Upper body/lower body. I can’t do squats/leg press/deadlift atm due to a brutal knee injury I had in March. Any advice is appreciated…
I’m pretty sure you’re going to have to give a few more details than that.
Like:
What is your goal?
How far away from your goal are you currently?
What kind of time or equipment do you have available?
What style of training interests you?
What lower body exercises can you safely do?
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In regards to your knee, have you worked with a physical therapist? Met with an orthopedist? How about leg extension and leg curls. Walking in a pool? Knees are complicated, asking non professionals is not the best. My neighbor lady would tell you to use essential oils.
I do full body workouts three times a week. I supplement that with HIT rides on an Airdyne. I am not sure a stationary bike would help you, but talk to someone who is in the know.
If your knee is that muffed up then you might want to look for a facility that has weight machines. Carrying weight discs around my not be helpful.
After all of that, what is your background? What are your goals. Have you used specific programs in the past? A lot of folks here use the 531 programs from Jim Wendler. Dr. Ellington Darden’s HIT programs are also popular.
First, and foremost, get your knee rehab-ed. Everything revolves around your legs.
I can’t think of any lower body lifts that don’t load or otherwise utilize the knees in some capacity.
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Sorry for lack of info. I am 53, very lean and athletic. I ripped the tendin from my quad, so lost a lost of mass on my right leg. Got to three gyms with lots of excercises available. I can do leg ext, leg curls and any calf exercise for lower body.
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Sports physiotherapist here
I’m assuming you had a quad tendon repair, in which case by now (5-6 months post) you’ll be significantly weaker, but allowed to start strength training to regain the strength & mass in the right leg
In that case, I would be trying to superimpose 4 upper body “exposures” per week with 3 lower body “exposures”, in some reasonable fashion.
For example:
Monday: Chest + Leg extension, leg curl, calf raises
Wednesday: Back + Leg extension, leg curl, calf raises
Friday: Shoulders + Leg extension, leg curl, calf raises
Saturday: Arms and abs
Or…
Monday: Upper push (horizontal) + Leg extension, leg curl, calf raises
Wednesday: Upper pull (horizontal) + Leg extension, leg curl, calf raises
Friday: Upper push (vertical) + Leg extension, leg curl, calf raises
Saturday: Upper pull (vertical) + core
From there I would program the upper body with…
- 1 x heavy movement, 2-5 work sets of 3-6 reps
- 1-2 x moderate movements, 2-4 work sets of 8-12 reps
- 1-2 x light movements, 2-3 work sets of 8-25 reps
And then just train the lower body with 3 sets of 6-10 reps per movement, per session, with violent consistency
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