Thread: Help me dunk again!* long post though

Alright... a recap. I was playing basketball blah blah blah... when someone threw a lead pass in front of me which i then tried to accelerate to get the ball. Unfortunately, that never happend, i felt something snap around my knee and i couldnt move or walk. I was being a dumbass because the pain in my knee has been around for a month, but since it would subside after i warm-up, i really didnt care. I saw a doctor said it was a tear of the lateral ligament and it's due to overuse or something along that line(June 2005). The doctor even told me i should not lift weights for legs again - strong BS.

Well, that's not really important. After several months of rehabbing, i started playing basketball again in october(light). Right now, i'm doing okay. However, i couldn't get the 'ups' anymore. I can't even dunk now - i'm 5'11. Looking at my leg, i can see the vastus medialis(sp?) really atrophied down in size( the muscle that makes the tear drop).

Well i tried some smith machine squats back in January 2006 and let's just say it felt very weird. Fast forward to last week, i decided to give free weight barbell squats again. I started real light and worked up way up to a 205lbs squats for a couple reps - although i felt i certainly could have done more.

Well, i felt if i want to dunk again, i NEED TO SQUAT. I read that leg extensions is a killer for the knee, so i wouldn't include it.
I started doing hang cleans in my shoulder workout.
Started doing heavy low reps dead lift(1-6 reps) in my back workout.



My routine is currentlly bodybuilding style. My legs, strangely is still 23-24' on my 175lbs frame. It's even slight still overpowering my upper body(due to a year of just squatting,leg extension, leg curl for basketball while neglecting my upper body). Currenlty bulking to bring up my upper body(coming nicely), while still looking to gain some strength in my lower body.

Help anyone?

What other exercises should i include? I can include a squat exercise before my chest workout. This way, my deadlift/hang cleans/squats fall on different days.

but when u jump arnt u doing the same movement as calf raises? u exploding up just like u raise in calf raises.