T Nation

Need Program Help

Beginners
#1

Hi. I’m a 26 year old woman who is overweight. My main goal is to do full body work outs that maximize weight loss. I have a knee injury so I’m not sure what all I can do. I read the article about the full body work outs that Arnold did called the golden six. I’m not sure that plan will work for me.

I try to read through all the information but I know nothing about working out and I’m so lost. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I’m hoping that in the next 2 or 3 months I won’t be ashamed to post a picture of what I look like.

#2

[quote]sspanier wrote:
I have a knee injury so I’m not sure what all I can do.[/quote]
How serious is your injury? Are you cleared for 100% exercise or are there restrictions where your doc said you should avoid certain things?

For your goal, I don’t think that would be an appropriate program.

Consider this for a training plan. Of course, adapt it to whatever your knee will allow:


or this:

For diet, this is an easy way to set up a smart nutrition plan:

#3

Well you have the first and most important ingredient, DESIRE. If you’re really that lost in the gym, is it possible for you to get a trainer for a little while? If not don’t worry, I know some women who have lost incredible amounts of weight doing nothing but walking every day.

There isn’t a magic workout plan that will be the best one for you necessarily. Full body workouts sound good but I don’t know the severity of that knee injury so hard to say what you should and should not do on it… But of course, getting your nutrition/diet in order should come first and just get yourself in motion and be consistent. Like I said, I’ve seen women lose over 100 lbs in a year by walking every day and making small changes in their diet. Keep your head up and go get it

#4

[quote]sspanier wrote:
Hi. I’m a 26 year old woman who is overweight. My main goal is to do full body work outs that maximize weight loss. I have a knee injury so I’m not sure what all I can do. I read the article about the full body work outs that Arnold did called the golden six. I’m not sure that plan will work for me.

I try to read through all the information but I know nothing about working out and I’m so lost. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I’m hoping that in the next 2 or 3 months I won’t be ashamed to post a picture of what I look like. [/quote]

Congratulations on your decision to make a change.

I am a 34 year old man who is overweight. I’m not nearly as overweight as I used to be, and I’m certainly much stronger than I was a year ago when I was in the same boat you were - overweight beginner with no knowledge or experience with real exercise.

Full-body workouts 3 days per week (MWF) have been very effective for me, although I am at the stage where the fat loss war must be won in the kitchen. That’s a whole other discussion, however.

Back on topic, I think you need to figure out just how limiting your knee injury is. Squatting is one of the best, if not THE best, tool in your exercise toolbox. All is not lost if you cannot do this, but an accurate assessment of your physical limitations is necessary before you set out on an exercise plan.

For what it is worth, here is what I have been doing for the last 9 months (this is the base program, what I do now is basically the same with some tweaks).

Monday

Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Lat Pulldown 3 sets of 6-10
Weighted situp 2 sets of 15

Wednesday

Deadlift 4x5
Seated Overhead Press 5x5
Calf raises (seated or standing) 2 sets of 15
Barbell curl 2 sets of 10

Friday

Front Squat 5x5
Close Grip Bench Press 5x5
Romanian Deadlift 5x5
Bent Over Barbell Row 5x5

Perfect? No. Good? Yes. There’s lots of other great fullbody programs out there, but again, you need to work within your limits. On the same note, make sure you are not setting limits on yourself that are artificially constructed or mental in nature. If your knee is really good to go, make sure you are using that knee and putting in good work. Don’t lie to yourself and make excuses!

The most important thing is to never, ever give up and keep working to improve however you can. You can do it!

#5

Thank yall so much for the great advice!!! I can’t wait to get back to the gym (probably tomorrow after physical therapy). The doctors said that I’m as good as I am going to get and really now all I can do is strengthen it and hope for the best. I ride the stationary bikes and swim for cardio. The treadmill and elliptical are out of the question at least for now because my knee does have a tendency to get weak and give out when its over worked. Today I did squats, hanging stomach crunches, over head barbell curls raises, bench pressed the barbell ( pathetic I know but hey you got to start some where) lat pull downs, and RDLs ( which SUCK!!!) most of them were 3x10. But I will read all the articles you’ve posted. Once again, Thank you soooo much for the motivation, and advice.

#6

You should start a log. There’s a “Training Log” section or you could join the gals over in “Powerful Women”. There’s no shortage of positive people on this site who will help you keep your eye on the prize.

I’ll be following it if you do.

#7

[quote]sspanier wrote:
The doctors said that I’m as good as I am going to get and really now all I can do is strengthen it and hope for the best. I ride the stationary bikes and swim for cardio. The treadmill and elliptical are out of the question at least for now because my knee does have a tendency to get weak and give out when its over worked.[/quote]
Not to give you more reading homework, ha, but here’s one more to check out. 9 Training Strategies for Knee Pain:


You might be able to get some more ideas there.

