Working out in your 40s or older.

[delta7fred]

Almost 66 here. I avoid any lifting because my shoulders are shot so all my exercise is lower body. Most of my exercise is walking but it is pretty time consuming so unless you have lots of free time (being retired I do) then not really practical.

I walk about 30 miles a week in 3 sessions.
Monday - about 8 miles with an ex workmate (he is 75 with health issues) - steady pace, minimal hills.
Wednesday or Thursday - about 10 miles with guys my age - medium pace and a few more hills.
Friday - 14 to 18 miles - brisk pace with usually about 2400 feet of ascent (750 metres). I am the oldest of this group but have no trouble keeping up with guys 20 years my junior.

 

[two fingers]

Great advice so far.


Whatever you choose, Go slow to start with.
- three 20min strength workouts per week are ample for the first 12months.
- Pilates is one of the best all-body exercises you can do. Amazing results.
- do loads of stretching, it often gets overlooked. Kit Laughlin is the stretching guru www.youtube.com/user/KitLaughlin
- swimming & rowing are great whole-body workouts, and very low chances of injuries if done sensibly.
- Jump-rope for 2-3mins/day will rapidly increase your cardio. Fast exercise for your busiest days.


Biggest causes of injury for 40+yo men:
- sprints/interval training for Achilles & Hamstring tears, knee trauma.
- explosive lifting (Kettlebell esp) for serious shoulder muscle tears.
- Bent-Overs lifts (deadlifts, etc) for spinal injuries.

Am I misunderstanding? Did you say strength training for "20 minutes a week"? That's about 3 minutes a day. Really?

 

[Groove Doctor]

Am I misunderstanding? Did you say strength training for "20 minutes a week"? That's about 3 minutes a day. Really?

Three times a week, do a 20 minute strength workout session (not including warmup & cooldown time). Edited my prev post for clarity.

 

[ZenG]

Am I misunderstanding? Did you say strength training for "20 minutes a week"? That's about 3 minutes a day. Really?

Strength training is not the same as bodybuilding,cardio or endurance exercises.

Most strength training exes are compound exes. with low reps per set. (As low as 2) And not very many sets.

You can get seriously strong on a strength regimen without seeming to add huge muscle. Although many "strength" practitioners eat like a horse.

Check out champ-of-old Doug Hepburns' routine.

The other thing about strength exes is the way you do them. Many will tout "full range of motion' when exercising. But you are never as strong in a full-range -of-motion ex as you are when the ex is modified for maximum mechanical leverage.
Which is why power lifters often have what looks to be a weird way of benching, squatting or deading. The idea is to cut the range of motion to the zone where the muscle is stongest in it's shortened travel path.

You don't need an hour and half workout three times a week to get strong.

Bodybuilders often spend half their lives in the gym. But bodybuilding is not straight strength training per se.

They should throw most of the bodybuilder mags into the garbage. The purpose of those mags is to sell Whey protein and other muscle enhancing additives.

But most of the guys in the photos are on 'roids anyway.

 

[5544]

If you are planning on running, start off slowly. I did Link Removed. Also listen to your body when something hurts.

I've spent more time being injured because I thought I could "work through" the pain (pulled muscle last year that took months instead of weeks) to heal. It sucks having to start from the beginning especially when the last time you ran was 10k+.

 

[Basshappi]

Weight training using barbells.
I been using walking for cardio but I'm soon shifting to bicycling instead.

Weight training in and of itself does not make anyone look like a bodybuilder.

 

[craigie]

I used to bike to work and I in fantastic shape. Then took a field job and got fat. Then broke my hip last year. Now I do a conditioning swim with a coach and group twice a week for a full hour. It really kicks your a**. You will not get the same workout doing things on your own.

I'm also lucky that there is a gym at work and I can get there every weekday for a full hour. Two or three days of weight training. Skipping. One mile on the rowing machine on full intensity. Elliptical or treadmill on high intensity. The key is to get your heart rate up and to be easy enough not to hurt yourself. Having two little ones myself I can sympathize. Maybe you can bike to work? And after all that I didn't really start losing weight until I improved my diet.

Have fun!

 

[twinjet]

I need to get back to working out more. I'm not in "bad shape" per say. (6'2" 200 pounds +/- and 34-34 pants size). But I want to harden up a little and build more stamina for running/swimming/kayaking type activities.

What do you guys do? Sure, an easy answer is "the same thing a 19 year old would do". But there can be considerations that us forty and fifty somethings (and older) have to be aware of.

I have a Total Gym, a 35 pound kettle bell, a mountain bike, various dumbells, jump rope, a pool that I'll probably open in the next few weeks, etc. I probably don't have the lifestyle that would allow me to "swing by the gym" for an hour several times a week. Mostly my workouts would be after my young kids go to bed....around 8:00.

Bounce some things off of me. Thanks!

