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

[daedala]

Everyone else has good advice, so repeating it seems silly (though definitely ditch the biceps curls in favor of incline pushups).

Re: benches -- do you have a coffee table, ottoman, etc? Sometimes those work. (I mention it because I was annoyed at myself for having had a coffee table the exact right height for months but never using it as a bench.)

Stumptuous has an All dumbbells workout that's pretty good.

If you are thinking you will stay working out at home, and have the up-front cash, it is cheaper in the long run to buy good adjustable dumbbells (at least up to 45lb each, not the 25lb kind), and you won't end up limiting yourself too horribly. This is what I did, and I'm still grateful to my years-ago self for it. I didn't have a car, so I carted them back by taxi, then took like four trips up the stairs to my apartment to get them there. It was funny, but so worth it. If you don't have the up-front cash, it's not that big a deal. Craigslist and second-hand fitness stores are good places to get inexpensive dumbbells.

[panda]

I don't have a usable coffee-table etc, no. the one we have in the house is an antique which would just not work.

thanks for the suggestion. I don't have the up-front cash, but I will def keep the adjustable dumbells in mind.

[rydra_wong]

Possibly of interest -- we had a fun thread a while back on stuff you can do with no money:

http://lifting-heavy-things.dreamwidth.org/10287.html

[panda]

sorry for the late reply, this is great, thanks for the link!