4/26/19, Friday
Run-walk
1.75 miles, 27:14, intervals around my neighborhood.
I’m out of running shape, but the warm weather is motivating me to get out and get moving!
This is the most important word in the sentence. As long as the weight is relatively challenging to you and you keep pushing yourself to do more. You will keep improving and reap the gainz rewards.
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Yes. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to do them the past couple months due to my hip/knee pain. I’ve had to settle for RFESS and reverse lunges with no weight.
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So much this. Walks are magical, and that’s not an overstatement.
The conditioning effect on a brisk walk is up there too. The recovery effect is real too.
What’s crazy is the difference between sprints, and even running. Sprints especially, you have to recover from. Walking is restorative.
It’s so important to remember all of this when setting up your training splits. I sprint/run trained last year and did not count it as training days, and ended up very injured.
Good work in here!
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It was all going so well. Seemingly. A few weeks ago, during a leg workout, my knee developed a sharp pain behind the patella that didn’t diminish for a week. Doggone it. That was the last Monday of April and the last regular leg workout I’ve done in three weeks.
I’ve been walking, jogging, and have done a couple upper body sessions, but I’m not sure I’ll remember everything. I’m gonna log what I recall to see any patterns and learn from them. At this point, I can safely say my premise from seven months ago holds true - my knees don’t like to squat multiple times each week.
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4/29/19, Monday, EODS day 13
(posted three weeks after, so going on my best memory)
Squats
15 x 20
65 x 5
115 x 5
145 x 5
170 x 5
190 x 1 rep x 5 sets
Right knee feeling uncomfortable but not yet worrisome.
Front squats
135 x 5
Sharp pain in right knee, so no more squatting.
Walking lunges
bw x 10
Right knee STILL hurts, even with no extra load, so no more knee flexion exercises.
DB swings / single leg calf raise
35 x 15 / 25 x 10
45 x 15 / 25 x 10
45 x 15 / 25 x 10
45 x 15 / 25 x 10
45 x 15
45 x 15
Contrary to the knee flexion exercises, these felt GREAT. My hams were also sore for five days 
Why are you squatting? Serious question. If it’s not friendly to you then why force it?
I haven’t been doing my traditional leg workouts for quite awhile and I feel great.
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That’s a great question. I like squatting because of the total-body strengthening effect I get from it. Since I don’t have a gym membership right now, I’m limited to free weight exercises, ergo no leg presses/extensions/curls.
In the past, when I’ve squatted once a week and deadlifted once a week, my legs have thrived (thriven?) Standing lu ges are a no-go for me, hence the walking lunges I was doing. RFESS are obnoxious, mostly because I have limited ROM in my right ankle, which makes the movement very frustrating. Which means I should focus on it. Grrrrr.
It’s hard to remember the details of other workouts, so I’m going to post the most recent and continue with the present.
5/11/19, Sunday
Warm-up
BPA - 2x red x 4 x 20
Curls/extensions/delts - 8lbs x 15
Standing DB OHP
25 x 12
35 x 10
45 x 7
45 x 8
45 x 8
Wide neutral grip rows
85 x 10
125 x 8
125 x 8
110 x 10
110 x 10
As always, these felt great. They aren’t as frustrating either, which means the target muscles (lower and middle traps) are strengthening.
Push-ups / rear delt flyes / BB curls
25 x 14 / 13 x 13 / 65 x 8
25 x 14 / 13 x 13 / 65 x 8
25 x 16 / 13 x 16 / 65 x 10
Gripper squeezes
Bollinger, 50/hand
All told, this was a good session. I’m keeping it as one of my two upper body workouts for the foreseeable future.
OK, so do this. 
Is the problem with your trail/support leg? My left ankle kills me if I put it flat on the bench. I’ve started using the round pad on the decline bench or putting a pad on the bar in the smith (not an option at home).
Do you mean static lunges? What about reverse lunges?
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Your advice is validating; at this point, I plan to continue lifting three times per week, rotating between two different workouts for both the upper and lower body. I only do each lift once every nine or ten days but, because of movement pattern similarity, each target muscle group in the upper or lower body is exercised every four or five days. I’ll plan one leg session ago and squats and the other around deficit RDLs or deficit conventional deadlifts.
The problem is I can barely balance on my right leg when it’s the forward leg. Imagine having your foot and ankle locked into a 90* L-beam position. I have a mass of scar tissue that almost completely blocks my ROM, so keeping from tipping side to side is exceedingly difficult. If i force myself to consistent tly do them, my balance and strength will improve. Tgeyre really frustrating though, probably because extensive nerve damage from the injury makes muscle response sluggish. The movement works my neurological system as much as or more than my skeletal muscles.
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Yep, static lunges are what I meant. Good clarification. Reverse lunges and step-ups are next on my list, as well as possible prioritizing RFESS’s.
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5/12/19
Walk/jog
2.0 miles, 27-ish minutes
Sorry to hear about that, was btw starting to wonder if you’ve left us.
As J says you don’t have to squat, but I get what you mean.
So when the pain is gone you might be able to get away with squatting once a week.
RFESS do them non weighted to get some mobility and stability back in the ankle. The stiff ankle might also be the culprit to the knee pain.
Keep rehabbing TnT
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5/18/19, Saturday
Walk, 2.2 miles, 37:10
I’m still here; thanks for thinking of me @mortdk, I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Your advice is spot-on. I’ll keep rehabbing and doing what this body needs to work right.
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5/19/19, Sunday
Warm-up
curls, tri ext, 3-way delts, 8lbs x 15
Wide neutral rows / standing DB OHP
85 x 10 / 28 x 12
125 x 9 / 38 x 10
125 x 9 / 48 x 8
105 x 12 / 48 x 8
105 x 13 / 48 x 8
Still feeling good and slowly scooching the weights up.
Rear delts / DB curls / single tri ext
18 x 11 / 25 x 15 / 25 x 15
18 x 11 / 25 x 15 / 25 x 15
Like many here, I’m going with yet another idea.
Today was upper body, doing two focus lifts then accessories that felt good. Each day this week, I’m going to alternate upper and lower body, doing two primary lifts followed with accessories or, in the case of lower body, rehab as needed. My plan is to keep the sessions brief (30 minutes or less), minimize fatigue, walk frequently, and assess how I feel from exercising just a little each day 
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Welcome to the club!
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Haha, thanks! It appears to be a lifelong club membership for me; a 600-pound rock falling on one’s leg apparently was sufficient to pay membership dues.
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5/21/19, Tuesday
Warm-up/rehab
Single leg glute bridges, 2 x 8, 3-second peak hold
Clamshells, 1 x 10, 1 x 15
Side planks, 2 x 15 per side
Goblet squats
35 x 15
45 x 15
55 x 15
Felt very good. May use these only as this workout’s staple for a month.
Squats
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
Only felt ok, hence potentially doing goblet squats for a bit.
DB swings
45 x 15
45 x 15
45 x 15
45 x 15
45 x 15
Heck yes, got some much-needed hamstring exercise. I’m going to walk these up to five sets of 20.
Single leg calf raises
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 9
Step-ups (per leg)
backpack x 25
backpack x 25
I’d last planned to only do a couple exercises each day and alternate upper and lower body days. However, I’d forgotten that frequently knee extension is what put my leg in Pain City, so I’m back to doing the ever-manageable thrice-weekly lifting workouts, alternating upper and lower body days.
On non-lifting days, I’ll keep on walking/jogging/rucking, remembering @IronOne’s hard-learned experience that walking is restorative AND surprisingly good cardio. My leg days for the next month will remain therapy-centric. I’m going to do the rehab movements I need then have fun with the lifting session.
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