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billozz
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newbie

Post by billozz »

hi everyone,
i am 61 yr old 5'10" tall 11 stone 9lbs have a fairly active job but felt i would like to tone up abit the usual areas, chest area and stomach too, hence joining the gym about 12 months ago, but i dont really know where to start regarding weights.
i usually do about 30 mins walking, about 15 mins rowing then move to weight machines and do bench press, shoulder press, pecs, and a bit of leg work, question is should i be going for weight or reps? what ive been doing up until now is as heavy a weight as i can and pushing myself to do at least 10 reps 3times with a rest between each set. are there different programmes depending on what youd like to achieve? i guess there are, i am aware that at age i might struggle to get abs but would just like to tighten evrywhere up a bit in the chest and stomach area. any suggestions lease
thank you
Bill
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Re: newbie

Post by Boss Man »

Hi Billozz, good to talk to you.

Personally go for weight over reps, rather than reps over weight, so doing 6-10 rep sets going to 95% of failure, is a bit more productive than doing 15 rep sets for the same percentage of failure.
billozz
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Re: newbie

Post by billozz »

thanks for the reply Boss man, can you advise if there is a number of reps i should aim to do? should i aim for a number or try to push past and do as many as possible?
thank you
Bill
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Re: newbie

Post by Boss Man »

I did advise on such a thing, around half way through first post :).
billozz
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Re: newbie

Post by billozz »

is it right that you should leave a little time between reps ? and is it ok to do as many sets of reps as you like in on visit to the gym?
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Boss Man
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Re: newbie

Post by Boss Man »

You don't need any time between reps really, as you might allow a rest period between reps, then you lose some of the efficacy from the set, because the constant tension in the muscle is sacrificed.

As for as many sets as you can then you need a limit, as you cannot just push a muscle too much due to excessive fatigue or overtraining.
billozz
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Re: newbie

Post by billozz »

ok thanks for the reply, i wondered about the slight gap between reps but i think i meant sets as i see people resting for a few minutes after a set
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Re: newbie

Post by Boss Man »

Set breaks can be around 30-60 seconds for small muscles and 90-120 seconds for big muscles.
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