Maybe I should have you come out to a few of my games to give bball notes to go along with the lifting ones .

But yeah, relatively speaking, that's what I do for my team. And often the other team gets really pissed off when I'm the one disrupting things and getting loose balls b/c usually the crappy player on the other team who takes no shots is just unathletic and crappy, whereas I'd like to think of myself as unathletic and not awful, .

It sounds like you play in a similar way that I did the last time I played organized ball, only I was shorter & stronger.

5/28 log - sesh 13

Squat
45x5x2
60x5x1
90x3x1
120x2x1
155x5x3

Still not sure if my grip is affecting how I'm resting the bar on my shoulder but it could be that the weight isn't heavy enough for this to be a bigger problem yet. Or, I'm resting the bar fine and it's not a big deal.

Bench
45x5x2
65x5x1
90x3x1
120x2x1
135x5x2
135x4x1

Ugh. I really feel like I should have been able to get the last rep up but it didn't happen and I had to have someone come and bail me out. So I think getting 5 reps next time should be no problem. I think there may have been a bit of a mental block on my part too given that this is finally two 45lbs weights so now I'm playing with the "not completely weak boys" on bench.

Pull-throughs
32.5 x ~10
37.5 x ~10
42.5 x ~10
47.5 x ~10 x 3
52.5x ~10 x 1
47.5 x ~10 x 1

I did something like that. I may be moving my legs a bit when doing these and maybe they are too easy b/c of that? Going up any more weight affects my hands (gripping) more than anything. I still think my glutes should be more sore after hitting them like this but while I think I'm using the heck out of them, they aren't really that sore (although maybe hitting them with the lacrosse ball every day helps with that). I dno. Hopefully this is helping me .

I'll watch you on the bench and on some pull throughs Saturday. We'll record the benches if you want.

Well, I'm set to do Press on Saturday as I just did bench, is that what you meant, or is it worth it for me to do Bench twice in a row as you can help me more with that.

bah, its closer to Saturday than I was thinking....

5/21 log - sesh 14
Was over at Cha's. I'll let him post his own log but it didn't go well for him. He had a bad DL pull leaning back too much and hurt his lower back. I really really hope it isn't a disc and just a pulled muscle. It was a bit scary to watch actually and seemed like a freak incident. My workout went more normally thankfully:

Normal warmup routine

Squats
45x5x2
60x5x1
95x5x1 (was supposed to do 3)
125x3x1 (was supposed to do 2)
160x5x3

Hopefully Cha uploads the videos from this as I was having a lot of knee cave with my right knee. We think it's because of my right ankle not being that flexible at the bottom of my squat due to past ankle sprains? I'm not exactly sure why it's so hard to not have my knee cave but my mobility is way less with my right ankle than left. And it feels like an ankle sprain from bball type thing but I haven't had a bad sprain in a few weeks.

Anyone have any advice for an ankle with this type of issue?

Press
45x5x3
55x3x1
70x2x1
85x3x1 (got it!)

Cha helped me with form on this one even though he doesn't do much OHP. I think by my last work set I was leaning forward/backwards a bit to clear my head and driving the bar up more or less straight whereas before I was kind of jerking my head back and moving the bar forward doing this.

DL
135x5x1
135x4x1
155x3x1
220x2x1
260x2x1
260x1x1

I got 250 the last time I worked out alone but with no form check. This felt a lot tougher. Plus before I started just on warmup sets my lower back felt sore/tired from the last time I did DLs. Once I post vids it will be pretty easy to see I can't keep my back straight on the higher weights. So my plan is to go back down to 250 or maybe even quite a bit lower and just work on keeping my back straight and strengthening my glutes (and side glutes) as it seems these are the weakest link.

Any tips on whether this is a good plan for DLs or not will be really helpful!

5/22 log

We had our 1st playoff game (our league is kinda weird, 6 regular season games and 2 playoff games whether you win or lose).

We got to play a 3-3 team (we went 5-1, losing to the only undefeated team who hopefully aren't in our bracket lol). They definitely weren't as good as we were and we were up 10+ most of the game by their best player started hitting long 3s near the end and they got as close as 4 points.

I went into the game remembering all the Nick Collison games I'd watched the past week and really tried to visualize myself seeing things a step or so ahead, and moving constantly on defense and offense to be in a good spot at all times. I ended up only shooting once, a missed layup (guh!) when they were making their late game comeback. I took myself out for a better player at that point. I was pretty pissed I missed it.

I feel my defense was really good this time in the zone and I basically made zero mistakes playing both up top and down low throughout the game.

On offense I had several assists (the guy on our team who basically only complains even said I was passing well, lol) including 3 I believe from out of bounds for easy layups as our guys cut next to the hoop on the baseline. I guess I could have maybe shot a couple of times instead of passing it but when I did pass, we got an even better shot so whatever.

