Weight Training in your Forties

[ohiobuck47]

I only started weight training seriously five years ago when I was almost at the age of 45. ( I figured it was now or never). I train 3-4 x a week at the gym, alternating upper body and lower body exercises each workout. I have been satisfied with my results overall, except around my abs area. My gut ranges from 40"-43", although my waist ranges from 36"-38". It never seems that I will be able to get rid of this "excess baggage." Has anyone (particularly the members in their 40's and 50's) been successful at firming up their midsection, and if so, how did you do it? Thanks, in advance, for any info you can give me. If you wish to email me directly, my address is [email protected].

Brian

[massingUP]

Hey Brian,

I'm just in my early 30s, and so I may not be able to speak to the age component of your question -- though I'm sure lots of other guys can.

I have had, however, longstanding difficulties getting leaner, and so I understand where you're coming from. There are two approaches I've found pretty successful so far, though, and I'd be happy to pass them along.

The first thing I tried, recommended by a friend, was to turn my lifting into cardio itself. Start with 10 minutes of warmup cardio to get the heartrate up, and then make sure that the rest intervals between sets are no more than 60 seconds long, which will help keep your heart-rate elevated throughout the routine. Also, you can walk around and stay active during the rest session, so that your heart-rate is less likely to decline. If you work at it, and keep the number of reps in each set fairly high, you can maintain a cardio like heart-rate all the way through your workout, which means that you can shed fat fairly easily.

Another approach I've tried, which also worked quite well, is what I've heard called "interval training" on the cardio machines. Simply put, I'll hop on a treadmill and after doing some warmup walking, I'll start to alternate between low-intensity and high-intensity cardio periods. I'll walk at a moderate pace for 2 minutes, then run like a bat-outta-ell for 1 minute. Walk 2, run 1. Walk 2, run 1. And keep that up for about 15 -20 minutes total. I have found it a VERY efficient method of stripping fat. Just for the record, though, I've heard conflicting things from various BBer friends about its effect on muscle.. Some guys have told me that they think it will contribute to muscle loss -- others say the exact opposite. That it's the best way to lose fat without losing muscle. You should try it yourself to see...

Okay. That's my response. Take it with at least a grain of salt, cuase i'm not exactly the leanest guy out there. But I'm a-trying.

-- J.

[glammaman2000]

i don't get the difference between the"gut"&"waist"measurements(?)

[ohiobuck47]

Thanks for the tips, J. I have not included cardio in each of my workouts, but I do do it at least once a week in my workouts. I'll try doing it more often as you suggest, and see if that starts to reduce my midsection fat.

Glammaman2000, by "gut", I meant stomach size, and waist is just below.

Brian

[ethernet_jock]

Aye, I agree with that.... when I think of a "gut" measurement it's somewhere around my belly-button at the thickest point of my midsection and when I think of waist I'm thinking right BELOW the part that pudges out a little, basically where my pants line up at. Everyone worries about their waist, but for me, that almost never changes... it's been 38 since I was about 17 years old. It's the gut part I'm worried about most :P

Anyhow - to echo what massingUP said - Interval training DOES work. Back in the days when I actually had the motivation to do cardio more than I lifted weights (before I had a gym membership or even weights at home) I would go for a run in the mornings, 2-3 days/week, and I would run flat out until I ran out breath (usually 1-2 minutes) and then walk slowly catching my breath for a max. of another 2 minutes before running hard again. I'd repeat this cycle about 4 times until my "run" periods weren't any longer than 30 seconds (for sake of being out of shape) and it usually lasted about 20 minutes in total. Doing that over the period of 6 months about 2 summers ago and without changing my diet much at all, I lost a good 25lbs of fat. Had I actually shaped up my diet and lifted weights too, I bet I'd have lost even more fat and gained some muscle.... but the summation is, it works. At least it did for me. If I ever get the interest to start focusing on cardio again, I'll probably start doing it that way again.

Good luck!! Like he said, I'm only 27 too.... so I can't identify with the older-age influence.... I might at least make sure that your heart can handle heavy stress before engaging in something like that.

[glammaman2000]

i'm 53 now,&have been training forever.the only BIG change i've noticed is that it becomes more important,as you get older,to have some protein within 1 half hour after a workout.good luck!

[powerdude]

I am 52 and have to watch my waist. Earlier in the summer I started adding some extra protein in my diet. I decided to start taking some lean chicken to work to eat as a mid morning and mid afternoon snack. I just buy some of the ckicken in the packages that are presliced like for putting on sandwiches.

In just a week or less I started to notice that my body was getting harder. It was as if my shoulder muscles became much more solid, you could drive nails in them like a block of wood. The same thing started around my waist.

It is like I am eating fewer calories than before. This may be how the Atkins diet works. By eating more protein, I am helping to satisfy my hunger, but am cutting down on the calories just a bit. Don't over-do the protein. You don't want to dehydrate yourself.

[powerdude]

I'm sure that I'll catch it from the group for this......

I don't believe in working the stomach muscles very much. It seems that when I do a lot of ab work that my waist grows as the stomach muscles get larger and stronger.......

I like to use the stationary cycle at the gym. It gives me a calories burned readout that I find helpful. I think that working the legs is the way to work the extra baggage off the middle..........

[Mdlftr]

Originally Posted by powerdude

...I started adding some extra protein in my diet. I decided to start taking some lean chicken to work to eat as a mid morning and mid afternoon snack. I just buy some of the ckicken in the packages that are presliced like for putting on sandwiches.

In just a week or less I started to notice that my body was getting harder. It was as if my shoulder muscles became much more solid, you could drive nails in them like a block of wood. The same thing started around my waist.

It is like I am eating fewer calories than before. This may be how the Atkins diet works. By eating more protein, I am helping to satisfy my hunger, but am cutting down on the calories just a bit. Don't over-do the protein. You don't want to dehydrate yourself.

I'm with powerdude on this one. I'm in my 40's and have never been big, but I've been lean. I've been working out consistently for about 2 years. I started using Nature's whey lactose-free protein powder mixed with water, and found that I SLOOOOWLY gained muscle weight and size. It really is true that getting big and lean is a combination of a number of factors: weight training, cardio (I do 10 minutes on the bike at the highest resistance) and post-work out protein drink, along with a clean diet (little junk food) and adequate sleep.

I consistently fall down in the "adequate sleep" part of this equation, since I have the usual full-time job, a 2.5 hour work commute every day, and a family.

The good part about all this is that I do feel and look more fit than I have in a long time. Just goes to show all those-wet-behind-ears-'young-uns' in their 20's and 30's that life DOES go on!

My two 'old-fogey' cents,


Mdlftr