In My Best Shape At Middle Age

Now, as a middle-aged man, I consider myself to be in the best shape of my life.  How did I do it?

Please note the disclaimer. You can perform the exercises and diets at your own risk; we are not physicians or physical therapists. You must get the approval of a physician or physical therapist before starting this regimen. So please, see a doctor or physical therapist and discuss these suggested exercises and diets, BEFORE attempting anything described here.

Exercise: 

Anaerobic

I have limited equipment at home: moderate amount of weights, one barbell, one EZ-curl bar, one solid dumbbell, one adjustable dumbbell, one of those doorway cantilever chin up/pullup bars, handgrips and wrist roller, a couple of 30 lb. weighted vests.

Upper body exercises, twice per week.  
One is a longer (about one hour to 75 minute) workout with more moderate reps, and one workout is shorter (about 30 minutes) with more of an emphasis on higher weight, lower reps (although depending on the specific exercises I may do some higher reps on the short day and lower reps on the long day).

Long session
Things may change, but a typical long session includes: warm up with bodyweight pushups (and for some of the exercises below, I warm up with a lighter dumbbell), pushups (feet elevated) with two weighted vests and extra plates tucked in, fingertip pushups (with the same weight), a heavy low-rep set of military press, high rep shrug set, moderate rep barbell row set, some sets of standing triceps curl with EZ curl bar, then a heavier lower rep set or two of barbell biceps curls.  Finish with forearm work (higher reps) – wrist curls with barbell, reverse curl with barbell or EZ curl bar, reverse dumbbell wrist curls.  Also some neck work with a 10 lb. plate.

Short session 
Some pullups or reverse grip barbell rows, heavier weighted vest pushups with lower reps (e.g., 5 x 5 set/rep scheme), triceps work (exercises like backwards dips with weighted vest grabbing the edge of something or something like this but with weighted vest), and either dumbbell Zottman curls or hammer curls, followed by heavy power wrist curls and dumbbell reverse curls.

Leg day – once per week: Since I have naturally muscular legs (and get leg workouts from the aerobic work), I usually do one set of 20 reps of front squats, followed by one set of 50 reps of calf raises wearing a weighted vest from the edge of a stair step. I may throw in a set of Jefferson squats and some deadlifts, if I feel like it.

Every 2-3 months or so, I’ll take a week-and-a half off doing the weights on order to recover and let any nagging aches heal up.

Aerobic

I try to walk at least 30 minutes per day, even if it is just around the house or work during bad weather.  The 30 minutes is optimally at one time, but can be broken up into smaller time units.  I usually do more than that per day.  Brief spurts of jumping rope (80-100 jumps) several times per week, and at work, I’ll climb 4-6 flights of stairs (the building is that tall), often two steps at a time.  If I’m home on vacation and cannot do the stair climbing, I’ll just do more jumping rope, which has the same essential high-intensity cardiovascular effect.

Auxiliary

These are the various elbow rehab exercises described here previously, as well as rotator cuff exercises, abdominal exercises, handgrip and wrist roller exercises.  These are done several times a week, usually in the morning.  Flextend for the elbow is done several times per week, typically twice a day, morning and afternoon.

Diet

Avoid: added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, excess saturated fats, white bread, soda, or fruit juice, etc.  Eat more healthy proteins (below), whole wheat grains or oatmeal, sweet potato, beans, plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, etc. Eat in moderation; do not stuff yourself, particularly at dinner. Avoid excessive salt.  For bread and pasta, eat 100% whole wheat.  Use Smart Balance or olive oil instead of butter or margarine, and do not go overboard with it.

Protein is usually from chicken, fish, no-fat (or low-fat) dairy, peanut butter, egg whites, sometimes whole eggs (not very often).  Occasionally, I have protein powder, typically in added to "protein bars" I make myself.  More protein is consumed on days when I do anaerobic exercise.

Typical work day diet (off days I can have some more for lunch):

Breakfast: orange (the fruit, not the juice!) or half of a chewable vitamin C tablet (one tablet is 1000 mg), and sometimes a banana. The fruit are in addition to egg whites with a whole wheat bagel (with Smart Balance on half of the bagel), peanut butter on whole wheat bread with a bit of cereal (like Post shredded wheat that has no added sugar) plus non-fat milk (or Lactaid, depending on your lactose tolerance), or a whole wheat bagel with a cup of non-fat Greek yogurt, and some banana, wheat germ and cinnamon added on top.   

Lunch is a small roll and a piece of cheese, some low-fat Triscuits, and an apple.  Dinner usually is fish or chicken, vegetables, fruit.   I could eat more nuts than I currently do.  I also drink a lot of water throughout the day, since I had kidney stones and that is what the nephrologist advised.

I have several “cheat” meals in the week, most of them on Sunday. However, even these meals aren’t that unhealthy. They usually include a combination of the following:  1-2 tsp low-sugar jelly, Musselman’s apple butter, or reduced fat cream cheese on my peanut butter sandwich (my usual sandwich is peanut butter on 100% whole wheat bread, with cinnamon and/or banana slices), a small bag of pretzels, some dried fruit (these are high in sugar, but also in fiber and other nutrients), a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich or frozen chicken sandwich, whole fat cheese, a small piece of a commercial protein bar; a Fiber One bar or cookie (not very high in sugar or fat, but high in fiber). Occasionally, I bake anchovies to add to some meal (these are high in salt, but with protein and healthy fats).  So my “cheating” is really not outrageous, just not what I typically eat.

You can get used to this diet over time.  When you reach the point when a Fiber One bar is a “treat”, you are on the right path. I lost 20 lbs. of fat in about a year, lost the spare tire around my waist, and got blood pressure routinely below 120/80 and heart rate in the low 60s to upper 50s.  Again: I’m middle-aged.

Other

And, yes, when I’m off from work I sometimes try and take an afternoon nap, since I do not sleep great at night, I’m a light sleeper and have a stressful and unpleasant job.