Upper body workout for a leaner, muscular look over 35
Achieve strength & definition in your chest/shoulders/triceps using this 5x5 routine
Good morning!
So glad to be back at this. I had a great week, one of the main reasons being that I started back at the gym.
I wanted to share with you the 5x5 chest/shoulders/triceps weightlifting routine I designed that is intended to build lean muscle and increase strength in the upper body, as well as burn fat. I’m 45 and do this workout 2x per week.
Requirements
Gym membership with a weight room
1 hour of your time
A way to track your numbers (I use an app called Strong, I love it. However, you can use a Google sheet, notebook, whatever)
Note: This workout assumes you have access to a free-weight room. You can alternatively use cable machines. DM me for details.
Workout overview
This workout isolates your chest, shoulders, and triceps. The idea is that instead of doing everything in one workout (which would be exhausting and take forever), you concentrate volume on specific muscle groups per day so you can train them harder and with more focus.
5x5 is great for maximum stress over minimal time (perfect for busy people over 35). Other reasons this works well:
Low rep ranges are joint-friendly
Easier to recover from between sessions
Simple progression (clear, measurable progress to keep you consistent)
Workout specifics
Notes:
You will rest 30 sec to 2 min between each set of 5 repetitions (“reps”)
Choose a starting weight that provides resistance but feels more like a warm-up. Your 5th set should be the most difficult
Incline barbell bench press (video/instructions)
5 sets of 5 reps (i.e. 5x5)
0:30 rest after sets 1 and 2; 1:00+ rest after sets 3 and 4
Push the bar up explosively. Then take ~3 seconds to lower the bar. This is called a “slower negative.”
