50 Y.O. seeking advice for good weightlifting routine/app

[Creig]

Hey all,

About five weeks ago, I took a long look in the mirror and realized that I'm 50 years old, 6' 2" and F-A-T. I was 237 lbs and for the first time in my life, my BMI slid into the Obese category. Now I realize that BMI doesn't take muscle mass into account, but it was still a helluva shock. So I immediately picked up a fitness tracker with the food tracking app that came it (Fit2/Samsung Health) and went on a 1200-1400 daily caloric intake diet. Fast forward to today. I have dropped 15 lbs fairly easily (223 lbs yesterday) and am going to start hitting the weights again.

I plan to bump up my calorie intake to a more reasonable level when I start working out again (not sure yet how many calories), will try and consume around 180 grams of protein/day, daily vitamin, fish oil tablet. I would like to like to remain in a calorie deficiency to continue losing weight. I realize that this will hamper mass building, but at this point I will probably still build somewhat given that I'm starting from scratch.

I used to work out on/off throughout the years and this is the longest I have ever gone without seeing the inside of a gym. My problem is that I have never run into someone locally who can give competent weightlifting advice. I have a mild build and the previous routines made up by me after internet research were probably lacking in many areas. Is there an Android app for weightlifting that has a good pre-set beginner workout? Or one that can track exercises and give advice as to when to increase reps, increase weight, de-load by X amount, etc? I'm also concerned about somehow learning to perform unfamiliar exercises with good form without someone there to critique me. I can't afford a personal trainer and the last thing I need is to injure myself. I'm also thinking that a M-W-F workout schedule would fit best for me with a T-Th cardio routine being covered by my daughter's old X-box Nike workout program.

I am hoping that I am in this for the long haul. I oversee road and bridge construction in the spring/summer/fall. My work hours during this time generally vary anywhere from 60 to 80 hours/week. If I can get into a routine now and get over the initial startup pain/exhaustion, I hope to try and hit the gym in the mornings when work starts ramping up during construction season. For now, I only work 40 hours a week so my gym time is flexible.

My goals are to be 200 lbs or under by mid-May when my daughter graduates college, 185 lbs by mid-late summer and be ready to hit the gym heavy next fall/early winter to actually bulk up a little for the summer of 2019. Although 50 obviously isn't 20, I think I can still make some gains if I put in the effort.

All constructive thoughts, advice and help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance guys and gals!

 

[mike8675309]

How long since you lifted weights? If more than a few years start out slow. Start with light weights and advance patiently. Give your body (joints, tendons) time to recognize the new loads you are putting on them. Then eat a wide variety of whole plant foods to give your body the nutrients it needs to strengthen everything.

pushing too hard, not giving your body time to adapt is how you'll get injury. Avoid injury if you can.

I've been hitting the weights for a couple years now, 3 to 6 days a week. (I am 49) I have regular small strength gains every week. I do splits of push, pull, legs, core, rest, repeat. This is using gym equipment between ISO equipment and bench. I hope to this coming summer to start working out in a barbell gym and focus more on bench, dead, squat.

 

[SNC]

Welcome to the club, you can do this! First you are right 50 is not 20 and gains are slooooooowwwww. First reevaluate your weight target, 185 at 6'2 is really pretty skinny. If you are planning to add weight training to your bag then I would not worry to much about dropping that low. Some added weight helps to stabilize you in most muscle building movements. Dont discount weight training in your weight loss, while cardo is great for heart health and burning calories while performing the movement, resistance training will have the muscles worked burning calories for upto 36 hours afterwards.

2nd until you are well into your muscle building phase dont worry so much about protein intake, focus on a balanced diet and the macros will take care of themselves. And with newer (14-15) info coming out that having more protein in your system than the body can use actually increases cortisol, in turn reducing T production, and has the ability to raise the levels of SHBG which can bind to over 50% of the bodys free T making it unusable. (I'll look for that study later I think it was from Penn State.) You should be somewhere in the .8 grams per pound range when in full workout mode, less after the muscles are through recovery mode, or if working solely on weight loss and not muscle building.

