Hi ladies,

I've got questions, and I'm hoping y'all can point me in the right direction.

I'm 33 and have been overweight my whole life. Last February, something clicked, and I finally decided to get fit and healthy. I gave up sweets - cold turkey! and started running and walking every day. It's gone well. I've lost about 42 pounds so far and am lighter and healthier than I've been since high school. Yay!

The dilemma: I know that I need to start strength training to tone up, get stronger and help me to lose the last 30-40 (I'm not sure of my goal weight) pounds. Joining a gym isn't reallly an option at this point, nor is storing much equipment in my tiny house. That said, I'm hoping someone can point me to some exercises that I can do using my own weight (still plenty of that!) as resistance - I do pushups and tricep dips now, but that's about it.

So, girls...I'm at your mercy any web sites, exercises or books you can share would be much appreciated! Also, any suggestions for one or 2 pieces of exercise equipment that would be helpful?

Thanks a bunch!

cheers,
paula

Hi,

If space is the issue, the stuff does not need to take all that much space. You can read what krista has on het website, and that is not all that much. Furthermore there is a lot of stuff about using household items and running up and down the stairs. here is the link, or you google on women weight training

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

rabbit

Hi,
You can get very strong doing BWT exercises. Pushups, pushups with feet elevated, and eventually handstand pushups will certainly develop your pressing strength. Chins and pull-ups your back and biceps. If you can manage one-legged squats (with no weight) that would be the equivalent of barbell squats with your entire bodyweight on the bar.

I would, however, try to scrounge some adustable dumbells and plates. I bet you can find somebody who has a set gathering dust in their closet. As a beginner you might not be either light enough or strong enough for a many of the BWT exercises. I am a mid 300# benchpresser, but doing 20 pushups is tough for me because I weigh close to 300#.

Take a look a resistance tubing: it's cheap, easy to store, and you can do all sorts of exercises with it. As you get stronger, you can get different levels of tubing.

As Robert said, you gan do lots of body weight exercises. That combined with some tubing will give you a pretty good foundation.

Mel

Thanks, everyone!

The web site seems like a great resource - It's bookmarked!

Handstand pushups seem a smidge optimistic since I'm trying to work my way up to 30 "girly" push ups. But you never know...

Does anyone have any advice for putting a program together? I'm such a newbie with this stuff!

Thanks again, all!

paula

They are not quite as hard as they sound, since they are a partial range of motion compared to an overhead press (top of head to lockout). If you can close grip benchpress your bodyweight, then you are probably strong enough for a handstand pushup. Some people start out doing them in a corner so they can steady themselves with their legs against the walls.

30 push-ups is alot. I would try to do a few sets of 10 with a more difficult style, if muscle building is the goal. If i can't make it to the gym I start off my home workout with three sets of ten pushups (feet elevated to make ~45 degree angle; sort of an incline press) and then do dumbell presses, rows and curls. For legs I might run some stairs if I feel motivated.