newbie

[panda]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and I'd like to ask for your help. Today (with thanks to resolute for the invite ♥) I joined http://www.fitocracy.com and the prospect of getting gold stars earning points and leveling up was enough to inspire me to actually start a strength training routine.

I have never done strength training before. At some point I saw someone over at exercise_every_day recommend http://www.stumptuous.com/, so I wandered through their dork to diva section learning about proper form for various exercises, before picking a couple I felt comfortable doing with the equipment I have.

My equipment and the exercises I picked behind the cut:

I have:
-hand weights, 3.5 lbs each
-a yoga mat
-my body weight
-food cans, 2 liter bottles and other assorted things that could be used as improvised weights

what I do not have:
-any kind of bench

As for what I did- I've been told you should do reps of a lift until you can no longer maintain proper form, so that's what I tried to do, keep repeating the lift until I felt like my form was going to deteriorate.

I did:
-3 planks, held for 30 seconds each (which was really pushing my limits)

-dumbbell squats, 2 sets of 5 reps (this also pushed my limits, and despite stumptuous' directions, I still felt iffy on my form- if anyone has recommendations for a how to for the complete beginner, that would be great)

-standing dumbbell shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 reps (I could maybe have done more?)

-standing dumbbell bicep curl, 2 sets of 10 reps (maybe could have done more, maybe not)

What do you guys think? Any advice? Are there any other exercises I should be doing with the equipment I have? Thanks in advance!

Comments

[thalia]

I'm congenitally incapable of not giving advice. Take it or leave it.

On the squat front, I'd say (a) don't try to go too deep right away, and (b) make sure your body weight is on your whole foot, not just the toes. You might want to try putting most of your weight on your heels, as long as you don't go overboard and tip backwards.

In general:

- If it's practical, you might want to pick up 5-, 8- and 10-pound dumbbells over the next couple months.

- Other leg exercises that don't require (much) equipment are lunges, step-ups, bent-legged deadlifts and stiff-legged deadlifts. Step-ups do require some kind of step in the 10"-14" range. Don't worry about learning all of them right away, but they'll give you some variety.

- Upper body, adding something for the back would be good, but IMO that's the most challenging area to work without equipment. You can do one-arm lat rows as long as you have something to lean on. Or try double-arm rows sitting and leaning forward.

- You can do reasonable bench presses lying on your yoga mat. Or try pushups on your knees, or against the wall.

- Ramp up slowly. You're doing the right thing, starting with a couple exercises. If you try to do too much too fast you'll just get really sore.

- Stumptuous is a great resource. You're starting at a good place.

Have fun!

Adding to this

[rydra_wong]

Upper body, adding something for the back would be good, but IMO that's the most challenging area to work without equipment.

Yup. If you have a sturdy table, I'd suggest "horizontal pull-ups"/inverted rows.

Or there's this nifty unsupported row.

Or try pushups on your knees, or against the wall.

And check this out:

http://www.stumptuous.com/mistressing-the-pushup

All the things you're learning from planks about holding your torso stable will really help with inverted rows and push-ups.

Re: Adding to this

[panda]

thanks for the links!

[panda]

thank you for the advice! given how low my conditioning is right now, I think I will start veeeerry slowly.