I'm not sure how many rebounds I had but I definitely caused a decent amount of disruption while I was out there and got a few. All in all I was very happy with my game and am excited for next week! And just as excited about an offseason where I can get stronger and be a super player in a few months, .

Don't worry about the offense thing so much. If your team has a couple scorers, it's not as crucial as you probably think for now. All 5 people contribute to the team's defense, whereas only one person is taking the shot offensively. That's obviously an oversimplification because of things like floor spacing and ability for a defense to double a stronger offensive player on your team without fear of it hurting them. However, it definitely sounds like you are an asset to your team and it's really not a big deal you missed your only shot. I'd much rather player with an offensive liability who doesn't turn the ball over than a defensive liability. Someone's got to set picks and offensive rebound.

GKA,

Yeah, I understand that. I've never been an offensive oriented player when I'm on good teams. But, playing 1 on 1 every once in a while I did develop some sort of scoring ability. Plus I think I have a decent jumper anywhere inside the 3 point line. It seems shooting a 15-17 foot jumper should be a great asset but I can't create it on my own and don't shoot it enough to know if it can be consistent in-game. Also, I know what players are addicted to shooting. It's fun to score! Getting a rebound (even though I relish it) isn't quite the same.

Btw, do you have any advice on my ankle issues? I think at Cha's I discovered that my front calf muscles are a likely culprit but even so, I'm surprised my right ankle is getting worse with squatting. My guess is I sprained it sometime during the season (not super badly, some sort of normal sprain) and the range of motion I need for squats is a bit more than it can handle until it's fully healed. Anything besides foam rolling & moving my ankle around that I can add to the approach I take?

If you have a good shot you should be able to get a few open ones when your teammates drive and draw your defender. Do you move without the ball/set screens (on ball and off ball)? Those are some of the best ways to get open. If you're big you can often screen and while your defender is worried about the screen you either roll or post him up if you have position on him.

Ballin - Well, I think my shot can be good, but I only shoot 1 on 1 and shooting ~15-17 feet is a big weapon for me so I assume in 5 on 5 I can shoot it well. During the season I shot it fine, but I mean I probably have shot only 3-5 non layup type shots all season.

I move a bunch setting screens constantly. Our two main scorers don't come off of screens well, and they also waive me off sometimes when I'm getting them open for a 3 point shot (only to then shoot it later on in the possession anyway, *sigh*). I think they both need space to create their shot.

As for myself I think I can come off of screens well but that's moot unless the person with the ball is looking to hit me with a pass right after for a jump shot.

As for pick and rolls, I feel like I could get really good at that b/c I can both roll or pop okay. But, it's a very hard thing to do cold b/c it relies so much on the person with the ball. They have to know what's happening, look for me, and then deliver a pass within the flow of the play. right now, I think only 1 of our guys is super capable of this but for some reason he throws poor passes off of his dribble. Even though he can throw great full court passes and stuff. Basically, both of our creators can't pass while they're creating very well, lol.

My biggest frustration is that without being fed the ball consistently I don't really get enough exposure to try different things out, get a feel for what will work for me or what won't. I think my team would pass to me more if I shot more, but I don't like just shooting a random 18 foot jumper from a pass near my feet 15 minutes into the game when I've barely touched the ball. I'd rather someone else just chunk up a 3 b/c it's worth more points.

By front calf muscle do you mean the shin muscle (tibialis anterior)?

The MobilityWOD guy is a PT who has some good stuff on ankles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4cpB...mbedded#at=232

You should also do the basic mobility knee over toes thing, but do it across different range of motions, so you do one where the knee goes more medially, and one where the knee goes more laterally.

Yes this is what I meant. I'll try to look these things up next time but they all sound like Latin to me.

This looks good. Very doable imo, .

But I'd keep my knee and big toe in line, correct? Or do you mean like he was doing it in the video where he's not trying to get a full bend like the squat but just move the ankle around while up against the wall at different angles?

I'll post the vids when I get around to it. I havent spent much time in front of the computer the past couple days because sitting upright isnt good for it, and probably wont be posting much unless my chiro magically makes this go away later today. I'm not in terrible pain or anything, but something is definitely wrong.

That link GKA posted looks perfect for you imo. There are a few other ankle mob things I know of as well, but you might be able to fix it by doing the stuff in that vid.

The more I think about your DL, the more I think you should drop the weight down and progress very slowly until your low back is significantly stronger.

This seems smart. How far should I drop down? I was thinking ~200 or so. I guess I need to bring a camera and have my g/f tape me each sesh to get real advice on that. I still plan on doing DLs every other workout as well. It seems I will be able to get back up to 250 without any issues imo later on and my squat/press needs to "catch up" either way too.

Also, I'm anxious/curious to hear what your chiro ends up saying/thinking. I still have my fingers crossed that something major isn't wrong.

