The Daily 50 Workout Method Helps Busy Middle-Aged Men Build Strength in Just 15 Minutes

In order to stay fit and strong as you age, consistency matters just as much as intensity.

Pushing yourself in your first workout of the week is all well and good until your DOMS makes it impossible to get another session in for days. It's better to approach your training in a way that encourages, rather than hinders, regular movement.

That's where the daily 50 method comes in. Devised by Todd Smith, it's a low-friction plan featuring five bodyweight exercises which is focused around building strength in the core, upper body and legs. Workouts are also intentionally short and sharp, too.

'It doesn’t take much for us to stay in momentum,' Smith says. 'A little something here, a little something there. A rolling stone gathers no moss. A simple tool that you can do anywhere, anytime, with zero equipment. Gives you just enough resistance to feel like you did something active for the day and keeps you in momentum.'

• 50 push-ups
• 50 squats
• 50 lunges (25 on each leg)
• 50-second wall sit
• 50-second plank

Low Barrier to Movement

Rather than needing barbells, dumbbells, and machines to complete a workout, the daily 50 plan eliminates any barriers to movement by using just bodyweight – just find a floor area large enough with a wall nearby, and you're set.

The nature of the plan means it can be done from anywhere, at any time of the day, too.

Efficiency

It's a workout that shouldn't take any longer than 15 to 20 minutes, so if you have a spare quarter-of-an-hour at a random point in the day, then it allows you to get a quick session in without sacrificing too much time. They're all effective exercises for building strength and muscle, too.

Scalability

The reps can be broken up however you want – try building up to doing all 50 squats, push-ups and lunges in one set, and the wall sit and plank without a rest during the 50 seconds. Once you've mastered that, increase the time of your plank and wall sit, add in more reps, or reduce the rest time between each exercise to speed things up even more.

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Push-Up

• Begin in the high plank position with your hands a little wider than your shoulders.
• Focus on keeping your shoulders away from your ears with your core engaged and your entire body locked.
• Lower your chest towards the ground with your elbows below your shoulders, creating an arrow shape with your body.
• Explosively push the floor away from you until you fully extend your arms.
• Repeat.

Squat

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Start the movement by bending your knees and sitting back with your hips.
• Go down as far as you can and quickly reverse the motion back to the starting position.
• Keep your head up and back straight throughout the move.

Lunge

• Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Keep your chest up at all times and take a long step forward with one leg, bending your front knee until the back knee touches the ground.
• Stand up explosively, pause and repeat with the other leg.

Wall Sit

• Start leaning against the wall with your feet just wider than hip-width apart. Your whole torso should touch the wall; make sure there's no arch in your back.
• Walk your feet forward to sit down into the squat position, with your knees at about a 90-degree angle. Your thighs should be fully parallel to the ground, and your shins perpendicular to the ground.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes to create tension. Drive your heels into the floor.
• For a more advanced version of the movement, lower yourself down below the parallel thigh position.

Plank

• Begin by getting into a press-up position, then rest on your forearms rather than your hands.
• Make sure your back is straight and tense your abs and your glutes.
• Hold without allowing your hips to sag, and don’t forget to breathe.

If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.

Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.