45 minutes in the gym: what are you doing?

[dpb5031]

Most important is getting there and sticking to it. I'd also recommend not being overly ambitious or planning long workouts that you'll probably find excuses to skip...lol.

 

I agree with circuit training/super-sets. I prefer a push-pull superset type of routine. I'm rarely in the gym for more than an hour, but I bust my azz while I'm there with a combo of machines & free weights with almost no rest between sets. The net result is that my heart rate gets up there quickly and stays elevated through the entire session while im working on strength and mobility. Ends up being a combo of strength, mobility, plus cardio. It's less about exactly what you do, and more about the fact that you're there doing something and keeping moving with intensity.

 

FWIW, I'm 51, 5'10 205... hover around a scratch HC and like to drink and eat. In my younger days I played all the sports (except golf...started late 20s) and even competed in bodybuilding back in the 80s and was a trainer, so I know my way around the gym. I wouldn't recommend handling weights more than 2 or 3 times per week unless you're really going to split train body parts, which isnt really ideal anyway if you're doing more functional movements. Once over 40, our bodies really need more recovery time. Walking a few miles at a brisk pace is great for "off days."

[jc4birdie]

Fitness is a lifestyle, as are eating habits. In my case, I try to combine using kettlebells for conditioning, cardio, and strength w/ the RMT Club for rotational movement training, an elliptical, and fill in w/ medicine ball throws and slams, w/ some battle rope work also. Use some combo of those 5 tools for a 45 min workout 3x a week, w/ a brisk 20 min walk at night. I try to keep my golf top of mind while being strenuous enough to condition my body, hence the RMT Club (so help me, if you want something golf-related, invest $99 in this tool; it's tremendous for rotational movements, and has a specific golf-protocol, too), and the medicine ball work (the parallel and perpendicular wall throws are very rotational). On Wednesdays, I give it a rest and only do a brisk, 4.0 mph/hr. walk for 45 min. And on Fridays, I do the RMT Golf protocol & the Joey D Dozen golf specific workout.

 

Can't wait to get back at it now that my knee has pretty much healed. Having to work in the rehab exercises suck, too.

[The Pearl]

Follow PD Mangan.

 

https://roguehealthandfitness.com/

 

He is as good as it gets in terms of simplicity and efficiency. All of his stuff is evidence-based. Most of the recommendations in this thread are overkill and unnecessary. Sugar, carbs, over-training, and loss of muscle mass at your age are your enemies.

 

No specific "core" work, no stretching, no yoga, no cardio.

 

Once a week for about an hour or you can break his program into two sessions of 30 minutes each.

 

[Fireballer]

5/3/1 with a quick bodyweight assistance

[LeoLeo99]

Your biggest priority should be to lose that 40+ lbs and get down to a healthy weight. So, number 1 is get your diet under control. Be strict 6 days a week and you can go a little crazy 1 day a week. Make time for cardio. Need to be able to walk 18 without huffing and puffing. Try to avoid doing what you're good at in the gym. Work on your weaknesses. Remember why you're in the gym. You want to increase your quality of life as you age. Not try to return to being the athlete you used to be. Wife and I are into spinning now. Bought a Peloton and hit that hard.

[aenemated]

I do a pretty basic strength training routine of squats, deadlifts, presses and curls along with your typical body-weight exercises along with a 15 minute heavy bag workout. Takes about 45mins to an hour in total and is simple enough to do with my bench, weights and bag in my garage.

[dwboston]

> @LeoLeo99 said:

> Your biggest priority should be to lose that 40+ lbs and get down to a healthy weight. So, number 1 is get your diet under control. Be strict 6 days a week and you can go a little crazy 1 day a week. Make time for cardio. **Need to be able to walk 18 without huffing and puffing.** Try to avoid doing what you're good at in the gym. Work on your weaknesses. Remember why you're in the gym. You want to increase your quality of life as you age. Not try to return to being the athlete you used to be. Wife and I are into spinning now. Bought a Peloton and hit that hard.

 

That's one of the biggest things I noticed when golf season started up here in April. I could walk 18, pushing the push cart up some pretty steep hills (there are two on my home course right near the end on holes 15 and 17) with no heavy breathing at all. When we went on vacation in March I did a 45 minute spin class in the morning, played 18 holes (with a cart at a resort course) then played with the kids in the pool for a couple of hours and felt great afterwards. Walking upstairs is noticeably easier, and my back and knees aren't sore anymore. 40 pounds is _a lot_ of weight to drop. We have a water softener at home - twice a year I get the bags of salt from Lowe's and fill it up - the bags weight 40 lbs and those suckers are heavy. :)

 

[deadsolid...shank]

You guys are making me tired just thinking about all these workouts!

