This will be a workout plan for an older gentlemen, a 50 year old brick layer. He doesn't exercise regularly because of the physical nature of his job. His main goals are weight loss and improved overall health.

I don't need the entire thing filled out. I already created my own, but would like a comparison to see if I am on the right track.

What I want to compare is

- Training Guidelines
- Program Breakdown
- Weekly workout Sun-Sat (week 1 and 2)
- Exercise/Group/Sets/Set Performance/Reps/Tempo/Rest - Comments is cut off, so a comment as well
- Cardiorespiratory Training Guidelines
- Workout 1
- Flexibility






This post was edited by lmmortal on Feb 17 2015 06:24pm

I could use some convincing big words and font to make what I say look good but logic will say otherwise.

Somebody help this man.

IMO, most important will be cardio. I'd have him do 20-30 minutes eod decent paced walking cardio (treadmill would be like 3-5% incline + 2.5-3.5mph)

Then I'd go either traditional bro split, or 3x a week full body routine.

Would leave anything too stressful on cns/posterior chain out until he is comfortable in the gym, and feels it wouldn't affect his life/work negatively.

Sets/reps/tempo.. I don't know about this guy personally obviously and how in shape he is already / what aches and pains has come along with his age, but would keep reps above 8 for every exercise (would probably do 10-15) and have him conservatively add reps/sets/weight in order to gauge progress (in that order)

Working out 3 days a week (mon/wed/fri)
55-64% HRmax 9-12 RPE
30min workout / 15min cardio - Only has 45 mins to train

Which muscles should he train on those days and what workouts? Need help figuring out the least stressful workouts since his CNS is fried from his job. Trying to think of 13 exercises in total for a full body workout.

What should he do for flexibility?

What other kind of cardio can he do other than the treadmill?

squats and deadlifts would be my go to workout

4 exercise is all u need

Squats/dips (A)

Deadlift/chinups (B)

Rotate abababababab

Mine too. I am trying to keep this guy alive though.

Okay, 45 mins is tough to work with, but definitely 15 mins of cardio 3-4x a week minimum imo. Nothing crazy though.

Take his dog for an hour long walk, could do the stair stepper, elliptical(gay), swim. IMO swim would probably be his best choice, followed by a good walk with his dog. Just keep the cardio low impact.

Flexibility wise, have him do some standard stretches at home + foam roll imo. Would have him get some resistance bands to help stretch as well..

If he does 3x/week full body, I would probably have him start with 2(+1 tri dom) pressing movements, 3(+1 bi dom) pulling movements, 3 leg movements (focus on hamstring as like 90% of people have lacking hamstrings which can actually cause a fair bit of problems). So something like this could work, but obviously tweak it as need be:

Pressing:
Flat Bench
Fly
Dips (Or another tri dominant exercise that doesnt hurt him)

Pulling:
Bent Over Row
Lat PD + Chins/Pullups
Hammer strength row / Cable Row / maybe db row

Legs:
Leg Press (see if he can handle it) - more quad dom
Lying leg curl (seated is gay af)
Glute Ham Raise (if he can)
Misc. Calves

Now obviously you will want to switch the pressing movements probably eo workout or so to incorporate oh pressing for shoulders, and ideally you'd want more vertical pulling in there as well. IMO a brosplit would still be ideal, especially considering he has 30-45 mins to workout, and would probably be the most enjoyable thing for him (and will allow you to focus on lagging body parts, which may help with any aches/pains he has)

20 min cardio

25 min lifting

Squats
Superset bench variation with pullup variation (3x10 or so)
OHP/Rows/Dips, make up like some cycle bullshit, i mean, time is in fact an issue


Should be about it, wouldnt include deadlifts unless it matches the clients objectives, squats are about equivalent and easier to do correctly for a beginner

Well then make him do squats and deadlifts.

Strengthen his back and leg muscles and he's going to feel 20 years younger.

When someone says do squats and deads it doesnt mean lift 500 lbs for reps. They're compound exercises that tremendously help develop strength and balance.

When my grandpa was 89 years old, he started having issues walking, but they weren't due to damaged knees or hips or anything. His muscles were just atrophied from not doing anything for a very long time.

I gave him a small training session to do 4 times a week. It started out really simple. Sit down on a chair and stand back up without aiding yourself with your hands. Couple reps, couple sets. Then I had him keep his back straight and pick up a small weight from the ground (about the height of a barbell during deadlift or a little higher). If he felt uncomfortable or like he would lose his balance, he could sit down and rest. Then I had him do some light cardio in the pool.

4 years later, he's 93 and looks and feels more healthy than he has been in the last 15-20 years. He's using weights now and does actual squats and deadlifts. He bikes in the summer. Still trains 4 times a week about 1h15 a day. Most of that is cardio, his weight lifting lasts about 35 minutes.