These are the 4 best practices that we use as online personal trainers for people over 50. 💪
Following a progressive program is crucial to avoid plateaus and get the best possible results. 👊
~8 minute read
Although the key to reaching our fitness goals is to remain consistent, following the same program for too long can actually prevent us from getting the results we’re looking for. This is called hitting a plateau (aka stagnation).
For this reason, it’s important to change up our routine on a regular basis. A progressive exercise program will allow us to overcome these obstacles and provide a “snowball effect” so that we can get the best possible results! 🥳
In order to avoid hitting a plateau (and getting bored with our workout routine), we need to:
update our program every 4-6 weeks
gradually progress/change training variables
The sweet spot for changing your program is 4-6 weeks. If we change the program too often then the body struggles to adapt optimally. If we take too long to update the program the body will become accustomed to the stimulus and the degree of adaptation tapers off.
By progressing training variables (i.e. reps, sets, rest, load, exercise selection etc.) your body will continually adapt to the new challenges you face! 🤩
At Evertrain, our custom 50+ focused workout programs generally cycle through a different training focus every 4-6 weeks which include (unless dealing with a very advanced or sport specific client);
Foundational Phase
Hypertrophy Phase
Strength Phase
Endurance Phase
Foundation 🧱
The purpose of the foundational phase of training is to learn new movements, correct muscular imbalances (to improve movement and reduce pain) and to engrain new habits for long term success.
After an initial assessment, we work on exercises that will improve posture and strengthen weak points. By doing this we can create a foundation from which to build on later. We also focus on building up a person’s work capacity. In early stages, people have a lower capacity to do work. We want to build this up in a comfortable way (i.e. not diving into the deep end of the pool right away).
It’s important to keep the ‘resistance’ level minimal here and use lighter weights (or body weight) where applicable to help make sure we’re doing things correctly.
If we ever feel pain during exercise, NEVER push through the pain. This is the body telling us it does not like that movement and we should immediately stop the exercise and modify or substitute for a pain-free movement.
In the foundation phase we want to really focus on getting the movements right. Quality reps are the key. If we need to stop mid set to get it right, that’s fine. We’re less focused on a “training effect” (i.e. pushing to fatigue) and more focused on doing things properly.
Foundation phases tend to be the most open-ended of all the phases as they’re the most customized to the person.
Hypertrophy 🏠
The hypertrophy phase of a workout plan is meant to build dense, lean muscle tissue. When battling sarcopenia (muscle loss), we need to have a steady diet of muscle building exercises to slow down this process of aging.
Not only will more muscle help us to be stronger and prevent injury, but the more muscle we have on our body the faster our metabolism will be. A faster metabolism is a large part of maintaining an ideal weight and keeping our body fat percentage close to ideal levels.
Once key movements are learned, we want to fatigue the muscles at each workout. The more the fatigue the better, but we can only fatigue the muscles as much as we can properly recover from the workout. The key variable here is exercise volume. Volume of a given exercise looks likes this.
V = Sets x Reps x Load (weight in lbs)
and if you want to take it even further 🤓
V = Sets x Reps x Load (weight in lbs) x Tempo (seconds)
Example:
A1 - Dumbbell Goblet Squats - 3 sets x 10 reps x 25lbs Dumbbell
V = 3 x 10 x 25
V= 750lbs (lifted in that workout for that exercise)
The more volume lifted in a workout for a given muscle group the more you will experience muscular hypertrophy (muscle building). As a person over 50, this is something you definitely want. Just remember you can only train as hard as you can recover.
Strength 🏋️♀️
After spending time building muscle, you’ll often see a strength building phase. Strength phases help you to make significant jumps in your strength which will allow you to lift heavier weights in future phases of training. This ensures that you’ll continue to benefit from great results as you’ll be able to continually challenge your body, causing it to adapt.
Strength phases emphasize compound lifts or “big lifts” such as; deadlift variations, squat variations, heavy presses, heavy pulls, etc. Never lift a heavy weight without proper lifting technique.
We believe that people over 50 should have functional strength that exceeds the demands of every day activities.
When our ‘functional strength’ is greater than the demand of our every day tasks (carrying groceries, lifting boxes, squatting to pick things up, etc.) we can perform these activities with ease, greater confidence and significantly reduced risk of injury.
This is important because when first meeting with new clients, they often noticed everyday activities were becoming harder to perform. This is very often the trigger that motivated them to reach out for help.
In the strength phase, we focus on a lower rep range but with increasingly heavier weights to allow the muscles to adjust to the extra load exerted on the body. Other than the load size, key variables in a strength phase are exercise selection and rest.
This is a general example of a 12-month program for a 50+ person. It includes phases that emphasize correcting imbalances, building ever-important muscle, developing strength and endurance.
Endurance 🚴♀️
We tend to focus on endurance after we’ve corrected imbalances/injuries, added muscle and built strength. This allows us to get the most out of an endurance phase, which is often the most demanding both physically and mentally. An endurance phase has the body sustaining activity for longer periods of time with less rest overall.
An endurance phase doesn’t necessarily mean doing lots of “cardio” (i.e. repetitive work on cardio machines). Although cardiovascular endurance is important for many reasons, muscular endurance is more important for our everyday living.
The best way to improve muscular endurance is by reducing (or removing) the rest time between each set of exercise. By giving the muscles less time to recover between sets, it trains them to continue to work hard under constant load for longer durations. In other words, the most important variable for endurance phases, is the work to rest ratio.
The endurance phase is important because when we cycle through later phases of training, we will have built up the stamina to push ourselves harder and longer each workout and continue to see improvements.
Endurance phases are not only great for improving overall stamina, energy levels and cardiovascular (heart and lung) health, but when coupled with a consistent eating regimen, it’s when we can make large drops in weight-loss.
Takeaways 📋
Update your workout program every 4-6 weeks and gradually increase training variables to;
Avoid plateaus 📈
Prevent boredom 😀
“Snowball” results straight to your health and fitness goals 🚀🎯
If you want help to get unstuck, get back in shape and get rid of the aches and pains, schedule a call with us TODAY. 🙂👇
Thanks for reading!
Brandon - Online Personal Training Expert, Neuroscience and Mental Health graduate and Triathlete