my oldest daughter and her husband did p90x and *loved it*. they've since moved to calgary so they're more into kayaking, horseback riding, and rock-climbing now but she strongly recommended it but only for toning and developing a lean shape (they looked *fantabulous* by the time they were done - mind you, he was in the military for nearly ten years so he had rather higher advantages than many, lol).

but for powerlifting, i need weight - lots of it. if i wanted to build muscle, i could do it with bands and dumbbells, etc. but that won't increase my bench press, which is a matter of functionality - if you want to lift big, you have to lift big.

[KittyKatFan]

If you live near a Wal-Mart, they have dumbells that go up to at least 25 pounds. I just bought two 20-lb dumbells there. I also saw kettlebells, or whatever they are called. I think they were 20 pounders too.

[JohnP]

Originally Posted by threenorns

but for powerlifting, i need weight - lots of it. if i wanted to build muscle, i could do it with bands and dumbbells, etc. but that won't increase my bench press, which is a matter of functionality - if you want to lift big, you have to lift big.

You're confused.

The primary difference between power lifters and body builders (at least the drug free ones) is that power lifters are not concerned with body fat.

Either way you need to build muscle to lift heavy weights.

Yes - ideally you would be able to work out in a powerlifting gym but doing nothing because it's not ideal is pretty silly.

well, "because it's not ideal" is not the whole story - there's a WHOLE of stuff that got in the way, not the least of which was a house fire but that's whole other issue.

as for your idea of the difference between bodybuilders and powerlifters, that's not at all true.

primary focus of a bodybuilder is symmetry and form. power is the primary focus for powerlifters, even if it leaves them looking like a hulking gorilla.

the idea of powerlifters being big and bloated is old skool - the modern powerlifter knows he doesn't need to add pounds of extraneous weight to achieve the same results.


(Senior Master Sargeant Troy Saunders: 21 military national weightlifting records, 8 American powerlifting records, lifted a record-setting 1,492 pounds at the 2011 Raw World Powerlifting Championships)

[sontaikle]

Check out Amazon. I've got all my weights from there for cheap. Plus the heavier ones are expensive enough to get the free shipping!

My delivery guy hates me.


Oh and you can do bodyweight stuff to build your strength in the meantime. I dedicate one day a week to just bodyweight exercises and it's intense! I jog to a playground (it's close, just a quarter mile away) and that jog back is always killer!

i've been looking up bodyweight exercises and so far, i'm thinking of planks - using that position to do single-arm rows and kickbacks, f.ex - but at my size, anything requiring extensive support from the arms is going to be difficult. can you recommend any others?

amazon.ca has some pretty good stuff in there (finally! before, it was only books and disks)

[jajomo0118]

Originally Posted by threenorns

i'm referring to the saying "a year from now, do you still want to be staring at the starting line wondering if it's your turn yet?"

This quote so caught my eye...its my 1 year "get healthy" anniversary today!

...and I can honestly say that over the last 3 months of adding weight training...I have seen so much change in my body!! I wish I would have listened earlier!!

Good luck on your continued journey!!

[sontaikle]

Originally Posted by threenorns

i've been looking up bodyweight exercises and so far, i'm thinking of planks - using that position to do single-arm rows and kickbacks, f.ex - but at my size, anything requiring extensive support from the arms is going to be difficult. can you recommend any others?

amazon.ca has some pretty good stuff in there (finally! before, it was only books and disks)

You can try squats (which are great for your legs and butt!) and lunges and walking lunges.

Proper squats get me all the time. After a couple sets of those my legs don't really like when I make them move at all.

I love nerdfitness, I was able to build my bodyweight workout from the how-to videos on this site http://nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-videos/

[JohnP]

I agree with doing squats which is also going to fit into the goal of being a power lifter in the future but I doubt they're going to be very challenging.

Thus, do split squats and find things around the house you can hold onto while you're doing them.

You can also simulate dead lifting by picking up heavy things around the house. Make sure to use good form.

Finally, why you're fighting me on this I don't know. Do pushups. My guess is you'll have to start with "girl pushups" and work your way up from there. Pushups are working the same muscles as benching.

I think it is awesome that you want to be a powerlifter btw.