What defines heavy lifting

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Bambalina_1
Bambalina_1 Posts: 78 Member
edited February 12 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi just quickly, I can't afford a gym membership and I see all you lovely ladies that "lift heavy" and I want a piece of that...So my question is:

Do you need a barbell or can you use dumbells? If so what weights would you suggest for a noob?

Thanks in advance xx

Replies

  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
    You can do many of the main lifts with dumbells, like deadlifts, bench & overhead press and squats (you can do goblet squats, at first, using a single dumbell and then progress to holding one in each hand).

    You can also use resistance bands if money is really that tight. A "stackable" set of Bodylastics is a fairly decent price on Amazon right now. But, with resistance bands, the case will always be that the tension at the "top" of the movement is greater than at the bottom - which may be a factor to how well you progress.

    As for what weights you'll need, start off fairly light, 15-20kg and progress from there. In the long run, though, buying more and more dumbbells will cost you more than a gym membership.
  • Bambalina_1
    Bambalina_1 Posts: 78 Member
    Thanks!!

    At the moment it will be a home thing but maybe in the summer I can go to one of those basic gyms for £20 a month (TBH I dont want to join the gym until I know I can do this and have stuck to it for more than a month!)

    I used the search engine on here and a lot of people said about the download app Sl 5x5...So I have downloaded.

    The thing is I'm very unfit (Having not exercised in over a year) so for the past 2 weeks I have been doing 5x 2.5mile walks (I do these walks in just over 35mins) I have the 30DS dvd and I'm setting myself the start date of the 1st of Feb to incorporate the next step of exercise but couldnt decide whether to do teh 30ds dvd or jump straight into a strength traaining program and still continue my evening walks...

    Its all baby steps atm anyway, I have lowered my cals but still have a lot of fat in my diet :/ But I cannot drop everything otherwise I would just crash then binge.

    Anyway sorry for rambling and thanks again for your comment & advice

    xx
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

    this group has a grea summary of SL 5x5

    As for "heavy" lifting heavy is defined by what you find heavy.

    As the other poster said you can use dumbells and resistence bands but barbell, plates and bench are ideal.

    You can usually find used items online on the cheap.

    When you get to the point tho that the resistence isn't enough you will have to have a plan.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    On the subject of "heavy", whilst it varies from person to person, you will find that you may well be stronger than you think so don't be afraid of trying something that you think feels heavy initially.

    For instance, I suspect that you could probably use two 15kg dumbbells for Bulgarian squats even if hurling 15kg of mass around is not something you do normally. This here weed uses two 40kg dumbbells for Bulgarian squats.

    As to exercises with dumbbells, you can do deadlifts with DBs, swap squats with Bulgarian squats or DB hack squats, change bench press for one handed dumbbell bench press! 80% of my training is with DBs.
  • Bambalina_1
    Bambalina_1 Posts: 78 Member
    Thanks guys for your help and answers!

    xx
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