3rd, balance push pull work, do as many opposing muscle group work as you can. ie, if you do an 3x8 flat bench, perform a 3x8 lat pull or low row or T Bar row. Do an equal amount of bicep work as you do triceps, and on an on. Pain and joint discomfort is most often a result of one muscle being stronger than the opposing group, the stronger one pulling the joint out of its natural alignment. This is mostly seen in shoulder injuries\pain, and limited mobility\impingement in the rotator cuff.

As for a trainer, there are online options. I have never used but you might look into it.

Always remember that you will not heal as quickly as you did when you were young. It is easy to ego lift, dont do it! I am sure that if you posted some videos of you performing exercises the great folks here will bash the fu.. err.. provide you with ant help you might need with the movement.

Please check with your Dr to see if there are any issues you need to be concerned with.

Good luck!

 

[deadlyapp]

I'm not your age, but I certainly would think more about going for higher rep sets at lower weights, and not trying to build "strength". You seem more interested in size and mass, so staying in hypertrophy phases is going to be perfectly fine for you. Movement is going to be critical to keep you from getting hurt, so take it slow, refine your movements, maybe even get some coaching if you plan on doing anything more of a compound movement (olympic lifts, power lifts, etc).

I'd ignore cardio. You don't need it, especially if you try to manage timed rest periods or high rep sets. Especially if you work construction and are moving (not just operating a crane or something) you won't need the extra cardio. Get your body to burn more calories on its own by working on lean mass and reducing your body fat.

As others have said, there are good splits you can do and a lot of information on bodybuilding.com with some pretty good plans. Doing your chest and back in a push/pull configuration is a good balance. Doing your legs in a push pull (deadlift/squat) as long as you don't murder your nervous system. Or do some legs, and some arms, since your arms are your smallest muscle group and will recover quickly.

 

[pauldun170]

Coming up on 45 and work out at an old school gym with 40-60+ year olds. Hitting the gym 25+ years.

6'2 @185 is an excellent, achievable goal.

I'm going to disagree with others and say that weight target is ideal. My FIL is 6'2 and when he got down to 185-190 he was in the best shape of his life and at his happiest. He was in his mid 50's at the time and had the started off in the same boat and age as you. EXACTLY the same boat as you.
I wouldn't call these guys scrawny (at least not to their face)
https://sites.google.com/site/mixedmartialartsrankings/home/world-middleweight-rankings-170-185lbs
185 is good health weight for that height.

You always have the option of going heavier in order to impress "the bros" and then dealing with the long term effects (hip and knee problems) later. @185, your joints will be happy. You blood pressure will be happy. I wouldn't worry about bulking for now. You'll want to spend time working on movements, identifying imbalances and also making sure the chassis is ready for some upgrades.

DON"T BLOW OFF CARDIO. Tuesday and Thursday cardio + MWF lifts is a good start.
Over the long run, it will help with endurance and help with lifts. Lung capacity helps with everything and combining weight training with cardio will help you.
Doesn't matter if its running, sprints or speed walking.
Get your self to the point where you are huffin and puffin for extended periods.

A priority should be cleaning up your diet overall.
Don't worry about "crap in a bottle".
Eat simple, eat clean. chuck the "sauce" chuck the garbage. Chuck the sweet stuff. Learn to love water.

Movements - You are going to get a hundred recommendations and tips and tricks form the internet. Also TALK TO THE BIG GUYS AND GALS AT THE GYM. Experienced gym rats are usually the most helpful and nicest people at the gym. If you are doing squats and you are nervous about your form, ask the gym rats who are squatting next to you.

WARM UP SETS. At your age, warm upsets are going to be very important. Using the 30 and under crowd as a reference will send you to the physical therapist. Warm up.

Your biggest challenge is going to be maintaining that schedule.