 

I figured out how to not worry about weight gain. I haven’t been on a scale in a long time!?

[baudi]

5 minutes versa climbing - 40 minutes watching babes.

 

[Left Rough]

44 here. 5'10" about 170-175.

 

I agree with the Peloton suggestion, not because it's the best workout for golf, but because it takes out the hardest part of working out for me. Getting my butt to the gym. I can burn 800-1100 calories in 45-60 min and once you've started a class, there's almost no excuse to stop.

 

I add pullups/chinups, kettlebell swings, core work, pushups and SuperSpeed to maintain some upper body strength and am longer on the course then I've ever been, about 115 SS. Still good enough to keep up with a lot of the young bucks without stepping in a gym anymore (which is virtually impossible with my work schedule and 2 young kids (5 and 2))

 

As someone said earlier, the best workout is the one you can commit too and stick with.

[Kevlar10]

I do 20-25 minutes of cardio and 20-30 minutes of weights. I alternate large muscle groups. I always include an exercise to strengthen my supporting muscles around my knees and back due to previous injuries. Morning workouts are better than coffee.

[GoGoErky]

Hit the big 3 or 4 lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press) then add in 3-5 accessory lifts. There’s plenty of free programs around from reputable coaches like Joey zsatmary, Brian alsrhue, Johnny candito. Other programs that can be had for cheap from sites like PWRBLD, biolayne.com, hybrid performance

[Mike_C]

> @dwboston said:

> > @"Hot Rod 71" said:

> > > @cmb71 said:

> > > I am inclined to suggest the circuit training style as well. I would try to find a program that suits you and follow it though. **I am 48, 5'11" and in the last 12 months went from 240 to 180**, but I started with whole body circuit-style training. I used to lift a lot when I was younger, so when I got back into it I just did several of the lifts I was used to doing. It wasn't doing much. **Then I found a program online that seemed interesting and followed it.** That was key.

> > >

> > > If you're limiting rest like you do in this style of programming, you're getting cardio benefit as well. A great way to get back into it and get the best use of the 45 minutes. The weights don't have to be very heavy either. You may find in 3 months you're ready to look into other types of programming. I would expect that actually.

> > >

> > > I would still mix in the occasional pure cardio only days from time to time as well when you have a free day or if your body is feeling a bit beat up. You may find that you're enjoying it so much you may want to go back to the gym more than 3 days.

> > >

> > > Question for OP... are you using the gym time to lose the weight? The reason I ask, and speaking from experience, the best exercises for weight loss are fork putdowns and table pushbacks. Nutrition and calorie counting will drop the weight, not the exercise. Adding lean muscle certainly helps, but if you want to drop the weight fast, it's all about the calories... and best to focus on a slightly higher protein intake too. Best of luck, and with commitment you will do it.

> >

> > I would love to hear more about the program you found online. I am also 48, but 6' 1" and currently 265. This is the heaviest I've ever been in my life. It just crept up on me and it won't go away. I was comfortable at 205-210 about 7 years ago, but since then my weight has increased a little each year. If I could get down to 210 I think I'd feel much better.

> >

> > I've started a walking routine at least 4 days a week. I started at 1 mile and now I am up to 3-4 miles. However, two weeks in and I haven't lost a pound. Today I only did 2 miles but I mixed in a 30 second run every 5 minutes.

> >

> I'm 50, 5' 11.5", and I've gone from 250 to 198 in the last 7 months through nutrition improvements and exercise. My doctor gave me some dietary guidelines to follow - worry about sugar not fat (within reason), eat more vegetables and lean protein, and cut out white bread, white rice, white/regular pasta, and white potatoes. We got a Peloton bike back in December and I do a 45-minute spin class at pretty high intensity 5-6 days a week (my record is 17.1 miles in 45 minutes) - I've done 185 spin classes since we got the bike. I walk when I play golf, using a push cart.

>

> I've consistently lost 1-2 pounds a week doing it (after losing 8 pounds in the first week of the dietary changes, which started in mid-January) and it's at the point where I don't feel like I'm doing a diet. I played basketball and was 180-190 my first 2 years in college, then had some injuries/surgeries and put weight on and never took it all off. I've dropped 6 inches off my waist (40 to 34) and have gone from XL shirts being tight to wearing medium shirts comfortably. My biggest issue has been having to buy new clothes, twice - once after I lost 30 pounds, because nothing I owned fit anymore, and again recently for the same reason. The Peloton is a great machine - you have to commit and put in the effort, but it works.

