Gains possible over 50?

[bfg33]

@janeevans89 I was doing three sets of 15, mostly on machines, but recently lowered my upper body sets to 12 to increase weights. Since I do both upper and lower body exercises in a single session, I alternate between them.

I don’t do the individual sets particularly fast, but don’t leave more than 6-10 breaths between sets of the same exercise.

It’s pretty similar to what I learned in my 20s, but then with sets of 10. My main goal is endurance for hiking, though losing my scrawny arms is a secondary goal. I’ve heard backpacking on rugged terrain described as working out at 40-60% all day, and I’m trying in my own way to train in that direction.

 

[nehemiah126]

@janeevans89 All very good information. I'm 52 in a few months.

I have been lifting forever, was a competitive power lifter for years until I snapped both tricep tendons in my right arm 2 years ago.

Competitive weight - strong af but a little fluffy 265-270

Now for the first time in my life, I've went completely aesthetic.

208-212 and while I'm not building "new " muscle, I am defining it and adding volume.... if that makes sense.

I eat better now than I ever have.

 

[janeevans89]

@nehemiah126 I'm doing it for health (adding life to my years) and aesthetics. I'm plenty strong enough for anything I want to do in life as I am however I sure could look better.

 

[nehemiah126]

@janeevans89 I agree. And that's me. At this point in my life. I enjoyed the competitive powerlifting part but when I rendered my right arm completely useless, it was a wake-up call that I didn't need to be able to pick up the ass end of a car anymore. I actually like being trim and cut and muscular and in a lot of ways with the exception of my Military Days best shape of my life

 

[kimmyk401]

@janeevans89 Short answer is: YES!

Here's the long answer I cut and pasted from another reply to a similar question...

As an older (62) experienced lifter I have seen the best gains by being consistent and working out and eating properly. I don't think people stress that enough. Everybody wants this perfect plan, but most plans work very well if you put in the time and effort to be very consistent over a long period of time.

Body building is a marathon not a sprint. It's like sculpting Michelangelo's David out of marble with a dental pick... It's going to take a long time and there are times where you are going to feel like you aren't making any progress, but you have to keep the faith and keep pushing onward. All natural guys that you see with really good bodies have been doing this for a really long time.

Now... You asked about a plan...

My best gains in mass have been while using the current plan I am on and it is a full body workout 5 days per week (Although I recently cut back to 4 days a week due to my work schedule.) I don't go to failure, usually 3 sets per exercise, and 1-3 reps in reserve. On big compound movements I use 5-12 rep sets and on isolation exercises I use 7-14 reps. I do 8 weeks of consistent workouts, and then take a week to a few days off for a reset, and then adjust all the weights and start over. It typically works like this:

Week 1 - 3 x12

Week 2 - 3x11

Week 3 - 3x10

Week 4 - 3x9

Week 5 - 3x8

Week 6 - 3x7

Week 7 - 3x6

Week 8 - 3x5

Week 9 - Reset, Rest & Recover

Each week I add 10 pounds across the board on Squat and Deadlift, 5 pounds each week on other barbell exercises, and 2.5 pounds on dumbbell exercises. So every week you are adding weight, but dropping reps. So in this example let's say I got 3x5 on week 8 on my deadlift at 315 pounds. I would make 325 my goal for the next 8 weeks plug it in my spread sheet at week 8 and deduct 10 pounds each week back to week 1 and my starting deadlift sets on week 1 would be 3x12 at 255 pounds. Week 2 would be 3x11 at 265, etc...

Using this method, I was able to go from 220 pounds and 24% B.F. to 210 pounds and 14% B.F. in 9 months. Those are weekly average weights, because I track all that in my spreadsheet. I weight myself every day I work out and also use spring loaded bodyfat calipers everyday I work out. So all that data is from the same scale at the same time every morning and the same set of calipers at the same time every morning. I've actually put on a little fat since then, because I'm on a little bit of a clean bulk and I'm back up to 212 pounds and 15% B.F. trying to reach some new weight lifting poundage's this 8 weeks.

By the way each workout is different, but everyone is a full body workout. Keeping them different not only adds variety, but also keeps the muscles seeing something different every day. My new schedule is Mon, Tues, Wed (Off), Thurs, Fri, Sat (Off), Sun (Off)

I know that all sounds like some crazy old man talking, but it has worked for me, so I'm sticking with it with the minor modification of dropping down to 4 days a week.

 

[loveseternalquestion]

@janeevans89 M59, 190. I lift four times a week and most of my lifts are in the elite range. I don’t do anything special, don’t overtrain and just keep at it. On light bench day don’t forget that push ups are a good warm up. I do 100 (which only takes a few months to achieve). Then don’t waste your time doing endless sets. Jump to two plates for 10, and work up to 3 plates for 5-8. Your a big guy so it should be within scope. Find a partner who pushes you.

 

[roberto1820]

@loveseternalquestion

I do 100

Wow! How many sets of reps?

 

[loveseternalquestion]

@roberto1820 Just one set as a warm up

 

[roberto1820]

@loveseternalquestion Holy crap, that's amazing. Maybe you can help me figure something out. Every time I get into a good routine with pushups, it seems like as time goes on, I can do less and less instead of more. I don't understand this. It doesn't hurt or anything, I just run out of muscle. How did you get up to 100?

 

[loveseternalquestion]

@roberto1820 Do as many as you can and finish off with partials. If you can do 40 push ups keep going and do 20 partials. In a couple of weeks you’ll be doing 50 push ups with 25 partials. Keep going.

