Yugo's SS and Basketball Log

Yugo's SS and Basketball Log

Background:

Cha59 and a 2p2 lurker who is a friend of mine have both independently convinced me to change my current workout to include complex barbell lifts. This log is for that transition to SS-type stuff and also for me to do support things to help with the Rec basketball I play. For now, I'm not going to get into changing my nutrition significantly and I understand saying that is a red flag to smart posters but I'm okay with that for now.

I'm breaking this intro into two sections to hopefully make it easier to digest and give helpful feedback (which I would super appreciate!):

I'm 30 years old, 6'0", and weigh 167lbs. (up from 160 in the last 2 years, but down from 220 from 5 years ago). My goal is to stay at a somewhat similar weight but stronger, leaner (not necessarily super lean), and "meaner" on the court.

Lifting Background & Plan:

My weightlifting past is pretty much all dumbbell lifts for upper body and machine or dumbbell lifts for lower body. So that's going out the window now. If I'm going to spend my time I'd rather start making it more optimal and getting stronger to see what kind of difference it makes.

I am very concerned with my form when switching to complex barbell lifts so I'm only willing to do something new if someone who knows what he/she is doing is there to give me immediate feedback during my first routine. Thankfully, I had the chance to train with Cha59 last weekend (at his infamous home gym, which is even better than the pictures) and did squats, presses, and DLs.

Here is my current programming closely based on SS (I'm going to do dumbbell versions until I have more training with him for the other barbell lifts):

Squats each work day, alternate bench/press, alternate DL/rows/pullups

mon - off
tues - squat/press/DL
wed - cardio/drills
thur - squat/bench/rows
fri - cardio/drills
sat - squat/press/pullups
sun - bball

Here are the form videos and feedback already given (which I'm going to focus on in my next few sessions) in his Cha's excellent log:

Squat form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNGv4u-WE... and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q1U1W-e8...

by cha59 P


Look at your heels coming up. I didnt see that before. Also, squats (and DLs) will feel much better if/when you lose the squishy shoes. Converse Chuck Taylors, barefoot, or squat shoes - any of those will work a lot better.

by Carl Sagan P

Yugo needs to stand up at the end of each rep of the squat, he is bent over at the top and is putting unnecessary force on his back. Maybe get him to watch that Rippetoe hip drive vid as well. Overall he looks like he has good fundamentals and will be able to get into good form quickly.

Press: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbukCQobi...

by busto_in_hawaii P


Press- Bar is way too low at the start. Get your elbows underneath the bar, which should get the bar in the proper position. Also get your head through at the top of the press.

by Soulman P


See e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKEuWnMwk.... You're supposed to lean slightly backwards with your head to start, then move your head forwards after the bar passes the head. This is in order to ensure a straight bar path. Ideally you'd keep the head in the same place, but then the bar would smash your lower jaw so not such a good idea.

Deadlift: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqYI-6TGF...

by busto_in_hawaii P


DL- Lower back is not good at the start. Maybe lower hips? Also not sure if you are finishing the lifts at the top. Flex glutes and get the hips through.

by Soulman P

This is a possibility. It's also possible you're simply not used to performing the exercise. It's necessary to get a certain amount of reps in a lift even if you were the perfect student and even if you had the perfect coach. I've seen the same thing happen with 2 people I've coached in the DL without any need for anything other than just doing DLs. Anyway, cha is definitely the man so listen to him.


Here are my main questions at the start:

1) SHOES! I have wide feet so *have* to purchase shoes that come in widths. What is the important attributes of a good lifting shoe, that comes in widths?

2) Is my frequency good enough if I can more or less stick to it?

3) And if I'm not following SS exactly, should I adjust how much I increase my lifting weight every session?


Basketball Background & Plan:

So I have a lot less knowledge and plan about wtf to do for bball so help will be REALLY helpful (at least for lifting I can just call Cha on the batphone).

I can't even touch the rim and have shaky left-hand dribbling. I've never really tried to up my athleticism and due to not really starting at an early age or being heavily coached, my fundamentals are all self-taught basically.

The only organized bball I played was a camp after 8th grade (UC Berkeley's coach at the time Bozeman put it on). My friend and I were literally the 2 worst players there. Then I played freshman/soph team in HS (300 person HS which won maybe 3 varsity games those two years combined) and wasn't even *close* to getting on the JV team.

So my real basketball experience came in college where I played a lot of 3x3 intramural basketball (DIII school). I relied mainly on my skills of:

1) wanting to win the most (effort ldo)
2) being overly physical (no refs ldo)
3) surrounding myself with shooters (I couldn't shoot outside of about 5 feet ldo)

After college I got fat (220 lbs) playing poker & watching movies in my free time and then 3 years ago got my weight back down and played on a rec team in Orange County. My experience with it kind of sucked. We had 1 ballhog team leader who just yelled at us the whole game, only passed after he got super tired, and then yelled some more when we fumbled the ball out of bounds not expecting it.

