Beginner bodyweight workouts?

homesweeths

Hello, all.

I have been walking for exercise, slow walking, several times a day -- though I've taken the last couple weeks off, partly due to the nastiness of a neighbor spoiling my pleasure, long story better told another time -- and need to get going again.

I've also been looking at bodyweight exercise. It seems like a healthy approach to regaining some function. However, I'm probably not even a beginner, but whatever comes before beginner, in terms of fitness. Here's an example: I am at that level where, if I do squats, it's hanging on to a piece of furniture, with a chair under me to catch me in case my knees suddenly decide they're done.

Pull ups? Can we say, inconceivable?

(Haven't even tried a push-up, much less a plank, in years. I can actually manage a sit-up, after a fashion.)

Can you recommend any resources (hoping for free web-based videos showing *how* to do the exercises) that start very unambitiously and allow you to work your way up as you become fitter and stronger?

Thanks.

Akimajuktuq

"Body by You" by Mark Lauren. It has easy to hard and you start where you want and it's geared specifically towards women. (Ignore his dietary advice - not sure why he thought he needed to put that in there!)

I have a pull up tower that I can do inverted pull ups with using a broom handle through the bars, or I can stand on a chair, start in the pull up position and lower myself down as slowly as I can. Apparently, letting down slowly with resistance is very beneficial (there's more info on the method that I mean in Jonathan Bailor's "The Calorie Myth").

Dragonwolf

This is one of my favorite resources when trying to improve a given bodyweight exercise motion -- http://www.hundredpushups.com/ It's more than just pushups, but that's what it started with. They now have situps (I'm personally not a fan of situps, there are far better and less risky exercises for the core, like planks, lunges, squats, and...well...pretty much every other exercise out there), lunges, squats, dips, and yes, pull ups.

Speaking of pull ups, don't be ashamed if you can't do them. Most people can't really do them, especially if they've never trained specifically for them. They're a great goal to work toward, but it might be something that's not even feasible until you lose enough weight (assuming you need to lose weight), though the act of working toward that first pull up, even if you don't make it for a long time, will, itself, increase your strength in all the parts it hits.

Nerd Fitness is also one of my favorite resources (I'm like a broken record with the "Meet Staci" article), which has a good bodyweight routine -- http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

All of the bodyweight exercises have alternate forms, all the way from "absolute beginner" to "handsprings advanced." This site has great info on the progression of the different exercises -- http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/exercise-progressions_12.html So start with the one that you can do, but still provides a challenge for you, and move up as you gain strength.

Also, make sure to pay attention to your form. Squats aren't actually a knee exercise, they're a posterior chain exercise (glutes, hamstrings, back). The knees are just along for the ride. If your knees are doing work beyond staying stable, then odds are, your form is off somewhere.

If you like learning about the details of the mechanics of various exercises, such as the squat, check out Mark Rippetoe's videos on YouTube. They're pretty technical and detailed, but awesome to watch once you're ready.

homesweeths

Great resources, thanks!

I also found quite a bit on Pinterest when I searched "bodyweight (exercise, workout, something like that)" last night, but I was up against my "turn-off" time.

Does anyone else do that? Make a point of "no screen time" for two or three hours before you plan to go to bed? I'm trying, but sometimes I don't manage well. I think, from experimenting, that it really does impact my ability to go to sleep.

Last night I actually was driven to try melatonin. I don't know what was keeping me awake -- maybe a high carb snack a few hours earlier, except I thought carbs are supposed to make you more sleepy -- but I simply could not seem to relax last night at bedtime.

Akimajuktuq

I'm not limiting screen time before bed only because I am currently having no trouble sleeping but I definitely would if I needed to. When I move to Whitehorse, I am choosing to forego tv in the bedroom. Here in the Arctic I need to numb my brain to get by....

Melatonin works well but I'd address the other environmental things FIRST.

I do have more trouble sleeping when we switch to DST and the 24 hour sun is back. I need the same number of hours of sleep and I find it much harder to fall asleep when my body thinks it's only 9pm and getting up when my body think's it's 5am. DST makes me want to kill whoever invented it and whoever continues to make it a part of our lives!

Dragonwolf

Akimajuktuq wrote: »

I'm not limiting screen time before bed only because I am currently having no trouble sleeping but I definitely would if I needed to. When I move to Whitehorse, I am choosing to forego tv in the bedroom. Here in the Arctic I need to numb my brain to get by....

Melatonin works well but I'd address the other environmental things FIRST.

I do have more trouble sleeping when we switch to DST and the 24 hour sun is back. I need the same number of hours of sleep and I find it much harder to fall asleep when my body thinks it's only 9pm and getting up when my body think's it's 5am. DST makes me want to kill whoever invented it and whoever continues to make it a part of our lives!

FWIW, I think just about everyone feels the same way about DST.

I don't do screen off time right now. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea, though it's kind of low on the list of "environment things to change to sleep better." I'm just thankful that I'm still winning on the "no TV in the bedroom" front.