Blow it all up - Offseason training log

[ByronKelly]

Sup world

Though i should update ya'll on whats going on

I got injured at basketball on saturday.

I have a tear in my calf muscle on my injured leg. I assume it is related to over compensation. I am a bit surprised it happened, given that i had a proper warmup and foam rolled. But, i will admit, i felt some unusual tightness in my calf prior to playing, which i didn't think it was a big deal at the time.

Anyway, it tore after i hit a fadeaway jumpshot within the first 5mins of the game. I landed moving backwards, so my toes struck, and then my heel. And when my heal touched a felt a POP and i was on the ground. Grade 2 tear.

Spent the last few days off my feet. I can almost walk properly again now. Doctor says it will be about 3 more weeks till im back to 100%. I can begin strengthening it as soon as its pain free and can resume lifting once i can perform movements without pain.

Lets hope for a speedy recovery from this.

[ByronKelly]

UPDATE

I can walk 100% again, with some minor stiffness going down stairs.
I have been stretching/foam rolling/strengthening everyday. Seems to be a big help. I still can not do a single leg calf raise without discomfort so im not 100% yet. Progressing daily. Hope to be back to lifting soon and on the court by next week

[krakkerz]

Sorry to hear that. Look after it and make sure you don't come back too soon.

[ByronKelly]

Sorry to hear that. Look after it and make sure you don't come back too soon.

Thanks for the support.
Here is an update on my injury.

I have been doing a lot of stretching, riding the bike/elliptical to keep my legs moving. Also have been doing toe raises and deep foam rolling to keep the calf strong and loose.

Today was the first time I ran (on the treadmill) since the injury. There was some slight soreness in the calf, but no pain and little tightness. I only ran for 5 minutes. I did some one leg calf raises today for the first time. There was some soreness with this also. I did some deep foam rolling and attempted the single leg calf raises again and there was no pain, no soreness and no stiffness. Good stuff.

I also did some bodyweight squats (with an empty bar) to assess my movement patterns/see if there was any soreness and it was all good. I am going in to lift tomorrow. Start light and see what i can handle. I don't expect to have any troubles but we will see.

If things keep progressing as they are, I am going to practice Thursday. Ill try jogging/cutting/shooting stationary jumpers and assess how my calf is doing. Who knows, maybe i can be back by next week.

[ByronKelly]

UPDATE!

Despite the blizzard outside, i made it into the gym (and on time i might add) this morning. Had an excellent workout. Here are the deets

Warmup
Did some extensive foam rolling on both calf muscles, and then regular foam rolling on the rest.
Mobility work
Jumprope - first time doing jumprope since the injury. It was a little soar at first. did a few sets of 30sec, and foam rolled and stretched after each set until the stiffness/soreness went away.

Warmup lifts
back squats barx8, 135x4, 185x4, 200x4, 215x4, 225x4, 245x4 - i was having some movement pattern errors at the heavy weight. Despit my best efforts to activate my glutes and brace my core, i was having a valgus knee fault on my injured leg. Pre-injury this was not a problem, especially at this weight. I could only manage 2 reps without the fault at 245lbs. I took this as a sign not to go heavy.

Because i missed a week, i repeated my last week of my program. Here are my working sets

Isometric back squats 185x4, 195x4, 205x4, 205x4 lighter than before the injury - didnt want to push it too much on my first lift back

heavy bench 185x4, 195x4, 205x4, 215x3, 220x4(with spotter). Again, not as heavy as before but not off by much.

Rep work deads 135x4, 225x4, 275x4, 290x4 - these felt great.

body weight pullups 8reps, 8 reps, 7 reps

That was it. Great first workout back. Good stretch post workout.
Going to the company gym at lunch to do stretching/mobility work and some light cardio.

Improving every day!

[ByronKelly]

whats up world

Went to my training session at the Y today.
The calf felt good! Not 100% still, but i can run/jump/cut without any soreness or mobility problems.

However, when I push off with only my injured leg, say for example i backpedal, change dirrection and explode forward, i feel some stifness in the muscle. So not 100%
Also, there is a mental aspect that I need to address. I dont want to begin favouring my leg and end up with another injury on my right leg or something.

Anyway, got in lots of stationary jumpers, one dribble jumpers, layups, free throws, etc etc.
Not a high intensity workout untill the last few drills, but i must say it felt good.

