Ok let me see if I have the warning signs, issues and postives right here then I will look at what you want and potential ways of getting it.
Time out of training. Age is something I have never accepted as an issue unless there is inactivity and you have this.
Health and injury issues.
Heart attack followed by inactivity will mean this is still an issue we will have to contend with.
Combined with Chronic Bronchitis you have severely weakened cardio vascular system meaning we can't push intensity too high or expect fast recovery without literally risking your life.
Bicep injury and not totally sure how well this has recovered or if it has healed incorrectly.
Effects of medication, you have mentioned Prednisone, which I know virtually nothing about so could advise something you would have to refuse due to effects. If I do advise something you shouldn't do, don't do it and tell me why you can't.
Sleep apnea. Lack of sleep causes such a variety of issues including hormonal imbalance, propensity for obesity, poor co-ordination, pardon the pun but this is a nightmare scenario for coming into training.
By what you have said I will guess you are carrying a lot of weight to, mixture of muscle and fat maybe but still heavy. Correct me if I am wrong.
This next is a bit of a presumption and I reserve the right to be wrong. I have worked construction sites in my time and met some great people doing it. However they weren't the sharpest tools in the box and much of their education came from mainstream papers and magazines not books and detailed research. Your statement of wanting to find out about supplements to help you makes me think you are likely to fit into this category and haven't done a lot of research on real nutrition. This is not a problem as long as you are ready and willing to learn from a crazy (to you young) man who has done his reading and learned from mistakes, mine and those of others. Some of what I say may appear insultingly simple but please accept I don't know how much knowledge you have so will assume less than I actually think just in case.
The good news.
I will assume that you are familiar with a lot of movements and most people training into their fifties are used to thinking long term and not being in an almighty hurry to fix everything yesterday. These factors are what seperate you from an absolute beginner and give you better chance of success. In all other ways you are a beginner and the stuff you will be doing will feel disgracefully easy, this won't be a surprise.
Suggestions for fixing the damage.
As with most programs this is intended to last no more than a couple of months so don't think I am expecting you to train this way forever.
This is intended to do a few basic things, re-familiarise you with some basic movement, mobilise your body, start taxing your cardio vascular system in a controlled manner and get you started in something you have enjoyed in the past.
Cardio
Most gyms now have equipment that will tell you your current heart rate. Get some guidance from a doctor about a safe maximum heart rate for you and do not go above it until they say you can. I don't have to tell you how painful a heart attack is or why you want to avoid one.
Failing to do any cardio is where a lot of body builders fall down. A good CV system improves recovery, enables the body to work at higher intensities and despite the myths doesn't make muscles disappear.
Your weight means high impact work like jogging or running are out for the moment so find out which of the following you can do and mix them up.
Rowing (if the bicep hurts, drop this until it's recovered som more)
Cross trainer (same story as above)
Cycle standard or recumbent
I don't know but am going to guess you aren't used to doing these for any length of time and will find doing these at low intensity as boring as hell. Normally I advise if you hate something drop it, today is the exception, you need cardio fitness more than anything else right now so take a music player, book or whatever you need to get you doing this for 20 minutes or whatever you doctor says you can do safely. Once you have got some basic cardiovascular fitness we can shake it up a bit and do more interesting alternatives for now sorry but boring and safe is your friend. If it helps imagine making yourself fit and strong enough to punch me in the face for suggesting this.
Weights
Starting off very light and using a rested circuit system to get you used to the exercises again and mobilised. These are all compound movements so will cover most of your body using the BALS (Back Arms Legs Stomach) system for balance.
Reps are 10 a set weight should be something you could use for 20 reps, meaning you finish each set feeling comfortable. Rest should be 30 seconds to a minute unless you aren't recovered within that time. Your mind isn't a beginner but your body is right now so this low intensity is essential.
Start with 3 circuits of each exercise, if this is too easy add circuits not weight or reps. The additional load will come in later programs.
Back - Deadlift
Arms - Bench Press
Legs - Squats
Stomach - Elbows to knees
Mobility
You will need to be doing a full stretch routine at the end of each workout. These will be best found using you tube or similar as describing in type is horrendously difficult and can be misleading. You want static stretches at beginners level.
Ideally your workouts would be short cardio warm up, weights, long cardio session and cool down then stretches. The training should feel easy, and I guarantee that even though it will you will still ache the next day. Times a week are up to you but I would say leave at least a day between workouts, and if your doctor says two days remember he knows you better than I do.
Diet and supplementation. You live in the US part of the Western World the UK I call home is part of. The average western diet is high in sugar, fat, salt and protein and proportionately low in complex carbs aka starch. As such nutritionalists have found it hilarious that the food people tend to supplement is protein, something we are already eating more of than we need for weight gain and loss. Consider that high protein diets are sold as ways to gain and lose weight and you will see that it has to be flawed somewhere. I have posted before what actually happens here but short version, excess protein will either be converted to fat or ditched in urine, not become more muscle.
Key word in dietary supplements is ironically supplement, meaning to make up for a missing component. Basically if you get your diet right in the first place you don't need to supplement it and your body will be happier with real food than pre-digested alternatives.
3.5 million years of evolution have made us suited to a diet high in complex carbs, with moderate protein, sensible fat and very low sugar content, the sort of thing you will see in proportional food pyramids. Despite this people are behaving as if we have changed dramatically in the last century, and we haven't.
Please do argue this and research to find out if I am wrong, I like learning and being proven wrong is part of this.
