New to Site - Ready to begin bodybuilding at 68

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Maggieair

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I'm going to be 68 May 17th and finally am going to get into shape. I sit all day at my business - typing. I'm a member of LA Fitness but never go. I also joined Anytime Fitness because it's across the street from my office. I just haven't gotten into the habit of working out. Although I weigh 190 pounds (5 ft. 6 in.), I only look about 50 years old and act a lot younger.

My role model is Kelly Nelson. I've read about and have many books on body building and have studied it for years and know proper form and know quite a lot about body building, but I can't get started. Once or twice over the years I really started changing my body through free weights and working out.

I really don't know where to start. I know all about split routines, full body workouts, crunches for abs. I really think it's going to be necessary to immediately go to the gym each morning early and work out.

I thought about possibly going Monday, Wednesday, Friday AM and doing a full body workout and then on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, start the morning with crunches and an hour-long walk. But it almost seems like I need to go to the gym every morrning. I feel like if I skip Tuesday,Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, then I won't keep it up.

Also, I've noticed that I will never go to the gym if I wait until later in the day or in the early evening. There's always too much that gets in the way later in the day.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Kathy
 
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Maggieair said:
I'm going to be 68 May 17th and finally am going to get into shape. I sit all day at my business - typing. I'm a member of LA Fitness but never go. I also joined Anytime Fitness because it's across the street from my office. I just haven't gotten into the habit of working out. Although I weigh 190 pounds (5 ft. 6 in.), I only look about 50 years old and act a lot younger.

My role model is Kelly Nelson. I've read about and have many books on body building and have studied it for years and know proper form and know quite a lot about body building, but I can't get started. Once or twice over the years I really started changing my body through free weights and working out.

I really don't know where to start. I know all about split routines, full body workouts, crunches for abs. I really think it's going to be necessary to immediately go to the gym each morning early and work out.

I thought about possibly going Monday, Wednesday, Friday AM and doing a full body workout and then on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, start the morning with crunches and an hour-long walk. But it almost seems like I need to go to the gym every morrning. I feel like if I skip Tuesday,Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, then I won't keep it up.

Also, I've noticed that I will never go to the gym if I wait until later in the day or in the early evening. There's always too much that gets in the way later in the day.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Kathy
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Hi Kathy. Welcome! It's nice to see that you are going to start enjoying the benefits of exercising. I didn't start until I was 64, and I know that it is never too late to begin. Weight training has made my quality of life better than I ever thought was possible. I have a website that you might be interested in seeing. I show a beginners weight training program that tells about a safe and easy way for seniors to get into weight training. It includes a question and answer page that tells about the science behind my program. I don't like to put the web address in my posts, but you can find it on my profile page in the contact info tab.
I wish you good luck in your quest for better nealth and fitness.
 
I started pretty late in life, too. A couple things that seem to work for me:
1) Try to get a work-out partner. It's a lot harder to just skip it if there's no one to make you feel guilty.
2) Set a schedule. Make an appointment to work out on such a day at such a time. When that day and time arrives, that's what you'll be doing. "Thursday @ 4 PM I work out". Now you know that that's what you're supposed to be doing at that time- nothing else!
3) If at all possible, try to get a little time in with a trainer, esp. one who is experienced with folks who are just starting out, and folks with more 'life experience'. A good trainer can help you prevent injuries, keep you motivated, and keep it interesting.
4) Start very slowly, and change up your routine all the time. It's very easy to go out too hard at first, and be so sore you're too discouraged to try it again. It's also easy to get in a rut and become bored.
5) Stick with it! It takes a while, but fitness can be addictive, and once you start making progress, that's a great motivator.

I was lucky enough to have a very good trainer for 5 months or so, and he started us all (a management team in sorry physical shape) very slowly and carefully, using cardio, yoga, pilates, and conventional weight training. There was very little soreness, and no one got any work out-related injuries. As a result, even though we no longer have the trainer, everyone is still working out 3 days a week,and feeling great.
 
Welcome Maggieair! I have a couple of suggestions;

1. Get a personal trainer as mentioned to keep you motivated,

2. Sign up for an event (e.g., bodybuilding competition, triathlon, 5k run, etc.) in the future to motivate you to get ready for it.
 
Thanks for all the feedback.

I probably do need to work out just 3 times a week and walk a lot the other 4 day, especailly since I sit all the time at work.

As far as walking, once I start I don't want to stop. If it's by the river I'll go for a couple of hours. Although I will be 68, I'm not too sure my body is that old, but since I do sit, I can go slow.

I've had two personal trainers in the past and they were super helpful, but I just don't have the money to put into this so I'll have to do it myself. And I do know more than the average person about weight training because I've studied it and done it a lot over the years. Of course, there's a load of stuff I don't know, I realize that.

For example, how often can you train your abs? I used to read it's good to train them 7 days a week and then I heard you shouldn't train them anymore than you train the rest of your body. Which is it?

I will take your advice and have a specificied time to work out. I think it'll have to be the morning because I work for myself and my clients are always having emergencies during the day, which might prevent me from keeping my appointment with myself to work out.

I'll also look at the website one of you said you had.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Kathy
 
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