As for apps, I'm not sure.
Try picking a lifting program first. Then seeing what apps suit that program.
Sometimes its as simple as keeping track of everything in spreadsheet or on google docs\keep or whatever.
Pick your program, start tracking and hold your self accountable.

 

[SNC]

Also TALK TO THE BIG GUYS AND GALS AT THE GYM. Experienced gym rats are usually the most helpful and nicest people at the gym.

Agree but take their recommendations with the grain of salt. If your looking for advice on form that's one thing but if your asking about plans or how many of what to do, I would find someone who knows about older persons bodies. I see a lot of people in the gym following Ronnies workout for killer arms. Problem is Ronnies plan is what is is doing now after decades of work. What you need is what Ronnie did when he was first starting out, if you follow my plan you will be dead in a month and give up. Now for form, yes if they are that big and haven't gotten hurt yet they are a great resource, just watch out for the dick heads.

I'm going to disagree with others and say that weight target is ideal. My FIL is 6'2 and when he got down to 185-190 he was in the best shape of his life and at his happiest.

To each his own I guess, at 6'1 and 212 I was a toothpick, I can't even imagine what I would look like at 185.

 

[deadlyapp]

Agree but take their recommendations with the grain of salt. If your looking for advice on form that's one thing but if your asking about plans or how many of what to do, I would find someone who knows about older persons bodies. I see a lot of people in the gym following Ronnies workout for killer arms. Problem is Ronnies plan is what is is doing now after decades of work. What you need is what Ronnie did when he was first starting out, if you follow my plan you will be dead in a month and give up. Now for form, yes if they are that big and haven't gotten hurt yet they are a great resource, just watch out for the dick heads.
To each his own I guess, at 6'1 and 212 I was a toothpick, I can't even imagine what I would look like at 185.

Also agree with you SNC. You'll often find that there are plenty of people who are "big" but move very poorly, or have developed their own methods of moving that have given them results, but may not actually be good. eg there are plenty of "big" guys that don't squat to depth, but is that good squat technique? No. Squatting to full depth, at light to moderate weight I would argue is much better for overall longevity, joint health, and maintaining good range of motion & mobility.

6'1 at 212 is pretty big. I sit regularly at 6'0 and 185 with approx 14% BF. 6'0 and 175 would put me at around 10% BF which I would say is great aesthetically but is not healthy long term. 6'2 and around 195-200 would be a pretty good place to sit if you have a muscular frame and around 12-14% BF would give you pretty good aesthetics.

 

[pauldun170]

Agree but take their recommendations with the grain of salt. If your looking for advice on form that's one thing but if your asking about plans or how many of what to do, I would find someone who knows about older persons bodies. I see a lot of people in the gym following Ronnies workout for killer arms. Problem is Ronnies plan is what is is doing now after decades of work. What you need is what Ronnie did when he was first starting out, if you follow my plan you will be dead in a month and give up. Now for form, yes if they are that big and haven't gotten hurt yet they are a great resource, just watch out for the dick heads.
To each his own I guess, at 6'1 and 212 I was a toothpick, I can't even imagine what I would look like at 185.

Should have been more clear.
The point I was making is to not be shy and talk to people. Ask them if form looks good. Ask for tips. I've watched to many noobs over the years wreck themselves because they were to intimidated or shy to ask someone for a form check prior to a set.

 

[mike8675309]

I agree with pauldun170. If you haven't ever had a trainer or a coach work without on movements on machines or with dumbells or with barbells don't hesitate to tap a guy on the shoulder (everyone had headphones it seems) and ask them for some tips. Biggest problems I see is uneven hand position on the barbell. Using clamps on the barbell when pressing without a spotter. Improper bar position for rear or front squats. Improper foot position for squats or deadlifts. If I catch people doing that stuff I'll go talk to them about it. But sometimes you get into a zone and don't catch what others are doing.

 

[SNC]

6'1 at 212 is pretty big.

I'm 6'1 and 285 25-30% pretty much where I hang out. A shit ton of time spent sick this year has wrecked me. Strength is still there but stamina is gone and I've started eating whatever I want and it's showing. I also need a haircut.

