First get a clearance from your physician. Never begin an exercise program without it. Then, start easy. Don't jump into a vigorous weight program which involves health clubs and special periods out of your working day. It has a 95% risk of failure. It takes too much of your time. It becomes an added life burden.
And its no good loading all your exercise into one day a week. It doesn't work. To be successful, exercise must be incorporated into your normal daily routine. Fifteen minutes a day when you rise in the mornings, is far better for your health than three hours at the gym on Saturdays.
You dont need complicated machines or fancy gadgets. You can exercise anywhere. Your own body weight and gravity provide ample resistance. Gradual, progressive exercise is best. There is no reason to steam, no need to work to your limit.
Never strain. Anytime you ache the next day, you are going to hard. THE BODY DOES NOT NEED TO BE INFLAMED IN ORDER TO IMPROVE. Inflammation is counter-productive. Over-training is de-training.
Remember, you are limited by the rhythms of Nature. Adaption is slow-but sweetly sure. The first day you begin exercising, even after doing none for thirty years, your body starts to rejuvenate.
Your exercise program has three goals. First and most important is to maintain and increase your muscle mass. Second is to maintain you cardiovascular system. Third is to maintain your flexibility. Mr. Average stiffens as he ages, increasing the risk of all sorts of strains and tendon, ligament and skeletal disorders.
Once you have your physician's clearance to exercise, there is nothing wrong with a little aerobics, especially to warm up the system and get your blood pumping. And twenty minutes even at mild intensity will have cardiovascular benefits. I advocate aerobics to begin exercise for everyone because you should never pick up weights cold. Then 5-10 mins spent stretching after your muscles are warm, is all you need to maintain flexibility lifelong.
Okay..on to muscles. Your program should include resistance exercise for shoulders, arms, chest, back, legs, and abdominals. If you are doing three days per week, which is the starting level and the minimum for consistent benefit, then do: DAY 1- Shoulders and Arms/ DAY 2-Chest and Back/ DAY 3- Legs and Abdominals. If you are doing five days per week, the optimum program for health, then do one bodypart per day: Shoulders, Arms, Chest, Back, Legs & Abdominals.
Some secrets that will give you faster progress and a better body than most people you see in the health clubs...
1. No matter what the gym trainer says, Never do more per exercise than one warm up set of 12-15 easy repetitions, followed by one medium heavy set of 6-10 repetitions to exhaustion.
2. Work a body part only once per week. Exercised muscle takes about 48 hours to breakdown worn cells, then about 48-72 hours to build new, stronger replacements. That's five days. From 5-8 days strength remains at a maximum and then slowly declines. So exercising a muscle every 5-8 days is the optimum program for progress.
3. Do not train with weights for more than one hour per workout. Your anabolic potential, that is, your ability to gain lean muscle mass is limited by your hormone levels. After 45 mins to an hour, hormone levels decline. You may be able to will yourself to continue but it will not do your body any good.
4. Increase your protein intake by drinking a protein drink daily within one hour after workout. Much new research shows that weight training puts subjects into protein deficit, despite the high-protein level of the American diet.
5. Take daily antioxidant supplements. All exercises increases oxidation in the body.
6. Eat an alkaline diet. All exercise increases body acidity.
7. Sip a cold, light carbohydrate drink (7-10%) throughout workouts. drinks containing a little glucose, glucose polymers are the best, It will trickle carbohydrate continuously into your blood and spare your muscle glycogen, thereby maintaining your energy level. It will also prevent dehydration. Believe it or not 3% dehydration can reduce strength by 10%. Your drink will keep your body temperature down, thereby reducing the amount of blood diverted to the skin for cooling, thus leaving more to supply your muscles with oxygen and nutrients.
**It takes a bit of puff and stickability to grow a high-performance body. But once you've done it, the modicum of exercise necessary to maintain it is one of life's greatest bargains**