11/17

Deadlift Day - week 7 take 2

DL
135x5x2
195x3x3
225x2
255x1
270x1
280x1
280xf
280xf

Hmmm, well I got 1. Think I should have been able to get 2 but didn't pull hard enough I guess.

Speed DLs
235x3x3 (these were very difficult again - here is my last set on video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNX7hYy9XNA)

Circuit x3
Power shrugs - 190x5
RDL - 135x5
DB row - 70x5
Chins - BWx7
GMs - 115x5x2, 100x5

My g/f did:

LBBS
120x5x3

Bench
55x5x3

Pullthroughs and other stuff

11/19 log

"Core" day:

Mobility, SMR

Circuit x3
Goblet Squats - 35x12
Offset Step ups - 35x12
RDL - 50x10
Pullups - BWx6 (then did maybe 4 or 5 sets of 4 throughout the rest of my workout)

Circuit x3
Offest DB OHP - 25x12
Kneeling cable epress - 22.5x12
Standing cable row - 47.5x9

Circuit x3
Waiter walks - 25lbs for XX' (same XX as every time, pretty decent distance)
Rollouts - BWx12 (these seem fairly easy, maybe time to try barbell rollouts)

Circuit x3
Cable chop - 22.5x9
Standing PNF flexion - 10x8, 7.5x8, 7.5x8

I ate out twice yesterday. Today I'm not sure I ate enough calories but I tried to eat a lot - had 2 fishies & a big quesadilla for dinner. But only had breakfast, lunch, 1 other snack meal, and 2 servings of protein powder. Oh and 2 cookies and a big handful of honey roasted cashews.

I'm about to go to bed and don't feel like trying to eat more. Maybe I'll try to figure out what I ate on Monday if it's slow enough at work.

11/20 log

Had our first playoff game (out of 2 I assume).

It's tough, I probably only played like 1/2 the time and we only had 7 ppl there. Basically no one subs out except me and two other guys. By the time I wanted to force someone out near the end he had already taken too many bad shots and then subbed out for the other guy on the bench (not me). Which, I can't necessarily argue with, we needed to score and he scores more (but not much) than I do.

Anyway, I got 2-oboards and saw another fall out of my hands out of bounds. I got blocked on 1 putback and took no other shots. I had like 2 good passes I can remember, 1 was an assist and the other lead to the pass for the assist. But my usage rate has got to be suuuuuuuuuper low. I know I've whined about this b4 but most of the time I'm just a release pass to get the dribble back or to swing it. I never get the ball where I can do anything with it (since I don't have a face-up dribble through 5 guys game from the perimeter).

Anyway, we missed tonnnnnns of shots but were basically not passing and jacking up 3s most of the game. We lost by 4. So I dno. Our one guy who jacks up a ton of shots scored the most points but had to take 2342342334 shots to do so. He also continues to gamble on D, foul too much, and bitch at the refs unnecessarily.

Our best player still isn't as aggressive as he used to be - I'm pretty sure he's got all sorts of adhesions in his Quads and even got to the game early to warmup and stretch them a bunch. But, obv that only helps a bit if they're adhesions.

It's frustrating being on the bench and seeing guys either make subpar decisions or not hustle - the two things I do well. I realize I offer no offensive punch on our team but other teams score on my side of the basket less than the other side (I'm pretty sure about this even tho I realize I'm biased) and our offense doesn't really get me involved.

If we play again I guess it'd be in 2 weeks (likely not Tday weekend) but after that I think I'll take a season off and concentrate on doing drills, trying to get into a different league, and playing pickup.

In other news, I just ate a 3 egg sandwich for lunch. It barely fit in the sandwich container I bring to work. But was delicious imo.

11/21 log

Pickup basketball was fun although I didn't end up on the best teams imo and went 3-4. So my overall record is 20 wins and 11 losses. I maybe should just stop tracking this altogether b/c I think it makes me a bit more bummed out when I don't win more, lol.

Anyway, the last game I really wanted to win and probably played my best game although I was already supremely gassed (especially from one game where I was the only one running back to try and stop fast breaks - we lost obv but I dno, hard to be lazy until I'm completely tired).

