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Bodybuilding Over Fifty
Expand your mind and your body will follow..
Is it still reasonable to expect to be bodybuilding over fifty?
Absolutely!
Bodybuilding over fifty is an activity that can prove to be very beneficial. It helps to create a healthier senior person and it improves the condition of the heart, and can prove to be a good means of prolonging life.
Another advantage to bodybuilding over 50 is that it helps you to look as much as ten years younger and thus contributes to feelings of well being as well as improving confidence levels.
As at any age and fitness levels, it is still advisable to get professional advice before proceeding with a bodybuilding routine.
There is nothing to suggest that senior bodybuilding is in any way different to what a younger person may do. It is just a matter of adjusting certain routines and being more careful.
Ensure a Proper Warm Up
Twenty years previous you could get away with jumping right into a set of weight lifting exercises with just the slightest of warm ups. Not only is this inadvisable at any age it can be quite dangerous in later life.
When you hit fifty plus, a proper warm up is essential to increase blood circulation to the muscles and improve oxygen absorption.
A good 10 to 20 minutes of moderate cardio activity is recommended prior to your weight lifting routine.
Aim to perform one set at 50% to 75% of the actual weight to be lifted before your real set.
Perform Fewer Exercises
A big mistake for many people you see in the gym is that they do too many exercises for each muscle group.
This is not necessary and results in wasted time and more importantly wasted energy. Use your time and energy wisely by working out major muscle groups at a high intensity over a shorter time scale.
Your muscles will benefit exactly the same and you’ll save yourself from unnecessary, depleting, multiple exercises.
Fewer Workouts
One of the biggest misconceptions in strength training and bodybuilding is having to train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The goal of every workout should be to increase the intensity of work done compared to your previous workout. As intensity increases your body needs more time to recover (especially as we get older!) so workouts have to be spaced further apart. This is more good news to everyone except the exercise addict.
When you begin a strength training program you might be able to work out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, providing your body can fully recover with just one day off. But as you get stronger and start lifting heavier weights, you will need more time to recover. So your third or fourth week might allow you to train on Mondays and Thursdays.
Two weeks later you might only be able to see increases in intensity if you train one day per week. After a month of that you will need to train only once every ten or fifteen days.
It is common for advanced bodybuilders to workout lifting weights once every six weeks and see improvements in every exercise on every workout.
The truth is you can achieve your optimum muscularity by working out with precisely engineered workouts that contain clear goals about as frequently as you get a haircut.
That’s very welcome news to those of us who just want results and especially for the over fifties who don’t use the gym as a social gathering place.
Muscle Equals Youth
Have you ever seen two people who were both 60 years old but one of them looks 70 and the other looks 45? Age can’t be measured by the calendar alone. There are several well established “bio markers of aging” that are used to give more accuracy to the assessment of physical age. Guess what? The amount of muscle your body contains is one of the principle bio markers of aging. The more muscle you have, the younger you are. Another bio marker of aging is bone density. Guess what the number one method is of increasing bone density? Heavy, weight bearing exercise!
Those of us over fifty years of age can greatly slow down (and in many cases reverse) aging processes by performing rational, efficient strength training that increases muscle mass and bone density. The really great news is that it can be done without hours of exercise performed week after week. Less wear and tear on the body, fewer workouts and increased youth!! It’s great to finally be old and wise!!
Have a great workout!
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Comments on
Comments on Bodybuilding Over Fifty »
December 31, 2008
Devon Richardson @ 10:41 pm
Thank you for more encouragement, because I am retired Navy and I work out every morning and I love it. Can you send me more information. Thank you
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January 24, 2009
Steve Anderson @ 6:55 am
You have got to be kidding. People over 50 can get adequate exercise working out once every six weeks – bull. Where in the world did you come up with that? I am 53 and work out with weights four days per week and perform cardio two days per week. I eat healthy and get plenty of rest. I am in better shape than many 35 year-olds. I assume this article was written on April Fools day because there is no sound basis for it.
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January 31, 2009
Pete Mears @ 11:06 pm
Thats great news. Ihave been working out religeously for the last three years every two days. Im 55 and the training has given me a great physique. Strangly I had to miss a couple of days of training which gave me enormous gilt. Finally when i was able to get back to my gym, I was absolutely stunned at the extra amount of weight that I could lift!!.Im back to my normal routine now because Im addicted, but I lift less weight on my workouts. Because of the guilt I feel If I miss acouple of days, how am I ever going to push my routines out to weekly training?
