Alternative to heavy lifting for body transformation ????

mindyneverquits
mindyneverquits Posts: 3
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone my first post

I am 5'6 132 lbs
Goal weight 110lbs

110 has been my weight since forever but i turned 30 and being a mom of 4 has apparently caught up with me ugh.

I enjoy cardio and plyometrics my faves. But not seeming to be most effective now days.

As im reading i see a lot people saying lift heavy, great one problem i don't have gym membership and only have dumbbells from 5-15 lbs.

So .....how to shock my body and get rid of my skinny fat belly , sad butt and thin my arms without the barbells and heavy weights.

Currently now only doing 30 day shred, alternating yoga meltdown calorie limit 1200 a day.

Guess needing some direction.
My sisters weekend wedding is coming end of June and would love to tone and lift my butt for the bikinis

In advance thanks for taking time to respond

Replies

  • KateRVA
    KateRVA Posts: 13
    Can you purchase a barbell and weight set? That would be the best option. Other than that I would take what you have and lift as heavy as you can and progressively aim for more reps. Once you can do 10-12 reps (or you can go super high rep, 20-30) increase the weight. I think you will find that pretty soon you will need to buy more dumbbells though.

    If you are doing high rep low weight, don't rest too long between sets. Keep your heart rate up. That will help work with fat burning.

    Ultimately if you want a "body transformation" you will need to lift heavy. You will get results from high rep low weight if you don't already lift though.
  • mindyneverquits
    mindyneverquits Posts: 3
    How many sets are u suggesting with 10-12 reps
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    Here's a cool bodyweight site: http://www.startbodyweight.com/

    He suggests adding deadlifts, though, because deadlifts are awesome!
  • fannyfrost
    fannyfrost Posts: 756 Member
    While a lot of people here say Heavy Lifting is the only way to transform your body, that is not true.

    Pilates will be strength and muscle
    Plyometrics builds strength
    Body weight exercises
    Yoga is also good for strength (I recommend classes though)

    You do not need to lift heavy to transform your body. It is one choice and the latest exercise push.
  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
    If you don't have access to heavy weights the the best thing to do is to go till failure. That might take 20, 30 or more reps per set, depending how strong you are. But you won't build much muscle and tone with light weights unless you got till failure every set, that's the most optimal way. I would say 3 to 4 sets till failure is enough. But don't expect as fast results as if you would get by lifting heavy.

    Also, make sure you make it harder as much as you can. There is a point after witch you won't build any muscle without increasing resistance and more reps will just train endurance. So for example when doing usual body squats gets too easy progress to one leg pistol squats. When push ups become too easy elevate your feet to make it harder, then progress to one arm push ups, etc. Your own body weight can be pretty damn challenging to begin with. And it's amazing thing when you can do one arm push up or head standing press, at least in my opinion.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    You can accomplish a TON of improvements without restorting to the traditional barbell lifting heavy that has become the standard MFP repsonse to everything,
    Check out some of these resources
    strength unbound
    Convict conditioning
    nerdfitness.com
    shot of adrenaline
    YAYOG
  • rogerOb1
    rogerOb1 Posts: 318 Member
    Where did you get 1200 from? Unless you got that from a calculation, you may need to look at your nutrition first. + Drink more water, take a multi vit, fish oil....

    Find an exercise that you enjoy. You dont have to go to a gym to see results. jog, dance, sprint, join a team, do a sport. All can be effective.
    Personally I think circuit / interval training combined with the weights you have and some intensity can give you a good work out.

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