Bill Star...now there's a blast from the past. Read him when I was in high school. Think he still trains high school football players. He used the classic approach to 5X5 training. That would be one push and one pull exercise for the upper body and the squat for the lower body. It worked if you worked at it with just those three exercises: push..pull..squat.
If Slin1 (I left before the doctor got there) can only do very light squats, than he may want to try BB Hack squats until his knee returns to near normal. With squats the weight is held on the shoulders, requiring extra balance on the knee joints (hence extra tension). With BB Hacks, the weight is held below the waist and may offer a better opportunity to strengthen the knees themselves. If you have trouble with a squat and feel the knee giving out, you might have a problem getting out from under the bar right away. With BB Hack, just release the grip. The bar does not have far to travel.
To restrengthen the knee area some athlete will train one leg at a time. Like step-ups, one legged squats, lunges, one legged presses, etc. Better focus and attention on a delicate area.
A proper workout plan of 5X5's have probably added muscle mass and strength to thousands of men over the years. Though 5X5's are just one way, of dozens, to do this. Good Luck.
