[quote]rocket man 400 wrote:
Hope I am not too late too help. First you did gain more fat than you wanted and not enough muscle or strength. At least you tried. You injured yourself and this is probably because your form is not proper. Squat and deadlift form is critical. Flat back, push out with stomach, stay tight, shoulder blades pulled back, etc. If I saw you work out I could analyze exactly what you need just by seeing your body shape and form in the lifts. What I am going to suggest is radical and almost no one suggests this as most have no clue how it works. It is always suggested that full range of motion is important for muscle growth. That is BS. You may benefit much more to do incomplete ranges of motion in the deadlift, squat and bench press. A long limbed lifter has such poor leverage in the bottom portion of most lifts. This makes it extremely hard to get strong and can cause injuries.
I recommend experimenting with deadlifts in the rack, try pulling from mid shin and slightly below the knee. This will improve your leverages and you will get much stronger faster. I also would recommend using a parallel handle bar (hex bar) these are available in rackable models. My regular hex bar will work but limits the amount of plates per side. So, I just pull the pin out of one side of the rack, place 2 jack stands at the right height and place the pin on the jack stands… This is for one side of the bar, the other side is the rack. I just improvised and made my rack narrower for my bar. For the squat, you can squat with a wide stance, knees out and go to slightly above parallel. Also do some quarter squats as well. I would suggest doing the deadlift and power squat only one day per week, alternating them and alternating the different ranges of motion. I also suggest you get or have your gym aquire a safety squat bar.( but the technique I am going to suggest can be used with the leg press and hack machine) The power squat and deadlift emphasize body power, pure strength as I suggested doing them. By doing your leg press, safety bar squat( the original way, holding on to the rack to maintain an upright stance) or hack machine in the following manner you will develop your quads maximally. Go down to parallel or slightly below, come up only about a foot and back down. This is a partial movement that will stimulate your quads more than anything you will ever do. Do at least 10 reps.
For Bench I suggest you only lower the bar till your forearm/upper arm is at a 90 degree angle. This greatly improves leverage so you can get really strong. For overhead presses I suggest only bringing the bar down as low as the top of the head for the same reasons.
If you want to preserve your flexibility then do the full range of motion with a light weight for a warm up and at the end of the last set. this will keep your range of motion intact for shoulders and legs/hips
People with different genetics as far as limb length and especially people with long femurs in proportion to the rest of their body need to train different. The same exercises work for everyone, but how they are done is so important . Now I know the rules of powerlifting …but this is not about powerlifting, it is about making someone get stronger and put on some real muscle. Leverages are everything…that is why the most muscular guys you see naturally are shorter limbed.
In regard to repetitions… get STRONG, this means low reps. However, do one or 2 back off sets following your heavy stuff and do much higher reps…say 15-20 with the appropriate weight. This will give you more time under tension which helps muscle growth.
Realize it takes time, recovery is so important. Work out hard for 3 weeks, then deload…back off and just do the movemments light, no high reps, just to maintain your technique and to get the blood flowing. Or take the week off. This is a HUGE factor in continued progress…don’t forget this.
Now diet… eat enough to grow…but if getting too fat, back off on the calories. Also try walking 10 minutes several times per day. this helps burn pure fat and also helps with recovery as gentle movement aids blood flow to the muscles…I personally walk 4- 6 X’s a day(up to an hour total) This is way better than a one hour straight walk for our needs. Keeps the body active all day long which aids the metabolism.
When you have gained some decent strength and muscle…then if you want you can cut the fat. Diet always requires adjustments…
Isolation exercises are very important AFTER you have developed some strength and size and can see what muscles are developing fine and which need some help. This is the bodybuilding approach… The strength approach uses the isolation movements to improve a lagging area in regard to the major lifts.
For improving a muscle do higher reps, drop sets, super short rest 10-20 sec between sets, experiment with different exercises and “chase the pump” as they used to say. It works.[/quote]
I think that without reading your post, this is too much information for the OP. The OP obviously has major issues with the absolute fundamentals of training and nutrition that should be addressed long before any of the points in your post.