Weights: guided program for home?

mathandcats
mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been using MFP for about a month now, I've been jogging about 4-5 days per week, and now I want to start working in some strength/resistance training. The only problem is that going to a gym is both time and cost prohibitive for me. Can anyone recommend a guided training program that I can do at home without much equipment?

I'm a complete newbie to this kind of exercise. I do have an open space where I can workout, but the only equipment I have are some hand weights that were gifted to me (3, 5, 8, and 10lbs) and a mat. I really can't afford to buy more at the moment.

Thank you all in advance.

Replies

  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
    Lauren Mark "You are your own gym: The Bible of Body Weight Exercises" is pretty good in explaining exercises that you can do without weights...by just using your own body weight."

    Alternatively there are tons of DVD exercises out there that might do the trick, such as "Insanity", but do check whether it is the right one for you.

    I am sure others will jump in with better ideas.
    Stef.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Fitness Blender on YouTube
    https://www.youtube.com/user/FitnessBlender
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    Check out fitnessblender.com. Lots of strength training workouts, and they are totally free.

    There are plenty of at-home DVD strength training programs, but most of them are going to cost you quite a bit of money, unless you happen to know someone with the moral flexibility to locate them on the internet for free (Hi NSA!). The Jillian Michaels ones are pretty reasonable in cost, you can usually pick those up for about $10 at Target or Wal-Mart. I think the first phase of JM 30 day shred is available on youtube if you want to give it a try.

    You can also check craigslist, garage sales, and used book/media stores for DVDs. It might be worth it to ask around as well, lots of people have DVDs just sitting around at home that they would probably lend you or give you. Same for equipment, people always have stuff lying around that they are keeping just because they have no idea how to go about getting rid of it.
  • rsoice
    rsoice Posts: 212 Member
    Men's Health has a variety of programs and they change up every few months to give you a variety. I have a subscription so I tear out the workout and hang it on the wall by my weights here at home and I work my way through the workouts. You'll have to modify some of the exercises if you're using dumb bells at home but it isn't overly challenging to figure out.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    google convict conditioning and body weight workouts there are a couple good programs for those.

    Along with fitnessblender.com or get a couple JM DVD's...yes she is annoying but mixes in smaller hand weights, bodyweight, core and cardio in her 30DS video, extreme shed and shred etc.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    I will try Jillian Michaels, since level 1 is available for free and I have seen levels 2 and 3 for cheap in local stores. Thank you all for your recommendations (although if you have more, keep 'em coming!), I may expand once I have a better idea about this stuff.

    One question, though: the JM videos combine strength and cardio, and seem to be designed so that you are doing it every day. Should I just try that, or break it up with some jogging days too?
  • ChopperOnePiece
    ChopperOnePiece Posts: 12
    I would recommend you to try jessica smith one

    http://www.jessicasmithtv.com/videos/dumbbell-workouts/
  • tabbyblack13
    tabbyblack13 Posts: 299 Member
    I'm going to have to check these out myself too.
  • UncoveringAmy
    UncoveringAmy Posts: 14
    I'm currently doing the strength only portions of the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, along with some elliptical cardio.

    I was finding that I was struggling with level 1, so decided to focus on the strength sections only for a week, then start level 1 again.

    I basically do a run through of the exercises as she does on the video, for 30 seconds each x 2.

    I've already progressed from wall push ups to on the knees push ups, which is a big deal for me!

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