 

[skyking]

I suggest starting to do things with the 45 lb bare bar, just to get the motions going right. Do not give a single thought to how that looks, you do you and don't worry about what others may be doing.
Adding to what Mike said, get somebody to spot for you whenever you feel the need, till you get comfortable. People are willing to help out at the gym.
I get spotted on some presses due to an injury that limits me at full compression. I am working my way out of it but it's a slow go.

 

[Creig]

Thanks guys. A lot of good suggestions here. To answer some of the questions, it has probably been 6-7 years since I last lifted. Which is why I am treating myself as a total beginner again. I am more than willing to start with a bare bar if it means I get good form and don't push my body too fast. One thing I see that hasn't changed as I've been researching workout regiments is that there are literally thousands of them out there. It makes it very confusing for beginners to know which to choose. After a lot of consideration and comparisons (and pauldun170's advice), I think I'm going to start with the AllPro beginner routine: (unless someone has a better suggestion)

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/915909/what-exactly-is-all-pros-routine

I like the fact that it's simple, seems to hit all the major muscle groups and slowly works the user up. It also includes two warmup sets in the first three routines (you are supposed to do them in order because of this). I will still probably hit the treadmill for 10 minutes or so and do some stretching as an initial warmup before grabbing any weights. I will also do some decline crunches to add in a little ab work after each workout day as it's considered acceptable in the FAQ. The only thing that concerns me about this workout is doing SLDL (stiff legged dead lifts). There is a history of bad backs in my family and I think I will try to perform RDL (Romanian dead lifts) instead. I know that subbing out workouts in an established routine is generally frowned upon, but the SLDL and RDL hit the exact same muscles and are very close in form anyhow. The RDL simply places less strain on your lower back.

_______________________________________________________________
AllPro - A simple beginner's routine

You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. (Note: Originally All Pro said first 4 exercises needed the warm ups, but later said just the first 3 exercises are essential as many people were struggling to do all 4 sets on the OHP. Therefore the FAQ only says to do the warmup sets for the first 3 exercises.) Choose a starting weight and start light.

These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises (note: optional)

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all sets for 12 reps.

You are doing exactly 2 work-sets for each exercise. In addition, you are doing 2 warm-up sets for the first three exercises only (Squats, Beach Press and Bent Over Rows) - the remaining four exercises do not require warm-ups, however you can do them if you feel the need to. Here is a blue-print for all the sets you should be doing, in that order:

Squats: warm-up, warm-up, work-set, work-set
Bench Press: warm-up, warm-up, work-set, work-set
Bent Over Row: warm-up, warm-up, work-set, work-set
Over Head Press: work-set, work-set
Stiff Legged Deadlifts: work-set, work-set
Curls: work-set, work-set
Calf Raises: work-set, work-set

If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and repeat the cycle.
If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight.
You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets. Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.
_______________________________________________________________

I realize this program has a slow progression, I'm thinking that between my time away from the gym, my overall weight and my age, slow progression is probably for the best. And since my overall goal is to be in good shape again by the spring of 2019, I have the time.

As far as my weight goal of 185 lbs while being 6' 2" tall, I think it's pretty reasonable. I still have a couple of pics of back when I was still lifting in my early 40's and was at around 190 lbs. As I said, I was just starting to get a build so hopefully I still have at least a small base left to start over from. As you can see from the pics below, I could probably still have easily lost at least another 5-10 lbs of flab at that point as I still had a small gut and no abs even starting to show yet. Although I was starting to show some back and shoulder definition. And yes, I'm a hairy bastard. I have my French Canadian ancestors to thank for that.

I am going keep my calorie intake low while bumping up my protein, at least until I can drop my weight down to more reasonable levels. I'll roughly go with SNC's suggestion and hold my protein intake at around 150g -180g a day, but I will also keep to those levels on the day after lifting for recovery. I am not going to try and impress the other guys at the gym (hell, I couldn't even if I tried anyhow). I'm in this for my own health and self-esteem. Tomorrow I will go to the gym and establish my 10RM on the exercises listed and begin my regular workouts next week. Definitely not looking forward to the next month or so of soreness, but I know it'll be worth it if I can stick with it.

