Please help me pick excercises

[Souper Steve]

Hi, Sorry to make a n00b post like this, but I really need advice from people who know what theyr talking about. I dont have any work out buddys or trainers. I work out alone and most likely I am working out all wrong.

First thing I need to change: I use mostly machines. Since I work out alone I find it easier and safer. Also I am still weak and out of shape so I dont need alot of weight.

Im 6'3" 215lb's

BF% around 20-25% I think...

I had reconstructive knee surgery in late Feb so I cant lift legs at all. Also I have to be carefull what upper body excercises I do, cuz I cant have my legs support too much weight.

Im not trying to do your standard bulk phase, I am going to eat clean and try to lose fat, but at the same time since Im so out of shape I want to build lean muscle mass at the same time.

[Serpens Aeon]

Takes a little longer, but is well worth it...

Go read about training theory; the works must include the words: frequency, volume, load, and periodization. Additionally, citations are very valuable towards indicating whether or not the text is valid and reputable. And no, muscle magazines are not scholarly sources.

Scour the Internet (preferably libraries) for articles and books by folks such as Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore, Glenn Pendlay, Dave Tate, Louie Simmons, Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Mel C. Siff, Tudor Bompa, and any names they may mention. Remember to mine bibliographies for further information.

On this forum, Keethnab, VikingMan, RipStone, Andrew.Cook, Ironaddict, all_pro, Madcow2 are people whose words you should pay close attention to. This is not a comprehensive list, but generally speaking, if posters are articulate and reasonably precise in communicating what they would intend to then they are usually intelligent and are probably data mines, so follow their posts (with the exception being HIT gurus because I just don’t like them). Be courteous and keep PMs to a minimum as I'm willing to bet my make believe farm that 99.8% of the time, your question has already been answered. Make the effort to search in an unobtrusive manner. You’ll learn more as you go along anyhow.

Once you have gone through enough information to have an idea of how the training theory model works (and can use the above mentioned terms properly), then it is the time to ask questions, because at this point you know enough so that in your questions we all may learn something in trying to answer it. Not that I made it, but I should hope that this forum was intended to be reciprocal.

If a beginner lifter, please specifically seek out the text: “Starting Strength” by Mark Rippetoe. Even for the advanced lifter there is a wealth of important information to be obtained from within. It can be purchased at www.startingstrength.com or www.amazon.com

As the saying by some guy I don’t know goes: “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”

Now go learn and become a better human.

[Souper Steve]

Thank you very much for that info and especialy those names. I have heard of Google so I can take it from there.

The biggest reason I made a new post was to get some info on weight lifting with a leg "injury". I am 3 months post op, but Im not expected to regain 100% until maybe 10-12 months post op. I am still wearing the big leg brace thing. Im hoping someone here has experience with this and could recomend some "safe excercises" to do in my situation.

thanks again

[Serpens Aeon]

Thank you very much for that info and especialy those names. I have heard of Google so I can take it from there.

The biggest reason I made a new post was to get some info on weight lifting with a leg "injury". I am 3 months post op, but Im not expected to regain 100% until maybe 10-12 months post op. I am still wearing the big leg brace thing. Im hoping someone here has experience with this and could recomend some "safe excercises" to do in my situation.

thanks again

See, if it were as easy as giving you exercises to perform, I would. But that would be the equivalent of me telling you what screws are and then telling you to build a... I dunno, I'm not a carpenter. I'm sure you get the idea. Since this is a query that relates to rehabilitation I think you should consult a physiotherapist while absorbing as much information on your own along the way.