Please take a look at my workout routine

[sepandee]

I posted this a couple of days ago in the 35 and older thread (my first post in that Section... reality suc*s!). No replies. Trying my luck here.

Two years ago, I was squatting almost 355 x 3 and deadlifting 405 x 2. Not fantastic numbers, but I was happy as someone who didn't spend more than 3-4 hours a week at the gym and barely did any kind of dieting. Now, first due to an elbow tendinosis, and then RC tear and tendinitis, I've regressed a lot in the gym and instead turned my attention to playing more sports (which has lead to a lot of ankle injury and achilles tendinitis, but that's a separate issue!).

Because of my shoulder injury, there are a lot of things I can't do and have been recommended to avoid: not too many push exercises, nothing overhead, no deadlifting. Bench press definitely hurts. I can't get under a barbell either. Things like overhead press are an absolute no-go. And because I now spend a lot of time on rehab exercises and stretching, I just don't have too much time to spend at the gym on my lifts.

My goal is to stay fit, build some muscle, but above all, stay injury free and strong for sports.

So here's what I have now. It's very minimal. What do you think?

3 times a week, A/B/C workout:
A: Front squats (4 sets of 5-6 reps), seated cable rows (3 sets of 8-12 reps), seated cable flies (3 sets of 8-12 reps), 3 sets of a tricep exercise (rope pulldowns or whatever's available)
B: Front squats (3 sets of 5-6 reps), dumbbell bench press (2 or 3 sets of 8-12 reps... which sometimes doesn't feel too good, to be honest), wide grip pullups (BW x 3-4 sets, right now it's sort of 15/13/11/8), hammer curls (2-3 sets of 10-15 reps)
C: Similar to A but I add in 3 sets of dumbbell back lunges, 8-10 reps.

Plus some rehab exercises for my elbow, shoulder, and achilles.

Do you think I'm ignoring a lot of things? Lower back? Shoulder? Shoulder's really hard to hit thanks to the injury. I'm hoping the front squats cover my lower back just enough, otherwise I'll have to start doing some hyperextensions.

Thanks for all your help

[Luca2]

Who has advised you on your limitations? I have finally found a physiotherapist who used to lift and understands strength & conditioning - definitely worth the search.

That said, I see you have most movement patterns covered outside of overhead pressing and hip hinges.
For a hip hinge pattern, perhaps you could tolerate single-leg Romanian deadlifts thanks to the lighter loads they will force you to use, or if not barbell hip thrusts may be a safe bet.





Assuming that you cannot tolerate overhead pressing, I like floor presses for general shoulder health. Can also be done unilaterally.

[sepandee]

The physiotherapist has told me to avoid these movements, and I've actually tried them as well and they don't feel good (overhead presses, bench press, and anything that has me holding down too much weight in my hands while standing, like deadlifts and RDLs).

[Luca2]

You can still do hip thrusts however, and while not exactly a hinge, together with the front squats they should cover the basics of leg training (legs and glutes). You can do glute-ham raises and hyperextensions to target the lower back and hamstrings in place of deadlifts.

[sepandee]

You can still do hip thrusts however, and while not exactly a hinge, together with the front squats they should cover the basics of leg training (legs and glutes). You can do glute-ham raises and hyperextensions to target the lower back and hamstrings in place of deadlifts.

k. I was hoping front squats plus backward lunges (or maybe split squats with one leg up) would be enough. I love hip thrusts but the setup takes too long