What road should I take?

[Broly]

Hello there!

I come here to hear your opinion about my situation that has been building up for the last 5 years or so. I've been diagnosed with patellar syndrome back in 2007 in the consequence of a knee trauma, something that I've been dealing with since then, and this past year, under doctor advise, I was forbidden to do squats and heavy leg extensions, as well as running, as those exercises tend to cause me cartilage inflamation. This last year too, I've done a shoulder surgery due to a dislocated shoulder that I had since 2010 while doing seated military press, result: 2 screws on my shoulder to prevent further damage and to anchor my umerus to my rotator cuff - this do help but cause a slight pain when I lift heavy after some 8-10 reps. Also to add this soap-like story, acording to my physiotherapist I should do some kind of weightlifting to gain some muscle mass on my quads and back/shoulders to strengthen those areas, but I also shouldn't try to get too heavy even if it's lean mass because my knee structure could be affected in the long term due to have to withstand a higher degree of joint stress than a lighter weight person.
So my question here is: in your opinion wich road should I take in terms of goals? I do like the whole bodybuilding like training to gain as much mass as possible, but since I can't bear much weight I belive aiming to such goals would be a bad option in health wise terms. Also I like doing strength training (Rippetoe's kind of workout)...so all cards are on the table now and I'd like to hear what you all have to say

 

[TexasGuy]

I would listen to my body first and relay the message to my doctor, then listen to my doc second.

Sounds BBing is out. Sounds like strength routines are best. You can still build a body with a PL routine. PLers tend to be lazy with diet, don't let that taint training efficacy.

 

[Broly]

I would listen to my body first and relay the message to my doctor, then listen to my doc second.

Sounds BBing is out. Sounds like strength routines are best. You can still build a body with a PL routine. PLers tend to be lazy with diet, don't let that taint training efficacy.

As far as listening to my body and my doctor, that's something I've been doing since 2007, always checked with my own body if what the doctor said did applied to my reality or not, and so far they have nailled it all the times (unfourtunately).

As far as a powerlifter routine goes what kind of routine are you talking about? I try my best to don't go lazy with diet, but with that being said what are the specifications of a powerlifter diet in comparison with a bodybuilder's?

 

[TexasGuy]

As far as listening to my body and my doctor, that's something I've been doing since 2007, always checked with my own body if what the doctor said did applied to my reality or not, and so far they have nailled it all the times (unfourtunately).

As far as a powerlifter routine goes what kind of routine are you talking about? I try my best to don't go lazy with diet, but with that being said what are the specifications of a powerlifter diet in comparison with a bodybuilder's?

Generally a routine geared to strength and cns activation as opposed to hypertrophy.

Mark Ripptoe Starting Strength
Jim Wendler 5/3/1
Bill Starr 5x5, though this rep range is kind of a hybrid strength/hypertrophy range for most

These routines will allow you to build the prescribed strength and while some hypertrophy is bound to happen in the weight room, they won't be putting on slabs of muscle that routines geared more for hypertrophy will. This should prevent you from carrying around excessive weight for your knees.

Edit:

Just realized your question was about diet. BBers tend to eat in a way that keeps them lean. Caloric restrictions, healthy foods et cetera. The main goal is to build a muscular physique and be able to show it off.

PLers goal is to lift as much weight as possible. Some follow pretty healthy diets but a lot of them are just fat. No real regard for aesthetics. Nothing wrong with a different goal but my point was that you can still build a decent physiqe with a PL routine, just don't get fat so you can see it.

 

[Broly]

Generally a routine geared to strength and cns activation as opposed to hypertrophy.

Mark Ripptoe Starting Strength
Jim Wendler 5/3/1
Bill Starr 5x5, though this rep range is kind of a hybrid strength/hypertrophy range for most

These routines will allow you to build the prescribed strength and while some hypertrophy is bound to happen in the weight room, they won't be putting on slabs of muscle that routines geared more for hypertrophy will. This should prevent you from carrying around excessive weight for your knees.

Edit:

Just realized your question was about diet. BBers tend to eat in a way that keeps them lean. Caloric restrictions, healthy foods et cetera. The main goal is to build a muscular physique and be able to show it off.

PLers goal is to lift as much weight as possible. Some follow pretty healthy diets but a lot of them are just fat. No real regard for aesthetics. Nothing wrong with a different goal but my point was that you can still build a decent physiqe with a PL routine, just don't get fat so you can see it.

Oh I see! I belive I'm familiar with Starr's approach of 5x5, with two different workouts (A and B) and workout 3 timer per week alternating those A and B workouts, and add like 5lbs on each workout's exercise progressively increase strength. Not sure if that's Starr's or Rippetoe's (sorry for my ignorance here lol ). And yes it sure seems a good alternative to the typical BBing workout, and sure sounds alot healthier joint wise, as it adds some lean mass, not too much just the proportional to my body's strength and since all workouts are done in a low rep range it lowers the stress on my joints to the minimum needed to increase strength

Oh okk, as far diet goes I'll try to be as clean as possible not only to have a decent physique but also to prevent that excess weight from blubber to mess up my joints (it would be unreasonable to drop BBing due to the excess weight that comes with muscle to gain weight from a sloppy diet in the PLing world ). Also I remember some good exemples of lean powerlifters or strongmen that despite the sport they practice they don't got fat at all (Pudzianowski comes to mind as far as leaness goes for a strength focused athlete, not weigth wise).

 

[Broly]

So...any routine you guys might sugest considering I can't do squats neither full range of motion bench press? When I used to do the 5x5 I changed squats for leg press and bench pressed untill my elbows were at 90º to further reduce the impact on my shoulders, but still I'd like to hear multiple options about substitutes for squats and other kinds of strength focused workouts