Thanks for all the advice! If there's anything wrong or lacking with what I've said above, please feel free to to post it. Especially if you feel that there is a better routine out there for me to start with. I am no expert at this and always welcome ideas and opinions from those more knowledgeable and experienced than me.

Edit - crap. Looks like the pics aren't showing up. I'll have to move them to a different hosting site.

 

[mike8675309]

Consider that you find thousands of workouts. No reason not to change up an workout you found for something comfortable for you. Customizing the workout is completely o.k, especially considering you are just trying to start working out. I would suggest adding a Core day to your workout routine vs doing a few crunches every day.

Adding core workouts into a routine can really help with your stability and overall strength as core strength or lack of strength can really limit your ability to lift enough. crunches, incline crunches, decline crunches , weighted side bends, cable trunk twists, planks, buttery or scissor kicks, knee ups with holds, the list is endless.

 

[pauldun170]

Thanks guys. A lot of good suggestions here. To answer some of the questions, it has probably been 6-7 years since I last lifted. Which is why I am treating myself as a total beginner again. I am more than willing to start with a bare bar if it means I get good form and don't push my body too fast. One thing I see that hasn't changed as I've been researching workout regiments is that there are literally thousands of them out there. It makes it very confusing for beginners to know which to choose. After a lot of consideration and comparisons (and pauldun170's advice), I think I'm going to start with the AllPro beginner routine: (unless someone has a better suggestion)

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/915909/what-exactly-is-all-pros-routine

I like the fact that it's simple, seems to hit all the major muscle groups and slowly works the user up. It also includes two warmup sets in the first three routines (you are supposed to do them in order because of this). I will still probably hit the treadmill for 10 minutes or so and do some stretching as an initial warmup before grabbing any weights. I will also do some decline crunches to add in a little ab work after each workout day as it's considered acceptable in the FAQ. The only thing that concerns me about this workout is doing SLDL (stiff legged dead lifts). There is a history of bad backs in my family and I think I will try to perform RDL (Romanian dead lifts) instead. I know that subbing out workouts in an established routine is generally frowned upon, but the SLDL and RDL hit the exact same muscles and are very close in form anyhow. The RDL simply places less strain on your lower back.

_______________________________________________________________
AllPro - A simple beginner's routine

You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. (Note: Originally All Pro said first 4 exercises needed the warm ups, but later said just the first 3 exercises are essential as many people were struggling to do all 4 sets on the OHP. Therefore the FAQ only says to do the warmup sets for the first 3 exercises.) Choose a starting weight and start light.

These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises (note: optional)

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all sets for 12 reps.

You are doing exactly 2 work-sets for each exercise. In addition, you are doing 2 warm-up sets for the first three exercises only (Squats, Beach Press and Bent Over Rows) - the remaining four exercises do not require warm-ups, however you can do them if you feel the need to. Here is a blue-print for all the sets you should be doing, in that order:

Squats: warm-up, warm-up, work-set, work-set
Bench Press: warm-up, warm-up, work-set, work-set
Bent Over Row: warm-up, warm-up, work-set, work-set
Over Head Press: work-set, work-set
Stiff Legged Deadlifts: work-set, work-set
Curls: work-set, work-set
Calf Raises: work-set, work-set

If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and repeat the cycle.
If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight.
You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets. Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.
_______________________________________________________________

I realize this program has a slow progression, I'm thinking that between my time away from the gym, my overall weight and my age, slow progression is probably for the best. And since my overall goal is to be in good shape again by the spring of 2019, I have the time.