PS; I dont know where I rate on the over 50s scale, but I bench 110 kilos x 10 starting at 80kilos x 10 and working up, is this normal?
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March 19, 2009
ironpetal @ 7:25 pm
I too welcome this thread as I am 56 this year and I have been struggling with my diet and everything I used to train religiously for years in fact Ive been training on and off for the last 12 years. I need some encouragement to get back into it.
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April 1, 2009
Greg @ 7:39 pm
I have never known a bodybuilder who only lifts every six weeks. Must be an April Fools joke. I turn 50 in a few months and enjoy lifting 3-4 days a week. I don’t lift as heavy as I did when I was younger but I sure don’t look or feel like my friends of the same age who ride the couch. I don’t really ever intend to stop lifting. I saw one of the oldtime exercise show guys on TV, Jack LaLane I think, and he was still a hardbody in his 70′s. It can be done.
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April 10, 2009
Peter Jack @ 7:36 pm
Most bodybuilders these days recommend the ’4-way split’ -
dividing the workout into four sessions,one session per day,
and a day’s rest on the fifth day.
Older bodybuilders may split their schedule into five different sessions.
This gives a rest of four to five days before repeating an exercise. A muscle needs between three and five days to recover after being exercised.
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May 10, 2009
Jon Patrick @ 11:13 pm
Man, this is a great forum. I am 48 years old, and have just recently got back into the gym seriously over the last 6 weeks or so. I was a high school wrestler, and bodybuilder from age 18 to about 22. But life changes, as we all know, and my body went to puddy. But I did learn a lot as a young bodybuilder, and some things you do not forget. I am an advocate of high intensity training, as Mentzer was the big man when I was a young bodybuilder. I still find that I gain better when I rest less between sets and go to failure, AND not overtrain. I hope to learn from all of the people who post here. This is great.
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Jon Patrick @ 11:15 pm
Steve Anderson.
I agree. I’m guessing they may have meant a body part every six days.
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Jon Patrick @ 11:18 pm
Okay, one more thing.
Of course our metabolism changes. Does any over 50 bodybuilder out there have advice as far as aerobics / weight training ratios? I know that my waistline expands differently than a 30-year old. So I’m guessing more aerobics is okay for the over 50 bodybuilder. Suggestions??
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May 15, 2009
Jim @ 2:00 pm
I am 53 and I lift 4 plus days per week. I do cardio twice daily at over 80% max to keep my mitocondria levels high. I’m about 10% body fat at this time. What I hav noticed is Ihave to shed body fat over longer periods of time than I used to.
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June 7, 2009
Rudy Acosta @ 5:00 am
I have been training for over fifty years and at age 66 I feel great. I work out 4 days a week and still hold a full time job as a middle school assistant principal.
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June 10, 2009
BC @ 9:20 pm
I started going back to the gym this past December after a 25 year absence I am 53 now and it was definitely a good
move on my part for it has given me more stamina and a stronger physical appearance.
I go four times a week 30 minutes cardiovascular and 30 minutes weight training. I returned not to capture the
past but not to lose the present as long as I can.
I also changed my nutrition to go hand-in-hand with exercise and as we all know you really can’t
do one without the other and make any headway.
For any of you reading this who has passed the 50 year mark and want to try to hold on to your health and your active energy level this is the best thing you can possibly do for yourself. As I told my wife I want to be the most healthiest person to die of a heart attack.
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June 21, 2009
Richard Barton @ 9:27 pm
I’m coming up to 62…….after a life of almost total inactivity and gluttony I decided in February this year to start taking care of myself. I now jerk weights every 2nd day and use a spring bar and have seen my previously skinny arms gain definition and thickness, and my abs have come on amazingly well. I also “ride” 5 Km on my exercise bike every day and haven’t felt as great as this for decades !
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October 31, 2009
shaduk @ 10:51 am
I am 57 years old thorugh out my life I always wanted to have a good physic, but due to pressure of managing family demands most of my quality time has been spent in to provide a quality life for my family.
As the childrens have grown and moved on, I have more disposalable time in my hand, I have been doing aerobics regularly, now I want to build up muscles and six pack abs, any advise ??
Thanks
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November 30, 2009
k. lakshman @ 3:53 pm
good i m 53 was a wrestler and a body builder then but now i regularly do the exercises with my son 20 yrs amazing but i think our shcdule is old now its so improved so i will follow the rest period and see the results i want to be the bodybuilder fit on my death.
