Workout for a 50 year old man.

I'm 60 , with high BP and colesteral, Doctor told me to start walking. I know that sounds boring but that would get you in better shape to lift. I'm bike riding now and my colesteral is almost normal. BP is normal. I started slow and am doing 5-10 mile bike rides with no problem.

A good strength program for your age group is New Rules of Lifting for Life. As was said, try to hire a good trainer for a few sessions, or at least video yourself to check your form. Oh, and since you have medical issues, get a doctor's clearance to exercise.

Cherimoose wrote: »

A good strength program for your age group is New Rules of Lifting for Life. As was said, try to hire a good trainer for a few sessions, or at least video yourself to check your form. Oh, and since you have medical issues, get a doctor's clearance to exercise.

Agree with this. You might want to try the 2 simple assessments in this article to see if you have the mobility for common resistance exercises.

http://deansomerset.com/the-worlds-easiest-assessment-and-how-to-tell-if-you-need-more-mobility-instantly/

Best of luck.

55 here. Can't say I'm an expert on this stuff, but I'll throw in my 2 cents...

You don't mention height, so I'm not sure what your target BMI or body fat is. However, with both high BP and cholesterol, it sounds like your first item of business is to cut body fat -- in most cases, both your BP and cholesterol will drop as you drop body fat. If you have a sweet tooth, dropping your sugar intake will lower your triglycerides (in my case, laying off sugared drinks made a huge difference). Use the tools here to come up with a reasonable weight loss per week -- unless you're really tall, you can probably stand to start out at 2lbs per week and work from there.

Since you used to work out a lot, you probably have a good idea what you like, so start doing it again (just start slow -- it's a marathon, not a sprint) -- what to do is not nearly as important as just getting going. The exercise can contribute to weight loss, but the main reason is for your health -- bodies need to move to stay healthy.

You have had loads of great advice.

Here is the workout that I started doing at 56 (a year after I started getting healthy) It took me months and months to just be able to complete it. Weak as a kitten and couldn't do a push up. Now, 7 years later, I have added challenges to the moves and it is still my workout away from home.
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

Definitely start with something that is appropriate for your fitness level and grow from there. My starting point was aqua fit and walking. Try a few things and stick with what you like. Go slow.

Cheers, h.

You have to start where you are!

Walk first, then walk farther, then walk faster.

Jog if it feels good.

Do a simple lifting plan once you are feeling more comfortable moving around - my guy (51 in a couple weeks) does rows, deadlifts, military press, squats, that's about it for the weights. He does pushups, pullups, dips, also does crunches (ack I hate crunches) and is starting yoga because he is lacking mobility in upper body.

If you are overweight, you are well positioned to improve your health though, simply by losing weight. So that's good. Focus on slimming down and while you are doing that, start with gentle exercise and do more as you begin to feel more fit.

Don't discount the power of just walking, either. My mom has never kept up any purposeful exercise except walking. She's 77 and in good shape, has never been fat. She just walks.

I was in your position 4 years ago at 54years old. I started out at 5'7", 235lbs and 35% body fat. My energy was very low and I could not climb a flight of stairs without tiring.

When I started with a personal trainer, he had me on a 6 day program: 4 days strength, 2 days cardio and 1 day of "active rest" per week. For the strength work, he had me do lots of different body weight movements: lunges, squats, bridges, planks, pushups, etc. (The link to nerdfitness.com/blog provided by @Middlehaitch gives a good representation of exercises to start you out. ) My early cardio sessions were performed on a treadmill, elliptical, etc. (If you are not a gym member, you can easily just do this outside. Start by walking, then introduce run/walk stretches into your sessions. Increase pace and distance slowly) The key to the workouts was to perform them consistently and push yourself a bit each day. Progress REQUIRES vigilance around food choices and amounts as well as good exercise habits. In 9 months, I lost 45 lbs and lowered my BF% to 19%.

I have changed the strength to cardio workout ratio several times depending on my focus. The initial focus on strength drove muscle growth and plenty of fat burning, but as I became more fit, I moved to fewer strength and more cardio sessions in order to build run fitness. My current routine is 2S/4C days during the winter "off season", and now all cardio sessions (3 swim,3bike, 3run) during the triathlon season.

Again, while it is not easy, it is very achievable. There is no magic pill, just make a decision to do something each day and you will succeed.

I started at 50, (now 54) with the simple CDC guideline. My goal was to get off HBP medication, while I'm not completely off, I only take it twice a week. I went 6 months with out taking it without any problem. I'm now doing 60 mins of vigorous cardio 5 days a week. plan to start swimming and lifting on the weekends.
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/