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3-Day Plan for Weight Training Over 50A Strength Training Strategy that will Help You See Results FastSep 30, 2009 Jim O'Neill

Weight lifting can slow down and - in some cases - even reverse some of what hasbeen accepted as the normal aging process, helping you look and feel younger.

Advice about weight training for people over 50 comes with more caveats than your mobile phone contract. While its well-intentioned, it can almost chase you backto your easy chair.

And thats a shame, because while walking, jogging and bike riding are good for your cardiovascular system, weight lifting can change the way you age, slowing down or reversing declines in bone density and lean muscle mass, helping you stay strong, enhancing your balance and making you less prone to injury

That said, ahem: Check with your physician before attempting to undertake any unaccustomed physical activity. There, thats out of the way.

Once the doc greenlights you, make your own assessment of where your strength levels are and what you can expect to be able to do.

How to Get StartedWhether youre a first-time weight lifter, or an experienced lifter just returningto the fold, there are some things youll need to keep in mind:

Warm up really well. Now, more that ever, you need to be smarter in the weight room. Take a good ride on a stationary bike, or spend 10 minutes on the treadmill, gradually bringing up a good sweat.Listen to your body. That little tweak means more down time than it did 25 yearsago. Listen to it. If you feel anything more than minor discomfort while youre lifting, lower your load and try it again. If its still tweaky, ignore the set, NO

T the pain.Plan on more rest between lifting days, or at least between exercises that workthe same muscle groups. You may have been fine with one day off 20 years ago, itmay take two or more now.After youre done lifting, warm down. Go for an easy jog or a walk.Dont ignore your core. Every time youre in the weight room, make sure you addressyour core strength. A good target is 150-200 reps for your core, overall. You combine crunches, reverse hypers, and any other lifts. Try Turkish Get Ups and count them as five reps each.Stretch. Stretch. Stretch. A good stretch after youve lifted will reduce the amount of soreness you feel the next day and especially the second day after you lift. It will help dramatically increase your range of motion, the amount of strength you gain, and your balance. Take your time, enjoy it and really get a good st

retch.How to Build Your Strength Training Workout PlanThe American College of Sports Medicine suggests that people aged 50 and over try to lift 2-3 times a week, performing exercises that hit all the major muscle groups; thats about 6-8 exercises. Ideally, start with a goal of 10-15 reps per set and adjust your weights accordingly.

If you want to build muscle, you have to use weights that are heavy enough to actually recruit muscle fibers. That means those cute little 2.5-pound dumbbells you start doing curls with eventually will have to give way to 5s, then 10s and m

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ore.

One of the biggest frustrations nascent lifters have is that all of their perceived effort is going for naught. If you spend a lot of time in the gym lifting and havent begun to seen evidence of change in your physique, youre probably not using enough weight. Ramp it up.

If youre just starting, youre almost certainly going to feel muscle soreness at some point. Good for you, youre pushing ahead at a pace thats causing your muscles to grow. BUT, if you feel joint or nerve pain while you lift, back off; drop yourweight down and then move ahead.

A Menu of Exercises for Strength TrainingThis is a very basic strength training workout that you can build from. You cansee videos of most of these exercises here.

Day 1: (2 sets, 10-15 reps)

Dumbbell Bench PressSquats to a benchGood MorningsDumbbell Lateral raiseDumbbell curlDumbbell Step-up

Triceps PushdownWide-grip Lat PulldownDay 2: (2 sets, 10-15 reps)

Dumbbell Incline BenchDumbbell LungesBent-over rowsSeated Dumbbell PressStraight Bar CurlTriceps ExtensionsClose-grip Lat PulldownDay 3: (2 sets, 10-15 reps)

Dumbbell Bench PressFront SquatFacedown Reverse FlyBarbell Upright RowClose-grip Bench PressHammer CurlChin Ups (Assisted)As you get stronger, look to include more ground-based complex movements, like Power Cleans, and more challenging exercises. Youll also want to adjust weight andreps on a regular basis to spur muscles growth, a concept called periodization.

Read more at Suite101: 3-Day Plan for Weight Training Over 50: A Strength Training Strategy that will Help You See Results Fast http://fitness.suite101.com/article.cfm/3day_plan_for_weight_training_over_50#ixzz0gRBcXApC