Lower body workout

heroics

Hey Guys looking for some advice.

I am 34 Male 80Kg, 5'10. Current 1RM for squat would be 90kg and DL 140 down from 120/185 due to not much gym work over the summer because of the amount of GAA training/matches and apparently I'm getting old and need more time to recover

Have shoulder impingement (MRI Diagnosed) and have been told to rest the upper body for ~4-6 weeks and do some rehab exercises to try and avoid an op on it. Hoping to get back to rugby this side of Christmas so my goals would be improve strength/Power and maintain/improve fitness

Basically can go flat out at the lower body though so looking for a program to hit the lower body. Was going to go gym 3 days a week and 2 days of running/sprinting HIIT etc

I was thinking of doing the following

Gym Day 1 Squats, Step ups, Leg curls
Gym Day 2 - Various Box jumps, Sled work
Gym Day 3 - Deadlift, Leg Press, Lunges

For some reason this just looks a bit wrong to me (maybe its the lack of Curls ) and I was wondering is anyone could give some advice.

Sorry for length tried to include as much info as possible

Cheers in advance
Heroics

MightyMandarin

What positions can you get into without your injury being aggravated? If you're fine doing front squats, back squats and cleans, then I'd make those a priority, as there's few better strength builders than squats and deadlifts, and cleans are great for increasing power.

A sample program might be

Day1: Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges
Day2: Cleans,Front squats, Hyperextensions
Day3: Squats, deadlifts, box jumps or sled

Personally, I'd try and squat 3x a week and deadlift 2x a week. You could try and do cleans more often if you want, and try variations like hanging cleans etc.

Alf Veedersane

I'd be careful with the squat because of the external rotation of the shoulder. It may not be an issue but see how it feels at pretty light weights before getting stuck in. Front squat may be a better option.

heroics

Alf I tried squatting again yesterday and had no issues with my shoulder so hopefully it will stay that way. Physio has approved squats/deadlifts. I will probably add in front squats on the middle day for a bit of variety.

I'll try the cleans tomorrow like Mightymandarin suggested and see if they effect my shoulder.

Just on the reps etc I was going to do 5 sets of 3-5 reps approx 80-85% of 1RM but would that be too much if I was doing deadlifts and squats on the same day?

Rugby trained tonight just did running while they were doing the contact. Think its only teasing myself. Really wanted to tackle something.

Thanks again

MightyMandarin

heroics wrote: »

Alf I tried squatting again yesterday and had no issues with my shoulder so hopefully it will stay that way. Physio has approved squats/deadlifts. I will probably add in front squats on the middle day for a bit of variety.

I'll try the cleans tomorrow like Mightymandarin suggested and see if they effect my shoulder.

Just on the reps etc I was going to do 5 sets of 3-5 reps approx 80-85% of 1RM but would that be too much if I was doing deadlifts and squats on the same day?

Rugby trained tonight just did running while they were doing the contact. Think its only teasing myself. Really wanted to tackle something.

Thanks again

5x5 at 85% is going to be incredibly tough, but at 80% I think you'll be okay. Just focus on getting a 5x5 done, and then try and do a little more the next time, or even do a 6x6.

Alf Veedersane

heroics wrote: »

Alf I tried squatting again yesterday and had no issues with my shoulder so hopefully it will stay that way. Physio has approved squats/deadlifts. I will probably add in front squats on the middle day for a bit of variety.

Ah perfect. I just said I'd flag it as it was said to me when I had a similar, but relatively minor, injury.

RDLs and split squats are other options for lower body work.

heroics

Thanks again guys. Just need to do it now

sulberto

I'd recommend incorporating some form of wave into your weekly training of you plan on playing. So the first exercise size of the day would be heavy, 3-5 reps, 3-5 sets @ 80-90%; followed by moderate second exercise of 6-10 reps, 3-5 sets @ 65-75 and third lightish exercise 8-12, 3 sets @60-70%. So your week would look something like this:
Day 1:
Squat 5x3-5
Deadlift 3x6
Lunges 3x12
Day 2:
Power Clean 5x3
Squat 3x8
Hypers/RDL 3x12
Day3:
Deadlift 5x3
Leg Press 3x8-12
Sled