Preparation for Strength Training and a few other questions

[Aqua200546]

Sorry for the length of this post, but there are multiple issues that have to be addressed.

What do you suggest to prepare for gymnastic strength training (which eventually involves intense jumping) and running (both sprints and longer)? When I made the mistake of attempting to start gymnastic strength training with out any preparation, I discovered many of my joints, especially my knees and elbows, weren’t ready for the load. I suspect this is due to a combination of my rapid growth (I’m 15), and inadequate preparation.

Based on what I’ve gathered from various sources, including a few of your books and videos, I should start with low resistance, high volume (30-100+ per set) exercises, and, over the course of 2 months, gradually increase the resistance and decreasing the volume. Should I include such high rep, low resistance exercises for nearly every muscle group/movement, or just the ones that cause me problems. For example, extending my elbows against a heavy load hurts on the back of the elbow, especially when done from a very bent position (as in dips). I think that doing lots of triceps pushdowns with resistance bands might help, but should I include such a movement for the biceps as well? They’ve never caused me pain (in fact, my biceps are much stronger than their counterparts; I can do 9-10 chin ups, but only 2 or 3 dips, which may be the problem). As far as equipment goes, I’m very limited. I have ankle/wrist weights, a few resistance bands, and a pair of push up bars, a dip station, a pull up bar and gymnastic rings, but I have access to a wonderful shop and can make almost anything (we have a lot of led if necessary).

So I was thinking my program would initially look like this:

Warm up, handstand work, 2x30sec ring support, 3x30 triceps pushdowns, (high rep biceps work?), 3x10 push ups, 3x10 body rows, 30 of each rotator cuff exercise, wrist roll ups, some sort of quad exercise (I haven’t found an exercise that doesn’t cause pain yet), hamstring curls up to 100, adductor flies up to 100, 3x20 abductor raises, single leg bridges, 3x30 calf raises, 3x30 shin raises, L sit static holds, back extensions (I don’t know how many I can do), 3x30 sit ups, cool down, stretch, massage thighs, back, shoulders and fore arms with a tennis ball.

After a month, I’ll increase the intensity, and for the adductor flies and hamstring curls I’ll drop the volume. After the second month, do you think I’ll be ready for the rigors of exercises with my full body weight?

Regarding my knees, exercises such as squats (without weight), jumping, and, at times, running cause pain in my knee. I saw a doctor and a physical therapist, and they said it was basically growing pain. The problem is that the pain is never consistent. It’s not always in the same place. When it’s really bad (during a growth spurt usually), I can’t say the pain is in one spot more than any other. Right now though, it seems to be either where the patellar tendon connects to the kneecap, or on top of the kneecap, to the outside. My knees make a crunching sound if I extend them when they’re too far forward (past my toes). I did notice after reading one of your articles that squatting in front of a wall caused considerably less pain, if any. My physical therapist thought my knee tracked poorly, but the doctor disagreed. When I bend my knee it moves a little laterally, but that almost seems to be because of the shape of the femur. I think the best thing to do would be to do a few sets of up to 15 squats (stop if I have pain), develop flexibility in my hips and ankles, and massage the whole area occasionally. Do you have any suggestions?