Over 50 Training

Hi fellow lifters i just turn 50 and been working out for a long time. i currently do a two day split. i just wonder how many train this way. once on a while i throw a full body session. another thing i find harder than ever is recovery from these workouts. i feel wiped out a day later especially if i work out two day in a row. I do an upper body day and then a lower body day.any suggestions would gladly be appreciated.

As a 50 year oldster, Iā€™ve found that it is possible to work the same muscles three days in a row as long as two rules are followed.

#1 Donā€™t do the same exercise twice
#2 Limit workouts to 30-40 minutes

If youā€™re so sore you canā€™t do anything later that day or the next, youā€™re doing something wrong or over doing it.

the harder I train the longer I have to rest, partly for muscle recuperation partly for my own recuperation. I use the how hard it was to get out of bed barometer and how sore am I still.

Have thrown out the 7 day week, makes planning things harder, but I train and then I rest, I donā€™t go again just because it is Monday or Friday.

Sorry not a lot of help, I am 60 and have been PLing for a couple of years after doing a little OL and some throwing, was a OL as teenager and PL as an adult, took time out then have been at it again for 14+ years.

Loads of fun.

Good luck

Personally i like the upper-lower split. I am 57.
Maybe you could try, upper, rest,lower, rest, repeat.

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Regular Plazma and Mag-10 supplementation eliminates soreness for me and Iā€™m over 60.

Iā€™m presently doing the 5/3/1 workout. Its 4 day routineā€™s 1 day off between the 2 consecutive day workouts is great. It has the core lifts and it produces results. A strong workout partner intensifies it.

Iā€™m 49,been training since I was 16. I like full body 3 X a week. You just have to watch your volume. Iā€™ll vary my sets and reps and rest periods.
Monday might be 3 sets of 10 with a 90 sec rest between sets, taking last set to failure.
Wednesday 2 or 3 sets of 15. With a 60 sec rest.
Friday 4 sets of 8-alternating opposing groups-chest/back etc. with a 60 or 90 sec rest.
Sat. and Sun off.

Mon and Fri could be upper body focused while Wed.might be Lower body focused.
I just do 1 exercise per body part and I recover well.

I always do a BCAA drink during my workouts-makes a difference.

50 is just a number, we are still in our prime building window (thatā€™s what I keep telling myself anyway).

Right now I am just doing
M: squat/ bench/barbell rows
W: squat/overhead Press/ deadlift
F: Repeat Monday workout

Nice and basic, then will start Chris C workout after 8-10 weeks, mix it up and hopefully youā€™ll find what works.

If you havenā€™t tried SWF or Plazma and maybe Alpha Male makes a world of difference during and recovery IMO.

Good Luck

I do 5/3/1. 2 days/week. There are a couple 2 day templates that work well in the book.

over 65, retired and lovinā€™ it
alternate btwn upper/lower split 2 - 3 days a week , lots of rowing, chin-ups, lunges, calf work, hip mobility
build my own ā€œlow angleā€ landmine for days I stay at home, full body fun in the sun
10 ft x 3" slosh pipe for humility . . .
5 wheeled 15" plywood disk for 'full" range of motion ab work and gator crawls,

I have a question, do any of you think that an ā€œolderā€ lifter (Iā€™m 41 so I use the quotations with respect) should work on mobility and different types of lifts. Such as things like Dan John promotes, heavy drags and carryā€™s, more awkward lifts not necessarily heavy in the regard but just to keep up with over all strength and mobility?

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I have a question, do any of you think that an ā€œolderā€ lifter (Iā€™m 41 so I use the quotations with respect) should work on mobility and different types of lifts. Such as things like Dan John promotes, heavy drags and carryā€™s, more awkward lifts not necessarily heavy in the regard but just to keep up with over all strength and mobility? [/quote]

Yep

Thereā€™s a poster named Roygion who is always commenting on the fact that using the stretch reflex to lift (more) weight is a big no-no, and I totally think that for old guys that is absolutely correct. Iā€™d add use full range of motion possible (e.g. atg squats are great for maintaining mobility imo), plus I think beltless teaches bracing in a more everyday use type of way.