I am not sure if i will go to basketball on Saturday. Ill decide Friday night.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Here are today's lifts

Warmup
Extensive foam rolling
Mobility work

Warmup squats 4reps each
Bar, 135, 185, 225, 275

Working sets. Isometric back squats
185x4 205x4 205x4 205x4

Rep work bench
135x8 195x8 195x8 200x7 PR
Rep work deads 3sets of 225x4reps
Body weight wide grip pull-ups 3 sets of 6reps.
Battle ropes 4sets of 100%intensity with 30sec rest btw sets

Static stetch
felt great. Felt good on the squats. Basketball tomorrow morning. I hope the calf does good. If it don't feel 100% I might just foam roll and stretch and shoot free throws/jumpers instead of play

[ByronKelly]

Ok so ball went well today

I struggled at the beginning, being hesitant and all. But as time went on I began to get my confidence up. I didn't go 100% effort until about an hr into it.
My calf felt good, say 90%. There is some very minor stiffness and discomfort in it, so I know I'm not 100% yet. Nevertheless things have improved significantly since last week

I'm going to play in the league game this week but I'll prob restrict my minutes

[ByronKelly]

UPDATE

Here is today's lift

Warmup
foam roll
mobility work -hips
jumprope 3 sets

warmup back squats barX8 135x4 185x4 215x4 225x4 245x3

Explosive back squats (1sec down, explode up) 4 reps/set
185lbs, 195, 205, 205

heavy bench
135x8, 195x4, 215x4 230x4(spotter assist on 4th)

rep work deads
225x4, 275x4, 275x4, 275x4

body weight rep work pullups
3 sets of 6 reps

heavy kettlebell swings
3 sets of 6 reps

static stretch

good workouot. Not my best ever. Didn;t feel super strong on the squats/deads today. Was a bit tight in the hips/lower back. Should of done some mobility work yesterday.

Light cardio/foam roll/mobility work over lunch break later today. League game tonight. Calf is feeling 95%

EDIT: Got really deep on the groin/hips/hammys with the foam roller. (Used a 4inch foam ball). Got rid of all the tension i had in my hips/lower back. Looking forward to tonights game.

[ByronKelly]

So my game went well last night.

The bad news is, we lost to a team we would normally kill. We were VERY undersized b.c our big guys (who comitted to the game) didnt show so we had 1 big, 1 3 and 4 guards.

Personally, i played alright. I say a modest performance. I did score 21 points in my first game back from injury which is nice, but my conditioning didnt feel completely there. The calf held up great untill the end, when it began to get soar but by then the game was over

I went home and stretched, foam rolled and that helped a ton. No soreness today.

[ByronKelly]

Easy day today.

Did some HIIT training on the elliptical. 5 min warmup, 8 minutes of HIIT (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest) and then 2 mins of cool down
Followed by some foam rolling, stretching and mobility work

Feeling good and loose. May go to yoga tonight; skills training session tomorrow morning

EDIT: went to yoga. Felt great.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Skills training session yesterday morning. Shot the ball fairly well. Not an intense training session tho. My partner ran it, and it was more about footwork, which is good. My turn to run it next week.
Last night i got into the gym and did some HIIT training (4 min warmup, 6 mins of HIIT 20 seconds on 10 seconds off) followed by foam rolling and static stretching.

This morning i went into the gym to do my Friday lift, but couldn't get ride of some lower back stiffness. I tried to loose up through dynamic stretching, mobility work, static stretches etc but nothing worked.

I did the following. 5 mins on the elliptical to begin. Foam rolled by calfs, hammys, and glutes (lacrosse ball). Dynamic stretching (v sits, hip rotation exercises, glute-activation movements, core activation exercises, leg swings etc etc) and jumprope.

Static stretched my hips. Did all that and still had tightness in my lower back. I tried to do some warmup back squats, but 185lbs felt like 400. No mobility through my lower back. I assume it is a hip and hamstring/quad tightness issue? Im not sure. Im going to try and do some exercises over lunch to try and loosen up.

Pretty disappointing i didnt get to lift this morning. But i rather address the issue than lift and get an injury.

If any body has any suggestions on things i can do to try and loosen up please post them. I will look into my mobilitwod book tonight and see what exercises it suggests

Edit: Ok, so i tried a few things and they seemed to help somewhat.

