Best Strength Training/Toning for at Home?

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PrfctGdess
PrfctGdess Posts: 257
in Fitness and Exercise
Any tips for the best (preferably low-cost) strength training or toning exercises that can be done at home? I have an elliptical for cardio, and I know I will be fine doing that for awhile to lose weight, but I'd like to be able to add toning exercises in too. I'm not sure a gym membership is in the cards, so any home ideas?

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  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Body weight exercises are great! Think push-ups, squats, lunges and there are different variations to all these that work the muscles differently and IMO are all equally important. Google bodyweight exercises and you'll get tons of ideas!
  • fitmom4ever
    fitmom4ever Posts: 130
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    I have a set of dumbells at home- 3, 5, 10, and 15 lbs. I'm very new to the whole Strength Training thing, but I do try a few lifting moves I've picked up here and there at home and am definately seeing results, especially in my arms and thighs. There are so many different things you can do with dumbells (I even use them instead of a kettleball for Jillian Michael's Shred it With Weights workout DVD), and they are a lot cheaper than maintaining a gym membership.
  • GameOn2011
    GameOn2011 Posts: 73 Member
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    I belong to Jillian Michaels.com. I think it is a few dollars a month (but LOTS of challenges where you can earn free months, I've earned 4 free months out of 6 LOL).

    She gives you circuits to do about 4 days a week for toning. And they change everytime you workout so it's not like doing the same exercise DVD over and over...and NO EQUIPMENT needed except for dumbbells and a stop watch. And there are three fittness levels to choose from. They Kick Butt!!

    I like it becuase I don't have to think about what exercises to do. It is all mapped out for me. Each day works a different group of muscles and it has worked well for me.
  • Amandac6772
    Amandac6772 Posts: 1,311 Member
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    Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred is $10 at Wal-Mart. It's great for Toning.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Body weight exercises can be very effective and will cost you $0. If you do spend money on gear, the best and most versatile things you can buy are a bench and some dumbbells in my opinion. Adjustable dumbbells such as the "PowerBlock" as even better since they are very compact and will all-in-all cost you less than individual dumbbells.
  • yyzdnl
    yyzdnl Posts: 127 Member
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    BodyRock.tv

    Zuzana's work outs consist of mostly body weight exercises and a few small pieces of equipment that are not that expensive compared to most fitness equipment. The work outs are short, fun, intense, and best of all free.

    http://www.bodyrock.tv/
  • peteyTwang
    peteyTwang Posts: 250
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    I have a set of dumbells at home- 3, 5, 10, and 15 lbs.
    SECOND this... Dumbbells are an absolutely brilliant investment!
    I have a fixed set at 3lbs and two pairs of (5lb) bars with spin locks
    adjustable up to >40< LBS each!!! with sets of double plates in 2.5, 5 and 10 lbs.
    The adjustable set was $40 on craigslist... a second set of bars and spinlocks was $20 new & the fixed 3lbers were about $5 each new. Eventually I got myself a decent floor Mat once I knew I was hooked. More recently added a GoFit Stability ball(via eBay) and highly recommend that too...

    It so happens I started with weights after being introduced to them by EA Sports Active for PS3 game, nice if you can get it -- but there's so much FREE training and information to be googled up on the internet plus books and DVDs at your local library with very minimal investment in some basic equipment all you really need is the desire to do it.
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
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    Body weight exercises are great! Think push-ups, squats, lunges and there are different variations to all these that work the muscles differently and IMO are all equally important. Google bodyweight exercises and you'll get tons of ideas!

    this.....
    grab a chair and do tricep extensions as well
  • PrfctGdess
    PrfctGdess Posts: 257
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    Thanks everyone, that's extremely helpful! I'm sure this question has been asked a million times before, but a quick search of the forums didn't show what I wanted, so thanks for taking a minute to answer it again. :P

    Now if I can just get strong enough to do a single pushup.... LOL

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