Training & Nutrition - Weight Lifting - Advice Needed

A few months back I started weight training in an attempt to limit further injury to my knees. I've been following the "Y's" guidlines: 2 seconds to lift & 4 seconds to lower, 8-12 repetitons for 1 set. I'm using the Nautilus machines. Depending on the machine, I have the weights set 50 to 115 pounds. I've noticed a lot of people lift / lower the weights fairly quickly which got me to wondering if I'm doing something wrong. My goals are to rehabilatate / strengthen the legs (knees), NOT to bulk up. If anybody has any tips, recommendations, insight, as to how to lift the weights, fast or slow, light, medium or heavy, number of repetitions / sets & etc, I'm all eyes! Ultimately I want to get back to being able to riding 5-6 times a week. If it matters, I'm 51, a recreational cyclist (no racing) and ride a recumbent.

Thanks,
Garry

Hi,
I do one upper body workout and one lower body workout a week. It's enough.You can easily do more, that works for me.Don't ride the day after you do legs unless it's a very easy cruise. Do abs with arms and the back with legs. It can be hard learning to do the exercise perfectly. You can get hurt doing them wrong.Having gone thorugh this before, all I can do is to ask you to try it. You will like the results.
Anyway, there are a lot of good exercises.
For the core my 3 fave exercises are
1) Roman Chair ( I love this one, but I do seated rows to build up my back for a month or more to get ready)
2)Incline situps (don't forget the twist, and don't start on an incline unless you love pain. After a month on the gym, and after a few easy crunches, do a couple at a slight incline. You will cramp doing this exercise eventually, just walk it off.
3)seated rows.....great exercise, but it works best if you're feet are at the same level as your butt (or close to it). You get that by sitting on the floor with your butt on a cushion. If you don't get them on the same level the hips don't get involved. You want to row from the hips. Most rowing stations put your feet too low.
Legs....
1)Leg extensions (do the last set working only the upper third of the extension to nail the Vastus Medialus. That is the muscle that protects your knees.)
2)Leg curls. I try to keep the weight on extensions and curls close to each other.
If the difference goes over 40-50% I'd lay off the leg extensions for a week, and do leg curls twice in that week.
3)Mini-squats....you only want the knee to bend as much as you do when pedaling.If your knees are good you can go deeper; but personally I'm not a fan of deep squats. Good form is vital. Keep your butt underneath your shoulders. You may need someone to train you for that.
4)Calf raises...a surprisingly effective cycling exercise. Occasionally do a set lunging against the calf machine. You need a standing calf machine to do that. First week just do calf raises leaning on something so you aren't using all your weight as resistance. 2nd week you should be able to do a calf raise. After that you can use a calf machine.
Arms....
1)AN exercise that uses most of your range of motion in pushing. Pushups are limited in effectiveness. Dumbell press, most machines, are fine. You arms act as shock absorbers on a bike, so imitating that partial up and down movment would be good.
2)I invented this one. Lean forward while holding a dumbell and place a hand on a bench or rack so you are at least at a 45 degree angle. Make a motion like you were drinking from a cup, but... keep the palm facing down, and the motion straight up and down just in front of, and to the side, of your face. Don't go higher than your chin. This gets front and rear delts; think of it as a core exercise.
3)Dumbell rows (lean over a bench or use a machine). Use full range and it will use your back a little.
4) Lat pulldown/close grip pull down. Do lats in one arm workout and then the close grip pulldown on the next workout.

--I can't help you with the timing. I just go in and play. One of the reasons I have that schedule is that I tend to overdo it a little when I hit the gym. One thing I can tell you is that slow reduces the chance of injury, and fast is part of power.

I was a fitness trainer in my college days. I will reinforce that form is much more critical to heavy weight. The 2:4 ratio is good. Remember to work on your cardio at the same time. Exhale on the exertion and inhale on the relaxation.

When you do a squat, stop before your legs reach the 90 degree position. Especially with bad knees.

I'd also recommend spending more time on the leg extension machine than the squat rack or leg curl. Do all three, but start with one set of squat then 3 sets of leg extension and one set of leg curl. Then if you really want to balance you lower body, finish with a set of calve raises. Work your larger muscle groups first and progress to your smaller ones. i.e. squats work you glutes, then quads, then hamstrings then calves.

