recognize some stuff. Will be sure to get down on the Wild Thing.

Are you in MN KP?

Nah but I been there a few times. Hit up the Power tower, there are two versions, one brings you to the top real slow and just throws you down way faster than gravity, makes the tower of terror seem like an elevator at the Bellagio.

Yeah, I've been on many power tower type rides over my lifetime. I may have even been on power tower. They are fine but I often feel too quick for the wait, so I'll probably skip it.

But for sure we're going to go on several coasters. From looking, for sure wild thing, for sure renegade (I like wooden coasters b/c I like it rough ldo), and then maybe play it by ear.

Valley Fair has come a long way over the past 30+ years. The first year they were open I remember the greatest thing there was the High Roller - that tiny wood roller coaster. Then the Corkscrew was the next big thing. Now those two rides seem lame.

They have so many cool rides now its ridiculous. Wild Thing, Renegade and Steel Venom were 3 of my favorites last time I went. The Power Tower is cool too, but after riding on the one at the top of the Stratosphere, it isnt even close to that.

Lets tentatively plan something next weekend. I dont know when I'm available yet - bug me later in the week if we havent decided yet. I have lots of ideas for you. Remind me to show you how to roll your glutes better for sure.

I think I'm already rolling my glutes better (as of ~2 days ago) but am open to even more ninja techniques. I'll bug you about next week. In the meantime, I may pickup some cheap shin sleeves now that I won't be wearing shorts all the time for the summer. Meh, better late than never .

My lower back feels a lot more normal today. No real stiffness out of very ordinary levels.

So do I try to own the 200 squat I've struggled with form on the last two visits and get up that 160 bench I've struggled with? Or should I back off on squat 30% or more to do a bunch of higher rep sets for a day? I'm thinking option B would make me feel more accomplished at the end of the day, as long as I actually get 160 on bench.

Also, I will be walking around Valleyfair for a few hours so maybe my legs will be a bit tired (nah, not really, that's just a thinly veiled brag, ).

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...insight_part_2
Read #25.