Yugo,

Ok, sounds like your teammates aren't that comfortable with on-ball screens, but what about off-ball screens? I've found random back screens to be effective - and you can also roll off of these. For the person you're screening for there's no real worry either about how well they come off the screen because they don't have to turn and shoot - they just get a layup if the screen gets them open. If it doesn't they can either post up or just keep running to the other side of the court.

Also your scorers should learn how to use on-ball screens - it's like a million times easier to score off those compared to creating your own shot haha

ballin,

I'll try to set more of these next time, especially for our 3point shooters who camp out at the line so they can slash to the hoop. Tbh, what I kind of do is just run a circle setting screens from one man to the next, lol. It sounds pretty silly when I write it, but that's to some extent what I'm doing. I just keep going and going until we jack up a shot or get it in down low in which case I hopefully notice and run to the opposite side of the rim for a rebound.

Our team is v good for our division, but I do sometimes think it'd be more fun to play with a point guard as we don't have one at all.

Just have her watch your low back and tell you to drop the weight if it bends forward at all during the movement. You need to know the difference in the way it feels between extension/flat low back & flexion. Once you figure that out, you'll know when you're safe in lifting a weight. Recording it certainly wont hurt, but the most important thing is not to let your low back round.

I'm going to be ok, but not right away - see my log.

Normal warmup routine

Squats
45x5x2
60x5x1
95x3x1
130x2x1
165x4x1
165x5x2

I really tried to do everything I could to roll my calves, mobilize my ankle. I think my warmup lifts went very well in regards to knee cave. I concentrated exclusively on keeping my right knee out. On my first work set, though, I ended up having the bar not really set on my back too well and didn't want to push 4. The next set went much better and on the 3rd, my g/f watched and said there was no knee cave with my right knee until the last rep (when both caved). She said my left knee caved a little bit on an earlier rep.

I think I'll stay at this weight for next time and continue to try and get my ankle looser.

Bench
45x5x2
65x5x1
95x3x1
120x2x1
135x3x5

Didn't need anyone to lift the bar off of me this time, . I was telling my g/f and she insisted on spotting me but I felt I didn't really need it. She asked why when I had trouble with my last set, last rep last time and I said "b/c I've gotten stronger" lol. She wasn't sure how I could know that before I got to my work set. At least my head is where it needs to be as my work set was relatively easy, I definitely had at least 1 more in the tank.

Pull throughs
I forget my warmups but I did 3 sets of 47.5lbs lbs 10 times for my work sets and really "humped the rope" as Cha instructed. I think it worked better than last time!

Chins (in between pull throughs)
5 pullups
5 chins
7 neutral grip
4 neutral grip

My neck is now really tight/hurting on one side up near the base of my head. I've had this issue before on the other side where I assume a muscle gets really knotted up there. I feel it most when turning my head to the right and tilting my head to the right towards my shoulder.

Is it possible I'm doing something wrong after my workout? Should I be stretching or doing foam rolling before bed as often times when I wake up my neck/shoulder area is sore until I get more warmed up moving around.

I watched the OKC/Thunder game last night (ldo to study Collison). Great game but it was pretty tense and maybe I just tensed up all my neck muscles and then went right to sleep on them weird?

Anyway, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone had advice or similar issues. I'd love for the foam rolling/lacrosse ball to solve this kind of stuff eventually but it may be that I need to be adding something else.

It seems the place I have the worst issues (right now and in the past) is my semispinalis capitis muscle. I saw some stuff that recommended lying on two tennis balls rolled up in a sock to do essentially rolling work on them to work out adhesions. I'm not sure I have tennis balls and I want to be careful as these muscles are so close to my spine and almost on top of my spine, so I'm not excited about lacrosse balls.

But I think I'll try to find a way to add this to my routine as it may really help with other neck issues too perhaps.

I havent had time to read the whole thread, but I read the OP and and this is really inspiring stuff

I am the king of neck issues.

Your neck - stretch your thoracic spine lots and roll it lots. Next time you do all those pullups - dont shrug your shoulders - keep them down, like you're trying to pull your shoulder blades into your back pockets.

Poor posture and sleeping on it wrong can/will sometimes contribute to this types of neck issue.

You can massage those neck muscles hard with a ball or your hands or knuckles. Dont be afraid to do it hard. I frequently use the DMS (jackhammer) on the sides of my neck - I'm just careful not to hit the bone.

The biggest thing you dont want to do when you massage your neck is the massage the carotid arteries - I've heard breaking loose any plaque that might be in those can cause a stroke.

That's great advice Cha. I also hadn't even considered my pullups maybe contributed but I bet you're right.

I went with the two tennis balls in a sock method and just went at them hard for 10 mins b4 bed. Hopefully no carotid arteries were hit. Looks like they are front of my spine so seems like they'd be hard to massage. Hopefully.

Thanks for adding that in at the end. Good night. Or goodbye .

Goodnight!