The Perfect All Over Body Workout for Seniors
I love this workout because it fits inside two hours (one hour and twenty minutes to be exact) and it covers everything in my opinion – plus I get a rest day, every other day.
Below is my version of the perfect all over body workout, but I must point out here that the order isn’t fixed. I will generally move on to machines that are closest or available. I’m not worried about sticking to one body part at a time and the additional rest allows me to keep up the intensity, whilst various body parts have more time to recover – hence better performance. Here’s the workout – after warming up:
1. Side Deltoid Raises – I start with my heaviest dumbbells and do four sets of twelve reps. Each set gets slightly lighter and my last set is a tri-set of three different weights of dumbbell (heavy, medium and light).
2. Seated Rowing (Wide Grip) – I do four sets of ten to twelve reps and the final two sets are lighter than the first two sets.
3. Shoulder Press (Smith Machine) I maintain the same weight throughout and perform four sets of ten to twelve reps. At the end of each set, I will hold the bar in a locked out position for ten seconds, then rest for forty seconds between sets.
4. Upright Bench Press (Machine) – Herew I do four sets of ten to twelve reps, gradually getting lighter and focusing on good form and breathing.
That covers an entire upper body start, just in case it’s all I have time to do. I now move to the leg room.
5. Leg Press (Machine) – Here I perform four sets of ten, with a medium weight. After the final set, I leave the machine and squat down for twenty seconds, just to give my quads an extra burn.
6. Seated Leg Curls (Machine) – Here I do four sets of ten to twelve reps, whilst reducing my weight slightly for each set.
My upper body is now rested and I move back to upper body.
7. Wide Grip Pull Downs (Machine) – Here I do four sets of ten repetitions, focusing on getting a good stretch on my lats at the end of each set.
8. Pec Deck – (Machine) – In this exercise, I do four sets of ten to twelve reps, whilst focusing on good form and really crushing my pectoral (chest) muscles as my hands touch each other in the middle.
9. Bicep Curls (Preacher Curl Machine) – Here I do four sets of ten to twelve reps, whilst focusing on good form and really getting a good peak contraction at the top of the movement.
10. Triceps Pushdowns (Machine) – These are like bench dips, except I use a seated push down machine, enabling me to focus on really hitting my triceps.
11. Standing Calf Raises (Machine) – On this machine, I do four sets of twelve reps and aim for a good burn.
12. Leg Extensions (Machine) – Here I hit my quads with a final four sets, holding the weight straight-legged for ten reps. The burn is almost impossible to take by the last few reps!
13. Rear Deltoid Raises (Machine) – This is a nice wind-down isolation exercise and four sets of ten reps nicely rounds off my all over body workout.
As you can see, there is quite a lot going on in this workout and by only allowing myself forty seconds rest between sets, the whole thing is very intense and provides an excellent workout for those seniors still training in their twilight years.
Here’s a breakdown of my entire workout:
1. Four Leg Exercises
2. Three Shoulder Exercises
3. Two Chest Exercises
4. Two Back Exercises
5. One Bicep Exercise
6. One Triceps Exercise
If I’m well into my training, I sometimes do two extra sets of shoulder press, bench press and seated rowing, but this would just be a bonus extra. I do this workout every other day and the cool thing is that I get a rest every other day too.
Finally, I will pop up to the cardio room and walk at quite a pace, for thirty minutes on a treadmill.
It might not be Mr Universe standard, but it’s a really good workout – and that completes my all over body workout!
In this video, Doctor Berry discusses why seniors should still do strength training.
