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I want to start a lifting program but I do not have access to a gym. I also enjoy being able to work out at home. Given my economic and space constraints, I think investing in adjustable weight dumbbells might be a good alternative.

So here are a couple of questions...

1) I have no experience with weight lifting other then body weight. I have read about New Rules of Lifting for Women and Strong Lifts, and a couple of other programs. Which of these programs would be best to start out with as a beginner trying to adapt barbell techniques to dumbbells?
2) If I invest in an adjustable weight set, what is a good weight range to have? In terms of my body weight abilities, I can do full push ups, lunges, squats, etc. without any problems...
3) Do I need a bench?

Thank you!

I want to start a lifting program but I do not have access to a gym. I also enjoy being able to work out at home. Given my economic and space constraints, I think investing in adjustable weight dumbbells might be a good alternative.

So here are a couple of questions...

1) I have no experience with weight lifting other then body weight. I have read about New Rules of Lifting for Women and Strong Lifts, and a couple of other programs. Which of these programs would be best to start out with as a beginner trying to adapt barbell techniques to dumbbells?
2) If I invest in an adjustable weight set, what is a good weight range to have? In terms of my body weight abilities, I can do full push ups, lunges, squats, etc. without any problems...
3) Do I need a bench?

Thank you!

I did NROLFW with dumbbells, and no bench. I started to use my stability ball as a bench, but I was afraid it might pop on me, so I just used the floor. If there was an exercise I couldn't do because of lack of equipment, I would look on youtube for substitutes. I got a 20 lb (each) set, and bought extra plates as I needed them, including 2 sets of 1.25 lb fractionals so I would be going up in 2.5 lb increments instead of 5 lbs. I couldn't afford SelectTechs or anything like that. I also did the All Pro beginners routine from bb.com, which I liked.

Thanks for the feedback! Which program did you prefer? NROLFW or AllPro? Did you feel like you made good progress using dumbbells with these programs?

I want to start a lifting program but I do not have access to a gym. I also enjoy being able to work out at home. Given my economic and space constraints, I think investing in adjustable weight dumbbells might be a good alternative.

So here are a couple of questions...

1) I have no experience with weight lifting other then body weight. I have read about New Rules of Lifting for Women and Strong Lifts, and a couple of other programs. Which of these programs would be best to start out with as a beginner trying to adapt barbell techniques to dumbbells?
2) If I invest in an adjustable weight set, what is a good weight range to have? In terms of my body weight abilities, I can do full push ups, lunges, squats, etc. without any problems...
3) Do I need a bench?

Thank you!

I did NROLFW with dumbbells, and no bench. I started to use my stability ball as a bench, but I was afraid it might pop on me, so I just used the floor. If there was an exercise I couldn't do because of lack of equipment, I would look on youtube for substitutes. I got a 20 lb (each) set, and bought extra plates as I needed them, including 2 sets of 1.25 lb fractionals so I would be going up in 2.5 lb increments instead of 5 lbs. I couldn't afford SelectTechs or anything like that. I also did the All Pro beginners routine from bb.com, which I liked.

Thanks for the feedback! Which program did you prefer? NROLFW or AllPro? Did you feel like you made good progress using dumbbells with these programs?

They're completely different, but NROLFW gave me a better grasp on lifting. I've heard Starting Strength is a better read, but I don't have it. I did make strength gains with NROLFW, although I feel like I lost a little bit of that after the 7th stage, because I had to use lighter weights to get through all the reps. I'm glad I did this one first, though.

I only did one full 5-week cycle of AllPro, because my bff bought me a gym membership in the beginning of the second cycle, and my gym won't let me bring fractionals, but I like the way it was set up, and my calves were finally getting some work, too. There aren't any "death defying" exercises, like one-legged deadlifts, either. The only problem with dumbbells, which I think Sara addressed earlier in the thread, is that when you get to heavier weights, they're harder to hold on to. I think straps would help with that, though.

I want to start a lifting program but I do not have access to a gym. I also enjoy being able to work out at home. Given my economic and space constraints, I think investing in adjustable weight dumbbells might be a good alternative.

So here are a couple of questions...

1) I have no experience with weight lifting other then body weight. I have read about New Rules of Lifting for Women and Strong Lifts, and a couple of other programs. Which of these programs would be best to start out with as a beginner trying to adapt barbell techniques to dumbbells?
2) If I invest in an adjustable weight set, what is a good weight range to have? In terms of my body weight abilities, I can do full push ups, lunges, squats, etc. without any problems...
3) Do I need a bench?

Thank you!