As far as my weight goal of 185 lbs while being 6' 2" tall, I think it's pretty reasonable. I still have a couple of pics of back when I was still lifting in my early 40's and was at around 190 lbs. As I said, I was just starting to get a build so hopefully I still have at least a small base left to start over from. As you can see from the pics below, I could probably still have easily lost at least another 5-10 lbs of flab at that point as I still had a small gut and no abs even starting to show yet. Although I was starting to show some back and shoulder definition. And yes, I'm a hairy bastard. I have my French Canadian ancestors to thank for that.

I am going keep my calorie intake low while bumping up my protein, at least until I can drop my weight down to more reasonable levels. I'll roughly go with SNC's suggestion and hold my protein intake at around 150g -180g a day, but I will also keep to those levels on the day after lifting for recovery. I am not going to try and impress the other guys at the gym (hell, I couldn't even if I tried anyhow). I'm in this for my own health and self-esteem. Tomorrow I will go to the gym and establish my 10RM on the exercises listed and begin my regular workouts next week. Definitely not looking forward to the next month or so of soreness, but I know it'll be worth it if I can stick with it.

Thanks for all the advice! If there's anything wrong or lacking with what I've said above, please feel free to to post it. Especially if you feel that there is a better routine out there for me to start with. I am no expert at this and always welcome ideas and opinions from those more knowledgeable and experienced than me.

Edit - crap. Looks like the pics aren't showing up. I'll have to move them to a different hosting site.

Couple of thoughts

For the short term, that looks fine but I would recommend establishing a warm-up routine for deadlift work (straight leg included).
Get in the habit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoCZSGlBIfs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVAYcMGq8go

Calf Raises and Squat - Incorporate a 5 minute walk routine on the treadmill with incline as part or pre-post. Something to get the blood flowing prior and some thing afterward.

Barbell curls - I'm going to recommend you switch to dumbell curls for 2 reasons. Barbell curls hide imbalances and it increases risk of wrist problems depending on the bar used. Dumbells do require a little extra thought when it comes to movements but I feel it allows for a better starting point.

The plan you selected is fine.
You will probably cycle through couple of programs over time which is fine.
If you are doing cardio on the off days, I recommend no long runs on the day before squats. On the day after squats, long runs are ok just limit the hills. (You could do hill work, but you'll be making a resting bitch face the entire time)

 

[SNC]

Couple of thoughts

For the short term, that looks fine but I would recommend establishing a warm routine for deadlift work (straight leg included).
Get in the habit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoCZSGlBIfs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVAYcMGq8go

Calf Raises and Squat - Incorporate a 5 minute walk routine on the treadmill with incline as part or pre-post. Something to get the blood flowing prior and some thing afterward.

Barbell curls - I'm going to recommend you switch to dumbell curls for 2 reasons. Barbell curls hide imbalances and it increases risk of wrist problems depending on the bar used. Dumbells do require a little extra thought when it comes to movements but I feel it allows for a better starting point.

The plan you selected is fine.
You will probably cycle through couple of programs over time which is fine.
If you are doing cardio on the off days, I recommend no long runs on the day before squats. On the day after squats, long runs are ok just limit the hills. (You could do hill work, but you'll be making a resting bitch face the entire time)

Second the advice above and especially the barbell\dumbbell recommendation. If you feel that dumbbells are not your thing look for a bent curl bar, most gyms have them. If you need to work the biceps or more importantly the brachialis for pull up work dumbbell hammer curls are king! You will be shocked how much more weight you can do in a hammer orientation than standard. I finished every arm workout with 6 sets of 8 cross body hammer curls starting at 55 lb and going up 5 pounds each set. The only thing that sucks is the crab claw hands the rest for the night. I pulled\strained a bicep tendon about 3 weeks ago and I have been stopping at 70 lb.

I have no comment on cardio, as evidence by my picture.

 

[skyking]

Second the advice above and especially the barbell\dumbbell recommendation. If you feel that dumbbells are not your thing look for a bent curl bar, most gyms have them. If you need to work the biceps or more importantly the brachialis for pull up work dumbbell hammer curls are king! You will be shocked how much more weight you can do in a hammer orientation than standard. I finished every arm workout with 6 sets of 8 cross body hammer curls starting at 55 lb and going up 5 pounds each set. The only thing that sucks is the crab claw hands the rest for the night. I pulled\strained a bicep tendon about 3 weeks ago and I have been stopping at 70 lb.