>

> One point of caution - I'm in the best shape of my adult life, but losing weight has killed my golf swing. I've been terrible this year, going from a 5.6 to a 7.4 index, with a bunch of bad rounds. I've had a hard time feeling where the club is in my swing, and I'm having to re-learn the golf swing. I'd rather be healthy and playing bad golf than the other way around, but it's been humbling at times on the course this year.

 

I did something similar last year. Went from 250-260 down to about 195, I'm 57 years old, about 6 ft 1. I did it with a keto diet at first, low carb, no sugar, no bread/pasta/potatoes/rice, lots of vegetables, meat, eggs, cheese, and don't really worry about fat. I had peaked north of 260 pounds a few years ago, started the diet Columbus day 2017 and was over 250 pounds at the time. But by June of the next year was about 195. My exercise consists of golf (walking when its not too hot), walking my dogs a couple of times a day, lots of stretching, and low weight/higher rep weight lifting with dumbbells and stretch bands several times a week. I was also rehabbing some elbow problems, so I did a lot to strengthen my arms/forearms. Also a bit of yoga, mostly last y ear. I use the stretch bands to do a lot of core/rotational strength exercises.

 

Since last fall, I have pretty much gone off the keto/super low carb diet, and now eat maybe a "low carb" diet, probably what a diabetic would follow. I will eat some bread now and then, have had some potatoes, just keep it in moderation. I have been now at just about the same weight for about a year, which is a big thing for me. I have gone up and down in weight a few times in my life, but when I lost weight in the past it was more of a much lower calorie diet with lots of exercise. As soon as I tried to go back to a "normal" diet, the weight just slowing started coming back....

 

I used to use a gym and do heavier weights years ago, and have gotten in great shape in the past a couple of times, but the last time I did it back in the early 2000s, I got down to 180 pounds at my low, but totally lost my swing for awhile, this time I don't feel like I have at all, I have focused more on the stretching/core and lower weights, and this is a better program for me, at least as it relates to my golf swing..... The recommendations for TPI is also useful, I look at their videos now and then and do some of their exercises also.

[hafnia]

> @cmb71 said:

> @hafnia

> In the last 4 months or so, I did add a KB to part of my routine... the swings are extremely effective. Everything you stated is 100% accurate!

 

I'm 43... Swing driver 115mph. I'm a naturally strong person but dynamic weight movements increase power and speed. No question.

People look at koepkas arms as being why he hits it so far, for Me it's core and legs that wins. But KBs do it all.

 

[lightgrip]

Patience and persistence are key. Lose 1 pound a week for 52 weeks and that’s good for anyone. How? Smaller portions, yogurt or fruit for dessert instead of ice cream or cake. Nuts and raisins for snacks instead of candy and chips. I lost 20 pounds last fall in 3 months after having 2 cardiac stents. Back to my high school senior playing weight and feel much better. Also 30 to 45 minutes on an elliptical 3 times a week. Good luck.

[Justsomeguy]

1. 10m of warmup cardio. Walk on a treadmill or elliptical. Intensity irrelevant.

2. 10m of light stretching and body weight exercises. Lay on a mat, try to touch the toes, get those shoulders and hips moving, then pushups and situps or an abs machine if situps are too much. Girl pushups at first if necessary. Do some squats in place w no weights.

3. 10m machine or free weight arms and chest. Cable pulldowns. Think upper body. This is the glory phase.

4. 10m cooldown treadmill or elliptical. Whatever you didn't do for warmup.

5. 5m final stretch or water or perve out on the hot bodies...

That's the routine I follow in my mid 40s whenever I have the time. If I can string it together a couple times a week there are real gains without a bunch of BS. You can also throw in a swimming day. For that do 10m of swimming and 10m of in pool plyometric calisthenics. Then 10m of swimming and get out, you've crushed it.

Good luck man. Go easy and don't get hurt and if you can figure out how to keep it up I wanna know the trick.

[Stanks]

Jesus. Everyone on here is a scratch golfer AND benches 315?! I had this community TOTALLY wrong.

Just do light compound movements. Do a lot but make sure they are compound. Deads, squats and bench. That's it. Light and a lot. Anyone that says different is a WRXer.

 

[Atrayn]

I'm turning back around because I went in the wrong door and meant to be in Petsmart...