A couple years of playing pickup basketball at 24 hour fitness and at a Korean church here in MN (ldo I know, and the court is carpeted, x2 ldo) and now I'm on a "real" 5x5 rec team (lowest division though).

We play a zone defense most of the time (which I had never played before) and I'm the 2nd shortest guy on the team (our other guys are all 6'1"-6'3")

My current skills:

1) playing smart (it's amazing how helpful just playing within one's abilities is)
2) rebounding (o-boards 4tw)
3) hustle (loose balls, tipping the ball, setting screens, etc.)
4) passing (both identifying a useful pass and making it)
5) solid mid-range shooter (but somewhat slow release and tentative)

I think I have tons of room for improvement in raw areas like my vertical, strength, dribbling (moving while dribbling), and ability to score in 5x5 situations (I'm too slow and indecisive).

I really don't know what to do for basketball training, up until now I just shoot around a bunch at spots on the court I rate to shoot from during a game.

Questions:

1) Wtf should I be doing besides just going around the gym shooting from where I rate to shoot from in a game?

19 April 2011 at 09:34 PM
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39 Replies

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I've been using MFP 1.5 years and I also like it a fair bit. I can live without the bar code scanner because someone has already logged whatever I put in, so I never have much difficulty finding what I want to log.

2200 calories isn't bad at all, but I can see it being hard to start when you're used to eating much more.


Messed up my right shoulder. Not sure I can remember the last time I screwed up on a lift but I set up the incline bench too far forward (so I could have a biiit more space squatting behind it...aka I was being lazy and tired).

On a work set (thankfully doing highish reps so not a too big weight for me), I missed the right hook when the bar was behind my head. Not fun, don't recommend. I assume it will rehab fine if I can actually stick with rehabbing and stuff. Been over a week and I can use it but certain movements (especially scapular wall slide type movement) aren't great.

After watching Cha's injury video...yeah...this is nothing.


So you're lifting around 3 times a week, no cardio, not a ton of walking around? I assume at some dadbody weight?

No wonder you didn't lose much at 2500 cals if that's the case. I usually start at around 2000 cals. I assume we have similar dad lifestyles and awesome white guy genetics, though I'm even older than you are iirc (49 now).

How old are you now? Recovery more or less fell off a cliff for me after having kids and getting older (LOL at people without kids complaining about recovery, bwahahaha). Battling up to at least decent lifting weights with some cardio which helps, but let's face it, We're not in our 20s or even 30s with no responsibilities anymore.


Two dadbods tackling #firstworldproblems

Might be time for a log title name change.


by loco P

Two dadbods tackling #firstworldproblems

Might be time for a log title name change.


The olds comes for us all. Though perhaps not dadhood.

Had my first real squat session (which felt great!) after a two week holiday break on Monday. Still too sore/not recovered enough to DL productively today Thursday. Good times.


I'm doing f*ckall after hurting my shoulder. Just can't get the inertia going and/or motivation. Like, I legit don't enjoy lifting or exercising anymore. I'm not really sure.

If I actually lifted 3xWeek and did cardio 2xWeek and just kept at it I think I'd lose a bunch of weight and be fine. Like many things, I felt "betrayed" by the last few years when I did a lot of things right and my life still was frustrating and not very fun.

I'm working on it. Kind of at least.

I'm 43. I'm not sure age plays into it too much, I think not having a consistent and regular sleep schedule for 8+ years is a big problem. My girls (and sometimes dog) still being needy 1-2 times each week. So whenever I get in some kind of groove, it feels like things start getting hijacked. If I continue on, it get hijacked later.

I don't know, there's no real point here, just me whining since Soulman posted here. Lol.


Did I ever send you that shoulder rehab program that I use?

Have you seen Dr K about the shoulder?


by cha59 P

Did I ever send you that shoulder rehab program that I use?

Have you seen Dr K about the shoulder?

I don't think so.

I haven't seen Dr. K in many, many years, lol.

My shoulder will likely get better even faster if I...you know...lift. I have been super unmotivated and not doing it.

I just tried getting under a bar for a squat...pretty close to HBBS tbh, especially considering I haven't consistently done much actual lifting or anything resembling rehab since injuring my shoulder.

Fwiw I almost don't notice it in day-to-day life except for taking off shirts lol.


by The Yugoslavian P

I don't think so.

I haven't seen Dr. K in many, many years, lol.

My shoulder will likely get better even faster if I...you know...lift. I have been super unmotivated and not doing it.