I did NROLFW with dumbbells, and no bench. I started to use my stability ball as a bench, but I was afraid it might pop on me, so I just used the floor. If there was an exercise I couldn't do because of lack of equipment, I would look on youtube for substitutes. I got a 20 lb (each) set, and bought extra plates as I needed them, including 2 sets of 1.25 lb fractionals so I would be going up in 2.5 lb increments instead of 5 lbs. I couldn't afford SelectTechs or anything like that. I also did the All Pro beginners routine from bb.com, which I liked.

Thanks for the feedback! Which program did you prefer? NROLFW or AllPro? Did you feel like you made good progress using dumbbells with these programs?

They're completely different, but NROLFW gave me a better grasp on lifting. I've heard Starting Strength is a better read, but I don't have it. I did make strength gains with NROLFW, although I feel like I lost a little bit of that after the 7th stage, because I had to use lighter weights to get through all the reps. I'm glad I did this one first, though.

I only did one full 5-week cycle of AllPro, because my bff bought me a gym membership in the beginning of the second cycle, and my gym won't let me bring fractionals, but I like the way it was set up, and my calves were finally getting some work, too. There aren't any "death defying" exercises, like one-legged deadlifts, either. The only problem with dumbbells, which I think Sara addressed earlier in the thread, is that when you get to heavier weights, they're harder to hold on to. I think straps would help with that, though.

Thanks Cupcake! I appreciate all of the insight. I have been toying with starting lifting for a while now...but I was feeling discouraged because of the lack of gym access. I feel like this is something I can do. I have not read any of the books mentioned above - I have just seen them cited on the forums. I will order NROLFW and scan through before making the investment.

You're welcome. If you do end up doing NROLFW, there's a link on this group's main page to worksheets that are pre-filled with all the exercises. It makes it a lot less confusing. I joined the group, but I can never keep up with them, so I wasn't active. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/102-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w

I want to start a lifting program but I do not have access to a gym. I also enjoy being able to work out at home. Given my economic and space constraints, I think investing in adjustable weight dumbbells might be a good alternative.

So here are a couple of questions...

1) I have no experience with weight lifting other then body weight. I have read about New Rules of Lifting for Women and Strong Lifts, and a couple of other programs. Which of these programs would be best to start out with as a beginner trying to adapt barbell techniques to dumbbells?
2) If I invest in an adjustable weight set, what is a good weight range to have? In terms of my body weight abilities, I can do full push ups, lunges, squats, etc. without any problems...
3) Do I need a bench?

Thank you!

I did NROLFW with dumbbells, and no bench. I started to use my stability ball as a bench, but I was afraid it might pop on me, so I just used the floor. If there was an exercise I couldn't do because of lack of equipment, I would look on youtube for substitutes. I got a 20 lb (each) set, and bought extra plates as I needed them, including 2 sets of 1.25 lb fractionals so I would be going up in 2.5 lb increments instead of 5 lbs. I couldn't afford SelectTechs or anything like that. I also did the All Pro beginners routine from bb.com, which I liked.

Thanks for the feedback! Which program did you prefer? NROLFW or AllPro? Did you feel like you made good progress using dumbbells with these programs?

They're completely different, but NROLFW gave me a better grasp on lifting. I've heard Starting Strength is a better read, but I don't have it. I did make strength gains with NROLFW, although I feel like I lost a little bit of that after the 7th stage, because I had to use lighter weights to get through all the reps. I'm glad I did this one first, though.

I only did one full 5-week cycle of AllPro, because my bff bought me a gym membership in the beginning of the second cycle, and my gym won't let me bring fractionals, but I like the way it was set up, and my calves were finally getting some work, too. There aren't any "death defying" exercises, like one-legged deadlifts, either. The only problem with dumbbells, which I think Sara addressed earlier in the thread, is that when you get to heavier weights, they're harder to hold on to. I think straps would help with that, though.

Thanks Cupcake! I appreciate all of the insight. I have been toying with starting lifting for a while now...but I was feeling discouraged because of the lack of gym access. I feel like this is something I can do. I have not read any of the books mentioned above - I have just seen them cited on the forums. I will order NROLFW and scan through before making the investment.

You're welcome. If you do end up doing NROLFW, there's a link on this group's main page to worksheets that are pre-filled with all the exercises. It makes it a lot less confusing. I joined the group, but I can never keep up with them, so I wasn't active. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/102-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w

Ohhh, spreadsheet....now you've got me! I'll check them out.

Bump

Very helpful thread, especially for a newb. Thank you!

To read again.