I have no comment on cardio, as evidence by my picture.

LOL, ^5 brother.

 

[Creig]

Thanks for all the advice!

pauldun170 - I agree with your thoughts on both the warmup and the barbell for curls. I will alternate db curls/hammer curls in place of the barbell curl.

mike8675309 - I will alternate some weighted decline crunches and knee lifts to work the abs a bit. Probably the knee lifts on the lighter days (Weds/Fri)

One thing I didn't expect to be difficult is eating right to get enough protein. I'm definitely not a breakfast person. Even lunch generally wasn't much. It was in the evening that I usually had a large amount to eat + late night snacking. Heck, there were plenty of days when I was out working a 12-14 hour shift that I got done and realized that I had forgotten to eat anything at all that day. I am really going to have to make an effort to eat more regularly and balanced.

 

[mlhm5]

If you are trying to lose weight at 50 I would suggest a lifestyle change. Diets do not work. Proven over and over again. Your eventual goal with eating should be low-fat vegan. How you get there is by baby steps. The easiest thing to do is to stop drinking calories and have one day where you only eat veggies.

If you went low-fat vegan cold turkey, which I did 7 years ago, after 6 weeks you will lose 40 lbs and your cholesterol numbers will drop by ~40%.

Watch the movie "Forks over Knives" - it is available on Netflix and Amazon.

I do chest and arms on one day with dumbell bench presses, tricep pull downs, curls, overhead presses and you can vary the tricep exercises with skullcrushers, etc

Back the next day with t-bar rows, good mornings, lat pull downs, cable rows, deadlifts, dumbell pullovers.

Next is legs squats, machine leg lift, hack squats, leg extensions on machine, leg curls

repeat

 

[mike8675309]

Thanks for all the advice!
...

One thing I didn't expect to be difficult is eating right to get enough protein. I'm definitely not a breakfast person. Even lunch generally wasn't much. It was in the evening that I usually had a large amount to eat + late night snacking. Heck, there were plenty of days when I was out working a 12-14 hour shift that I got done and realized that I had forgotten to eat anything at all that day. I am really going to have to make an effort to eat more regularly and balanced.

To start out just make sure you eat. Don't worry about timing of your meals. Just get enough calories in. If you find getting at least 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight per day is a challenge, you can start by adding a protein powder smoothie to each day. Find one that you like the taste of, Vivolife and UntopicNutrition are two that I enjoy.

 

[Creig]

To start out just make sure you eat. Don't worry about timing of your meals. Just get enough calories in. If you find getting at least 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight per day is a challenge, you can start by adding a protein powder smoothie to each day. Find one that you like the taste of, Vivolife and UntopicNutrition are two that I enjoy.

That's pretty much what I'm going to have to do, I think. I added a scoop of unflavored protein powder to some whole grain oatmeal this morning. That was good for 30g of protein. My lunch usually consists of a microwave frozen meal (20-25g). And dinner will be some sort of fish/chicken for probably another 25g or so. I think I'll start bringing some tins of tuna & flavored chicken chunks to the office as snacks and make up the difference of my daily protein requirements with a shake or two. I can see that it's definitely going to be a balancing act trying to get my protein intake to around 150g/day while keeping my calorie count low enough that I continue to lose weight.

 

[Creig]

If you are trying to lose weight at 50 I would suggest a lifestyle change. Diets do not work. Proven over and over again. Your eventual goal with eating should be low-fat vegan. How you get there is by baby steps. The easiest thing to do is to stop drinking calories and have one day where you only eat veggies.

If you went low-fat vegan cold turkey, which I did 7 years ago, after 6 weeks you will lose 40 lbs and your cholesterol numbers will drop by ~40%.

