Dunk-Ray

Good news! It's not a broken tibula! Slipped into the X-ray today after work and it came back negative. So despite this rockin' hard bump and my inability to bear significant weight without pain, I apparently have the worst case of shin splints ever. The cure? Do nothing. How helpful.

So I drove back from the imaging center and went into my workout as usual, because I don't have time for this weak-ass tibula to "heal fully" or "be functioning". I'm still rolling with my 5# / week increase on squats, and I'm up to 3x10 reps of 140#... I know it's not a lot by meathead standards, but I started at 115# five weeks ago so, hooray?

There has been tangible progress! I played Friday basketball (because, you know, fuck that leg) and on a running jump my fingertips were just below the rim! That's probably 2-3 inches above where I was the last time I checked. But I have to caution myself - bulling through an injury is what led to the hip surgery in the first place, and I absolutely do not want to repeat that mistake. So for the time being, no more basketball or running. The senior-faculty game is at the end of April and if I want to have a chance at being full strength I really need to give my leg the best chance to heal. However, I've found that I can still use the exercise bike and Death Machine for cardio, so while I am insanely jealous of everyone running out in this perfect weather, I'm gonna bite my tongue for a few weeks and hope for a more athletic summer.

So for the immediate future, I can't offer any updates on the progress of my quest for dunking glory. I simply can't use my left leg for any impact. Updates will probably remain at one a week until I'm back on the court.

Also, how badass is it that we call it the "X-RAY"? You know when they discovered what it could be used for they thought it was the damn science fiction future come true, so they gave it the most futuristic name they had at the time. Our naming technology has come a long way since then, of course: iPod, iPad, iTouch, iPhone... wait

Dunk Splints

I know it's been a while since I've updated this here b-log of my quest for dunkation, but that's because the past few weeks have been rather uninteresting from a dunk-related standpoint. To review: 3 Fridays ago (well technically Sunday but I'm counting Fridays here as a rhetorical device so work with me here, jeez). I bashed the crap out of my shin. 2 Fridays ago I tried to run on a treadmill and aggravated the ever-living crap out of my shin/ankle, and stopped cardio exercises. Last Friday I nutted up and played basketball in high-tops, and well actually it felt more or less the same afterwards. Today it felt almost healed; I could put even weight on it throughout the day. So when in the weight room this afternoon I attempted some box steps. The first two were really rough, but I figured that's because I'd just upped my squat weight. But after doing five on each leg my shin/ankle started hurting again so I stopped to prevent setting back whatever recovery I thought I'd achieved. An hour later it's still throbbing - I'm assuming at this point it's a slight crack in the tibia, since it's been damn 3 weeks and this is the same leg I broke 5 years ago that started this whole mess. In reality it's probably just a severe bruise, like shin splints, but there's a lump on my shin that hasn't gone down... I don't know. I'm very frustrated because 1) I'd just started running in earnest again after 4 months of recovering from the surgery and the weather is starting to get awesome, and 2) I can't do shit in terms of jumping. I can work my leg muscles, but no cleans, no jumping, no running... Having felt near 100% for the first time in 5 years, burning through 3 mile runs, playing basketball and football, hitting the gym 5 days a week, and now having to step back again and lay low is VERY FRUSTRATING. During the winter it was easier because the weather sucked and sitting around is about all you'd want to do. But as we're hitting 60 and 70 degree sunny days, I want to run around outside and revel in my returning athleticism. But I know that laying low and hanging back now is key to being ready to go later on...

Nah, it wasn't this bad.

At least I didn't use the picture taken from the opposite side.

Friday morning's game was 4-on-4, courtesy of two students joining in, one who happened to be one of my student. Lucky for him he was on my team, so every assist he got me was a bonus on his test. His brother however played for the other team, and how excited was I that 5-inches-taller-than-me sophomore blocked 3 or 4 of my shots. I did get him back though, chasing him down and blocking a breakaway layup, crashing him into the bleachers. That was awesome. I again hit about half my shots, mostly close jumpers. I definitely outlasted my defender in the air again, which was great and I think a good indication that my leg muscles are building.

As for weights, I've raised my squat weight to 135# (3 sets of 10), increased the pulley weight on biceps/triceps to 100#, 3x10 "shrugs" of 40# in each hand, 3x20 forearms at 10#... umm... sit-ups... other weight things...

Dammit I want to go running. Le sigh.

My Body for a Dunk

Sunday March 7th was a great game of football - I ran, passed, caught, pivoted, etc. with no complaints from my hip. Near the end of the game however I really whanged my left shin into another player's knee or something. I sat out a couple of plays but made it in to finish the game. I could tell it would bruise but having had a similar shin-smashing earlier didn't think it would be significant.

And for a while it wasn't. I did weights on Monday, Death Machine on Tuesday, took Wednesday off, weights on Thursday... and although my shin still felt a little off, I just chalked it up to the bruise. There's zero protection between the bone and the skin - no fat and just a small muscle - so I figured at worst I'd banged the shin bone pretty hard. Well, Friday I go in for a run on the treadmill and almost immediately my left leg begins firing off pain signals. From the ankle up to the knee my leg is sending out weird sensations from areas I had never really been aware of until they started hurting. I made it two miles and finally had to stop. As soon as I got off the treadmill my left ankle blew up, forcing me to limp and walk like a couple of nails had been shot through the joint.

Since Friday afternoon I've tried to stay off my feet as much as possible. The pain has subsided but I can only walk a short distance before it flares back up. Just now I was at the store for 20 minutes and my leg is still throbbing. I don't think it is broken, but if the pain is still there Thursday I'll get it x-rayed. Saturday and Sunday I didn't go into the gym and I feel like crap. I've become such a gym monkey that two days off is causing me to drag! I'll make an effort to go tomorrow, but I will not be able to do any cardio workouts (runnning or Death Machining) until this thing is healed. I'm pretty sure doing squats won't be helpful either, but we'll see.