How’d your knee feel after the squats?

#8

It wasn’t the worst pain I’ve ever felt but not the best either. Thanks for asking

#9
#10

Thanks for the link!!! Ice been working out MWF and I feel like I can already tell a differnce. Thank y’all so much for the help motivation and advice!!!

#11

[quote]sspanier wrote:
Thanks for the link!!! Ice been working out MWF and I feel like I can already tell a differnce. Thank y’all so much for the help motivation and advice!!![/quote]
No problem at all.

Stick with it. Any questions come up along the way, just let us know.

#12

Monday I’m starting 5days a week and my jeans are way too big. I don’t have to unbutton them to put them on or take them off,even right out of the dryer. I’m so proud!!!

#13

just my 2c but contrary to what a lot of health ‘professionals’ say its healthy for your knees squatting to depth and overtime strengthens the joint, half squats (which a lot of doctors recommend) does the exact opposite. Common sense for some, mind blowing for others, just putting it out there. Keep up the good work, consistency is key.

#14

[quote]Massthetics wrote:
just my 2c but contrary to what a lot of health ‘professionals’ say its healthy for your knees squatting to depth and overtime strengthens the joint, half squats (which a lot of doctors recommend) does the exact opposite. Common sense for some, mind blowing for others, just putting it out there. Keep up the good work, consistency is key.[/quote]

Would the partial squat that happens during a power clean be an issue that an athlete should avoid to prevent knee damage?

Like the start of this video?

And is something like this just totally out of the question?

#15

There’s numerous reasons why you shoudn’t half squat. Peak tension on your ACL happens at around 30 degrees which is a quarter squat, peak tension on your PCL occours at 90 degrees which is a parallel squat. People who squat down, stop the descent at a half squat and completely switch the momentum of the weight and rise up put an excessive amount of stress on their knee joints.

The shear forces on your knee joint and its supporting ligaments decreases the deeper you squat, translating to a much safer movement. Half squatting puts uneven load on your articular cartilage which causes cartilage damage, and, even more knee pain. When I say half squats grind your knees to dust I don’t take it lightly.

Half squats dont even activate your hamstrings, glutes, and adductors your only going to develop muscular imbalances because of a weak posterior chain. Muscular imbalances like this only increase the risk of injury.

This doesn’t mean you should never ever ever ever do a single half squat in your entire life, but do them heavy and regularly your gonna have a bad time to say the least.

#16

[quote]Massthetics wrote:
Half squats dont even activate your hamstrings, glutes, and adductors your only going to develop muscular imbalances because of a weak posterior chain. Muscular imbalances like this only increase the risk of injury.
[/quote]

O_o

#17

I couldn’t help but laugh.

#18

[quote]Massthetics wrote:
There’s numerous reasons why you shoudn’t half squat. Peak tension on your ACL happens at around 30 degrees which is a quarter squat, peak tension on your PCL occours at 90 degrees which is a parallel squat. People who squat down, stop the descent at a half squat and completely switch the momentum of the weight and rise up put an excessive amount of stress on their knee joints. The shear forces on your knee joint and its supporting ligaments decreases the deeper you squat, translating to a much safer movement. Half squatting puts uneven load on your articular cartilage which causes cartilage damage, and, even more knee pain. When I say half squats grind your knees to dust I don’t take it lightly.

Half squats dont even activate your hamstrings, glutes, and adductors your only going to develop muscular imbalances because of a weak posterior chain. Muscular imbalances like this only increase the risk of injury.

This doesn’t mean you should never ever ever ever do a single half squat in your entire life, but do them heavy and regularly your gonna have a bad time to say the least.[/quote]

partials are part of a program, not the only exercise…

Here, read this.

#19

I had good success with a squat program that used partial overloaded pin squats. I started with ramping full squats to a max, then ramping partials at a low pin setting to a max, moving the pins up, ramping from there to a max, moving the pins up… etc.

As the pins got higher, the legs were obviously still involved… but so were the glutes and hamstrings; in fact I’d argue that these were worked harder than my quads from the higher pin settings. The heavier weights also overloaded the back and core… stuff that you wouldn’t get otherwise, and in a dynamic fashion (unlike walkouts).

#20

[quote]sspanier wrote:
Monday I’m starting 5days a week and my jeans are way too big. I don’t have to unbutton them to put them on or take them off,even right out of the dryer. I’m so proud!!! [/quote]

Congrats. Keep up the great work!