I have a hard time believing that it's possible to eat healthy and somehow drop 40 lbs in 6 weeks. That over 6.5 lbs/week. I've been on 1200-1400 calories/day for two months now and have lost 20 lbs. That's 2.5 lbs/week which is still considered on the high side for weight loss.

Since throwing a food tracking app on my phone that came with my Fit2, I've found it easy to adjust my daily food intake to wherever I want it. I'm probably going to be around 1400-1600 calories/day now that I've started lifting simply due to needing to increase my protein intake. But the exercise should help offset the additional calories.

A calorie calculator put my maintenance level at 2650 calories/day. So 1400-1600 calories/day while lifting should keep me exactly on track to continue losing 2 - 2.5 lbs/week.

 

[SNC]

Just checking in to see how's it going, it's been a month since the OP.

 

[Creig]

I was going to give an update next week, but I guess I'll do it now.

So far, doing pretty good. I've been sticking with my M-W-F workouts and only missed one so far due to training for work. I've slightly increased my calorie intake to around 1400-1600 calories a day to help account for the extra I'm burning during my workouts. I'm taking a multi-purpose vitamin & a D3 vitamin once a day and a fish oil tablet twice a day. I'm keeping my protein intake at 150 grams a day and am also taking 5g of creatine/day.

I was at 218 lbs when I started my workouts again, but it has gone back up 6 lbs to 224. I have to assume that's due to working out and the extra water I'm retaining from the creatine. I'm not really concerned about it as I'm looking at my long-term goals. I haven't started my T-Th cardio yet. I wanted to get my body used to lifting again and allowing it a day off between workouts. I'll probably add the cardio back in at the beginning of April.

I feel it's way too early to worry about whether I'm losing enough weight or gaining enough strength. I didn't get out of shape overnight, so I'm not going to get back into shape by tomorrow afternoon either. The key is to just stick with it. Eventually I may have adjust my calorie intake or my workout routine or something else. But I am starting from scratch so anything I do will make improvements.

I will say that I have noticed that my amount of belly fat has gone down and my leg muscles have firmed up quite a lot from the squats I've been doing. Everything seems to be going fairly smoothly aside from some pain in my right knee while squatting. Not enough to stop me, but enough to be cautious. It goes away a few hours after my workout, so I think it's something that I can just work through.

The only difficulty I'm having with my workouts is trying to engage my hamstrings during Romanian Dead Lifts. I can get my glutes to assist, but I'm having a heck of a time trying to feel my hamstrings in order to make sure they're helping. I've been using Alan Thrall's youtube vids as a guide for my workouts as he is very down to earth and explains things in such a way that just about anyone can understand. I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to feel my hams and be able to mentally control them to help.

 

[Creig]

Well, I've added two sets of tricep extensions and ab machine/weighted crunches to my routine as it seemed those were two areas that were lacking. And I finished my first five week round of AllPro's workout! I was able to bump up my squat, bench, curls, RDL and calf raises by 10% for the next five week round by performing 12 reps x 2 sets of my Monday heavy workout (plus 1/2 and 3/4 weight warmups on the squat, bench, RDL and OHP). The others I couldn't quite perform all 12 so that weight will stay the same as I start round #2 at 8 reps again.

I have to say, I do like having that automatic de-load built into the workout. I don't need to monitor my progress other than on the first workout of week five. And there is a fairly simple AllPro app for android available to help so that I don't need to carry around a journal.

 

[Ackmed]

I have never taken creatine, but I have been told it is a big water weight addition. I wouldn't worry about 5 to 6lbs a week. I do that all the time. Most of it depends on when you weigh yourself. After a workout I gain weight because I drink a shake after, and have a large amount of water+bcaa during.

As we get older, it is harder to keep in shape obviously. Your BMI looks to be complete bullshit to me. Mine also has me in the obese category, yet I am far from it. 6' and 225lbs. Under 10% body fat. I would focus more on looks, how clothes fit, how you feel than the BMI to be honest. Hope it continues to go well, keep it up.