I completely shut down their tallest player who scores quite a bit normally. I think he only took like 3 shots and they were all on the perimeter. But, that meant I couldn't guard their old guy SG (who I've shut down before). He is just one of those guys who needs just a bit of space to get his shot off and will knock it down when set. I can't really say our guy on him defended him that badly, but, not good enough imo. I did make a couple nice setup passes and got some offensive boards (or caused some) when the game was close near the end, but we just didn't quite get there.

My scouting report on myself:

Best facet: defense & hustle

Most regression: rebounding - maybe my expectations are too high but I think I may be worse at rebounding than before SS

Passing: surprisingly good but sometimes tries to thread the needle too much.

Dribbling: spotty. Can dribble with both hands but doesn't move well while dribbling going left and it's very obvious.

Shooting: Spotty. Rushes shots around the rim, doesn't shoot longer shots consistently or with enough confidence. Isn't comfortable in the post.

One thing I've been thinking about doing is trying to get position in the high post and then do things from there. I should shoot that shot if I have it every time, plus I can put the ball on the floor potentially if I have an angle to the rim, or I maybe am still close enough to make some sort post move with a dribble or 2 to the rim and have more space to finish.

imo, there's some FPS going on. you should just develop your jump shot first. I'm talking about hundreds of jump shots. shoot until you are so confident you are begging for the ball during games.

id probably agree with that since its a basic fundamental. if you have no shot, your offense is going to be terrible and the guy guarding you has a much easier time and is less tired

I have a decent shot, especially from ~15-17 feet or in - I can only really shoot 3s when shooting "for ball" and not so much in-game. I do seem to have a slow release unless it's off the dribble to set it up (think Sam Perkins I guess) and don't have confidence in it in-game enough. Plus, b/c I can't necessarily dribble and move at the same time well so guys can crowd me on offense and in 5on5 accidentally give me a 18-20 shot which I'm not sure is high % for me.

Would part of working on my shot throwing the ball in the air, catching it, and releasing as quickly as I can? I have a feeling that might help, so I can get it off faster and then feel more comfortable shooting with less space between me & my defender.

I also think I need to do a ton of dribble drills while moving. Or just look at my hands when I dribble (which I don't do anymore) b/c then it drastically improves, lol.

11/23 log



DL
135x5x2
185x3x3
225x2
275xf
275x1
285xf

Well maybe some sort of reset is in order. Or perhaps going back to SS since I may cut down to bball one time per week for a while + shooting/dribbling drills.

Speed DLs
235x3x3

Circuit x3
Power shrugs - 190x5
RDL - 135x5
DB row - 75x5
Chins - BWx4/5x6 (decided to get more sets in but not push each set too hard)
GMs - 105x5

11/25 log

Played some 1on1 bball with my friends. One of 'em had a sprained finger and just watched. We played on a really uneven outdoor court and it was some very messy ball imo.

We played 21 and I ended up winning 3 out of 4 or 4 out of 5 games (I don't actually remember). My friend who watched summed it up at the end best: "You are worse at dribbling and shooting, you expend WAY more energy to get harder-looking shots, and the shots you make are all from crazy angles and positions. You do seem to try as hard as possible though."

Sneaky, old man moves ftw! Also, in my defense my lower back was sore as hell and it was hard to even hold my ground when posting up (which I did exclusively due to having almost no handle on such an uneven court).

Gonna go out and play again today - see if my luck and inferior play holds up, .

11/28 log

Pickup bball. Went 3-1. Ran 8-0 in one game and 8-1 in another. Unfortunately the fourth game we lost but I helped us stage a comeback to get to 7-7 before losing.

I cut the evening short b/c I wanted to go home and play a video game plus had played quite a bit of bball with my friend in CA.

Last night I went to the gym without gym clothes (everything else though, like chalk, washers, etc.). Lol @ me, first time that ever happened.

Anyway, tonight is SS. This Sunday is my last Rec league bball game, my DL program is completely broken. So I dno, maybe it's time to go back to something else again since things certainly don't seem to be going better vs. when I did just SS.

11/30 log

ART - Dr. K said I could start coming every 2 weeks instead of every week. He also gave me a strengthening exercise for my neck b/c while the adhesions seem to be out of it, it's still sore/hurts when I sleep on it wrong or after other things.

Mobility/warmup

Box Squats:
warmup sets
175x5x3

I felt I had too much knee cave and folding. My g/f said my folding didn't seem bad at all and my knee cave was present on some reps but not nearly what it used to be. These felt tough though in any event after 2 week break even though I went down weight.

