Fitness Over 50 - Get Back in Shape
Weight Training can be a Fountain of Youth for Baby Boomers
Let’s face it: there are a lot of years under your belt, but that doesn’t mean you can’t count on a lot more ... especially if you take the time now to drop some of the excess baggage your body has acquired over the first half century of your life and commit to getting back in shape.
Turning 50, or even 60, doesn’t mean you have to settle into that rocker on the porch.
Instead, use your latest birthday as an event to change directions and slow down the aging process by turning your eye from investing in the market and taking some of your time to invest in yourself. The payoff? Getting back in shape will make you healthier, allow you to enjoy life more and – with a little focus and sweat equity – help you regain a semblance of the you that you were so proud of when you were in your 20s or even 30s before the weights of life replaced the weights in the gym.
Plenty of your cohorts have turned to things like walking, yoga and Pilates to help them get fit after 50 and, while those activities are fine as a part of your fitness program, they’re not enough.
Getting Fit at 50 Means Adding Back Some Muscle
After age 50, you generally lose 8 to 16 percent of lean body mass (LBM) per decade, and that affects metabolism, the amount of water in your body and loss of overall strength. Muscle is active, it burns more calories, so as you lose LBM you’re also more likely to gain weight. By 80, you can lose as much as 50 percent of LBM (Baumgartner et al., 1998).
From a kinesiologic standpoint, that means the skeletal system is going to be less stable, mobility will suffer, bones are going to become more brittle and the likelihood of injury - broken hip anyone? - is going to increase.
That’s why weight lifting - serious strength training - is vital for Baby Boomers in their 50s and 60s.
So, How do you Get Back in Shape?
First, remember you’ve ignored your body for at least a couple of decades, even considering the walks, bike rides and yard work you’ve done. You’ll need to invest some serious effort into redefining yourself. Also remember - no matter how bad you feel - that you can do it.
A Couple of Secrets to Getting Back in Shape
- Find a workout partner who can be dedicated when you’re not. Then, find another one because the likelihood that any one person will be motivated when you’re not is slim.
- Set realistic goals. You’re not going to bench 300 pounds at 50 if you didn’t when you were 25 - at least not right away.
- Write down your goals - whether it’s a weight that you want to lift or a weight that you want to get down to - and put them where you’ll see them daily.
- Find a strength coach or trainer who understands mature athletes. You shouldn’t be doing workouts he has planned for the 25-year-olds he trains four or five days a week.
- Accept that you’ll need more recovery time after weight workouts at 50 than you did at 30. But don’t be afraid to push a little bit; it’s generally just muscle soreness.
- Test yourself during your first strength training sessions to give you a true baseline. That doesn’t mean to rip off one rep maximums on every exercise you’re going to do, but it does mean pushing to failure on several major lifts (bench, squat, press, some triceps exercise that you like, a biceps curl ... you get the idea). Try to pick a weight - after a good warm up - that you can do 3-5 times. Then figure out your 1RM using this chart.
- Finally, keep a workout journal, and keep it religiously. It’s amazing how motivating a couple of blank lines can be.
Once you’ve laid the groundwork, check with your doctor to see if there’s anything that will keep you from diving into a workout and start lifting.
- Keep workouts to 60 minutes or less
- Try for two to three workouts a week with a day or two rest between sessions
- Make sure you work your chest, shoulders, back, hips, legs, biceps, triceps and especially your core. Two or three sets of 8-12 reps at about 65 percent of your one rep max will help you ease back into a workout and get you in shape in no time.
Weight Lifting Slows Muscle Loss in Older Athletes
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