Im too confused... help!

S

Sidewinder

0
Hi guys i've just signed up after reading through a few posts and it seems that there are quite a few clued in people here so here i go :) (Apologies in advance for length)

I am currently 24yo, ~187 cm ( 6'2") and ~90kg (Sorry im Australian dont know lbs).

I was 117kg about a year and a half ago but after an arthroscopy (sp?) i have been able to get into sport again and i started training. My knee is about 90% but still feels a little odd, i had a knee disease known as osgood schlatters which prevented me from doing sport for a long time and the operation was the only fix as my condition was worse than most.

With that in mind i am really just trying to get a 3 or 4 day routine, with my major goals i guess the same as most peoples, gain size/strength and lose fat (Can anyone say ryan reynolds?).
Unfortunately my knee problems have made me a little unbalanced so at the moment i am using foam rollers to massage out my muscles, doing plenty of stretching and cardio but to be completely honest i find it painful annoying and boring as hell... all these planks and cobras im sure are great for you but i just end up feeling uncomfortable...

I guess what im getting at is should i be doing what i am doing, or can i just get back the thrashing the crap outta the weights? If so can someone suggest a program? At the end of the day i just have so much information in my head that i seriously lose motivation because it seems too complicated :(

Ill leave it here for now, any info would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks in advance

Dave

Edit: I really haven't given enough detail...

I was doing weight training with a 4 day split, usually with a trainer or a partner for about 8 months and dropped to 82kg (which was nice) but stopped getting gains in size... i was also doing martial arts but i think i overtrained and then after a karate injury i stopped altogether and its been about 5 months since i have been seriously training... i still have a niggle in my left trap and an uncomfortablilty in my ankle from the karate injury... i am generally tight through my glutes and hammies and have recently started using orthodics to improve my movement... hence the reason why i am mainly stretching and rolling and doing interval training on X-trainers, egometers and stationary cycles...
At the moment im confused as to what i should be doing, how long until i can hit the weights... also id like to know about adaption, i've heard about cycling routines to break habit and initiate new growth phases (as you can see i have completely over-analysed the whole thing which is leading to my "its too hard dont bother" mentality and i am losing all my hard work - fast)

Ill leave it here, advice appreciated etc :)
 
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Adaption phase is abbreviated as AA and it's the anatomical adapation phase. It usually just consists of a trainee doing 12-15 reps for a few weeks to get used to lifting weights and then bumping down the reps and increasing weight.

Have you been given an okay to return to lifting and physical activity? If you are, are you excluded from any movements (i.e. squats, etc)?

Also, think about adding in some psoas activation work, this will help to work some of the tightness out of your glutes. The psoas can only be "activated" above 90 degrees of hip flexion, so you have to work on it from the top down (as Mike Boyle always states). Sit on a box that forces your hips into 90 degree hip flexion and sit up against something (preferably another person). Lift your knee up and hold it up there for a count of 3-5 seconds. You can do it standing as well, but most people have a hard time knowing what 90 degrees of hip flexion is and often times lean back in order to compensate for the weak psoas.
 
Hey thanks for the quick reply...

What is psoas?

In terms of movement restriction i havent really bee told theres anything i cant do, reason being that its not really a joint problem or a muscle problem but it was inflamation of the tibial terbercule that calcified and had to be removed... its more the operation site that still gives me a weird feeling like something healed together and when i lean on it i feel it pull...

but one thing i have noticed when i squat is my OTHER leg has a tendon that flicks when i get to just over 90 degrees... once again it doesnt hurt but i can feel it happen and just before it flicks there is a bit of tension... its the tendon on the outside of my leg underneath... its stumped a few people at the gym...

Anyway... Im planning on starting weights again next week... what kind of sets should i be doing to ease back into it... and how long after should i be going hard... and then how should i cycle my weeks so that i dont plateau?

Probably most importantly is what do you think is a good starting point? I really need to just get the ball rolling but i dont want to cause myself more problems by going too hard too fast... unless of course theres no problem with that?

Thanks in advance :)

Edit again: I am training by myself now and i find it much harder to push myself as far as i could with a partner... so i dont understand what type of workout i should be doing eg higher reps with lower weights so i dont fail or just lower weights and lower reps but not to failure until i get a new partner?

As another side note i find it very difficult to isolate my chest with bench press as my rear shoulders fatigue far quicker than my actual chest... ideas??
 
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deff consult more than one expert before starting heavy weight training if you have schlatters. Thats not the sort of thing that just goes away.
I know someone who had schlatters and weight trained, his muscles go so musch stronger than his bones, he broke his wrist on a dead lift and 6 months later, broke his knee at the bottom end of a squat, alone with his spotters shin!!!!
 
I would start off in the 6-12 rep range. Yes that's a large rep range but it makes for fun times.

