Looking for weight training advice

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I have done weight training on and off for most of my life but have been off of any training routine for several years. I am 63. My goal is get back into good physical condition with lean muscle mass and body fat at the low end. I am not interested in building any new muscle mass just becoming fit and maintaining existing muscle. I have a naturally muscular frame and have not lost much muscle as I have gotten older.

For the last 15 weeks I am on a high protein, high fat, low carb diet. Zero sugar, no processed food, no dairy, no grains, mainly fresh meat, fish, a lot of olive oil, fruits and vegetables. I have lost 15 lbs = 1 lb per week and weigh less than I did in college. I still have some fat around the middle so I will stay on a reducing diet until my body fat is optimal. I am about 7 or 8 lbs above my ideal weight now which is where I have been nearly all of my life.

I joined the YMCA about a month ago and am easing into training slowly to avoid aggravating some existing minor medical issues and also to avoid creating new injuries. I am training super slow using light weights and high reps.

For you experienced weight trainers out there, what do you think of the super slow training method? Would you advise a gradual shift toward increased weights and lower reps?

Since you're old, I think that'd be fairly reasonable. I mean it depends on what your goals are. One thing with weightlifting is, I find lower carb diets, while easy to keep you lean, you need some carbs for the muscles to fire. That doesn't mean eat like a pound of pasta a day or anything, but you will have to intake some, especially for higher rep training. Once you do higher reps, higher reps usually only trains Type I muscle fibers, not Type II. Type 1 is fueled by glucose, and Type II more by creatine. If you're training more lower reps, then you'll be training more Type II fibers and thus the carbs becomes less needed. One thing I've noticed with carbs, the source of carbs varies greatly, some people just don't do well, with say, wheat, but will do fine with rice. So diet is it's own thing, and it's highly variable from person to person.
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Bill Starr is someone I'd consider fairly trustworthy.

I'm a fan of the slow lifting method. It worked well for me in the past. (I've been using free weights of late, which doesn't lend its self to slow lifting as well.) I'm planning to join the Y myself soon, and will go back to using machines and slow lifting.

I suppose any advice I can give is to let the muscles rest a good deal. Working out 2 times a week should get the job done, when the lifting is quality.

I learned about slow burn lifting from this article, and link to Fred Hahn's web sight.

"Slow Burn works"

http://blog.trackyourplaque.com/2010/12 ... works.html

When I train fast twitch muscle, I make slow rep sets with maximum weight and low rep count, ant works for me quite well. During these phases I usually do not stack up mass or weight, but my overall capacity of what I can work with improves dramatically. I'd say stick with what works for you. I know, everyone keeps saying that, but you gotta find your own way when it comes to exercises. Some things work splendid for one, while the same things yield suboptimum results for the next. I, personally, am not a big fan of machines, but it is a matter of what you want to accomplish. Machines have the tendency to work on certain muscles quite isolated while not incorporating the muscles that usually support a certain movement. For me, free weights (dumbells, barebells) and bodyweight excersises are the way to go, as in my oppinion, it develops more functional strength. Also, machines are almost always bilateral in movement, meaning that you move both sides of your body at the same time agains the same resistance, and since everyone has a stronger side by default, that side will take over more of the work inherently, which can lead to uneven development. After all, they are machines, so the movement you train is defined by its mechanics, resulting in a "mechanical" way of development, rather than a "natural" one. After all, there's a reason why there's so many different machines.

I appreciate these insights, opinions, and links. For the near future I will continue with the super slow method but not going to total muscle failure because my body is not yet conditioned to weight training. When my conditioning is improved I plan to use super slow to full failure for a period of time, maybe a couple of months, then switch over to using heavier weights and fewer reps for a couple of months and back again. Does anyone see a problem with this plan? When I use the heavier weights I do not intend to try and max out because at my age injuries take longer to heal and I want to avoid that.

I think you will do alright with your plan. After all, having a plan is one of the most important aspects. Just stick with it and see where it leads. Changing things up is important, and don't forget to put in enough recovery time, and sometimes longer break. Whenever I switch between slow twitch and fast twitch programs, I usually throw in one weak of rest where I do not do any excersise at all, so all of my muscle can settle down.