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Weights advice for older woman

  • 20-06-2013 9:57am
    #1
    grimm2005
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,899 ✭✭✭


    Hey,

    So my mother who is 60 is looking to get back into lifting weights basically for upper body strength and to get a bit leaner. I'm a male in my mid-20's and I go to the gym a lot, have a great trainer and a good diet but I can't really advise her as we're on opposite ends of the spectrum.

    Could anyone give any advice as to what sort of weights and exercises she should be doing? She is quite tall, thin and looks younger then her age but not very lean. She's keen to challenge herself rather then do a couple of sets with a 2kg weight everyday where she won't break a sweat. She's tried the gym routine on a couple of occasions but just can't get into it as she works a 9 - 5 job and she just doesn't have the energy or push to get to the gym a few evenings a week but reckons with a set of weights at home she would be much more willing to spend some time doing a workout.

    I know it's not a great deal of information to work with but I don't want to tell her to get X set of weights and find they are either too light or too heavy for her. I was thinking a set of kettlebells might be a good place to start as you can do a fair bit with them and they aren't overly expensive or take up too much space.

    Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks!


Comments

  • #2
    ninjabox
    Closed Accounts Posts: 100 ✭✭ninjabox


    Hi OP,

    I think it is important to pair weight training with flexibility training as you get older because muscle stiffness can increase the risk of muscle strain. So maybe your mam could also get a yoga mat.

    Anyway you right about the gym she doesn't need loads of fancy equipment to get a good weight training workout she can do these exercises:

    push-ups - as she improves she can go from "female push-ups" to male "push-ups"

    pull-ups - best exercise ever! for the pull ups obviously she will need some equipment like resistance bands and a bar, she could get resistance bands http://rubberbanditz.com/ theres loads of different levels of resistance so it doesn't matter how weak she is to start

    squats and plank


  • #3
    grimm2005
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,899 ✭✭✭grimm2005


    thanks for the reply ninjabox, will certainly look into the resistance bands although I think pushups might be a bit much too soon for her but definitely a goal!

    She has a yoga mat alright as she used to do yoga classes a few years back but fell out of it as well as general fitness, it's something she's also looking to get back into.


  • #4
    meijin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,300 ✭✭✭meijin


    grimm2005 wrote: »
    thanks for the reply ninjabox, will certainly look into the resistance bands although I think pushups might be a bit much too soon for her but definitely a goal!

    She can probably start from wall push-ups. See some ideas for bodyweight program which starts from very easy steps (but skip the inverted squats I guess): http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056185716


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