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Played in an Easter basketball tournament last weekend so took a couple of days off prior to it. It was four 10 min quarters per game and we were in the masters (over 35s) section and I was a little surprised at the quality of some of the players. Had three games on the Friday and one Saturday morning. It was far more physical than I would have expected which actually nullifies a lot of my game. Lots of body contact on the drive and I'm not really a proper post player but more of a slasher which is difficult to do when you're getting shoved on every play. Had a great time though and it looks it will become an annual thing with this team. Gives me 12 months to get into better shape than I am now.

Thoughts out of the tournament:
Pros-
I'm a better shooter than I give myself credit for and I need to trust my shot and get more shots up overall. I have a great 1 dribble pull up from mid range and can get it anytime I want. Needed to be more aggressive. That would also open up the lane to the basket more.
My conditioning was actually pretty good. I played at least 30 mins per game and not once did I feel overwhelmingly tired. Part of that has to be the weekly running I've been doing.
Vert isn't terrible. I weighed 96kg on the first day so probably 99 adding food, water, shoes and clothes. Still getting mid palm above rim which is 24-25" off a few steps. Only got out rebounded a few times by a guy who was 2" taller than me with long arms.

Cons-
I did feel weak against some of the men playing. They were just bigger and more physical. I'm a different build to a lot of them. Perhaps need a few more kgs on the upper body to really compete.
Vert isn't great. Rather than add a few more kgs to the upper body (like I said above) I would prefer to be 6-8kgs lighter and be faster and more dynamic. I'm pushing against age here but realistically think I still have a 30"+  in game vert in me. I can also probably get a lot stronger without adding too much size.
I completely over thought the training process. Tried to do too much in too many domains. It's pretty simple though right. Get stronger at a lighter bodyweight and add some jumps and stay flexible.
Overall conditioning was poor. My cardio was great and I was able to recover and repeat efforts pretty well. Next year I would plan to have 4-6 games leading into the tournament to get my in game conditioning to a better level. My calves and ankles suffered the most. Sprained my left ankle twice in the last game and pretty sure this was due to fatigue accumulated from the previous games.  Ankle is still pretty well buggered and will take some time to heal.

Back into training today and will take it slow and just focus on getting some good movement in. Time now to focus on martial arts training and make some advancements there before coming back to basketball in the new year.

16/01/2024
Weight- 97.7kgs
Total Cals- 2,321 (164g P, 206g C, 97g F)

Hang Clean- 20 x 5, 30 x 5, 40 x 3

Back Squat- 20 x 10, 40 x 5, 60 x 1, 70 x 4, 65 x 7, 7

Incline DB Bench- 3 x 10 @ 15kg DBs
Incline DB Chest Supported Row- 3 x 10 @ 15kg DBs

DB Straight Arm Lateral Raise- 6kg DBs x 6, 6, 6

Super hot session. Was 33 degrees outside so probably 38 or 40 in my garage. Awesome.
Have rejoined an old gym and will start back there next week.   

22/01/24
BW- 96.3kg
Total Cals- 3,258 (211g P, 171g C, 171g F)

Barbaric Rites - Day 2

Bench- Light (3x1/1xAMRAP @55/60/65/70% - training max of 85kgs)
bar x 1-. 42.5 x 10, 50 x 10, 55 x 10, 60 x 7

Yates Row- Heavy (5/5/5 @ 70/80/90% - training max of 70kgs)
40 x 5, 50 x 5, 55 x 5, 62.5 x 5)

Dips- 3x6@bw

Upright Row- 3x10@20kg

Session felt good. Not used to bench volume and dips suffered significantly.

Varying my calorie intake to really get a gauge on what my TDEE actually is. My go to for weight loss has always been 2500 cals but on that I will lose 1.5-2kgs in the first couple of weeks before it slows down. Going to play in the 2700-2800ish range. I'm happy to lose weight slower as it will be more sustainable in the long run and I will be more likely to build strength during that period. Also am going back to martial arts later this week and will be doing 3-5 sessions a week so will def need the calories.

Overshot the cals by about 500 yesterday but woke up lighter. Weird.

Happens to me too! I usually attribute to one of two reasons: (a) sometimes being in a deficit can just lead to water retention from stress, and having a higher cal day alleviates that; (b) when I overeat, it's often because I've had less fibre/less satiating food and more calorie dense things, so there's just less mass in the gut.

25/01/2024
BW- 97.5- Had a funeral yesterday where I ate and drank whatever I wanted. Lots of water weight here.

Barbaric Rites- Day 3

Deadlift- (Light- 3x10/1xAMRAP @ 55/60/65/70%- training max of 110)
Warm Up- bar x 10, 40 x 5
60 x 10, 65 x 10, 70 x 10, 77.5 x 10

Front Squat- 3x10@40kgs

Good Mornings- 3x10@40kgs

It was a warm day but I was sweating like a pig after all these sets of 10. Not used to ever doing a whole lot of leg volume so this will be interesting.

30/01/24
BW- too heavy (off the diet over the weekend)

Hang Power Clean-
bar x 5, 30 x 3, 40 x 3, 50 x 3

High Bar Squat-
bar x 10, 40 x 5, 60 x 3, 80 x 1, 90 x 5, 80 x 6

Yates Row-
3 x 10 @ 50kg

Incline DB Bench- 3 x 10 @ 15s

J Curl- 1 x 10 @ 6kg + 10s pause on last rep
ATG Split Squat- 1 x 10 + 10s pause on last rep
Wall Assisted Calf Stretch- 1 x 25 + 10s pause on last rep

Goign to 3 days of weights instead of 4. Got caught up in setting training goals for an activity without actually doing said activity. I really want to compete in some grappling tournaments (Judo & BJJ) and a couple of stand up tournaments in the second half of the year so whilst strength are important my cardio will need to be on point. Will to 3 days weights and 3 days cardio.

06/02/2024
BW- 97.5kg

Warm Up-
Push Ups x 10 @ 30s,
Ring Rows x 5 @ 45s,
Chin Ups x 3 @ 60s
CG Chin Ups x 2 @ 90s

A1 Mixed Grip Chin Ups @ 5 x 1 @ 1012 tempo @ 120s rest

A2 ECC-ONLY Lean Forward Push Up, 5 x 1 @ 8-10s tempo @ 120s rest

B Wall Assisted HSPU 5 x 1 @ 1010 tempo @ 120 rest

C German Hang 6 x 10s @ 30s

These bodyweight sessions always make me feel so good afterwards. Going to stick to these for a bit and just sprinkle in some squats and bench.