So this is definitely the first set-back. I can keep concentrating on building up my leg muscles into tree trunks, but without the carido break in-between workouts I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm tempted to go back to every other day workouts, but that'll depend primarily on the condition of my leg. Curse this broken body of mine!

Dink Dunk

Friday ended up including 3 different leg exercises: squats/calf raises, box steps with 30# in each hand, and quad/hamstring with 35# on each leg. Friday night didn't end until 2 in the morning Saturday, and Sunday I successfully played 2+ hours of football! A most triumphant return to the gridiron. Yet my ultimate goal lies inside the gymnasium, so it was there I returned this afternoon.

I upped my squat weight by another 5# today. The gain was again noticeable but not beyond 3 sets of 10, although the very last repetition was a struggle and I had to lean forward quite a bit - that's bad form, as it strains your back - but I can see myself keeping up with the 5#/week increase for a while. But I wonder, is that a quick enough gain? That's 20# added to my squatting weight each month, but I've started at basically zero courtesy of my hip, so will I be able to squat enough weight to raise me up to the magnificent throne of dunk before the year is out? Today, each set was ten repetitions of squatting 120# followed by 24 calf raises - I did that three times in all. I also did lunges while twisting my torso with a 10# weight held outstretched. I think I need to find an exercise that incorporates jumping in addition to the squats... shoot, I guess I can just jump. I'll start that Wednesday!

The gym at work is currently filled with gymnastics equipment (go figure), so I haven't been able to play since last Wednesday's morning game. In other news, despite starting three All-Stars (Josh Smith counts) and the likely Sixth Man of the Year coming off the bench, the Hawks continue to flail about and waste their talent under the watch of special education graduate Mike Woodson. With Woodson in charge, the Hawks will probably draft me this year...

This is what a person looks like when they have no idea what is going on.

Putting in Time for the Dunk

Operation GET SWOLL is well underway. I began upping reps and weight Monday, maintained that new level Wednesday, and am doing it again today. Saturday will be a running day (if I make it in - tonight I'm going to the Hawks game and may choose to continue the night's festivities). Sunday I'm going to try and make my football debut, then Monday I'll return to moving weight, but increasing the amount again.

After Monday's workout I bought some protein bars (le sigh) to double up with my milk. Wednesday morning we played 4-on-4 (only 9 showed) for about 45 minutes. Earlier in the week I was joking with another teacher about how I'd need to buy a pair of high tops if we keep playing. He asked me what size I was and said, "I gotcha". Wednesday morning he shows up with a pair for me to use! Having never worn high tops before, I was really pleased about the level of support they offered. It allowed for sharper cuts and stopped the mini-ankle rolls I'd come to expect with my running shoes. Afterwards I set them by his desk in the office, but he told me to keep them! So now I've got a pair of bonus high tops! How great is life?

We played 3 games, and I won 2. I shot okay, 3-7 (all jumpers), but missed a really great breakaway layup. Missing that kind of shot is just stupid. I've found that when charging the basket at a sprint you need to jump much earlier than you'd think, as your forward momentum carries you further than anticipated. I got in and banged around a bit too, getting some rebounds and assists. My one open drive to the basket got kicked away by another player. And I definitely need to work on ball-handling.

This is what I look like when dribbling.

But all that is secondary to the new year's resolution, of course. The squats are definitely giving me a huge workout. I pair a set of 10 with 20+ calf raises, and do that 3 times. I do two leg workouts: squats and either quad/hamstring or step-ups with 25# weights in each hand (although I'll bump that to 30# today). I may try the leg press machine today, but I feel that free weights give the additional attention to stabilizing muscles. I'll re-measure my vertical this weekend and try and get a read on my running jump... time to do work!

Punishment Dunk

So playing 1-on-1 with an athletic trainer on 4 hours of sleep with the waste products of Jameson and nachos still in your system is a great way to grind out any impression that you are in shape. We played two games (one basket, one point), in which I got whipped 15-7 and 11-4. I'd like to think I was in a state - I'd only had a bowl of cereal that morning - that prevented me from playing up to full potential, but it turns out there are huge components missing from my basketball skill set. About the only thing I've got going for me is speed. I'm still pretty light and can get past most of the heavily muscled trainers or older teachers I play against. The trainer that schooled me on Saturday had a fade-away shot I just couldn't defend! We're playing 5-on-5 Wednesday morning, so I'll try and incorporate something new and see how it goes.

I've been doing the same workout routine for a few weeks now - same weights, same number of reps, same exercises. I realized today that I've got to be constantly pushing my limits to see any improvement in my jumping, so when I went in to move weight today I decided I would add 5# a week to my squats until failure (failure being unable to complete 3 sets of 10). Just adding 5# today was a noticeable, but not impossible, addition to my routine. The curls/triceps I do are 10# increments, and I won't be able to jump 10# at a time there so I sped up my 3 sets of 10 (10 second rest between biceps to triceps; 45 second rest between sets). I added more sit-ups and more weight on my quads/hamstrings... and I was definitely beaten down by the end. I think I clenched my teeth so hard they've been rocked loose. And in an effort to, sigh, recover faster and grow bigger, I've downed a Clif bar, glass of milk, and will be having a whole chicken breast tonight.

But during the punishing workout, I realized I've gotten into a HABIT. During the one or two days a week I don't work out, I feel like crap. Tired, lethargic, "off" - I think I've become a gym rat. I guess that's what it's gonna take to get up there to that magical dunk though.. onward and upward!