To make a long story short, I’m 26 and am gonna give basketball one last shot. In my early 20’s, I had a few juco oppurtunities [I’m a highschool dropout] that I fucked off for no other reason than I’m a duesch. At 5’10, I could dunk a basketball from a standstill and was pretty much the fastest guy wherever I went [and before ya’ll start, I know that doesn’t make a player. But it was my standout quality]. I was also about 165-170. In the past 2 years, I blew off ball and focused on size. I got up to 192-ish and looked pretty big. I also lost the the majority of my athletiscism. I could barely dunk and couldn’t jog for more than 3 minutes without yak city. I’ve decided to get my game back and get in some leagues around the city and maybe get a shot somewhere. Maybe nothing comes of it other than I can get my hops,speed and game back. I’ll be starting just lifting and shooting [ I hurt my knee] and gradually adding in sprints, game drills, etc… Here’s what I did tonight:
Mon-ME upper- Bench 135x10,185x6,225x5,245x3,265x3,275x2[pr is 285x3]inc db’s-95x6,6,5 wide grip chins supersetted with straight arm pulldowns 3x10,10,8 db curls 35’sx12,40’sx10,45’sx6.
I’ll be posting pics, and hopefully vid’s of dunks and shit as I get my legs back. Thank’s for bearing with me.
This is me at 185. I’d say my bf’s around 13-14%. I’d ideally like to be in the 10% range, for no other reason than my knee’s feel better when I’m leaner.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
This is me at 185. I’d say my bf’s around 13-14%. I’d ideally like to be in the 10% range, for no other reason than my knee’s feel better when I’m leaner.[/quote]
Could be my story you’re telling, I’m between 230/235 lbs, 6’2, also 26 years old. Though I jump higher than ever, my knee doesn’t like it, and I can only dunk 10-20 times before it begins to bother me. Maybe it’s time for me to lean up (I’m a fat slob right now) as well, go for it. Good luck!
Thanks man. I’ve had some tendonitis issues in my left knee, and the heavier I am the more it flares up. It’s still bugging me at the moment, wich is why I’m just lifting, shooting and riding the bike for the time being. At my highest, I put up a 35" from a standstill and a 41.5" off of the run. I don’t see why I can’t at least match those #'s, and hopefully beat them. I’ll post tonights workout later. Probably tonight…
Today was crazy at work [i’m in real estate] so I didn’t get to the gym 'til pretty late. Tonight was DE Lower- cleans from the pins-205x3x3.Haven’t done cleans in awhile. Set the pins too high. I got damn near no leg drive. Next week I’ll set them lower. I’ll be pulling 225 from the pins for 5x3 in no time [That’s where I was last time I cleaned]. finished with hams,calves [front and back], core and forearms. Everything was done for 8-15 reps.
I have the day off tomorrow,so I’ll be shooting anywhere from 250-500 shots. My knee’s still bothering me, so nothing high speed. Just smooth pull-ups with little [if any] elevation. Will also do some ballhandling drills. I’ve never done shit like this, but I want it, so I’m going for it.
If you don’t mind me asking, why are you doing WS4SB when you’re already heavier than you were at your playing weight? It seems to me that you’d do better to trim back down to a more manageable size. I know this is T-Nation, so bigger is automatically better, but from one athlete to another, my advice would be to get as strong and powerful as possible while staying as light as possible.
I’m actually in sort of the same boat as you are right now. I’m a sprinter and currently weigh in at a relatively lean (9-10% BF) 208 lbs @ 6’ tall. If you ask me, I look pretty damn good at 208 (still a little thin), but I run best at 195-200 lbs. So, I will be looking to cut my weight back down, both muscle and fat, until I’m where I need to be to perform at my best.
While I agree with what Roger is saying about losing some fat to get a little lighter. I think you can accomplish this using WS4SB, with a few minor tweaks. First off, make sure your diet is in order to drop some weight. Take the weight off slowly. Then, I would structure the workouts to include some supersets for your accessory work. For example, on ME upper day you may do some pullups and weighted pushups for accessory work in a superset fashion. I have done this with quite a bit of success in increasing my work capacity and taking off some lard. Just some things to think about as you go forward and plan your future training. Good luck.
I see what you’re saying Roger, but I’m trying to maintain as much size as possible 'cause I need the armor for contact. I’d ideally like to be in the 180 range [this is just a # in my head and doesnt necesarilly mean anything] and lose 3-4% bodyfat. Like Defranco said, “I don’t want you carrying 300 lbs of shit in a 200 lb bag.” As a naturally skinny kid, I’ll let the increased work from court time take care of the fat.
I have goals as far as weightroom #'s as well, but the ultimate goal is to be as strong and athletic as possible. I chose this program 'cause I feel it will help me get there. Good luck with your sprinting.
Well, the only gym I was sure I could get some uninterupted shots in was packed, so I played some light pickup. My knee’s still bugging me, so I took it fairly slow, but on the bright side I got a few dunks with minimal pain. On the down side I thought my lungs were gonna explode. I’m definitely gonna have to throw in some suicides and maybe stadiums when my knee’s staright.
