Hi gang,
I’ve been a follower of the mag for years, and finally some people in the family are interested in getting some help with their programs. My father is about 50 years old, and has a few health problems already. He is a RANK beginner when it comes to weight training, so I’m kinda excited to help him build upon a “clean slate”.
My approach is hopefully not too drastic, but at the same time hopefully creative. My dad needs to really pack on the lean muscle mass and build up some core conditioning as
although he has a slimmish build, I suspect he has a high bodyfat percentage (as he has very little muscle).
My thinking is to try out something a bit radical, but hopefully something he can stick to. I want to create a 3 (or 4??) week cycle of the Anti-Hypertrophy bodybuilding workout, followed by 2 weeks of Meltdown training (and just swap them back and forth).
Does this idea make any sense, or is it too counter-productive? He currently does little/no cardio, which is good for the mass-building phase, but the meltdown should help put his body through a more anaerobic workout…
A good program to start is Training for Gaining issues 236 it is a 3 part Strenght Training Phase I is only 3 times a week and
2 day of light cardio. Check it out.
Hey there,
I think it’s great that you’ve decided to help your father out with his training. With the resources available here you can’t go wrong. That said, after your father settles in to weight training (a month or two) it’d be a good idea to make sure he himself takes the initiative to further his physique/health. This is an important step in MAINTAINING the lifestyle you’re teaching him.
As for training, with your father being 50 years old AND a newbie trainer something “radical”. Being older his recovery will likely be a little slower than yours and you’ll have to take this into account. Secondly, a bombardment of exercises and the associated pain is enough to scare off many beginners. My suggestion would be to start slow and ease him in to the iron game. Focus on the compound movements as they’ll yeild the best results. Form should also be the primary issue as opposed to weight lifted. As his form gets better you can increase the amount of weight and the volume per workout. Remember that as a novice almost ANYTHING he does that he wasn’t doing before will bring results. Don’t drop everything on him too quickly and scare him off.
As for diet, I’d advocate a similar strategy. A complete diet overhaul might be a little much initially. Start by getting him to create a food log. This will help him see trends in his eating habits. Second, make sure he is eating something every 2-3 hours and that he’s getting some protein at most meals. Third, introduce a post-workout shake to his regime. These small changes should cover him for the first while. Whether to bulk or cut is up to you, but I’d suggest that if he’s carrying bodyfat you think long and hard before having him add more.
Remember, anything drastic will probably result in him dropping out. Besides, why play an ace if you don’t have to? He’ll make gains with little effort as a beginner. Save the advanced training for when he’s advanced. Play the Ace when it’s needed.
Given your pops old age and general condition I would start him off unbelievably slow. I have found that people are all gung ho about this whole thing until the first real day of soreness hits, then they want nothing to do with it.
Not that I am any kind of an expert, but i would look for a beginners program somewhere here, or simply start him off on the biggies a couple maybe three times a week. Squat, deads, bench, row, possibly overhead press. Stick with the biggies (seems to be a common theme around here or something:P) and start off slow. Seeing as he is well into his life, he may have weak bones and connective tissue that a balls to the wall approach could seriously hurt. At bare minimum I would do a diagnostic week (perhaps 2-3) just to see where he is, how well he handles the training, how well he recovers, and if his immune system stays intact with the added stressors.
Whatever you choose, good luck. being a son rules sometimes, dont it?
My old man just asked me last night to help him out. He just turned 50 at 6’4" at ~270 and carries it all in his mid to lower abdominal region. He’s got a sit down job but is really active outdoors during the evenings and weekends. Constantly building or fixing something. No major health concerns but he does smoke. He has tried to quite but becomes a raging asshole when he does. I’ll get him there eventually though.
We are going to proceed really slowly. Last night I told him to start keeping a food log for the next week or two and turned him on to T-mag. I might used a modified T-Dawg diet with him upping the carb intake with more fruits and veggies.
He has a real problem eating breakfast and is not keen to eating 6 times a day. My first dietary goal is to get him to start eating breakfast and to get his protein intake up.
Training wise, I’m going to get him started with some body weight exercises first. Pushups, pullups, body weight squats and then move on to some weight training. Nothing drastic.
I’m thinking about having him use some Tribex and M or RedKat eventually. Probably when he starts weight training to get him going (Mom might kill me though). I think the mental correlation between the boost in T levels and increased energy, and starting with real weights might promote a long term change. I remember my pyscho prof doing this by showing us a comical movie the first day of class so we connect fun and pysch class. Any thoughts on the Tribex, M, and RedKat usage for him?
And sorry eyuzwa, hope I didn’t jack your thread too much. We can work together on this one. Make our dads into good ole’ fashion T-Men.
