Guys on lunges? I could NEVER keep my balance much less have any kind of decent form until I started using a dowel stick to help me initially.

Anything that you can hang onto while you work on your lunge technique is helpful. Naturally you can't use weight unless you hold a dumbbell in one hand but I think learning proper form is more important than how much weight you use, least at first. use a chair, a yardstick, a broom handle, whatever you have that will allow you to have a bit of help during your lunge.

After you get more familar with your lunge depth and length and your balance gets better you can do dumbell lunges or even barbell lunges with more balance and less fear of falling. This is from KlutzQueen too.



(gotta proofread!)

Just wanted to congratulate you here too. Welcome to the lunging world!
Right now I can do 15lb db's for my walking lunges and I usually can get my back knee to almost touch the ground so I am going low enough. it took me forever to get enough balance to do them, but I love them!
Jamie

Thank you sweetie. I have to be careful on my lunges because of my right knee which is goofy...doesn't bother me on squats, just lunges!

Re: Lunges....

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE lunges!!

As I said in an earlier post on the main forum, I use a bench to keep my balance.... BUT it's funny that I CAN easily do walking lunges, of course I can't use a bench there...

This morning I did lunges with a bench and 20 lb dumbells... woohoo... sore butimusmaximus at the moment....

Later...

I was SO bad w/my balance that I couldn't do lunges onto a step w/out nearly falling!

I think doing Taebo has helped my balance significantly as well as using 'help' for lunges. I had to learn to balance on one leg long enough to throw a kick, now its like second nature.

Hey KlutzQueen, we must be related!

I'm pretty much lungeless. I've always been doing other things and also wanted to avoid free weights on leg day because of my tendoinitis. You'll have to excuse me but it's been a long day and I'm brain-dead... What do I do with the yardstick? I'm sure I'll go DUH! when you tell me... I need all the help I can get because I need to do these on a regular basis. That means I need to learn to do them well and with proper form! Any help is appreciated. I am tired of using convenient excuses to avoid them I WILL master lunges!

Deb

Just hold it in your hand, the yardstick on one side or maybe to the front a little of your body and lunge on your opposite leg. It'll help you stay balanced, like holding a stair railing when you walk down them!

When I started I used a broomstick on my shoulders, holding it with my hands of course, and lunged...then progressed to using 10# barbells, or dumbells..

Thanks! Now I see!

Today after group spin-my first with this trainer-I was talking to the trainer and we got to talking about lunges! We went into the Power Pump classroom and she helped me with my form and showed me how to use a bar for balance and showed me a few different ways to do lunges. It really does help to hold on. Without it I kept losing my balance!

You guys are the greatest! I love this message board. Thanks for all of your support.

Now for the help question: Since my main focus right now is going to be weight loss (I'm 210), should I start out with a 2 mile walk (I know I can do it) in the am before the dc kids get here and then during thier nap time I was thinking of using this "tony little" (it's free..don't laugh) stair stepper-thingy. I tried it once before but after like 15 sec., it really burns my muscles above the knees (not sure what that muscle is called). Is the burning a good thing?

I'm not too concentrated on weight lifting yet becasue I want to take things one step at a time.

Also...I have VERY flabby thighs, even when I weighed 120. Can you guys offer a suggestion as to the best excercise for that?

I also have a very fat belly and I heard that crunches aren't effective. What is a good excercise for the belly?

In closing, again I just wanted to say how good it feels to have other women share thier support with me. I don't have any true friends and my goal with this board is to make friends and share my progress with you.

Thanks a bunch!
Sandy

Sandy IMO, you should not put off the weight lifting, in fact you should BEGIN with some weight training. Nothing will help you build muscle that will eat up fat, like strength training.

Walking is always good but don't put off the weights! Personally I'd be doing probably no cardio at all, if I didn't happen to love Taebo. I only do it because I enjoy it. But it comes 2d after strength training cause that's what's going to do the most for me.

Give it some consideration and if you need more convincing? Go here: http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html. Krista will explain it better than I.

Sandy,

unfortunetly "spot reduction" is not really possible. all you can do is build up the muscle as much as possible, and as you lose body fat the muscle will become more visable (this does not necessarily mean you need to lose actual scale weight! some people who are of "normal" weight actual gain a bit in muscle and it looks FAB!)

That said, good leg exercises include: squats, deadlifts, lunges and good mornings. I bet mrs. jim or others can post links to some examples of these, but I dont have any.

Work your legs HARD with weights and flabby thighs WILL be a thing of the past!

You may want to look at some before/After pics of the thinner BFL'ers. A lot of them were skinny but flabby, and after they started doing weights, the fat changed into muscle and they look AMAZING.

*HUGS*
Tidey

I agree with the above two posts.

OH as far as descriptions and how-to's, Krista's site has the "dork to diva" page that you can check out. Love it! Also www.abcbodybuilding.com has some good examples.

Take care and keep posting!