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, Iāve found that it is possible to work the same muscles three days in a row as long as two rules are followed.
#1 Donāt do the same exercise twice
#2 Limit workouts to 30-40 minutes
If youāre so sore you canāt do anything later that day or the next, youāre 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 donāt 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.
Regular Plazma and Mag-10 supplementation eliminates soreness for me and Iām over 60.
Iām presently doing the 5/3/1 workout. Its 4 day routineās 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.
Iām 49,been training since I was 16. I like full body 3 X a week. You just have to watch your volume. Iāll 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 (thatās 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 youāll find what works.
If you havenāt 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 ālow 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 āolderā lifter (Iām 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 carryās, 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 āolderā lifter (Iām 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 carryās, more awkward lifts not necessarily heavy in the regard but just to keep up with over all strength and mobility? [/quote]
Yep
Thereās 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. Iād 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 āBiomarkersā 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:
-
Age DOES matter. 50 is not just a number. (Sorry. Mind you, that wonāt stop us making sure we keep our minds young, right?)
-
Weight training, properly done, is probably the best thing you can do about it.
Me? Iām 51 and was a bit detrained. I currently do full-body workouts 4 times a week. Thatās 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 Phdās 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. Iāve 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. Heās 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 heās 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 thatās a lot of volume. If you start to find the StrongLifts format grinds you down, Iād suggest dropping the volume to 3x5 as per Rippetoeās āStarting Strengthā program.