My mom wants to start lifting and do cardio. She's 53 years old.

[LiftingFood]

Ello' everyone.

Well, I have to say, my mom has taken a genuine interest in lifting, and working out. She's tired of living an unfit life, and always has body pain.

She asked me what she can do to get stronger, in hopes to relieve her body from pain. She has a history of back problems, and shoulder pains, especially around the trap area.

Any how, I told her machines are almost useless, and I'm not entirely sure if she has the strength to even squat a barbell, bench, press, etc.

Do you guys know any workouts a 53 year old women can do with little taxation to the body? She weighs 145 lbs, and is about 5'4" tall.

She's also interested in cardio work too.
I tried to google information, but all I find is retarded workouts for seniors that probably don't give any results.

[Carnivroar]

Yeah, check out Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

[LiftingFood]

Yeah, check out Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

Ahaha, maybe I need to take an indepth view of it.

[hamburgerfan]

You could have her do the exercises with light dumbbells until she gains the strength to use an olympic bar. Then she could do the program as it's written.

[Carlos Daniel]

Rip has people that don't have the strength to squat leg pressing for 3 sets of 10 until they get strong enough to squat.

[denick]

Almost 2 years ago my wife and I started to do barbell work using Starting Strength as a guide. She started at age 53. We did it 1 day a week. My wife had been seeing a doctor and chiropractor for years about lower back pain, shoulder pain, jaw pain (TMJ) and she was having pain in her hands that she was told was carpel tunnel. She hadn't exercised in 15 years. (I was no better). We did body weight exercises for 2 months. Squats, sit ups, push ups and a few others 2 to 3 times a week. Being completely unconditioned we could tell the difference with just that. Then we did, squat, press, deadlift one week. And squat, benchpress, deadlift the next. We had to get her a standard size bar. It weighed 17 lbs and couple of small plates for her to start. We got these for very cheap used. We also got a rower and warmed up for 5 minutes just as Rip said.

Within a couple of months all the mentioned problems she was having went away or diminished so much she says they are not an issue for her. The Jaw pain problem subsiding to the point it has is borderline miraculous if you had heard the doctors assessment of what she was going to have to endure for the rest of her life.

I could go on for a long time about how great SS has worked for her and myself. If your mother wants to see real change she should do barbell work and SS is the guide to do it. As for the cardio. As you see written here so many times, "Get strong first". Strength is the most important thing!

"Do you guys know any workouts a 53 year old women can do with little taxation to the body?" You still need to tax the body. To get results you have to do the exercises as described in SS. With only a little modification for the individuals abilities. You still need to achieve adding some weight each workout. It may just be smaller increases than written.

Start easy. Help her get good form from the very beginning. Good luck!

[spiderman]

denick,

That is a great story about your wife's improvements. Thanks for sharing it.

How have you done with the program?

[Dastardly]

A lesson learned from me trying to get my mother to exercise:

Be careful not to scare her off. The amount of soreness an untrained person can get from the tiniest amount of pressing, push ups, air squats etc can often be overwhelming/frightening. In the first few sessions really do less than you think. Even some brisk walking or riding a bike can get an untrained middle aged person sore.

I made my 21 year old brother go for a bike ride with me, it was 15 miles tops at a leisurely pace with lots of stopping. But the next day he struggled to get out of bed complaining of soreness and fatigue. (what a pussy, lol).

For the "cardio element" id recommend you get your mom to do brisk walking. This will get her dormant leg muscles primed for some training, reducing the shock! It will probably also get her out of breath and work well as cardio. At the end of a walking session, introduce bodyweight squats. When she gets good at these, introduce light back squats or leg pressing. All of this very gradually over a few weeks.

[FatButWeak]

Almost 2 years ago my wife and I started to do barbell work using Starting Strength as a guide. She started at age 53. We did it 1 day a week. My wife had been seeing a doctor and chiropractor for years about lower back pain, shoulder pain, jaw pain (TMJ) and she was having pain in her hands that she was told was carpel tunnel. She hadn't exercised in 15 years. (I was no better). We did body weight exercises for 2 months. Squats, sit ups, push ups and a few others 2 to 3 times a week. Being completely unconditioned we could tell the difference with just that. Then we did, squat, press, deadlift one week. And squat, benchpress, deadlift the next. We had to get her a standard size bar. It weighed 17 lbs and couple of small plates for her to start. We got these for very cheap used. We also got a rower and warmed up for 5 minutes just as Rip said.

Within a couple of months all the mentioned problems she was having went away or diminished so much she says they are not an issue for her. The Jaw pain problem subsiding to the point it has is borderline miraculous if you had heard the doctors assessment of what she was going to have to endure for the rest of her life.

I could go on for a long time about how great SS has worked for her and myself. If your mother wants to see real change she should do barbell work and SS is the guide to do it. As for the cardio. As you see written here so many times, "Get strong first". Strength is the most important thing!

Excellent story and congrats on your progress. Im not sure that bodyweight exercises are good for deconditioned people, however. Depending on bodyweight, they may be too deconditioned to do them, which is dispiriting.

The OP should start on SS right away. Purchase a cheap "standard" barbell set if the 45 pound bar alone is too heavy for her - it probably is. If she can't do a squat with no weight on her shoulders, have her do bodyweight only squats. If she can't do those (a possibility with deconditioned, fat people) have her do partial squats, or pull up squats where she loops a towel over a bar and pulls herself up while squatting at the same time. three sets of five reps on these bullshit squat measures, of course.

Let us know what happens. We all have moms!

[MazdaMatt]

I gave my mother-in-law an awesome challange that opened her eyes to fitness.

Sit on the edge of a fairly low couch, lean forward, chest up, and stand up without using any momentum. If you move your torso before you get up it doesn't count.

Do it till you get 1 perfect on on the first day, 2 ont he second, 3 on the third, etc until you just can't get it, then take a break. This gave her 1 month of daily practice and for the first time in years she carried a full laundry basket up the stairs without having to hoist it up a few steps at a time.

She was VERY deconditioned - over weight and working her way back from a horrible kidney disease.