 

[liz869802]

@janeevans89 Nothing more to add than others have commented. Lifting/Gaintaining after 50 is more about balance. Lifting 4 days a week is not going to be terrible if your program is well-designed so you are not overloading the tendons (which is a higher source of injury after 50). Most men (yes, men) tend to ego lift after 50 because they want to prove they “still got it.” The goal should be to CONTINUE to lift and worry less about how much. Yes, it will take longer, but you can gain muscle, you also need to have a properly fueled diet. Higher lean protein amounts, a slight surplus of calories (not too much to cause fat gain) and balance cardio. Yes…cardio comes into play, too.

You may benefit from trying to find a CPT-CNC that works with older males to help get you started…even if you only use their services for 3 months.

 

[janeevans89]

@liz869802 I thought Reddit was my CPT-CNC!

 

[liz869802]

@janeevans89 I guess if you trust people that you don’t know from Adam or have no idea is they really are a CPT (I am and can prove it!)…sure! Let it be your Personal Trainer. LOL

 

[janeevans89]

@liz869802 I'm actually very distrustful of what I read, I need to find a strong consensus across multiple sources before I will begin to trust something. However, getting input from places like reddit might be the first time I hear a tidbit of information that turns out to be something true and useful to me. I also think that in fitness there is a strong element of "what works for you" to it. We all have to find something we enjoy, is within our capability, and gets us closer to our goals, that will likely be a different combination of things for each person.

 

[liz869802]

@janeevans89 That’s true to a certain degree. I’ve found that many PT’s have bad habits that they continue even after being taught something differently through their certifications. IMO, some things may be a “what works for you,” but I’ve also found a lot of that is bad habits, especially with poor form. I was in the fitness space for quite a while before I decided to be a CPT, and I still learned a lot when I studied. My goal is to train people for their goals…whether that’s being able to get off the toilet at 90 or to be able to do yard work next week.

Too many older folks look at their “glory days” and feel that’s the standard…well, you aren’t 25 and your body isn’t going to do that…so let’s find the stuff that works for your body, today. I found this to be the case for many male lifters. But…my goal is not to train those types of people, so they can lift until they stretch and tear every tendon in their body. It happens.

 

[janeevans89]

@liz869802

you aren’t 25 and your body isn’t going to do that

I completely agree. I was lifting heavier (8-10 rep range) last year and it seemed the nagging issues were piling up. Since returning to lifting after my surgery I've been using lighter weights in the 20 rep range and it's been good. I've been able to increase the weights steadily with no pains or problems. What's got me questioning my program is that it seems very few people recommend sets of 20 reps, it's always 8-12.

I'm going on a week long roadtrip in 10 days and afterward I'm going to bump up the weights to get my sets in the 15 rep range and I'll see how that goes. I'm thinking it's probably better to lift as heavy as I can so long as it's not causing me issues. 20 reps at 120 is good, 15 reps at 135 might be better? I'll find out.

 

[abouna]

@janeevans89 I'm 51 and have been lifting consistently for a little over 2 years. Started out a minimum of 3 days a week and over time I've gotten to the point where I'm at the gym every day. I've gotten to the point that I just really enjoy it. I have 4 workouts so each muscle group is getting hit 2x a week. I started out around 240lbs and have been as low as 225, I'm 6'. Just keep doing what you can. I think the biggest thing is lifting to exhaustion. It's that last rep that you don't want to do that makes you grow. At least that's what I tell myself. My strength has gone up a lot and my body definitely looks a lot better.

 

[janeevans89]

@abouna I agree about the last rep thing. In my glory days I used to do "pyramid lifting" for lack of a better term. This would turn that last rep into 10 reps or so.

Set 1: 10-15 reps in a warmup range

short break 1-2 minutes

Set 2: 10-12 reps in working weight

short break 1-2 minutes

Set 3: add 10-15% leaving just one rep in the tank

short break 1-2 minutes

Set 5: add 10-15% and go to failure (probably just 4-8 reps)

no break, just enough time to change your weights

Set 6: Drop 10-15% of the weight and go to failure

no break, just enough time to change your weights

Set 7: Drop 10-15% more and go to failure.

For my bench pressing I would go until I was back down to just the empty bar and struggling to push it up. If someone walked into the gym at the end I'm sure I looked funny struggling to push an empty bar.

 

[justaperson1]

@janeevans89 53M, 5’10”, 141lbs. I did not work out regularly when I was young and hardly ever went to the gym during my 30s and 40s. I started lifting one year ago, four days a week with a trainer and once a week on my own for volume. What works for me is: frequency 2x a week for each muscle group, volume 10-15 sets for each muscle group with about 8 reps per set(rpe 8-9). This works out to 5-6 different exercises per session. On any given day, the exercises can target the same group. It’s basically a upper lower split. When I’m progressing in weight, the reps drop to about 6. Once I hit 10 reps comfortably, I move up in weight (5lbs for upper body, 10lbs for lower). I do mostly compound lifts because its minimalism appeals to me. Apart from tendinitis, I haven’t had any issues. You need to go to near failure for gains. You can do that with low weights and high reps, but in your 50s, lots of reps mess up your joints (at least my experience). So, better to go lower reps (5-10 range) and load appropriately. Your last few reps should feel difficult. If your hernia has healed, go for it.

 

[janeevans89]

@justaperson1 That's an interesting observation about going heavy vs going light. I was lifting heavy (even with my umbilical hernia, I was just managing it as best I could with a tight belt and proper form) but it seemed the wear and tear was adding up. Stupid stuff like pain in my elbow from barbell curling (even with an E-Z curl bar) and pain in my right wrist from just about anything. These little issues grew slowly but steadily over the course of months to the point where they impacted my performance.

Following the rest from my surgery I returned to lifting using lighter weights and higher reps and it's been great. However the grass always seems greener on the other side so I'm thinking I'll change my program to heavier weights and lower reps and see how it goes. I'll keep notes in my program and see how my body responds.

This is the issue with aging, isn't it? The mind is willing but the body makes it more challenging than it used to be.