I don't know what your previous weight training sessions were like but I'd go something along the lines of

Upper A-
bench:4X6
bent over row:4X8
incline db press:3X10
chins/lat pulldown:3X10

Lower A-
squats:4X6
lunges:3X12 each leg
back extensions:2X15
calf raises
abs

Upper B-
Military press:4X6
1 arm db row:3X10 each side
cable flyes:2X12
circuit of rear delt flyes, bb curls, skulls:3X10 each

Lower B-
run the same as A but experiment with putting overhead squats here instead of back squats

If going to deep bothers in you squats use a box to sit back on with a wider stance or put the pins in the power rack so that you're hitting at just right below parallel. You don't have to follow this...I sometimes play with writting out programs for fun.
 
Osgood schlatters is only a inflammation of the tibial terbecule which is just below the kneecap and it does just go away... once you stop growing it generally fades but i had some bad collisions in the area which fragmented a bit of one which calcified... leaving me with quite a lump that impaired tendon movement in the area etc

Evo there seems to be alot of push pull in the same session is that advised? IM not really sure but i seem to remember being told never to work opposing muscle sets if you want to grow?

My old routine was sort of like (first set on 4X generally warmup set):

Day 1- Chest/Tri's
Bench 4X12-15
Dumbell Bench 4X12-15
Bench Flyes or cable flyes 4X12-15
incline dumbell press 4X12-15
Cable tricep extensions 4X10 with 6 more cable pulldowns following
single arm cable pull downs 4X10-max

Day 2 Back/Biceps
Assisted widegrip chinups 4X12-15
Seated Cable Rows 4X12-15 or Widegrip bent over row 4X12-15
Weighted Hyper extensions 2X15
Single arm bent over row 3X12-15
Preacher curls 4X12-15
Barbell bicep curls 4X12-15
Hammer curls 3X12-15

Day 3 Shoulders/Abs
Military press 4X12-15
lateral raises 4X12-15
bent over rear delt raises 4X12-15
Swiss ball crunches
that machine where you pull your legs up
bunch of other random tummy things

Day 4 Legs
Weighted Squats 4X10-12
Stiff legged deadlifts 4X10-12 or Deadlifts 4X10-12
Leg extensions 4X12-15
Hamstring curls 4X12-15
Calf raises 3X10-max

Most sessions are started with a 6-10 min cross train and finished with 20 Mins of HIIT
Most of the training was to failure... but eventually i stopped getting results... and started getting weaker...

Should i stick to this routine but after a month or 2 drop the reps and increase the weights? it IS a nice routine... but maybe im doing to many excercises?

Its 1am, saw king kong, now sad and tired... reply's are welcome!
 
Working multiple muscle groups each session is fine and super-setting antagonist muscle groups will produce results. In fact, you'll see better results from working the same muscle group multiple times through the week. I'm not sure why you were told that but it couldn't be further from the truth.

One thing I've noticed from your routine listed is that your shoulders are being worked three days in a row. Leg extensions are practically worthless and can be damaging exept in a rehabilitation setting.
 
It wasnt in that order but they were the session breakdowns...

It was generally
Chest/Tri
Back/Bi
Legs
Shoulders/Abs

ANd if i could only make it 3 times in a week i would drop the shoulders day

So you think that program is pretty well rounded?

If not what would you change?
 
Osgood schlatters is only a inflammation of the tibial terbecule which is just below the kneecap and it does just go away... once you stop growing it generally fades but i had some bad collisions in the area which fragmented a bit of one which calcified... leaving me with quite a lump that impaired tendon movement in the area etc

Oh, well I guess you would know more that me about it. Sorry, i must be confused with something else. I thort it was where your bones were weak, and even after it goes away your bones never grow as strong as they should.
 
manofkent said:
Osgood schlatters is only a inflammation of the tibial terbecule which is just below the kneecap and it does just go away... once you stop growing it generally fades but i had some bad collisions in the area which fragmented a bit of one which calcified... leaving me with quite a lump that impaired tendon movement in the area etc

Oh, well I guess you would know more that me about it. Sorry, i must be confused with something else. I thort it was where your bones were weak, and even after it goes away your bones never grow as strong as they should.
Click to expand...

are you not thinking of osteoporsis?
 
yeah thats brittle bone stuff...

Anyway apart from the side track do you think i can stick with that routine?
I was also thinking about warming up before every session with a body weight excercise for that muscle group so that i can get some strength gains too... as well as be able to isolate muscles a bit better...

eg before a chest day do 3 x max pushups and before back day do 3 x max chin ups, legs 3 x body weight squats on a balance board or something?

Unless someone can suggest otherwise ill start this week with some light weights and 12-15 reps to get used to the routine then in 2 weeks drop to 5X5 of each excercise...

Also any suggestions on how i should choose my weights seeing as i will be training without a spotter?
 
Now that you mention it ive started seriously considering the 5X5 program... starting on the intermediate for a month... then i go to thailand for 2 weeks for a holiday and then continuing for a months before going the dual phase... im only 3-4 months out of my old program so i should readjust relatively quickly... 3 day full body split, following each session with 20 mins of cardio and one seperate day dedicated to cardio/core/stretching... im not looking to win competitions... just feel stronger, drop weight and fill out the frame with the good stuff... unfortunately im a fussy eater so my diet although good most of the time will only ever be what it is... so i do the best i can...

I would love to incorporate some wide grip assisted chinups to the program but it states pretty clearly not to alter it :\
 
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