Story-

I guess the best place to begin is where my journey as an athlete ended. Let’s go back seven years to my senior year of high school. I was a solid athlete hoping to compete at the next level (all district soccer and track (100m and 200m) my junior year). After going through a summer of hard workouts (sport specific/no weight training) I was ready to improve on what I had already accomplished. This all changed during a soccer game with my club team. I felt something pop in my lower back after a routine slide tackle and when I stood up my right leg was numb. Hoping it was just a stinger I continued to play; however, when I woke up in the worst pain of my life the next morning I knew something was wrong. I went to my sports doctor and he could not see anything on the x rays, so he told me the pain was caused by my tight hamstrings (wtf?). After struggling through my senior year (intense nerve pain and limited function) I decided to call it quits.

Over the next four years I concentrated on school (massive detraining) and graduated in May of 2008 with a Bachelor’s in Finance. Within two weeks I was married and working an 8 to 5 (sitting at a desk). Over the next six months I added 30 pounds to my 5’ 10” frame, it was not from working out, which led to many injuries (lower back and hips were a mess)  and frustration. After blowing out my hamstring while attempting a lay-up in a pick-up basketball game (which at one point would have been a dunk) I decided enough was enough. At this point I purchased p90x and over the next two years I lost the weight I had gained and felt like I was in great shape (except the back and hip pain). Funny thing though, I never got my bounce back.

Seven months ago I found out that I was going to be a dad so I decided if I was ever going to get it back now was the time. I went to several doctors to find out what was wrong with my back and it turns out you could only see my problem if you took a standing x ray. It felt like the weight of the world was taken off my shoulders when I found out I had a spondylo at my L5 and SI joint dysfunction (at least I was not crazy). After getting the all clear from my doctor I decided to start hitting the weights, which I had never done before.

After a lot of trial and error I put together a routine that seemed to work for me (huge learning curve). During this time I went from being able to grab the rim on a full run-up to being able to catch a perfect lob. However, the injuries are resurfacing (back is actually feeling good) and I think are part of the reason I am hitting a plateau.

AGE: 25

HEIGHT: 5’10” 
REACH: 7’5”

WEIGHT: 170

SLEEP SCHEDULE: 11pm to 7am

BODY TYPE: Athletic

GOALS: 45” DLRVJ, dunk off of 1 foot, 38”SVJ, and be injury free

CURRENT ABILITY: DLRVJ approx. 39”, can grab rim off of 1 foot, SVJ approx. 32”, body is a mess

INJURY HISTORY: Past- Too many ankle sprains to count, I have pulled both hamstrings, and a combination of hip flexor pulls
Current- Spondlyo@L5, SI Joint Dysfunction (right), Jumper’s knee (left), Achilles tendinitis (right), Adductor Strain (right)

TRAINING HISTORY & ACHIEVEMENTS: See above

CURRENT ACTIVITY LEVEL AND/OR TRAINING PROGRAM:
Sample week-

Sunday-
Dynamic Warm-up
Straight leg dead lifts
Dead lifts
Squats
Adductor/Abductor
Hamstring curls
Calf raises
Bench press
Row
Lat pull
Dips

Monday-
Softball

Tuesday-
Full court Basketball (2 hours)

Wednesday-
Repeat workout

Thursday-
Rest/Walk

Friday-
Indoor soccer

Saturday-
Flag Football


BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CURRENT DIET:
Breakfast- Raisin Bran and supplements (cissus, saw palmetto, and glucosamine)
10am- Protein bar
Lunch- Chipotle burrito
2pm- Protein bar
Dinner- Chicken, potatoes, and a vegetable
8pm- Protein shake

IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES:

IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Good posture at work

CURRENT GOALS
45" DLRVJ

MAJOR PR'S/MILESTONES
4.06.11 Landed 1 handed dunk

DAILY PHYSICAL & MENTAL STATE
4.18.11 Body and mind are tired
4.19.11 Feeling refreshed after yesterday’s workout
4.20.11 Sore and Sluggish

BODYWEIGHT
4.18.11 169
4.19.11 170
4.20.11 168

DIET
4.18.11 2 protein bars, Nachos, protein shake, and 6 chocolate chip cookies
4.19.11 1 protein bar, Taco, Chips and guac., Chicken Parmigiana, and a Protein shake
4.20.11 1 taco, 3 bean burritos, half a chicken, chicken pot pie, and a Protein shake

SORENESS
4.18.11 Hamstrings (slightly)
4.19.11 None
4.20.11 Hamstrings

ACHES/INJURIES
4.18.11 Left knee, Achilles, and right adductor
4.19.11 Left knee, Achilles, and right adductor (slightly)
4.20.11 Left knee, Achilles, and right adductor (moderate)


FATIGUE
4.18.11 High
4.19.11 Low
4.20.11 High

SLEEP SCHEDULE THE PREVIOUS NIGHT
4.18.11 12pm-7am
4.19.11 11pm-7am
4.20.11 1am-7am

ANTI INFLAMMATORY METHODS (ICING, NSAIDS, ETC)
4.18.11 none
4.19.11 Icing
4.20.11 Aspercream and Icing

STRETCHING AND MYOFASCIAL RELEASE
4.18.11 Two 20 minute sessions (morning and after workout)
4.19.11 Two 20 minute sessions (morning and after workout)
4.20.11 Two 20 minute sessions (morning and after workout) and 30 min foam rolling


