I want to start off by saying I’m not a weight lifter. I’ll lift for a few months at a time, here and there, mostly doing squats and deadlifts. I train and compete in Judo, which is where the bulk of my ‘strength training’ came in. I just wanted to lay out a little background on where Im coming from before I ask my question. For the record, I’m 36, 6’1", weigh 195. and have a ‘wiry’ build.
I tore my ACL back in January, and cannot get back on the mat for a good 6 months (end of August). From there, I slowly work my way back to competition shape. So I’m looking a solid year before I can be training hard again. I did, however, get clearance to lift weights, so I figure I might as well take advantage of that. My old routine was squats, standing press, and rows on one day, and pull ups, bench press, and deadlifts and calf raises on the other. I always just did 5 x 5, twice a week, but I have more time to devote now. My only restriction is I can’t squat below parallel for 6 months. Then I can go back to ass to calf.
I’m looking for advice on how to take advantage of this time. My end goal is to get back to competition on an amateur goal, and I’d like to gear my training toward that. Well, that and rehabbing my knee in a sensible manner.
If anyone has any tips, or can point me to certain threads or articles, I’d appreciate it.
Hey welcome aboard, good to see some judo players, there are several here.
some active some mostly retired like me
I played from childhood til about 35 or so wrestled in HS, college and post college greco
what kind of conditioning work can you do?
and where are you training?
are you still doing PT??
can you jump, sprint etc?
are you playing Judo or do you need to wait for it to heal.
there are some very advanced and smart people training here lots of great logs to rob ideas from.
check out Fischer he is a trainer and used to play sambo among some other things.
I just do local amateur cops (masters division cause I’m old now), I train at Alamo Judo club in San Antonio. As far as conditioning, I can run on a treadmill, ride a bike, hit a heavy bag and lift, as long as I don’t squat below parallel. No roadwork, jumping, and no Judo until September 1.
Normally, when a new guy comes here, I say “start doing 5/3/1 or we’ll kill and eat you”.
In your case, start doing 5/3/1, or we’ll kill and eat you, it’ll probably just take more of us.
I am one of the retired judoka that kmac mentioned, I haven’t played in years - i am old, fat, and my left lateral miniscus is gone, nearly bone on bone. Anyway, 5/3/1 is a good template to follow for atheletes because while increasing your strength, it still leaves you plenty of time and energy for sport and conditioning. there is a thread devoted to the 5/3/1 cult here:
I have been doing it for a year, and I have seen some great gains in strength.
Another option might be “Westside for Skinny Bastards” which was developed by Joe DeFranco. its usually referred to as “WS4SB”. I’ve never tried it, but have heard it recommended.
Thanks, Bro. I’ll look into that program. Does anyone have any advice on leg work? I was squatting 215 for 5x5 before I got hurt. So I’m not a strong guy, but I can squat. I’m thinking about grabbing a chair and just box squatting for the next 6 months because that guarantees I wont go below parallel. Is there anyone here who has had to work through an ACL replacement that can drop some knowledge?
I would first get this cleared by your PT before you take my advice. I would do alot of Unilateral leg work (single leg) to help strengthen and keep in balance your leg strength. Bweight sqauts to a chair with 1 leg is rough when going for higher reps.
Keep it easy on your hard conditioning exercises till your knee heals up.
No Judo because of the twisting motions right? So that also rules out jumps and sprints because of the impact they deliver.
Start off real easy on the leg work and let your body tell you when you can start upping the intensity.
The starting strength routine is a good one you mentioned just subsitute the 1 legged for lower body movements and keep adding reps till you can get over 20 with no weight. Then progress to weights.
I just hit 6 months post-op from ACL Reconstruction on April 9th so I can feel for you. Which graft did you get? I had the pattelar. Anyways, one thing that helped me a great deal was to pick up a copy of Mike Robertson’s Bulletproof Knees. It really is a good manual covering several different rehab protocols etc. Helped me tremendously in getting back up to speed.
I asked about judo, sprinting and jumping for the same reasons as fischer.
I can agree with him and endorse lots of mobility work, therapy, and unilateral leg work
bodyweight then weighed.
Stay close with your PT as you start your programing.
the starting strength is solid and if your making gains with it then keep going.
WSFSB is great version III is geared for in season athletes, I like 531 as well
but had a hard time with recovery.
The combat sports section is OK there are some solid posters but it is a bit filled with less experienced
fans, and brotards so its allot to sift through.
My Mantra with strength training and MA or MMA is
skill work
conditioning
Iron
make room for all three but only when they don’t impact recovery on your skill work.
In your case go slow and see that your S&C work does not interfere with recovery.
you can add some med ball work- passes, throws, slams these can be nice conditioning sesssions
they are kind of plyos, easy on the joints and wont stress your knee.
Nomi, can’t you do any groundwork? Just work on where you are weak and do what you can do.
I was a judoka for 30 yrs and I know you can’t go until you are ready to go. 531 or whatever you have to rehab properly. You will come out of this better and stronger if you train and rehab the right way. This means you have to be really in tune with your body and don’t get a bad case of the ego’s
I hurt my back and I rushed it and I never made a national qualifier. I never got back to form. Timing is the hardest to get back. Good luck bro.