Brazilian jiu jitsu. Full body workout, mental and physical. Great cardio, too. I see guys in their 40s and even 50s do it.

 

[Gaolee]

Brazilian jiu jitsu. Full body workout, mental and physical. Great cardio, too. I see guys in their 40s and even 50s do it.

I practiced Aikido for a number of years until an awkward fall tore up my back. Jiu jitsu has similar benefits, and the dojo I was at worked in quite a bit of jiu jitsu that was related to the things we did with Aikido. I miss it a lot, but even with a healed back, my schedule has taken a turn that aces me out of going back to it. I was probably the fittest I have ever been while doing that, and I was in my 40s. Now that I'm in my mid-50s, the goal is to avoid losing anything as much as it is to gain anything. I hate running on a treadmill, but it is easier on the back than pounding pavement. So, that's what I do for 20 minutes, then do a fairly intensive circuit that includes leg lifts, dips, chins, various kinds of dumbbell work, planks, and a whole lot of stretching. I have very tight hips to start with, so without a whole lot of stretching, my back and legs would get painfully tight.

 

[guy n. cognito]

I practiced Aikido for a number of years until an awkward fall tore up my back. Jiu jitsu has similar benefits, and the dojo I was at worked in quite a bit of jiu jitsu that was related to the things we did with Aikido. I miss it a lot, but even with a healed back, my schedule has taken a turn that aces me out of going back to it. I was probably the fittest I have ever been while doing that, and I was in my 40s. Now that I'm in my mid-50s, the goal is to avoid losing anything as much as it is to gain anything. I hate running on a treadmill, but it is easier on the back than pounding pavement. So, that's what I do for 20 minutes, then do a fairly intensive circuit that includes leg lifts, dips, chins, various kinds of dumbbell work, planks, and a whole lot of stretching. I have very tight hips to start with, so without a whole lot of stretching, my back and legs would get painfully tight.

Switch to the elliptical. Virtually no impact, but similar lower body and cardio benefits. My misguided youth has torn up my knees, and it causes me no issues.

 

[Gaolee]

I was on the elliptical for more than a year before getting onto the treadmill. The goal is to be able to run outside again eventually.

 

[two fingers]

Switch to the elliptical. Virtually no impact, but similar lower body and cardio benefits. My misguided youth has torn up my knees, and it causes me no issues.

I have a coat rack that looks a lot like an elliptical machine in my living room. I should probably see what happens when I take the coats off.

 

[guy n. cognito]

I have a coat rack that looks a lot like an elliptical machine in my living room. I should probably see what happens when I take the coats off.

Lol. I had a Nordictrak like that!

I actually use my elliptical 5 times a week. First thing in the morning for 30 minutes. It's great cardio and gets me up and going.

 

[duff beer]

Leanness is what gives the appearance of a hard body. Working out helps, duh, but if you're eating too much, all that muscle and hardness will be covered by fat. We all have six packs under our fat, even without doing a single sit up. Stay lean. Simple as that.

Curls, 4 sets of 10
Bench, 4 sets of 10
Military Press, 4 sets of 10

Just do that entire thing 3x a week using weights you can handle and you'll be solid.

I gotta call you on that routine...NO!! You have suggested 2 exercises that work shoulders/triceps and 1 that works biceps and nothing else. 3/4 of the body is overlooked.

I think curls are useless, and in fact, think that virtually all exercises that isolate just one muscle as useless, unless they are being used to rehabilitate from an injury or for some other specific purpose.

What I suggest that instead of curls do rows or chin-ups/pullups...those hit multiple muscle groups at once. In real life it's rare to ever use your biceps without including other muscles, so by the same logic, it makes the most sense to train with compound movements. For example, if you bend over to pick up a heavy bass amp, you are using legs, hamstrings, back, core, biceps. They all work together to perform that movement, so by training compound movements you ensure a balanced development of ALL of your muscles and also hit all the minor supporting muscles that may be overlooked.

 

[ZenG]

For some reason, people see the Bench Press as THE exercise.

If you exercise with weights, the first question you'll get is "How much can you bench?".

But the Bench Press is only really effective when you are flat on your back on a bench. When you're standing up, you can't get the full applicable benefit of the ex because your stability platform is gone. In real life, how many times are you on your back on a floor or bench trying to hoist a weight with your arms?

Early Olympic lifters never used the Bench. Nor did early strongman competitions.

If you are Benching (or anything else), it's important to work the opposing muscle groups. So if you Bench (Push), you need to counter with something like a Row (Pull) or equivalent.

 

[Mark Reccord]

I'm 43.

6 times week- at least 30 min or aerobic exercise, plus a minimum of 150 pushups and 250 crunches.

3 times a week: traditional weight lifting.

Kettlebells, crossfit and the like? I great way to get injured. Crossfit has to be one of the most irresponsible fitness movements I've ever seen.