OHP
warmup sets
95x5
95x4
95x2

Lol. I dno what happened but my last work set I basically couldn't get tight under the bar - my whole body was shaking as soon as I started the first rep and didn't stop no matter how much air I sucked in or tight I tried to get. Maybe this has to do with not doing this for 3 weeks and not going down in weight.

Pendlay BB rows:
warmup sets
120x5x3 - I may have even done 6 reps on the last set. EZ game imo.

My g/f did:

mobility

LBBS
warmup sets
115x5x3 - these were grinders, she's just been sick for several days so not too surprising imo

OHP
warmup sets
45x5
45x5
45x4

Didn't lose much strength if any in this - glad she didn't try to go to the super awkward 41.5 weight instead

DL
warmup sets
120x5

EZ. Her grip seemed fine with chalk but not amazing. While we talked about it and how she was gripping it this guy in the squat rack (who just did 1/2 squats, but more weight than me so I'm jelly obv) said "you should use a mixed grip" and proceeded to explain overhand/underhand grip. I said something very matter-of-factly like "Oh yeah. Actually, we're trying to train grip during DLs so ideally won't resort to that until the weight gets heavier. Thanks."

My g/f thought I was rude, but I'm not really sure how to adjust to MN ppl in that situation and be nice. I'm not willing to just say "thanks" and then obviously ignore the person's advice but do realize that is likely optimal.

My guess is plenty of ppl on 2p2 are likely even ruder or weirder than I am in those situations, but still, if anyone has advice I'm interested.

===============================

So for my general plan, my deadlift program basically fell apart and I have no idea how much stronger I got on it (seems like not much given my 1 rep max hasn't gone up in several weeks). But it may be a mental issue. I dno. But it doesn't seem like I succeeded with the program very well or that it made more of a difference then SS.

Anyway, I guess I should go back to SS 3x/week b/c I'm going to cut back to bball once a week.

Any advice on this routine?

Mon - pickup bball for 1-2 hours
Tues - SS
Wed - rest (or bball shooting and dribbling)
Thur - SS
Fri - rest (or bball shooting and dribbling)
Sat - SS
Sun - bball shooting and dribbling

Good news on the neck.

I'm a bit disappointed you didnt make more of a gain on your DL, but I'm not totally surprised. Just keep DLing and squatting and eating. Its going to take a while, but you'll get stronger if you keep at it and try hard.

I definitely feel like I should be able to go higher than 280 1rm. But allegedly my 1rm to start was 270, so even a gain to 290 isn't very impressive in 10 weeks at all. I did a ton more DLing in general though and feel much better at the movement.

If I go back to doing 5 rep sets, it will be helpful at this point I think since I can get instant feedback from my g/f if my work set reps are "acceptable" or my back is rounding too much. I actually think I might be able to pull over 300, but with a lot of back rounding, lol. Whenever I let my back round a ton, the bar goes up MUCH more easily! (don't worry, I'm not trying to do this and won't)

Maybe you can try doing Andy Bolton style DLs - let your shoulders & upper back round forward while keeping your low back tight. That will take some practice to do well, but it will almost certainly reduce your ROM and once you get it figured out your numbers should go up a lot.

I'm willing to try that. I talked to Dr. K about my progress lifting b/c he asked. He said he spent 5+ years lifting not really liking it or feeling that great at it before he felt it was more "natural". I expected myself to actually progress quite well given the fact I was experienced doing other sorts of isolation lifts and my assumption is I go pretty hard when in the gym. Other ppl seem to think I do in general and especially at casual bball games.

He had a hard time coming up with a word to explain what he was talking about exactly. But even though I keep saying this and thinking it, I still have higher expectations and am MUCH harder on myself than I probably should be. Part of the problem with doing research on this and projecting goals, is that I'm failing all of them. Not some goals, all lifting goals. As a result I have a feeling it's limiting my progress in some way. While I think I'm going hard, I'm sure my mind is "protecting" me with some BS subconscious routine that thinks I'm going to fail anyway.

How about these goals in terms of providing a milestone I will be randomly pumped about ("intermediate" guidelines from leangains.com) but it should be doable so I actually do it and progress well so I make progress and stay confident.