When you do your 3 set of leg extension, do the first set with your feet straight out. 2nd set with your toes pointing toward each other and the last with your toes pointed out (think duck waddle). This will work all the individual muscles in the quadraceps. With a slight concentration on the outer (toes in) and the inner (toes out) quad.

Keep the weight light to start with and build up your reps. Like I said before, you want to keep your form clean. Keep going slowly.

I blew out my knee and this is what my Ortho had me do.

Another thing, increase your reps up to 25 before you increase weight. You want to strengthen the muscles slowly and over time. Going to 25 before you increase weight will lessen the chance of hurting yourself even further.

L8R

I say keep it simple. Your lift in 2, lower in 4 for 8-12 reps is the best way to strengthen and avoid injury. Those people you see jerking and lowering quickly are using momentum to lift, aren't recruiting enough fibers and are going to injure themselves. Begin with a set of leg extensions to failure, with no rest move to a compound movement like leg press or squats for a set to failure, again with no rest do a set of leg curls to failure and finish with a final set of calves to failure. This doesn't sound like much but it is intense and you can accomplish all that you need to in about 10 minutes. Throw in a set of chin ups to failure, dips to failure and a set of crunchs or leg lifts and maybe a set of a lower back exercise like hyper extensions and you have hit most major muscle groups in about 20 minutes of intense, yet effective work. Do this workout two times a week and you will accomplish what you want without wasting time. Less is more.

Get a trainer at the Y. Lifting weights will not bulk up your knees.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Earlier this week I experimented lifting the same weight but faster and more repetitions. Found it was much easier and I was less tired even after doing more repetitions. Tonight went back to the 2 sec / 4 sec routine & 12 reps and it was harder and more tiring. I'm going to pass on the upper body workout for the time being as I'm under orders not to do any weight lifting with my arms. Tendonitis & Bursitis in my arms /shoulders.

Garry

I found that doing a set of squats with no weights at a fast rate (3-4 per 5 seconds?) really helped lubricate my knees, before doing regular weighted squats. Sometimes I do them for five sets, totalling a few hundred reps, because my thighs would burn like climing a really big hill :) When I stopped doing them for a few months, I started to feel little aches and things in my knees which was totally new to me. If you look up "hindu squats", thats what they are, and pretty common in wrestling/grappling conditioning drills. Don't bounce on the bottom, always use smooth controlled form even with these squats.

Sounds like you are doing it the right way. Lifting the weight is know as the concentric phase and lowering it is the eccentric phase.

Most studies have confirmed that concentric combined with eccentric contraction gives the best results (mainly due to the increase in intensity)

People that you see at the gym who press the weight real fast and lower it real quick are cheating themselves out of the maximum benefit..they are neglecting the eccentric phase. However this method allows them to lift higher poundages in the short term( which is the reason they do it).

I like the way you described of lifting weights: 8-12 reps, 2 seconds of concentric contraction, 4 seconds of eccentric contraction. Try to focus on building up some lactic acid. In the future your body will adapt to this level of intensity by improving circulation to that muscle group (among other things)

Thanks all for the suggestions. Earlier this week I experimented lifting the same weight but faster and more repetitions. Found it was much easier and I was less tired even after doing more repetitions.
Garry

The goal of weight training is not about making the routine easier or less tiring - in fact witing reason it is closer to the opposite. Slow and steady, with an emphasis on form will yield the best results. People you see in gyms are usually doing reps too fast for precisely the reasons you mention. It is superficially more gratifying to do more reps with less effort. If you were to consult with a trainer they would tell you to keep it slow. If that's too hard then you can reduce weight a bit. The absolute weight you are lifting is unimportant in the short run.

for you (i was in the same position) i would stay away from squat at all cost. as you are starting out use the cybex brand style horizontal leg press, and do leg curls, calve raises, and back situps (with that little thing that looks like an arm curl seat but with foot holders instead of a seat) and situps. after a while, if you do feel sturdy enough start doing sumo squat (like squat but with the weight in your hands like dead lift. get someone that is knowlegable to teach you it). concentrate on strengthening the back moreso than you legs (your back will be weaker at first). if you do it right you will feel it in your butt and quads, not just your back.
the reason i recomend this is that it has always been good to my knees. only when they were their absolute worst would i feel pain doing this. i think it balances the weight more naturally for your body.
stick to the reps and timing you were told.

Using good form will also strengthen your joints rather than injure them. Injuries are caused by high forces applied suddenly (not controlled)