Give HST some thought. It won’t promote overtraining and he won’t have to be in a gym 6 days a week. He gets a full body workout 3 times per week. He starts out with high reps so he can perfect his form and his tendons and joints get a chance to adapt and eases him into lower reps which will help keep DOMS away. Stick to mostly basic compound lifts. You might want to consider some Tribex for him to bring his T-levels up which will give him more energy to handle the workouts with. If the workouts make him more tired, he is likely to use that as an excuse to quite. And, keep the workouts short. 20 to a max of 30 minutes in the beginning. Other people can give you better advice on diet than I can but just use common sense and sound nutritional basics. He doesn’t need to be on a bodybuilder’s strict diet. You don’t want to scare him away.
WOW!
Thanks for the responses so far guys!
Yeah, I definitely don’t want to scare him off with something too brutal and agonizing, but I DO want him to feel like he’s making progress and not just pushing around sissy weights. hehe
AvoidsRoids…HST I didn’t think of that. It might work for him. I’ve made several attempts at that program, but it never seemed to work for me.
At this point I’m not even going to worry about diet (for now), I just want him to get into the habit of lifting. He regularly skips breakfast and his entire Philippino diet consists of deep frying nearly everything imaginable…shudder.
baby steps, baby steps.
DA MAN, yeah being a son rules as long as people listen to you. hehe. Hopefully I’ll be as open minded when my son starts training. I can’t WAIT to show him what took me eons to learn…though he probably won’t appreciate it. chuckle
Okay thanks guys. I’ll design a very simple program from the outset. Just big boy basics 3x a week. In the meantime, I’ll try to convince him that Walmart/GNC protein is lousy. grin
Sounds like you’ve got the right idea now. Ease him in and he’ll stick around for a long time. Although you’re not going to hammer him on his diet (which is good) you should consider using the post-workout shake and emphasizing that he get used to eating something for breakfast. Those are pretty simple changes.
As for earlier mention of Tribex, M, etc., I think this is not necessary in a novice trainer. Small additions like post-workout shakes and protein powders should come first. Additional supplements are meant to be used as just that…SUPPLEMENTS. You can supplement your otherwise perfect diet & training program with them. Beginners can get away without doing this for some time.
I’d like to second Avoid Roids’ HST recommendation. Two weeks are done working up to a 15-rep max. Two weeks are done working up to a 10-rep max. And two weeks are done working up to a 5-rep max. The same exercises are used in each two-week cycle, and the same muscles are worked. The 15-rep cycle is a prehab/muscular endurance microcycle. The 10-rep microcycle is a hypertrophy cycle, and the 5-rep microcycle is a strength cycle. We’re talking total development of the muscles used.
The best part about HST is that people walk out of the gym pumped and energized. Overtraining is not an issue. It’s a great program for anyone who’s pressed for time, who tends to have low energy levels, and for whom recovery and/or overtraining are issues.
I started working out at 44 for the first time in my life. I did and do the compound, multi-joint exercises and lean towards lifting heavy versus traditional hypertrophy set/rep schemes. Because I was a bit too aggressive in trying to “up” my weights, I ended up with nagging little chronic injuries that I’m now rehabbing (bicipital tendonitis and lateral and medial epicondylitis).
Heavy emphasis on form and a well-designed program like HST would have probably saved me from myself. It is possible to develop muscular strength more quickly than the joints, tendons and ligaments can handle. Weight increases should be slow and steady, not aggressive.
My suggestions are:
-
Include a comprehensive stretching program into whatever workout you choose to do.
-
Focus on form, form, form, form, form!!!
-
Don’t forget some cardio for cardiovascular health.
-
Pay as much attention to his diet as his workout. Take a look at John Berardi’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs" (Issue 291) if you’d like to keep it simple, but lay a foundation on which you can build.
Even though you think your dad is starting from a clean slate, at his age and with a history of inactivity he has probably developed some imbalances in his body (length-tension relationship ect…). While compound movements are no doubt the best way to train, it is important to try to iron out all the wrinkles in his body first. While Bench Pressing may be a great exercise for the upper body, doing it with someone who has excessive tightness in his ant. pec/delt region along with weak/long external rotators of the shoulder is asking for trouble. What good is squating if his core is dysfunctional due to faulty recruitment patterns or overly tight hip flexors. A full movement screen would be the best way to start.
Great advice, Boss! I wish I had had it when I started working out at 44. I wouldn’t be rehabbing my shoulder and elbow problems at 45 if I had approached things as you suggested.
As for earlier mention of Tribex, M, etc., I think this is not necessary in a novice trainer. Small additions like post-workout shakes and protein powders should come first. Additional supplements are meant to be used as just that…SUPPLEMENTS. You can supplement your otherwise perfect diet & training program with them. Beginners can get away without doing this for some time.
True, but let’s remember that the man in question is 50+. Tribex isn’t, in this case used for training, but just to get the guy feeling better and raise his hormone levels a bit. As such, it’s very good advice, and should be taken it.
I normally avoid HST like the plague, but in this case it might not be a bad way to go. But really, you don’t need to do anything fancy. A basic 2x10 of various compound exercises, progressing to 3x10 when your dad is ready for it, will be fine for the first few months. Just make sure you have enough variety to hit the body evenly.
And yes, form form form…