EXERCISES & SESSIONS

JUMPS/DUNK SESSIONS
4.20.11 10 attempts did not land anything (aggravated my adductor and Achilles)

SQUATTING
4.18.11 Jump Squats 3x10 115lbs (Headache from dead lifts so I could not do normal squat routine)

BODYWEIGHT UPPER
4.18.11 2x20 Dips

GLUTE BRIDGES

CALF RAISES
4.18.11 3x10 60lbs (One leg eccentrics for Achilles rehab)

Straight Leg Dead lifts
4.18.11 1x5 45lbs, 1x5 115lbs 3x6 185lbs

Dead Lifts
4.18.11 1x5 135lbs 1x5 185lbs 3x7 225lbs

Lat Pulls
4.18.11 3x10 120lbs

Rows
4.18.11 3x8 120lbs

WALKING LUNGES

REACTIVE WORK: SPRINTS, HALF TUCKS, POGOS, ETC
4.18.11 Dynamic Warm-up

CONDITIONING
4.20.11 2 hours full court basketball

RECOVERY
4.19.11 short walk


ONE LINERS WITH EVERYTHING IN THEM
- OPTIONAL

1-LINE BW, DIET, ACHES/INJURIES, FATIGUE, SLEEP SCHED, ANTI INFLAM, STRETCHING

1-LINE WORKOUTS

I just could not stay away from the gym any longer. My sports hernia feels better but still nervous about how long it is taking to recover. After taking four weeks off from lifting my numbers were way down.

Warm up
10 min Dynamic warm up

Hypers
3x10 w/35lb plate

Deadlifts
1x6 45lbs
1x6 95lbs
1x6 135lbs
3x7 205lbs

Squats
1x6 45lbs
1x6 135lbs
2x7 205lbs (felt twinge in hip flexor)

Walking Lunges
40 w/60lbs

Calf Raises
3x10 95lbs

Adductor
3x10 95lbs

Abductor
3x10 95lbs

Core
10 min.

When I first started lifting 7 months ago, my thought process was too work the lower back really hard to help support my back injury. However, I would have to agree that it would be a good idea to get my squats in first. I have actually been thinking of doing that for awhile but was stuck in my routine. Time to switch it up.

5.19.11

Mowed the lawn (.5 acre push mower)

Have a proper examination of ur body man.

At such a detrained stage u have a 39" vert, that's pretty insane. U must hv been quite the athlete in ur school days.
Dun let it get to waste man!

Hey, I think I might be able to offer some advice to help with your injuries.

I believe I have the same condition that your doctors have told you is a sports hernia. I never had a problem with my right adductor until I started strength training but once the pain started it was bad and it persisted for over a year. I tried to rest it, stretch it, ice it but nothing worked and it always hurt after playing basketball and especially soccer. I have found that it is due to an imbalance that is either structural in nature or strength based, or most likely your body structure (probably a difference in limb length) is the cause of a strength imbalance. If you do a variety of single leg stability tests such as a pistol squat, king deadlift, or single leg good morning you will probably notice that when using your right leg, your knee will cave inward and put extra stress on your adductor. This might or might not happen with your left leg based on your strength level, but it will definitely be more pronounced with your right leg. The structural/strength deficit is in your outside glute/ hip muscles which are not properly activated and cause a lot of stress to be put on your adductor during stressful activity. The best solution- please don't get surgery without trying this first- is to strengthen your outside glute muscle so it can limit the stress on your adductor. The best exercise to do is a bodyweight sumo squat. Just spread your legs further than your normally would (no homo) and have your toes at a ~45" angle. Do a lot of reps 3x10, 3x15, 3x20 nearly every night and feel your glutes burn. I would also do those single leg stability exercises I mentioned and use support so you make sure that your knee doesn't cave in. Once you can do those w/out support for reps of 8 or 10 with proper hip stability and w/out the knee caving in, you should be good to continue strength training, running, jumping or whatever without any pain. This worked for me after over a year of pain, although I still have tightness in my adductor at times. As you can imagine having an imbalance like this needs a good amount of time and effort to overcome but those sumo squats will help for sure. Also, I make sure I'm aware of it and not having that knee cave in at all times and I avoid any static stretching of the groin.

As for your back pain, I can also say with some confidence that you don't have a weak back and don't need to do extra work for it. You should in fact limit involvement of your back when doing exercises because the back pain is likely due to you not activating the proper muscles and thus it puts extra strain on your back. I would not do deadlifts at all if you have consistent back pain. You can definitely build the strength you're looking for by doing proper squats. Just make sure you limit the use of your back when doing them, this way you will strengthen the muscles that really matter.

Sorry for the long right write-up but I didn't want you to suffer through pains I have already experienced. Please keep in mind what I said about your hernia. Resting it will not help but strengthening the muscles to properly balance the stress on your leg will for sure. I hope things turn out well and you reach your goals.

Thanks for all the information. I will definitely try this approach for awhile before deciding on surgery (I did notice my right knee collapsing more than my left).

5.23.11

Bench
2x10 @ 150
1x8 @ 165
1x6 @ 165
1x1 @ 225

Incline Bench
1x10 @ 135
1x8 @ 115
1x4 @ 115

Decline Bench
1x10 @135
1x8 @135
1x6 @135

Pec Fly
3x10 @ 130

Tricep Pull Down
3x10 @ 40

Dips
1x20