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December 11, 2009
carl @ 8:14 am
Anyone who lifts weights at this age I say “WOW” that great. I have done so on and off for years with an 11 year gape when I was 32. I slowed down and eventually stopped 2 years ago. After reading about you guys I now think its time to drag my sorry ass of the couch and begin that journey again. Its not only physically you gain its mentally as well. It is the fountain of youth. In the 2 years of no exercise I feel it’s knocked 5 years of life away. Cheers every one and ill see you at the gym. O and just for the record I hit 50 in Aug.
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December 17, 2009
Peter Mannion @ 11:35 am
Good to hear from the 50+ fraternity. I am 57 and train on a 4 day split routine. Chest/Biceps,Shoulders/Triceps,Back/Calfs and Quads.3sets of 10 on most exercises. 4 exercises for Chest and Back,3 for Biceps and Triceps, 3 for calfs and 5 for Quads. (Going heavy on Quads, upto 420kg for leg press.)
Quads rae done on the last day of the split giving me a 3 days rest.Only came to the sport in my late forties after a rugby career ( still playing once a week ), but am now lifting heavier
Diet is a dairly healthy mix including carbs and protein. I also take a protein drink and creatine.
Anybody got any tips, they would be much appreciated.
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December 18, 2009
Steve @ 11:21 am
Love the site; been active in weights, sports, power lifting and fitness since I was 16 years old. Now that I am 53 I still feel darn good about my weight, almost six pack abs and my fitness.
Variety is the key and I may start incorporating swimming into the program. The key in my mind is to get into activities you enjoy and change it up throughout the year. REST is key and diet is also very important.
Carpe diem
Somewhat off here, but has anyone tried getting Gym membership covered under their employers FSA (flexible spending acct). 56 and started working out for first time in my life, so far feels great but the belly fat not leaving easily.
Hi.love the comments. Returned to the Gym 15months ago. Turned 52 last week, lift weights three days per week and cardio three mornings. Did my first masters comp last October and do not plan to stop there. training. Back playing cricket also after 6 years retirement. Bowling faster now than when 40. The Gym rules…God Bless..
Hi, well I’ve been a gym junkie for forty yrs. I’m 58 yrs. young ang go to the gym 5-6 days a week. on a good day I bench 375-381, on a bad day 355-365. It’s all in your genitics and devotion. I take protine, creatine a notric oxide as well an about 40 vitiams. I love working out, I’m 5’8-225lbs and have 18 1/2 arms last I checked. Fellas, age is just a number. God Bless !! James
@Rev. James Miller: Good stuff Rev James.Nice to see another brother in the gym. When I go to India for ministry I always try to stay in a hotel with a gym. Spiritual and Physical exercise. Can’t go wrong.
Great to see all the posts. I am 52 and have been lifting steadily since I was 24 years old. I still carry the same intensity into my workouts and I train 6 days a week.I build my routines around Squats(Mondays)Chest/Back;bench/bent over rows(Tuesday)2 hours of cardio:bike-60 minutes,upper body ergometer-30minutes,elliptical-30 minutes(Wednesday)Deadlifts/front squats(Thursday)Power Cleans/shoulders-bi’s/tri’s(Friday)2 hours of cardio-same as above(Saturday)
I am 6’5 and have knocked 25lbs off since October 09′. I am the lightest I have been in 20 years weighing in now at 245# and feeling pretty good “for my age”–we hear that alot now,but I have a pretty good balance going “mind-body-spirit” with spirit being the priority Rev!!
HI! I AM 58 YEARS OF AGE AND WORKING OUT ALL THE SIX DAYS OF THE WEEK AND IN THIS AGE I GOT MR. INDIA-2010 AWARD. NOW GOING TO PARTICIPATING IN MR. ASIA BODY BUILDING CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE MONTH OF SEPT. 2010 AT SINGAPORE AND MR. UNIVERSE IN THE MONTH OF NOV. 2010 AT ITALY.
I CAN SAY THAT AGE IS NO BAR FOR BODY BUILDING. I DO CARDIO 45 MINUTES DAILY AND 45 MINUTES WORK OUT. I AM STILL WITHOUT STEROIDS, NATURAL BODY WITH 80 KG. WT.
YOU CAN SEE ME ON ‘YOUTUBE’ BY SEARCHING ‘rksaxena’