abyssinia: Sam Carter's first view of Earth from space and the words "all my dreams" (Default)
Abyssis ([personal profile] abyssinia) wrote in [community profile] lifting_heavy_things 2011-08-22 10:40 pm (UTC)

That sounds like a pretty standard little free apartment gym.

You can do good work on the weight machines, if you're careful, but it's too bad there's not really space to *use* the dumbbells.

Also, as someone with knee problems (stupid sports injuries) I have had a lot of trainers tell me to avoid "(7) one in which you hook your legs over and pull up on the weight with your ankles to strengthen your thigh muscles" like the plague - you're a lot more likely to screw up your knees than get stronger.

For what it's worth, I've developed a strength training routine I'm pretty happy with using a sledgehammer, a few rubber resistance bands, and enough floorspace to do planks/push-ups - it's not going to build super strong muscles, but keeps me strong for sports and hiking and general life.

Things I like:
* I use the sledgehammer for shovelglove (you can google that, but pretty much spend 14 minutes swinging it around, doing things like pretending to shovel snow. Start with a sledgehammer that feels on the easy side of heavy and just play around. This doesn't isolate muscles, but ends up using lots of different big muscles and stabilizing muscles.)

* Squats (properly done - don't let your knees get past your toes) and lunges are great for quad strengthening, especially if you try to pay attention to also using your butt muscles.

* Push-ups and planks for core/arms. Also for your lower abs, lying on your back, lift your legs a few inches off the floor, keeping your knees straight, and slowly bicycle them (pulling a knee in, then out again).

* calf raises - just stand on the edge of a step and raise and lower your heels

*

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