If anyone has anything they want to say or share, feel free. I'll check back tomorrow when I get back from RE upper. Ya'll be good.
I would forego the suicides in favor of some specific conditioning. So for example, there have been studies in europe that found that during the course of a basketball game, elite level players had average heart rates of 171 bpm. So knowing this, structure your conditioning exactly like a game would be. So do 4 quarters of 8 to 15 minutes with 2 minute breaks between quarters and 5 to 10 minute break for half time.
Do shooting drills, layup drills, defensive drills, rebounding drills, dribbling drills etc during each quarter, keeping your heart rate between 165 and 175. When you get up past 175, do some active recovery until you get it back down to 165.
This way, you get some specific conditioning in, plus you are practicing your skills at intensities that would mimic an actual game. I got this idea from Mark McGlaughlin at EliteFTS. I have been implementing it the past few weeks with quite a bit of success.
Well, I gotta come clean: Last night was one of my homeboy’s b-day, so I got pretty drunk and ended up with some random bar broad 'til pretty early this morning. I just got back from the gym, and I felt it. Here’s how RE upper went: Incline-95x10,135x8,185x6 planned on 205x3x8 but got one set at 8 and it felt HEAVY [I’m also still sore from Mon]. Dropped to 135 and got a smooth 20.
D-handle cable row’s supersetted with rope pulls to the neck and 3x10,10,10 alt db military 55x3x10,10,10, preacher curls + 1-arm pushdowns 3x10’s.
It’s looking like I’m gonna be pretty sore on RE day’s due to ME day. If anyone has any advice on how to combat this I’d really appreciate it.
I’ve been stretching alot lately, for obvious reasons. I was actually wondering if anyone with experience on this program has any advice on combating soreness. Maybe I did too many total sets on ME upper, or am doing the RE upper day “wrong” or maybe I’m being a big sandy vagina and am just gonna have to get my work capacity up,etc…
Last night was ME lower. I had planned on working up to 335 for 3 on the back squat [pr is 365x3] but during my 2nd rep with 315, my neck popped. It wasn’t painful at all, it felt like when you “crack” your neck, but it scared me. So I stopped with 315, did some abs and stretched for about 20 min and called it. Gonna rest,stretch and eat all weekend so come Monday I’ll be cool. Gotta go bartend an art gallery, ya’ll be good.
As for the soreness, not sure what your setup is but you could put your RE day 4 days after your ME day instead of 3. Either way, you probably won’t be as sore when RE day comes around once you get used to the new schedule. In the meantime stretching and a little bit of cardio, something like jumping rope for a few minutes or a few light sets of 20 CJ work to get the blood flowing work for me.
Thanks. I’ve got no illusions of doing anything “big”, but maybe getting into a minor league is what I was talking about. There’s leagues like that all over the place. The money is minimal, but there’s actually some pretty good comp.
Hey whats up man i wanted ,to throw in a little advice at you becuase i myself am currently a college bball player but im a big man, ive been around alot of good players that are or have played overseas, the aba etc which i see is what you are trying to get into. I see your pg and its obvious that you have really good strength for a point guard, i think the westside for skinny bastards is a really good program but if i were you i wouldnt do that at the time, its good to get stronger but your already strong, you should really focus on trying to get your athletism back to its peak and really work on your conditioning if your trying to get a shot to play pro even at the minor level(aba) your conditioning is going to have to be on point even as a point guard. Something that really helped me was jump roping in rounds they had an article on renegade training a while back on jumproping in 3 minute rounds and i think that really helps us bball players it really works conditioning and might even help a little bit as far as your hops. Also man run hills alot of hills get sick of them as a point guard your going to have to be fast and be able to keep your man in front of you becuase if you cant your not going to get a chance anywhere, i think for someone like yourself you should shift your focus instead of the weightroom so much shift it to the court and really get in alot of high intensity drills in you can bang it out in 1 hour if you just go hard. As far as the weightraining i tried westside for skinny bastards and it worked pretty well but what worked best for me was when i kept it super simple i would just go in the weightroom 3 times a week and do fullbody just about 4 exercises each day and get in an out in 40 minutes it helped and i went in there worked my ass off and got out and left with energy, just do big movements like squats, push presses, cleans, bench, pullups, chins, rows, snatch deadlifts, pushups. Ive seen alot of plyo programs but if you think about it all you really need is depth jumps, and jump squats, and as a bball player you jump so damm much you dont even need anything but those two becuase i would do so much jumping just in my skill workouts, for example id get in the gym and have someone pass me the ball 30 seconds and see how many dunks i can get in 30 seconds its a plyo exercise and id step into the pass and make it a game situation. Just trying to throw a little advice at you man hopefully this helps but ive learned through trial and error what works best is the simple stuff becuase its so easy to be consistent when something is simple and consistency will get you results, again man i think you should really focus on that speed, agility and conditioning becuase your already strong know if you can run hard for 40 minutes to use that strength when you drive to the whole you might just get a shot someonewhere man i hope this helps
its a part of whats keep us motivated right ?