Ok, so Im a 22 year old. The only reason I lift weights is to improve my basketball game. After recently going through a pretty bad bout of knee tendinitis, I need to pretty much start over with my lower body strength.
I dont know if bad squatting form contributed to my original problem, but Im playing it safe and really working on my form this time around. My squat is real weak right now so Im just going light and concentrating on form.
So anyway whats the progression of sets, reps, etc. that I need to go through to get my leg strength back up to par and eventually move on to training for power and doing plyometrics?
Im thinking right now I should go with maybe 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 12 of the basic lifts - squats, deads, good mornings, and the like. Then eventually get to lower reps, higher weight. Any suggestions?
Im willing to buy a good book with a periodized plan if someone has one to recommend. Or if someone wants to direct me to an article about the different types of strength I need to progress through that would help as well.
Read Mike Boyles latest article. He recommends against BBall players squatting cos it tends to lead to sore knees and lower backs because of their long femurs (generally speaking that is.)
[quote]Hanley wrote:
Read Mike Boyles latest article. He recommends against BBall players squatting cos it tends to lead to sore knees and lower backs because of their long femurs (generally speaking that is.)[/quote]
[quote]hms wrote:
Hanley wrote:
Read Mike Boyles latest article. He recommends against BBall players squatting cos it tends to lead to sore knees and lower backs because of their long femurs (generally speaking that is.)
I’m actually going through a similar thing right now. I found that after years of heavy squatting, I had developed a pretty pronounced anterior pelvic tilt leading to low back pain and, oddly, pain in my knees.
To correct this, I finally dropped all squatting and deadlifting for the last month or so. Instead, I’ve been doing bulgarian split squats and single-leg RDLs. In addition, I’ve been doing lots of moblity work and abdominal work.
The result is that my posture is solid; I have more glute strength; a stronger, more stable core; and, most importantly, I have developed proper squatting patterns. Specifically, I am now more of a glute/ab squatter than a quad/low back squatter if that makes any sense.
My recommendation is to make single-leg work your staple for the legs. Get strong at split squats, lunges, step-ups, single-leg squats, and/or single-leg RDLs. Do mobility work a la “Magnificent Mobility.” Then reintroduce the squat with a moderate weight for lower reps. For a while I suggest supplementing your single-leg training with a major bilateral movement like the squat, not the other way around.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
hms wrote:
Hanley wrote:
Read Mike Boyles latest article. He recommends against BBall players squatting cos it tends to lead to sore knees and lower backs because of their long femurs (generally speaking that is.)
True. If they are tall.
Well the OP’s 6’5 so I’d class that as tall!!
I guess it’s more dependant on leg length tho.
[/quote]
I don’t think 6’5" is too tall to squat. I’m 6’4" and have pretty good technique and a buddy of mine is 6’8" (basketball player) and squats with good technique as well, although it did take him a lot longer to get his technique down.
You definitly will need to spend more time working on your form and just being disclipined paying attention to that. I think a lot of tall people tend to want to good-morning the weight a little bit (I know I do), so you have to watch out for that. Also, you don’t need to go heavy all the time with squats, the only time I’ve had knee pain from squatting is when I was going heavy too much and too often. You can go heavy with the squats, then back off the weight for a little while and go heavier on deadlifts or trap-bar deadlifts (a great movement for tall guys).
[quote]Hanley wrote:
Read Mike Boyles latest article. He recommends against BBall players squatting cos it tends to lead to sore knees and lower backs because of their long femurs (generally speaking that is.)[/quote]
I think Boyle says some very great things from time to time, but what he says about basketball players and squatting is a load of crap.
First off, it has nothing to do what sport someone plays and the ability to squat! He did save himself by saying that it has a lot to do with lever length, specifically, Femur length, but really Femur length by itself shouldn’t dictate that.
I look at Tibia length in relation to Femur length. If the Tibia is short and the Femur long, squatting for anyone with this condition should be cautious.
The real issue here is flexibility. If someone with the above condition has proper flexibility in the groin, hip flexor, and external hip rotators, I really don’t see the problem with squatting. The problem is that most people with the above condition have horrible flexibility which exposes the above problems, and what you end up feeling is pain in the knees and lower back.
My personal recomendation is to go on an aggressive flexibility program like PNF or AIS. When you ROM is better, then proceed to body weight technique squats. I persoanlly am not a fan of reps over 6 on squats, and I prefer to adds sets than reps per set. When technique is perfect, start using weight.
I’d also recommend the use of a good weightlifting show with elavated heels. Adidas is always good, but expensive.
Yeah, im 6’5 and I have long femurs but I dont plan on giving up on the squat. That seems extreme. Ive also noticed my vert is pretty highly correlated with what Im squatting at the time.
Im just going to be real strict on the form and keep it light until I get better at it. Ill look into the other lifts that you guys suggested as well as flexibility training.
Ive never heard of weightlifting shoes. Where can I buy them?
Well, really what most people are saying is that giving up squatting would only be for a little while, while you fix mobility/flexibility issues, soft tissue issues, and unilateral strength. Then, yes, lower reps with a moderate weight, and more sets.
The idea being that it’s easier to re-program technique to proper movement patterns if you can concentrate on your technique. This is easier to do when you don’t have to deal with that “I’m going to die” feeling of fatigue at the end of high rep sets.
[quote]uzzyman wrote:
Ok so instead of higher reps do more sets?
Yeah, im 6’5 and I have long femurs but I dont plan on giving up on the squat. That seems extreme. Ive also noticed my vert is pretty highly correlated with what Im squatting at the time.
Im just going to be real strict on the form and keep it light until I get better at it. Ill look into the other lifts that you guys suggested as well as flexibility training.
Ive never heard of weightlifting shoes. Where can I buy them?[/quote]
You can find lifting shoes at Dynamic Fitness or through USAW, both online.
USAW tends to be a little cheaper, but they also don’t quite have all the sizes at one time that Dynamic has.
Oddly enough, from time to time, you can find some good shoes on ebay, but recently, I haven’t seen much.
Throwing out squat for basketball players is not a load of crap. I don’t suggest it once you get hurt, but if your not hurt, you really might not want to squat while your playing basketball.
What helped me with squats, was sticking to a weight I can do for 20. Don’t always do 20 reps though, rotate between 20 and 5. When your only doing 5 reps to try and make it some what more challenging do it fast and non-stop without locking out at the top or bouncing at the bottom.
Personally I like CP’s theory on the 3 on 1 off, so while I might do 5 reps the first week, 12 the second 20 the third, then rest on the fourth week. I also go up 5 lbs every week.
If you have really bad knee pain the single leg work might hurt, wait til you can build up to double your body weight on the squat.
Still be real careful with when you do leg work, basketball really overtrains the legs compared to what an average weightlifter goes through.
Throwing out squat for basketball players is not a load of crap. I don’t suggest it once you get hurt, but if your not hurt, you really might not want to squat while your playing basketball.
What helped me with squats, was sticking to a weight I can do for 20. Don’t always do 20 reps though, rotate between 20 and 5. When your only doing 5 reps to try and make it some what more challenging do it fast and non-stop without locking out at the top or bouncing at the bottom.
Personally I like CP’s theory on the 3 on 1 off, so while I might do 5 reps the first week, 12 the second 20 the third, then rest on the fourth week. I also go up 5 lbs every week.
If you have really bad knee pain the single leg work might hurt, wait til you can build up to double your body weight on the squat.
Still be real careful with when you do leg work, basketball really overtrains the legs compared to what an average weightlifter goes through.