I do believe one needs to do low intensity (by that I mean no added weight) plyometric type stuff to maintain a base level of quickness -for example, skipping rope (double unders), jumps (box, broad, vertical etc.), hitting a bag.

I have no interest whatsoever in getting surgery of any kind, so I am a badge carrying member of the form police.

There are 10 widely-touted biomarkers of aging discussed in ā€˜Biomarkersā€™ by Evans and Rosenberg:

Lean Body (muscle) Mass
Strength
Basal Metabolic Rate
Body Fat Percentage
Aerobic Capacity
Blood Pressure
Insulin Sensitivity
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio
Bone Density
Body Temperature Regulation

All 10 biomarkers can be revived or improved through strength training.

These tell us 2 things:

  1. Age DOES matter. 50 is not just a number. (Sorry. Mind you, that wonā€™t stop us making sure we keep our minds young, right?)

  2. Weight training, properly done, is probably the best thing you can do about it.

Me? Iā€™m 51 and was a bit detrained. I currently do full-body workouts 4 times a week. Thatā€™s 2 basic workouts done once repsx8 for getting big and strong, and once repsx15 for metabolic stim. My exercises are 3-4 heavy compounds done in circuits with minimum rest (need to burn some fat). In 2-3 months I intend to change the sets to repsx5 and repsx10.

Age 71, still work as the Process Server, bad check collector, etc, low back/hip injury and R shoulder. For several months I have been doing Ellington Darden Phdā€™s once a week very slow reps and it worked well, dropped 22 lbs in weight. Recently got to adding a day or two extra, and it really caught up with me. Now the Darden lifts on Wednesday, and 2 or 3 days later a little something else, plus walk immediately after breakfast.

Thank goodness for the all the vitamins I take, and an older lady who does massages.

I am considering getting some out side supervision or consultation from some olne with grey hair.

Someone, I guess the admins, stripped out the link I posted in my above post to reference what I was saying. Iā€™ve edited that post with book reference and list of biomarkers.

Easy: take magnesium and vitamin c immediately after your workout. Both will reduce DOMS considerably. Vitamin C will also reduce catabolism by suppressing the cortisol surge. I take 200mg of magnesium bisglycenate (the good kind) and 500 mg of vitamin C. These are the only vitamins/supplements I take.

Apart from that, I would say definitely do not workout two days in a row (on day 2, your body is still busy recovering from yesterday, so why give it more to recover from with another workout today?)


Well, well, Clarence Bass. Heā€™s still training at 75 and researches like mad to improve his health and fitness constantly. A mine of information not usually even mentioned on weight training sites but clearly heā€™s taking his own advice. He has single-digit bodyfat all year round.

He says he currently does one day a week training Arthur Jones style ā€“ one set to failure ā€“ and once a week aerobic training, just to balance the high intensity stuff. At every physical he comes up as healthy as a big bag of healthy things.

Shows it can be done.

Most recent pic I can find of him: at 75.

At 53 years young I have been training in various forms for 35 years. Started weight training early on with some decent coaching in the proper form and lifts. At 6ā€™ and never more than 150 pounds I have never been able to seriously gain weight. Now at 53 I train 3-days per week, Mon, Wed, Fri full body in a Stronglifts 5 x 5 format. I concentrate on trying to add just a little weight to the bar without getting injured. I have learned to enjoy deadlifts and squats for what they are and the challenge the provide for meā€¦nothing to prove to anybody else at this point, which is a pretty sweet place to be.

Sweet. Though thatā€™s a lot of volume. If you start to find the StrongLifts format grinds you down, Iā€™d suggest dropping the volume to 3x5 as per Rippetoeā€™s ā€˜Starting Strengthā€™ program.