Advice on re-starting execise routine

I would suggest seeing a professional (personal trainer, physio, etc) so they can take your situation in to account and give you advice on what you can do now without causing further problems. As for starting from the beginning, you would be surprised how easy your muscles are to re condition after a while off.

Exactly how bad did you hurt your back? If it's nothing serious, you can do any exercise. Just start off slow of course.

Last year I hurt my back and couldn't do anything for 3 months. But when I healed up, I went right back to squatting and deadlifting. Lightweight of course. Now I'm stronger than ever.

Just to be sure, have you verified that your back is okay to go back to weight training?

If so, what are your goals and do you have access to a fully equipped gym? You mentioned that you had kind of played around with weights before, I'm assuming that means that you are basically a beginner when it comes to lifting?

If you can do good form squats with the bar, go ahead and start off with light weight on that

Do a proper warmup prior to lifting for your back and legs
- Warmup means warmup the joints / muscles not warming up your body (some people will use a treadmill to warmup, that is not sufficient enough)

If you've used a foam roller before, just roll up and down your mid-upper back (avoid lower spine) and roll over all sides of your legs, just for 5 minutes in total

If you don't know what I'm talking about you can warm up with something fairly simple

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Warmup routine
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1) Quad stretch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZBKSOtyssM)
2) Hamstring stretch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDwpEdxZ4H4)
3) Bodyweight squats (15 reps, on the last 5 reps, hold the bottom position for longer and stretch out your hips)

Here's a routine you can do to ease your way back into training for your leg day

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Training routine:
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1) Squats: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Whichever you're comfortable with - Barbell / Smith machine / dumbbell squats
- The first exercise of your routine should be the hardest / heaviest, but make sure you don't over do it on your first few sessions

2) Leg Press - 3 sets of 12 reps
- You can use both legs or single leg - single leg ensures you're training both legs equally

3) Dumbbell lunges: 3 sets of 12 reps
- Each leg is 12 reps

4) Step ups: 3 sets of 15 reps
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQqApCGd5Ss
- Add weight when necessary

5) Machine hamstring curls: 3 sets of 12

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Extra tips for training: The point to training is that you want to ensure progression every session
You can progress in a number of ways
- Number of reps you can do with the same weight
- Adding more weight to the exercise
- Decreasing rest time but doing the same weight
- Doing each exercise slower (to create more tension on muscles)

You can add weight or reps when you are comfortable with the current weight that you are able to perform all sets and reps efficiently. Be sure not to just continually add weight when you cannot do the previous weight and also that form is always right no matter how heavy you go

For when you are healthy and confident in yourself to perform heavy exercises:
- Just as a rule of thumb (still regarding safety): If there is no struggle at all by the time you get the last reps of your set, you should probably increase the weight
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If you want some advice on wrist tendonitis
- Look up voodoo floss bands
- They can relieve alot of the pain from tendonitis in different joints if you do it correctly
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkfxnNMK1fQ


Be careful with that back and the wrist!

A personal trainer is a great idea, but can be a bit pricey. If you don't/can't pay for that I would start with walking on the treadmill or using an elliptical. My gym has something called the "line" which is a lineup of 10 or so Nautilus machines, the staff sets up the machines for you and you can go one to the next in fairly rapid procession. That would be a good place to start on weight training.