I just tried getting under a bar for a squat...pretty close to HBBS tbh, especially considering I haven't consistently done much actual lifting or anything resembling rehab since injuring my shoulder.

Fwiw I almost don't notice it in day-to-day life except for tak

I can send the program to you if you want. Doing it will strengthen your rotator cuff muscles. If it bothers you when you take your shirt off, my guess is you have something going on in a rotator cuff. Let me know if you want it.

My first thing to do with a should issue like that would be seeing Dr K.

I'm not a great motivator, and I know what dealing with young kids is like, but doing nothing will probably ensure that it doesn't really improve.

Hope you feel better soon.


by The Yugoslavian P

If I actually lifted 3xWeek and did cardio 2xWeek and just kept at it I think I'd lose a bunch of weight and be fine. Like many things, I felt "betrayed" by the last few years when I did a lot of things right and my life still was frustrating and not very fun.

I'm 43. I'm not sure age plays into it too much, I think not having a consistent and regular sleep schedule for 8+ years is a big problem. My girls (and sometimes dog) still being need


I've only lifted twice a week for the last couple of years, which coincides with #2 being born (or well, the last two months before as well). Surprisingly I still have some progress and as long as I don't eat like a moron the weight is fine as well.

Like you, things fall apart if sleep gets screwed up and/or work gets too hectic. Having small kids mean you're balancing on a razor's edge way more, doesn't take much to knock you down. Lack of sleep is a surefire way to **** up my eating.

Perhaps be less ambitious than working out 5 times a week, and find motivation to get better eating habits? You know full well the mechanics of dieting, that's not really the issue. Better habits are imo.

I've grown into some bad ones I'm in the process of ditching. Like too many breads and no food prep. Sure, we all love breads and they're delicious, but too many aren't good for me at least.

I don't know many people who have small kids and who work out often and with steadfast regularity. Mad respect for Monte doing it when he had the 'cores, I just can't at least. And really, why should you?

I've tried to do enough cardio and lifting at the same time for the last 3 years and I just can't, so I won't anymore.

Guess this is our daddy emo blog now?


I've definitely gone through stretches where exercise has taken a back seat and I've boozed way too much, but having the boys be older is definitely helpful these days.

Not too much more to add here except that I have a bit of an obsessive personality, so I have to prioritize training and cooking if I'm going to stay on track (just doing one or the other tends gets me into a negative feedback loop).

I know I'm not saying anything novel, but I think gradually working things in until the habits calcify might be better - maybe start with one to two lifting sessions a week and one cardio session a week and see if you can fit that in for a few months, and then evaluate afterwards - this isn't to say that you can't do more during weeks you have more time, but reframing your goals in a way to make success more easy to attain may help you keep a more positive mindset and stay on track. We're pulling for you.


"its a work in progress"

complicated topic, and i have zero kids. i just like the phrase above and it seemed relevant.

the phrase provides elements of dedication, effort, and consistency. thats what we owe ourselves.

sure personal records feel great. but the real wins are those crappy workouts you grind through because you know one more day without exercise is one more step towards becoming physically inept as we age. those are the workouts that really aid in aligning our mind, body, and spirit.


I'm not trying to put anyone down who relaxes in other areas of life when they have kids, but there are examples of people juggling demanding jobs and taking care of kids that still put in time at the gym.

One example is a teammate of mine. The guy just finished earning his second four-year degree while working full time as a manager at UPS, and he has a 2 year old and a ~4 month old. He would hit the gym whenever he possibly could while he was going to school. He just won best tested lifter at a meet, going 903, 501, 600 for his first 2,000 + lb total.

Another guy I know wanted to become a powerlifter, but he quickly learned that lifting with my team was going to consume too much of his time. He is an MD who was doing his residency, putting in 80 hours a week. He still managed to hit the gym 5 - 6 days a week, but he was in and out in an hour or so.

I'm not suggesting that anyone else should strive for something like that (I would never have done something like my teammate did), but it is possible to get a lot done with our lives if we really apply ourselves and organize our time well.


65lb dumbbell presses are impressive for starting out—great job! A general rule of thumb is to warm up with the bar before each exercise, though I usually skip this for deadlifts......


I agree with everyone (except Zobb66 lol).

Being less ambitious is helpful, especially when establishing a sustainable habit. OTOH, I've been less ambitious and still "failed." The next step is probably just to not worry about "success" or "failure" and simply concentrate on enjoying being active/lifting for a while even if that means doing half of a program or sometimes random stuff.

On a trip to a lake with my family and wearing a swimsuit around. Definitely loco fat donotwant.jpg. OTOH, I feel I look better/in better "shape" than most of the other dads around...sometimes by a lot.


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