Strength training

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AvalonsUnicorn
AvalonsUnicorn Posts: 425 Member
in Getting Started
Hi all. I am getting back into exercising after taking a several years break :embarassed: Long story short bad relationship. I left and lost all motivation. On the plus side I have managed to keep my 50 pounds I lost off! Well now I'm more motivated and want to get back into bettering myself! I have recently gotten a Polar FT4 LOVE it! I have been adding little bits of cardio to my day with it.

I have read a LOT on here how one should also be doing strength training. I have no way to get to a gym. The nearest one is like 30 miles away and I don't have a car. So if I do this it will be at home. The only kind of equipment I have is wrist weights, ankle weights and my Wii with Ea Sports Active 1 and Wii fit plus or what ever it's called. How can I get into strength training with just these few things? It is even possible? Do I need to go shopping for some sort of weights or machine? I don't have a lot of money for fancy new toys. Any help would be great :flowerforyou:

Also my diary is open feel free to look and suggest! I know I don't get enough protein. I have chocolate protein powder but I can't stomach the thought of putting it in water and we don't buy milk due to a limited food budget. Again thanks for any help!

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  • AvalonsUnicorn
    AvalonsUnicorn Posts: 425 Member
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    bump?
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    There is Jilliam Michaels 30 day shred that only uses hand weights (you should be able to use the weights you have for that or you can get hand weights pretty cheap at walmart or target) which has some cardio and strength mixed together. There is also a series called You Are Your Own Gym that has body weight exercises. Or Insanity, I do not think that one requires any equipment. Those would be a good place to start since you are pretty limited on the equipment available to you. Mose of these can be found on you tube or you can buy the actual DVDs online.

    Your Diary looks pretty good. It looks like you have stuck with the MFP protein goal which is fine, but remember that it is a pretty minimal amount. Try to make sure you get at least that in. It never hurts to have protein especially if you are going to try to incorperate some resisitance training. I eat alot of canned tuna, its cheap, you can make a quick sandwich or salad with it, and it is low in calories but had a good protein kick to it. Other good sources are meat, fish, eggs, cheese, and nuts and seeds.
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
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    OMG first of all The Last Unicorn is my favorite movie of all time. Secondly, Insanity would be a good start for you, I think.
  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
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    This is a beginner body weight workout and doesn't need anything except maybe something heavy like milk cartons filled with water so no need to buy anything.

    You can do a lot of various strength training with just your own body weight, good luck!

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
  • abuck_13
    abuck_13 Posts: 382 Member
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    body weight to start, then add some kettlebells

    start small - 3 to 5kg should not be that expensive, use that for a bit then step up
  • creech6317
    creech6317 Posts: 869 Member
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    A great site that has a lot of great body weight exercises that will help you get your strength training off to a good start is :
    Al Kavadlo - We're Working Out
    He has stuff for beginners all the way to advanced workouts (human flag and cool things like that).
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
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    Check out Be Fit or Fitness Blender on YouTube for beginner workouts. You can start with body weight or light weights and work your way up. Check out Craigslist for cheap weights, especially around this time of year. All those New Year's resolutions start to wear off and people will be selling their equipment cheap. Do your research, there's a place in my area that's buys workout equipment from gyms going out of business and sells on the cheap. I was able to get a lot of dumbbells that way. Good luck.
  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
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    Body weight exercises are great. I started with those and dumbbells. Then I kept an eye out on Craig's list for a barbell, bench and power rack. I bought all of those things in multiple purchases for less than $400. I have over 500lbs of iron now. There are tons of dumbbell workouts online. Then watch videos and read as much as you can to learn proper form. Video yourself doing the movements to be able to see areas of weakness and show them to people who know what they are talking about. I'm on a fb group for female powerlifters and they are super knowledgeable and love to help other ladies out. I've done everything in my home. I stated out struggling to do body weight squats and now I can squat 265lbs, bench 150lbs and deadlift 275lbs. You can do it. You just have to put in the time and research and be patient.

    ETA: Rome was not built in a day. Start with what you can do now and challenge yourself every time you workout to do more.
  • noKTdidnt
    noKTdidnt Posts: 61 Member
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    30 day Shred, Insanity, and P90X all three have some strength training to them, but they're more centered on muscle retention and fat loss than really building muscle and adding strength.

    I agree on the Nerd Fitness routines! The beginner routine is good to get you going and then you can cycle right into the more advanced versions as you get better. There's also a tons of routines on bodybuilder.com that can start you out.

    Personally, I went to a gym and started out with StrongLifts 5x5. My weight didn't change but my waist certainly got smaller and all the curves a lot more shapely.
  • AvalonsUnicorn
    AvalonsUnicorn Posts: 425 Member
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    Wow thanks all for the responses! I will def loo into some of the things listed!

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