First off, i tried to touch my toes (with a straight back) and i was surprised by how little ROM i had. Very concerning. My calves were especially tight

So, test and retest.
Here is what i did.
Foam rolled my calves. Static stretched my calves, hips, hamstrings. Using a band while lying on my back, pulled my leg towards my chest (straight leg, and then bent knee). Then pulled it to the side (both) to stretch the hips more.
Re-test, and i touched the floor. Big improvement.

Stretched my hips more (sat on a bench, crossed one leg, pushed down and leaned forward), did some mobilitywod exercises and stretched my glutes and calves more. Re-tested again, and still could touch the floor although negligible improvement over my 1st retest

I did notice that my calves tightened up really fast. after i stretched. Not sure what to make of this.

I tried to do a few bodyweight squats and they felt better than this morning, but still i felt tightness in my lower back. Sitting at my desk, i can feel the tightness. Not sure what else to do.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Ok, it's the end of ball till Xmas is over so it's time for a Deload

This week will be mobility stretching and technique work (no weighted lifts) only. I'm taking 2full weeks off of impact activities and going to lift hard at the gym for a few days, followed by some rest days before the season resumes.

Time to heal up some injuries and get a mental break.

I'll post more details when I have a plan on paper

As of now, this is a list of minor injuries that need some rest

Tightness in lower back/hips
Reduced mobility in left shoulder
Plantar faciatais in right foot
High ankle swelling right foot
Minor strain (maybe?) lower abdominals
Scar tissue Build up left calf (from tear)

Nothing serious which is great news, but clearly my body needs a break

[ByronKelly]

Ok, here is today's work

Mobility drills from my Mobilitywod book (http://www.suppleleopard.com/), focusing on:

Lower back
Hips (internal and external)
Glutes
Hamstrings

Really good stuff here.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Here are today's mobilization targets

Lower back
Hips
Quads
shoulder
Plantar fascia


Going to Yoga tonight. Should be good.

[ByronKelly]

Yoga was great last night. Body is really feeling good and well rested. Been getting >9hours of sleep each night.

Soreness in the lower back is pretty much gone. My Plantar faciatais in my right foot is slowly reducing, although i dont expect this to fully go away until after the season is over. Ankle swelling has gone, and there is def some scar tissue build up which i have been working on daily. Also been trying to improve mobility in my right ankle.

I have yet to do much work for the shoulder.

Here are today's mobility targets

Shoulders
Calves/Ankles/Feet
Abdominal area
Groin/internal hips

Update:
In lue of christmas, taking into account both my own schedule and that of the gym, i have decided to resume training tomorrow.
My schedule will be as follows for the next 3 weeks

3 workouts a week. 2 heavy days and one dynamic day for 12 days. 48hr rest between workouts and 2 rest days in a row after every 3rd workout for a total of 6 session (4 heavy, 2 dynamic). No basketball or high impact activities at all during this time.

Following this, 2 rest days, and then 3 skill workouts in 4 days. League game is expected to be Jan 6th. After that, ill take 4 rest days and then begin the 2nd half of my inseason program on Friday, Jan 10th.

Mobility work will be done every day and yoga on the rest days when possible.

[ByronKelly]

update

Ok, today was my first lift since Monday, Dec 9th.

On my last workout, i had sorness/stifness/immobility in my hips, hammys and lower back. I hoped to have improved this over the last week and a bit.

Here is the recap of today

Mobility work
foam rolling - specific targeted to hips, calves
jumprope 3 sets of 1 min
walking lunges, 10 reps with a 3sec hold each

Warmup lifts
back squats bar x 8, 135x4, 185x4

working sets
back squats 225x4 255x2 255x2 225x4.

Ok, so when i got moderatly heavy here, i felt tightness in my lower back and hips. No pain. soreness, but def a lack of depth on the squat which is limiting my mobility and the amount of weight i could push. 255 is only ~ 70% of my 1RM and i could only get 2 Reps before i began to lean forward and/or have a valgus knee fault.

More work is needed to open my hips, glutes and lower back, but def improved here over the last week.

Sumo deads
135x8, 225x4, 315x4, 225x4. Again, when i got to 315 i had similar problems. More prounced in my inability to generate force from the starting position here at a high wegiht. Again, 315lbs is about 75% of my sumo dead 1RM so its not too heavy here either.

