Help me figure out what to do with weights please!

squirrelzzrule22

Hi friends!

I'd really like to get into weight lifting for weight loss purposes. Right now I do a lot of cardio (I just did my first half marathon and am now training for my second in 11 weeks) and little strength-y things in the form of videos with my 8lb dumbbells. Before you scoff, 8-pounders and the 30 day shred can definitely leave me sore, so its not totally useless. But I'd like to develop an easy to follow, 3x per week lifting plan to retain muscle mass while I do massive amounts of running.

Here is the catch(es):

1) I'm broke, so please don't recommend a program I have to pay to download or anything.
2) My gym is in my apartment building and there is no set up for lifting anything on a bar....I'm guessing its an insurance thing or something. SO I am relegated to dumbbells (not just the little ones, they get heavy, but dumbbells nonetheless) and the row of weight machines.


Sooo.....where do I begin? If I make a point to run through the machines say, three times a session is this effective? I know that MFPers are allllllll about big weighted bars and whatnot and I'm not saying that isn't effective its just NOT an option that's available to me. SO- working with what I've got- any suggestions?

Thanks!

slugkiller

Hi,
I'm new to lifting (similar to you, I'm trying compliment lots of running) and found this dumbell only programme. So far I'm on week 2 - I've had to modify the pull ups as I haven't got the faciliies for that, but otherwise its pretty good for a beginner like me. Take a look and see what you think! http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/dumbbell-only-home-or-gym-fullbody-workout.html
Good luck and hope you find what you're looking for

squirrelzzrule22

Hi,
I'm new to lifting (similar to you, I'm trying compliment lots of running) and found this dumbell only programme. So far I'm on week 2 - I've had to modify the pull ups as I haven't got the faciliies for that, but otherwise its pretty good for a beginner like me. Take a look and see what you think! http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/dumbbell-only-home-or-gym-fullbody-workout.html
Good luck and hope you find what you're looking for

Thanks! This looks totally easy to follow which is a big plus for me!

Polymorphist

Well, you could start off by doing goblet squats with a dumbell, that'd be a great place to start. Squats are a fundamental exercise and will help you on all of your lifts. You could also do dumbbell bench presses, dumbbell overhead presses and dumbbell rows for the back. That would probably be a great place to start, especially if you are new with weight training.