Resistance training is quickly becoming a favourite for women over the age of 50. More and more are making the switch from cardio to weight training as their primary form of exercise.
The good news is that anyone can start doing it. It’s never too late to start or physically reinvent yourself. If toning up your physique makes you feel more confident and happy with your appearance than it’s worth striving towards. Not to mention the abundance of well-being benefits weight lifting has including, preventing chronic disease, improving bone strength, cognitive function and energy levels.
When it comes to the over 50s weight lifting routine there’s a lot of emphasis on protecting your joints and avoiding injury. Much of the content circulating the internet assumes our joints and bones transform into a fragile glass that could break at any strenuous move! While avoiding injury and protecting joints is important, you’re probably more flexible and resilient than you think.
Weight Training – The Beginners Routine
Warming Up:
Do 5 minutes of light cardio to get the heart pumping and muscles warmed ready for exercise. Follow this with some basic stretching.
We also suggest performing warm-up sets with a much lower weight than your working weight at the start of every exercise you do.
The Split:
Do 10+ reps and 3 sets of each exercise. We suggest splitting your week into three workouts, to begin with, a lower body day, upper body day and a day for cardio and abs.
Below we have our suggested exercises for each group:
Lower Body
#1 Box Squats
#2 Weighted Lunges
#3 Hamstring Curls
#4 Glute bridges
Upper Body
#1 Dumbbell press
#2 Flyes
#3 Shoulder press
#4 Dumbbell Rows
#5 Lat pull downs
#6 Bicep Curls
#7 Tricep Dips
Cardio & Abs
Spin/Swim/Run/Box
#1 Ab Crunches
#2 Sit ups
#3 Planks
Weight Training and Existing Injuries
If you suffer from any of the following you should avoid certain exercises and modify your workouts with alternatives.
Back pain: If you suffer from back pain you should avoid lunges, squats, overhead presses, rows and lat pulldowns.
Bad Knees: Avoid any leg pressing movements which can cause tension in the knees, such as full squats and lunges.
If you’re unsure how to perform any of the exercises, hire a personal training for your first few sessions who’ll guide you through the correct form. Hitting the weight rooms is one of the best things you can do to age healthily, fend of chronic diseases and fat while maintaining muscle mass. Weight training is the new go-to way to stay fit for the over 50s and it’s never too late to give it a try!
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