i have gone this far in my diet with only cardio. im curious about adding some strength training to tone up my body, especially my arms, stomach, and booty. i do not have access, nor can i afford a gym membership.

i am a MAJOR beginner. i know NOTHING about this type of exercise. any recommendations on ways to get started? my upper body is VERY weak (i cant even do a push up). does anyone have suggestions for some easy, at home exercises that dont require fancy equipment?

if you have any ideas, please explain the instructions VERY thoroughly as i am an ABSOLUTE beginner!! (i.e. how to do them, for how long, etc, lol)

thanks gals!!

Here is a good article for beginners : Weight Training 101

If you have any more questions just ask away...

You're going to fall in love with weight training, I did! It's good that you are asking for advice before starting because form is everything in lifting weight. Doing it with poor form can result to irreversible injuries. I would suggest getting a beginner's DVD and learning the basics. Do you have exercise tv? Even PBS has workout programs.

I'm assuming you have no access to equipment at this time? That's fine, if you are an absolute beginner, you will certainly benefit from bodyweight exercises.

If so, I would suggest Crossfit travel workouts:
http://crossfitnewtown.typepad.com/w...-workouts.html

And google the terms on youtube.com for a demonstration. You can also view demonstrations on crossfit.com

Now, I know a lot of people may think that Crossfit is too advanced for a beginner but this is simply not true. The travel workouts are based on TIME and SCALES (ie. if you can't lift 20lbs, do 5lbs or whatever you can do).

If you can't do one pushup, do a pushup against the wall. Then against your kitchen countertop, then on your knees ("girl" pushup"), then eventually a real one. Who cares how long it takes - you are doing it and that is all that matters.

Here's an example:
"10 push-ups 10 squats 10 sit ups 10 rounds"

You could do 10 push ups (or 5) against a wall, 10 squats (or 5), and 10 situps (or 5), for 5 or 10 rounds. Keep doing it, and maybe next year you will do it as prescribed.

Either way, you will need to push your way out of the comfort zone!

I'm terrified of strength training because I've injured myself every time I tried it. But I do want to get the metabolism benefits. So I started with the smallest baby step I could find.

It's the DVD "10 Minute Solution: Target Toning for Beginners." There are 5 10-minute workouts each targeting a different area. The idea, for beginners, is to do one 10-minute workout a day. I've done it for a week and I already feel a bit stronger (especially going up stairs and in my abs). I intend to do it for a month and then think about adding some strengthening yoga routine or pilates. I'll add a little more each month and I'm thinking that maybe in a year I'll feel ready for real weight training. Or maybe I'll decide I'm strong enough just from using toning and pilates moves.

If you have a Netflix account, that DVD is available for free under the Watch Instantly tab.

Oh, I meant to add that an advantage I'm finding to this method is that I'm adding the ten minutes to the cardio I already do. I was a little afraid that I might subtract strength training time from my overall exercise time. But since it's only 10 minutes, I fit it in with no trouble.

thanks everyone! im nervous to get started, lol. does anyone have any thoughts as to how much weight is appropriate for beginners to lift? also, any good exercises for toning up arms (theyre my biggest problem area)

You cannot "spot reduce" (ie change a certain area only), you can only reduce overall bodyfat which will reveal any muscle underneath (aka "toning")and/or build muscle if you don't have any (or more if you do). For a beginner, an overall full body program often works best. Truthfully, it can take months to lose significant amounts of bodyfat and will take years for a woman to really add a noticable amount of muscle so you will just have to keep at it.

The trick to being strong is to lift heavy weights - the trick to looking strong is to have a reduced/lower bodyfat.

The Toning video lady uses 5 lb weights for the arm exercises. I'm using 1 lb weights--they're cute and pink. I also bought purple two pound weights. My hands are big enough to hold them together, so I can progress from 1 to 2 to 3 as fast as feels appropriate. Then, I'll buy a pair of 5 lb weights.

i am not trying to "spot reduce", i was just saying that my arms are an area that are particularly weak and could use more muscle. i assumed that there are certain exercises that can build up my arm muscle so that as i continue to lose weight, there will be something under the fat besides bones.

what sort of exercises do you do with the weights? how many reps and so on?

arm muscles---I do pushups..they work like a charm..weights--I only use like 2.5 pounders...I like 30 DS by J Michaels...she will work your booty off and you will see results with her instruction..I have it on FREE ON DEMAND..so check your cable line up..

I also do bicycle crunches daily. I also do one other thing I saw Dr. Oz do one day on Oprah. Lay on the floor with knees bent. Slightly raise head off floor. With feet pressed together lift them off the floor and lower again without touching the ground. Repeat again and again.

Oh, on the arm thing..another thing I do is "dips." I use my ottoman and lower myself to the ground with my arms supporting my weight on the ottoman. I hope you can envision that.

thank you!

I am new to ST too. I started out with Curves...I didn't feel my muscles until I did the 30 day shred though...then I quit Curves! I have been using 5 pounds by the way.
I can't do push-ups either. I am not strong enough to do boy ones, on my knees they make my knees hurt. One day I found a fitness ball at a discount store though. So now I do push-ups with the ball under my hips. It takes all the weight off of my knees so they don't hurt but I still do a push-up. There are other things you can do with a ball...sometimes I youtube for exercises but for now sitting on it and push-ups are my thing.