Gentle strength building exercises

Question

Untrained 50 year old looking to build strength with the intention preserving muscle while aging, joining a gym soon. Will not get a PT, is looking for 'gentle' exercises. Not willing to suffer much pain. Will something build strength while being (relatively) comfortable? For example, a lower weight than usual.

Is it possible to build and maintain strength for a beginner with little discomfort?

Answer 1

The answer to this question varies from person to person, but to simplify it.. The more you exercise, the more comfortable you will become.

Muscle Soreness:

• There will be some muscle soreness if you want to build strength. Soreness is generally a good thing, because it means your muscles are rebuilding and increasing.
• Over time, soreness will diminish. Your muscles might stop getting sore altogether (in a few weeks or months). If you don't get sore in your first week, increase the weight of your exercises until they feel challenging.
• It may be possible to not get sore and maintain muscle if the weight is at least an occasional challenge.

Joint Pain:

• Fewer dumbbells will reduce joint pain. Dumbbells put more stress on your joints. Machine weights and some barbell exercises will be best for you if you have joint problems.

• For muscle growth, it is beneficial to throw in a dumbbell or barbell exercise into your routine occasionally. Muscle grows best with a variety of challenges.

Some tips:

• Use proper form! This will greatly help you avoid injury.
• Rest your muscle! Give the muscles you train 2-3 days to recover before you exercise with them again.
• Have some protein within 30 minutes of a workout! This dramatically increases your muscle building potential and decreases soreness. If you live far from the gym check these out: protein powder and bottle.
• Seafood in general can help combat muscle soreness and joint pain with omega-3 fat and selenium while providing protein to your muscle. Tuna is fine.

I hope this was insightful. Enjoy your weights!

Answer 2

A beginner like you, the age doesn't matter if you are starting now you are a beginner and it's not bad at all, shouldn't consider about strength if starts just now (beginner can be a person that is working out 0-2 years).

First you have to get known with the place (the gym), the machines, the dumbbells, the barbells, etc. You have to learn how to execute the exercises in the proper way and understand how a training program (split) works. Only in this way you will understand how your body responds and reacts on your workout.

Besides your training the really first thing you must schedule and define clearly is your nutrition. Only with an appropriate nutrition you will be able to build muscles and strength properly. Combined with the necessary rest.

To sum up:

1. Make a nutrition plan based on your needs and your goals
2. Rest
3. Start with a beginner's workout plan (You can get adviced by the gym stuff for all of those things)

After 6-7 months and if you have hit a plateau you can move on strength training. Till then i strongly recommend you to learn the fundamentals and build a good base.