Heavy Bench press
135x8, 200x4, 225x4, 235x3(spotter; fail on 3rd rep)

Weighted pullups
Bodyweightx4, BW+10lbX4, BW+20X4 BW+30X4 BW+40X4 (failed on 4th rep)

Circuit. 3 rounds through with a 1 min rest.
Lunges w med ball twist. 10 reps
Sandbag slam, 20lbs, 10 reps
battleropes. As hard as possible, ~30-45sec long.

Good workout. Work to do on the hips, hip joint, glutes and lower back. Will mobilize this afternoon and tonight.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Today was support to be alight day so I repeated the. Last days lifts b.c they weren't too heavy

After a warmup and mobility work

Bench 135x8 195x8 195x8 195x7
Sumo deads 135x8 315x4 315x4 335x4

Squats 135x6 185x4 225x4 225x4 250x4

Bw pullups 11reps 8 reps 6reps


Great lift. Felt much better on the squats and deads than Thursdays lift!

[ByronKelly]

Update

Christmas Eves eve workout

Did loads of mobility work while watching Xmas movies

Here is today's workout

Mobility work
Dynamic warmup

Sumo deads

Warmup lifts 135x8 225x4
Working weights 315x4 345x4 375x3 385x3 400x2 420x2

Great work here. Nice and heavy. Didn't get to do squats, short on time.

Weighted pull-ups bw+ 10 x4 bw+30 x4 bw+30x4
Heavy bench 135x8 205x4 225x3 235x3(spotter)

That's it. Next lift on the 26th.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Here was today's lift

Lots of mobility work and dynamic Warmups

Warmup back squats
Bar x10 135 x10 185x5 225x5 255x4 275x3 290x2
Good weight. Not super happy on the 290x2. Hope to get in better quality movement on the 290 and 3 reps next lift

Heavy deads
135x10 225x4 315x4 405x2 365x4
The 405 felt extra heavy after the heavy squats and my form didn't keep so I backed it down to 365

Heavy bench
155x10 205x4 215x4 225x3 235x3(fail spotter)

Weighted rows
Bw+ 20lb 4reps bw+30 4reps bw + 40reps bw+40 3reps

Good workout. Did more mobility work/stretching this evening. Next lift is Sunday

[ByronKelly]

Update

Here is today's lift

Mobility work
Dynamic warmup

Dead lift focused

Warmup lifts
135x10 135x8 225x5
Working sets
315x5 365x4 390x3 405x2 425x2 435x2 good lift today.

Heavy bench
155x10 205x4 225x4 225x4 PR. 2 sets of 225x4 without spotter assistance

Pull-ups 2sets of 6reps at body weight

Last heavy lift is Tuesday afternoon. Then a few days off followed by a few skills training sessions.
League resumes Tuesday jan 7th

[ByronKelly]

Update

Last lift before I focus on skills training for a few days

Short on time, so only focused on squats. Gonna go in tomorrow for bench weighted pull-ups and maybe deads

Here were today's lifts

Warmup mobility work and dynamic stretches

Back squats
135x10 185x8 225x6 250x5 275x4 300x3 225x3
Happy with this work. Nice to squat 300again. Did a drop set at the end, went very very deep and focused on technique.

Edit

Here is the rest of the workout

Heavy bench bar x10 185x10 205x6 215x4 225x4 235x4(spotter)

Seated rows 120x8 180x4 200x4 205x4

[thehotspitta]

are you trying to play overseas?

[ByronKelly]

Nope I'm just trying to become the best that I can.
I have a full time job

[ByronKelly]

Update


Ok, so I'm into my skills training now

Yesterday was the first session, knocking the rust off. Legs didn't feel quite under me at first but it didn't take long

Shot the ball quite well and my mobility was great. Lateral quickness was a touch off

Today was 2hr run at the Y. Played quite well, had a lot of assists. Jumper went down more than I missed, and I had a few very strong takes to the net. Legs felt good and strong on drives and rebounds.

Going tot get in shots tomorrow, take Monday off, shoot Tuesday morning and have a leage game Tuesday night. Will update after all that

[ByronKelly]

Sup

Heres an update

Didnt get in Tuesday mornign for shots. Played pickup monday night, and have been botherd by shin splitns. First time i've even gotten these. So, i took tuesday morning to work on the problem (massages/foam roll, stretch and strength) and well as other mobility work for hips, lower back, quads, and groin.

