[redneck]

Need some help with a routine. If I can gain about 20lbs of muscle I will be happy with that. Im currently 6'0 160 lbs, so at 180 and im 22. Now for the fun part, I am at this point 9 months post op from a spinal fusion at my L5-S1 level. I had a car accident when I was 19 and went through 2 years of crap, had surgery back in Feb and now trying to get my body back up and going.

Started going to the gym about 4-5 months ago and try to go at least 4-5 days a week for 2 hrs. Miss some weeks when I have flareups with my back and all of that. I started the gym and weighed 175, dropped 20lbs in 2 weeks and gained 5 back and have been stuck there since. My strength is going up, I have some definition but wanting to get bulk on top of that.

Most of what I do is confined to machines because if I try to do a lot of free weights my back isnt gonna take it. My fusion is mostly done and I have some screws and a rod holding it all together so there is no worry about breaking me, but at the same time if I try to move a lot of weight around it does cause problems with my back. Bench presses are pretty much out of the question unless its light weight because it will cause me to arch my back and can actually cause the screws in my back to either fracture the bone or back out of the bone. I am not supposed to put a lot of weight above my head if standing as will do the same thing as mentioned above. Ive held 2 40lb dumbells at one time working out and that was pushing what I can hold and control without hurting myself. Keep in mind on top of that im %12 perm disabled so Im not quite whole if ya know what i mean.

Im wanting to get my upper body bulked up a bit but need to have a strong back and core to help with some of my issues with my back at the same time.
If I can get to a cut 180 then I will be quite happy. I played sports all my life until my wreck so I was in pretty good shape to that point but have never been heavier than 180 lbs(gut got me there).

Any help will be greatly appreciated!