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  1. #1
    Registered User Kordath's Avatar
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    Kordath is offline

    Workout program for 55 year old woman

    Hey!

    I've been training now for about 6 months and I'm learning new stuff every day and getting nice results.

    Now both my GF and my mom would like to get in shape. After reading the sticky I pretty much get the concept that there isn't much difference in working out with women than it is with guys. But considering my moms age of 55. Is it really appropriate to put her on benchpress, deadlift, squats etc. from the beginning? Shouldn't I just start her off easy with machines and slightly introduce her to the core workout with minimum weight and slowly build muscle to prevent injuries?

    Also do you guys know a good dietary site where you can track food over a certain time like calorieking that's free? I want her to keep good track of her diet so we can build a good plan.

    Thanks!
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  2. #2
    BittyBro dreahere's Avatar
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    dreahere is offline
    Originally Posted by Kordath View Post
    But considering my moms age of 55. Is it really appropriate to put her on benchpress, deadlift, squats etc. from the beginning?
    Yes.

    Shouldn't I just start her off easy with machines
    No.

    I started when I was almost 48. Not as old as your mom, but definitely middle aged and perimenopausal. Now I can squat about 1.5x my body weight and rack pull or RDL two plates. There are a bunch of women on here in their late 40s or 50s who lift serious weight and many of them didn't start until they were already older. Assuming your mom is in good general health, has no serious injuries to work around, and is cleared by her MD to exercise, there's no reason she can't start with free weights. She might need to start with dbs if she can't bench or squat the bar at first (I couldn't bench the bar when I started) but learning good form with free weights at the beginning is gonna do her a lot more good than sticking to the machines.

    And you're a nice kid for wanting to help your mom out.
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  3. #3
    Registered User Kordath's Avatar
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    Kordath is offline
    Thanks for your input :-)

    Always nice to hear from someone with experience. My mom has been smoking for a long period of her life but she stopped when she got diagnosed with a Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (at least I think it's called that. medical terms in english isn't my thing :-P). When she has high intensive exercises she tends to be exhausted more quickly and take longer time to recover.

    But other than that she's pretty healthy. At least she will be when I've helped her out. :-P She's very aware of her current health and she is patient with slowly building up a good health.

    The thing I'm most concered about is her food habits. When we visit she always have some kind of sweet that she want's to treat us with.

    Perhaps when I've got her hooked I can get my dad to tag along too. He really needs to start working out because he's an overweight diabetic.
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  4. #4
    Unfit and Improper CathyVee's Avatar
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    CathyVee is offline
    Originally Posted by dreahere View Post

    I started when I was almost 48. Not as old as your mom, but definitely middle aged and perimenopausal. Now I can squat about 1.5x my body weight and rack pull or RDL two plates. There are a bunch of women on here in their late 40s or 50s who lift serious weight and many of them didn't start until they were already older. Assuming your mom is in good general health, has no serious injuries to work around, and is cleared by her MD to exercise, there's no reason she can't start with free weights. She might need to start with dbs if she can't bench or squat the bar at first (I couldn't bench the bar when I started) but learning good form with free weights at the beginning is gonna do her a lot more good than sticking to the machines.

    And you're a nice kid for wanting to help your mom out.
    I was 47 and dealing with health issues when I started. Agree with Drea that as long as she's been cleared by her MD there is no reason not to start with the free weights. NROLFW usually gets suggested as a good beginner program but All Pro's is another one she may like. Here's a link:

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=147447933

    MyFitnessPal is what I use for tracking food. Lots of nice features including a recipe function. Here's a link to the site:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/learn_more

    You are a nice kid. You're mom raised you well!
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  5. #5
    Oh, yes!! lynore's Avatar
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    lynore is offline
    First off, you are a very nice kid to help your mother out and exercise is a great start.

    You received great advice above and I agree that as long as she has her doctor's approval, she's good to go. It definitely takes a while to get into the groove - she can start out slowly and work her way up to a good level of fitness regardless of her age. Once she sees results, she will be hooked and wonder what took her so long to get in the gym! I'm older than her and still train 4 times a week and will keep at it as long as I possibly can.

    I also use Myfitnesspal.com for nutrition tracking. It's a great tool.

    I wish you both good luck and please keep us posted on her progress.
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  6. #6
    Registered User Kordath's Avatar
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    Kordath is offline
    We had our first workout last night. We did chest, triceps and shoulders. We finished off with a simple ab exercise too. She got pretty intimidated when I said that we were gonna use free weights instead of machines but I explained to her that it's the best method of building up muscles instead of getting stuck at the machines.

    She is very concerned though that she will get really muscular and "look like a man". I'm trying to convince her that the women that look like bodybuilders train much often and more intense than she will be doing and achieving that amount of muscle isn't easy. I'm concerned that she won't be getting as much protein as she needs and wanted her to start drinking at least one protein shake/day.

    Are you drinking any protein drinks or do you get your protein from food instead?

    Again, thanks for all the replies :-)
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  7. #7
    Unfit and Improper CathyVee's Avatar
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    This is a link to the thread on calculating calories and macros.

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post436716221

    If it helps to increase her protein intake it's fine to have shakes but she may be more satisfied with food. I only use whey protein in my oatmeal. I eat lots of chicken, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, lean beef and I'm averaging about 130 grams of protein/day.
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