End of April (5 months):
LBBS - 1.42xBW 5RM (5 rep max)
DL - 1.78xBW 5RM
Bench - 1.07xBW 5RM
OHP - .71xBW 5RM

If I weighed 190 by the end of April I'd need:
LBBS - 271 5RM
DL - 338 5RM
Bench - 203 5RM
OHP - 135 5RM

I'm currently at ~177 lbs and (about where I was at the end of the summer before playing bball again and switching my program):
LBBS - ~200-205
DL - ~250
Bench - ~150-160
OHP - ~95

How can I crush these goals (lower them, go to Cha's more, eat a ton and then cut, stop being a pussy, follow SS, eat more, quit bball, etc.)?

Here's an idea - I have made most of my significant gains by this general philosophy: http://www.andyboltonstrength.org/20...e-same-weight/

Work up to your working set weight, then go balls out for one set.

Is your main point for me to go for 1 work set, instead of 3?

Will I have trouble getting stronger due to lack of volume moving heavy stuff? Or is the idea I'd be able to do more weight than if following SS's 5x3 format?

You might need more intensity. This might help with that. If it doesn't, then go back to more volume.

MOAR RED MEAT IMO

That would likely help too.

12/2 log

Did a lot of SMR at the gym and then bbal drills - mainly shooting from the baseline. I have to admit my dribbling has to be the thing I'm weakest at but just dribbling up and down the court without looking at my hands seems dumb so I don't really do much of it.

Is this an effective dribbling drill? What should I start with (I assume the first step is to be able to dribble in a straight line and while making basic cuts really well before doing fancy stuff).

12/3 log

Note: I'm going to try going for just 1 work set of 5 or more reps per Cha's suggestion and really focus on going as all out on that set as possible.

Mobility

Box Squats
Did an extra set of very light warmups and in between my normal 2-rep weight and work set weight I did another set of 2 reps (at 170 I think).

185x5 (PR) - My g/f said my form seemed pretty good. Keeping my back from folding and my knees out was a challenge. The 4th rep I had some knee cave my g/f noticed but she said it was better on the 5th rep.

Bench
Work set: 155x4 - kind of depressing that I've gotten worse at this since putting my that 1 RM at Cha's. I suspect it has to do with doing bench very infrequently.

DL
Work set: 155x1 (no strap) 155x5 (strap, no rest, PR) - This felt pretty good. My g/f said on my last rep there was back rounding - not dangerous but not "good" either. So I'm glad I didn't push for any more reps. Can't really count this as 6 reps, but a very solid 5 imo.

My g/f did:

LBBS
115x5x3

Bench:
67.5x4
67.5x2
57.5x7

Pendlay BB row
45x5
45x5
50x~3

When going from 45 to 50 she couldn't quite get the bar to her chest and she could get one side of it up further than the other.

Her wrist is kind of messed up right from allow too much bend on LBBS a workout ago. So we'll see if OHP/bench is a good idea for the next couple of workouts.

12/4 log

Played out last game of the season and won by a few points. We were up 6-10 points most of the game but they did cut it to 3 with only a couple of minutes to go. One guy on their team made ~8 bank shots. And these weren't from a proper angle, they were from straight on and from 3point range. Weirdest shooting performance I've seen maybe. We also fouled him on two 3-point attempts, 1 he made and the other he missed. But either way, just terrible.

I played very hard, earned 4 FTs (missed 3 though, ugh) and did make a basket after getting it on the sideline - I moved my defender back and then put up an easy layup. I think I got ~10 high-fives for that move. Which is sad, b/c if my team helped get me the ball in positions like that, I'd get comfortable and be able to try that more. But, I just hate being in a "game that counts" and having 50% of my shot attempts be wild random **** b/c I'm not comfortable b/c my team expects me to get the ball somewhere I'm not comfortable and do something with it.

I got several offensive rebounds. However, I am tipping the ball too much rather than grabbing it. Not sure what the deal is but one of my teammates actually yelled at me for tipping instead of grabbing it. In the past I don't think I've had this issue, I only tip if I can't grab it. I know a few times in other seasons I was called for traveling when grabbing a rebound but not being able to keep my feet when landing (I often am getting bumped in the air, or undercut a bit, etc.). So maybe I'm now accidentally not risking that.

Anyway, we finished the season 4-4 I believe, which was the worst season we've had, but fine I guess. As I've mentioned a bunch, I'll probably decline to play next season and then see at that point what I want to do.

255 on the DL I assume? If it's in kgs I'm impressedface.