Find Out Everything You Want to Know About 5×5 Training for People Over 50

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LAVERA STEWART

Editor-in-Chief of the Gym Expert

We all know that regular exercise is one of the key aspects of a healthy life. Experts are insisting that we need to be engaged in some sort of physical activity from childhood throughout adult life. However, once we get a job and start a family, we realize that we don’t have so much time for working out as we did before. Many of us get so wrapped up in trying to balance between our careers and personal lives that going out for a run, or hitting the gym seems completely impossible.

Lack of activity, however, leads to accumulation of weight and loss of muscle strength and mass which can cause more severe health problems later in life. That is why it is crucial to continue exercising as often as possible as you get older as well. You might wonder about the type of exercise you can do when you are over 50.

Generally, there are plenty of workouts you can do when you are over 50 years old – yoga, swimming, walking, resistance exercises, strength training etc. These exercises are recommended as beneficial and very effective.

Today, we are going to discuss why it is good and how you can do 5 by 5 workouts for building muscle strength.

When we are talking about strength training a question that appears in the minds of many people is – “Can I start bodybuilding at 50?”. There is a common idea that the best age to start bodybuilding is when you are in your 20s or 30s when it is believed that the growth has finished. However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t lift weights and work on your strength later in life.

We are sure you know many things about all types of weight lifting programs but have you ever heard about 5×5 workout for over 50?

Do you know what is 5 by 5 training, to begin with? It is one of the most popular and used training created for professional bodybuilders and athletes. If you are wondering how often should you workout at 50 we should say that this training is based on the idea that you should do intense training for a group of muscles 2 -3 times per week while on the other days you rest. The point is that you do 5 different exercises per week. For example, you can choose to do exercises with a barbell. In this case, you will do for three days in row 5 different exercises involving barbells – barbell squats, barbell bench press, barbell deadlift, etc. Each of these days you need to make 5 sets of 5 reps for each of the exercises you choose for the day.

A cycle of 5×5 workout for over 50 should last 9 weeks in total and progress in two phases. The first phase is called the prep phase and it should be 4-6 weeks and followed by a peak phase which is intended to last about 3 weeks.

While discussing with fitness and bodybuilding experts we learned that 5×5 workout after 50 is an excellent choice for muscle strength program for beginners and generally best workout program for a 50-year-old man. One of the main reasons is that it is simple and based more on repetition than anything else. The program allows you to start even with an empty bar without weights and then add them if you assess that it is not challenging enough. There are 5×5 workout benefits you can enjoy when you are 50 or more years old.

5x5 Workout Benefits

• This is a simple workout. The instructions are easy to follow and thus adequate equally for beginners and more experienced lifters.
• Another benefit is that you don’t have to memorize a lot of exercises or carry a list with you. You need to choose three exercises you want to perform each they and remember the set and rep patterns and that is it. Generally, it is not difficult to remember it as it never changes – you are always doing five sets of five reps.
• Since there are only five exercises this training enables you to become a good lifter which is particularly important for beginners.
• Last but not least: this is an excellent program for building strength and a great opportunity for all who are wondering “Can a 50-year-old man build muscle?”.

• Be honest with yourself: Accept that at the beginning you won’t be able to lift as much as you wished and gradually increase the weight.
• Include stretching: When you are making the break between reps, stretch for a couple of minutes. It is much better than sitting on the bench.
• Use the belt: Some don’t like it but, wearing the belt while doing squats has proven to be more than useful especially for beginner lifters. You can also continue working out with it especially when you increase the weight.
  

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We covered pretty much everything there is to know about 5×5 workouts for over 50. As you could see this is a simple training that you can do even if you never lifted weights in your life. The most important is to know how to create a workout plan that will correspond to your needs. We hope you enjoyed the text and would like to remind you that there are plenty of others awaiting you at gym-expert.com.