The Over 50 Health & Wellness Podcast Coach’s Corner – The Over 50 Guide to Beginning Strength Training
In this week's Coach's Corner, I'm talking all about getting started with strength training after 50.
I began this episode by discussing why strength training is so important as we age. Building muscle helps optimize our metabolism, protects us against injury, extends our life expectancy, and makes us "harder to kill" as Mark Rippetoe likes to say. Strength training is also your fat-burning friend since adding muscle revs up your metabolism and turns you into a fat burning machine. Other benefits of strength training include improving overall health, bone density, sleep quality, hormonal profile, libido, and overall quality of life. The bottom line - you're never too old to start strength training!
Next, I got into the details of how to start strength training for beginners over 50. I talked about proper "dosing" of strength training by finding the right balance of training frequency, intensity, and volume. For most beginners, I recommend full body workouts 3 days per week, 45-60 minutes per workout, stopping short of technical failure, and keeping intensity around a 7-8 on the Rate of Perceived Exertion scale.
I also covered some of the basics like sets, reps and rest periods. For beginners, I suggest 3 sets of 8-12 reps for each exercise, with 1-2 minutes of rest between sets. We want to focus on compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows, but also incorporate some isolation moves. And we always need a proper warm-up before diving into the workout!
To demonstrate how to put together a beginner strength routine, I provided a sample 3 day full body workout plan with specific exercises. I also noted that you don't need a gym to get started - you can begin with bands, dumbbells, or bodyweight at home. Just focus on progressively overloading over time.
I know that was a lot of info packed into a short episode! My best advice is to not overthink it and just get started. Download the workout anywhere guide and get some bands if needed. And check out the app I mentioned which has tons of guided programs.
If you want to lose weight, get healthy, reclaim your sexy, and be an all-around over 50 badass, start strength training today!
You can find all the resources mentioned in the show notes over at silveredgefitness.com/243.
Thanks for listening and see you next time!
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