Like anything, there are good and bad Crossfit coaches and boxes. I did it for a while with a very conscientious coach who would not let anyone away with bad technique and wouldn't let people bite off more than they could chew.

With kettlebells, good technique is essential as well and if you don't maintain it you definitely can hurt yourself badly. I'm 44 with a narrowed L5-S1 disc and I do a lot of KB work but I started light and am fastidious about technique. The gains in strength and range of motion I've made since starting with KBs is worth the slight risk. Same with exercises like deadlifts and squats (a KB swing is essentially a deadlift). They are some of the best exercises you can do to increase strength but they absolutely require good technique or they will hurt you.

I do a variety of things to help keep me generally in shape for mountain biking and DH skiing (including those activities) and in the summer, most of my exercise is on the bike or building trail. Always in short, intense sessions (circuits/intervals) as I have small kids and a demanding job so time is a factor.

I typically do stuff like:

Push ups, KB swings, single leg deadlifts, single leg squats (with one foot resting on a bench, can't do a pistol yet), various plank-style things, jump lunges, jump squats, etc.

Lately I've been alternating between these workouts:

20 single leg squats (10 per leg)
20 pushups
20 one arm KB swings (10 per arm)

3-5 sets.

Or 10x mini leg blasters/5x leg blasters

Mini leg blaster:

10 BW squats
10 BW lunges (5 per side)
10 jump lunges (5 per side)
5 jump squats

The leg blaster is double that. Exercises done in rapid order with 30s between sets. If this doesn't gas you, you're in damned good shape. It has a pretty big eccentric component and as such can make you very very sore so start slowly. It was developed as a pre season regime for DH skiing (as that activity has a lot of eccentric component) and I've found it really reduces my fatigue and soreness from skiing if I start doing leg blasters a few weeks before my first time out.

 

[Mark Reccord]

The bench press is a pretty useless exercise, IMO. Far more benefit from, say pushups. And if you can do a million pushups, try doing a few sets where you take 10s to lower to the floor before pushing up. Pushups is another one where bad technique abounds.

 

[Biggbass]

at age 62 I work out at my local gym 4 days a week.
I start with a 2 mile walk on the treadmill, varying the incline, at a speed of 4.0.
Then I do the full body workout machines...alternating upper and lower body each work out. I don't lift heavy weight anymore but lift enough to do 3 sets of 10 on each machine to achieve a bit of muscle fatigue in the 3rd set. I also wear earbuds and listen to music during my workout to keep the momentum up and avoid having to engage in conversation, which is distracting.
I still do this even after having had left rotator cuff surgery, broken left arm, dislocated left shoulder, torn left biceps, broken left clavical (twice), lower back surgery, dislocated right elbow, broken right thumb, and broken left forefinger..all within the past 16 years.

 

[fingerguy]

Age is only a number. I seen pics of a guy in his 60's who is ripped and looks better than many 20 year olds. But there is exception to the rules like myself. I have a spinal issue and because of that I can't do Deadlifts and Squats. So I had to adjust. I was doing for years calisthenics and I have slapped on weights when doing pull-ups and dips. But lately I been feeling it and not in a good way. So in the last few months I switched to Yoga.

However, let me clarify what Yoga is for me. I am not into the chanting, bowing to the earth and thanking it for the gift of Yoga and all that other hokey stuff I hear Yogis say. I am in it for the physical benefits for if you really break it down, Yoga (if you put all that spiritual nonsense aside) is just a gentler form of calisthenics.

Don't let the word "gentle" fool you. Yoga is far from easy, but gentler and very effective. Just listen to your body and leave the ego at the door which I do. I also tried the class thing once but found the pushing of chanting and etc. was a major turn-off which is why I am strictly DVD's. However, most of the DVD's have some hokey stuff in it but I just ignore it.

My all time favorite is DVD's from Erica Vetra and yes a big part of it is that she is EXTREMELY HOT!!! But also she doesn't bother with all that hokey stuff.
Yoga w/ Erica Vetra - YouTube
Watch Weight Loss Yoga Workout For Beginners w/ Erica Vetra (1969) online - Amazon Video <--- I own this one and the 3 part series.

I also use these DVD's:
Amazon.com: Yoga for Beginners with Kino MacGregor : Ashtanga Yoga: Kino MacGrgeor, Matt Wright: Movies & TV Kino is very good but a bit chatty and hokey but very effective and not bad to look at; well her body is better than her face.

Amazon.com: YOGA SHORT FORMS The Practice Ashtanga Yoga David Swenson: David Swenson: Movies & TV He is very good

Watch Element: Hatha & Flow Yoga for Beginners (2011) online - Amazon Video He's also very good

and I own many others but the ones I copied/pasted are my staples.

In addition to Yoga I do stationary bike at the gym and rowing machine at my home.

 

[buzzbass]

This thread is invalid until @buzzbass contributes his thoughts.

-Mike

You rang ? LOL, what can I help with ?