League game was tuesday night. After a pretty extensive self-physo session i managed to reduce the shin splints to nly a very minor irritation. I could run, jump, cut, drive, jog without pain.
Played well in the game, score 10points, got prob 5 rebounds and made a lot of good plays in terms of ball distribution/assists and defence.
Energy level was excellent.

Towards the end of the game my leg got a bit soar. So i took it easy, as we were up by 40points.

Physio this afternoon to get the shin splints looked at. Depending on what the doc says, I may or may not get in my skills trainig session tomorrow. Maybe ill onyl go and do free throws and dribbling work.

First lift since Dec 31st will be this Friday. Pretty excited.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Ok, so Physio confirmed that i have shin splints. The good news is that I have been doing all the right things to help treat it. Doc recommended i reduce the volume of high impact activity, so my thursday/tuesday skills training will be low impact till i get better. I will continue to play sat and league games. I have to keep up with the soft tissue work, contrast baths and some strengthening exercises. There is weakness in my ankle in terms of dorsiflexion and internal rotation due to the injury.
doc thinks its related to either compensation for my left ankle, OR, due to my right glute being less active leading to an error in my landing. Im going to tape myself and see if i can notice any movement pattern errors when i jump and land.

Anyway, not a major injury and not a set back really. I can still do skills work, compete and lift.

Here was todays low impact skills session

warmup
mobility work
Stationary shots- focused on technique, and release. 60 from in front of the net (30 from 5 ft away, 30 from 10ft). 40 from baseline, 10ft away (20/side)
Free throws - 100 shots in intervals of 10. I think i made ~72/100.

Ball handling. did lots of walking dribble drills, as well as stationary. Behind the back and front cross overs, windshiled wipers, doubble dribble moves etc etc.

[ByronKelly]

Strange i thought i updated this yesterday...must not of posted somehow

ok, update

Shin splints are coming along. I am doing work on it every day, both contrast baths/ice/exercises and soft tissue work. Physio apt again today.

Ball sat went well. I didnt have my legs under me for the first while, not sure why. Just an off day i think. Towards the end of the run i finally got it together and made a bunch of great plays, hit some difficult and easy shots, and got my confidence back up. Ended the session with a 15min shooting drill w a partner. Working on getting my shots in while im fatigued. My shin splints were ok. I used KT Tape, which helps a ton. And i did lots of some tissue work Friday night and sat morning before playing. So they didnt bother me until a few hours after the workout.

Here is Todays Lift

Warmup
mobility work - felt tight in the lowert back/hips again today. Shoulda done more mobility work yesterday.

Warmup lifts
back squats
barX10, 145X10, 195x6, 215x5, 235x4

working sets. 4 sec down, explode up.
185x4, 185x4, 195x4, 195x4. Felt nice and explosive.

Heavy bench
185x6, 225x3m 225x3

Light sumo deads
225x4, 315x4, 315x4

Bodyweight pullups (moving v.slowly)
6 reps, 6 reps, 5 reps

An O.K workout today. First lift in a while (i missed Friday) so im not surprised i had some restrictions in the bottom of my squat. Strength felt a little off, but thats normal for the first lift back.
Happy with today overall.

Low-impact skills training tomorrow morning, and league game tomorrow night.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Here was todays low-impact skills session

Did some mobility work. Shin-splints are coming along nicely. Very little inflammation this morning.

Short range technique shots (no jump) 50 from front of the rim, 25/side from the wing (bout 10 ft away) - total of 100
Free throws. 10 sets of 10. Only shot about 62/100. There was somebody else shooting on the same net so it interfered with a few of my shots. Nevertheless, not a good day at the line.

Did about 12mins of ball handling afterwords. Ran a lot of the drills with my eyes closed.

Static stretches

Game tonight.

[ByronKelly]

Update

Last night was game night.
I didnt have a great game. Maybe my shin splints have been effecting me. I dont have the power coming off my right leg that i normally have. Jump shot felt awful, explosivness on drives to the net was non-existant.
I shot bad from the floor, awful from the line going 1-6 free throws and prob 1-3 from 3 and 2-8 from the floor. BAD GAME on O.

I picked it up on defense. Shut down their main scorer COMPLETLY (he had 2 points against me in the entire 2nd half) and gave out 5 assists and a few boards.
We won the game in OT, so thats the main point.

Skills training tomorrow. Will be focused on mid range shots and finishing at the rim. oh and free throws. Tonight is self-physio on the leg. oh and mobility work on lunch break also