Need help figuring out a lower-body strength training routine!

[xboxist]

Quick backstory:

Big guy, 29, looking to lose weight. I have some carteledge damage on the outside of my left knee that will require surgery, but for numerous reasons I can't proceed with the surgery for 6 months or so.

In the meantime, I've been REALLY focused on changing my lifestyle in terms of diet and exercise. For about a month now I've been using an eliptical machine for 30-45 mins each morning before work, 5-6 times a week.

I've chosen to incorporate some strength training into my morning routine as well. I decided to see if my knee could handle the exercises that are part of the StrongLifts 5x5 program, and much to my disappointment my bad knee simply could not handle the full squats, even with an empty bar. Once I squat down far enough, there is an extremely painful pinch that I cannot ignore, and it causes me to shift much of the duty over to my other leg.

So StrongLifts 5x5 is out, since the entire program is based around the squat. That leaves me needing some sort of introductory routine that I can work out my lower body with.

Things I know I CAN'T do with the bad knee:
-run
-squat
-leg press machine

I can do leg extensions/curls, and the eliptical machine. Is there anything else I can try to do before I'm able to get my knee operated on after the new year? I can 'feel' my upper body is progressing ahead of my lower body because I'm not able to work the legs as hard and it's driving me nuts.

 

[GenHoth]

With an injury like that there isn't much you can do. You can add in adductor's and abductors (sides of the legs) but with out some sort of press you're sort of SOL

 

[brikis98]

First, my usual disclaimer: I'm not a doctor and with an injury this, you should definitely check with one before trying random exercises. Secondly, it should be fairly obvious doing leg exercises without a knee available is going to be very difficult. Still, it's good to try.

Having said that, it's worth asking: are you sure you are using proper squat form? Injuries aside, a properly performed squat is actually very good for the knees, but only if the knee injury doesn't prevent you from doing it properly. Dan John has a great video that shows you some very natural ways to get into a squat. Watch a couple minutes in and see if you can do what he says without pain. If not, then your conclusion about avoid the squat is definitely correct.

Here are some other exercises that use your legs. I have no idea what impact they'll have on your knee, so please be extremely careful if you try them!

* Deadlift: when done properly, this will use a ton of leg drive, including the quads, hamstrings, butt, hips, etc.

* Power clean: the power clean excludes the squat of the, well, squat clean, but still includes a ton of work for your legs. You essentially deadlift the weight off the floor and then do an explosive jump to propel it upwards, both of which involve lots of leg drive. If you can't deadlift without pain, you can also do a hang power clean, where you start with the weight already in the "hang" position - that is, hanging from your hands at thigh level. I'd be very cautious with this exercise as proper form involves a rather violent stomping of your legs as you land from the jump and I'd suspect your knees might not agree with that.

* Push press: this is essentially an overhead press where you use leg drive to propel the weight. Although this definitely taxes your upper body much more than your legs, it's probably a relatively stress-free way to include your legs at least a little bit in your workout.

* Lunges: again, it's doubtful you can do these with an injured knee, but it's another decent leg exercise.

You can find videos of these exercises, along with many others on the Crossfit exercises page.

 

[xboxist]

Originally posted by: GenHoth
With an injury like that there isn't much you can do. You can add in adductor's and abductors (sides of the legs) but with out some sort of press you're sort of SOL

ty -- I completely forgot about the existence of those two exercises. I can definitely do those.

 

[xboxist]

Originally posted by: brikis98
First, my usual disclaimer: I'm not a doctor and with an injury this, you should definitely check with one before trying random exercises. Secondly, it should be fairly obvious doing leg exercises without a knee available is going to be very difficult. Still, it's good to try.

Having said that, it's worth asking: are you sure you are using proper squat form? Injuries aside, a properly performed squat is actually very good for the knees, but only if the knee injury doesn't prevent you from doing it properly. Dan John has a great video that shows you some very natural ways to get into a squat. Watch a couple minutes in and see if you can do what he says without pain. If not, then your conclusion about avoid the squat is definitely correct.

Here are some other exercises that use your legs. I have no idea what impact they'll have on your knee, so please be extremely careful if you try them!

* Deadlift: when done properly, this will use a ton of leg drive, including the quads, hamstrings, butt, hips, etc.

* Power clean: the power clean excludes the squat of the, well, squat clean, but still includes a ton of work for your legs. You essentially deadlift the weight off the floor and then do an explosive jump to propel it upwards, both of which involve lots of leg drive. If you can't deadlift without pain, you can also do a hang power clean, where you start with the weight already in the "hang" position - that is, hanging from your hands at thigh level. I'd be very cautious with this exercise as proper form involves a rather violent stomping of your legs as you land from the jump and I'd suspect your knees might not agree with that.

* Push press: this is essentially an overhead press where you use leg drive to propel the weight. Although this definitely taxes your upper body much more than your legs, it's probably a relatively stress-free way to include your legs at least a little bit in your workout.

* Lunges: again, it's doubtful you can do these with an injured knee, but it's another decent leg exercise.

You can find videos of these exercises, along with many others on the Crossfit exercises page.

I apprciate you taking the time to write that all out, man.

I'm hopeful that I can do a proper dead lift without triggering the injury in my knee. There's not a ton of knee bend in a dead lift (at least compared to a full squat), which is what brings out the pain. So I'm excited to give that a try tomorrow morning. Worst case, if there's too much pain, I could just add plates under the starting position of the barbell to elevate my starting point, correct? (to reduce how far I have to bend down with my knees)

Everything else you mentioned seems suspect, but I'm going to at least give the lunges a try. It doesn't involve weights, so I'm hopeful it's something I can at least do to some degree.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: xboxist
I'm hopeful that I can do a proper dead lift without triggering the injury in my knee. There's not a ton of knee bend in a dead lift (at least compared to a full squat), which is what brings out the pain. So I'm excited to give that a try tomorrow morning. Worst case, if there's too much pain, I could just add plates under the starting position of the barbell to elevate my starting point, correct? (to reduce how far I have to bend down with my knees)

Yup, raising the barbell on boxes or plates would be fine. You could also consider romanian deadlifts or stiff legged deadlifts as a way to further eliminate the knee. However, be aware that the less you use your knee, the less your legs are involved, especially the quads. Still, you'll at least be working your hamstrings, butt and hip flexors, which is better than nothing.

good luck