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pavingnewpaths
pavingnewpaths Posts: 367 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
so i'm at about 162 lbs currently, and my goal weight is 155. I'm hoping to reach my goal weight by my birthday (november 7th).

yesterday i just bought two six pound dumbbells with the hopes of starting to tone out my body. i have a few questions:

1) what is the best way to keep progress when it comes to toning?
2) specifically, I want to tone my arms, stomach, and glutes. what are the best exercises to do with only a pair of dumbbells, resistance bands, and my body as equipment?
3) does anyone know of any good apps to help keep track of exercise progress?

answers to any or all or partial questions are really appreciated! advice in general as well. thank you!

Replies

  • charlenekapf
    charlenekapf Posts: 309 Member
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    6 lb dumbbells won't do much in the way of building muscle. when you say "tone" you really want that lean muscular look, I assume, without getting "bulky". Lift challenging weight preferably at a gym. you can do squats, deadlifts, glue bridges to help with your core and glutes. arms you can target from doing machines and shoulders, cable work. I also know if you don't want to go this route people love Kayla's BBG programs...that may be more your style if the above doesn't sound appealing.
  • ummijaaz560
    ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
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    I dont think you can "tone" much of anything with those 6lb dumbells. In order to get stronger you have to progressively lift heavy *for you*.

    That "toned" look you want is muscle. You want to reveal yours under the fat you're losing while dieting.

    I dont know whats heavy to you, but I bet its more than those 12lbs. I would look into a beginners strength program like strong lifts 5×5, or starting strength, and Strong curves by bret contreras.

    There's also body weight programs like, "convict conditioning" and "you are your own gym".
    What ever you choose stick with it and you will see results.

    If your goal is to maintain lean mass, your diet should be protein filled, as lifting will keep those muscles as you lose the weight.

    Good luck.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    yeh I've been told on here dumbbells are pointless and all you're doing is losing fat round your arms not "toning".
    But regardless, I've been doing arm routines from YouTube using dumbbells (as I can't use a gym) and have been seeing results, whether that be from fat loss or whatever my arms are what I call "toned" and I'm getting great shape and definition in them, and also my back, chest and shoulders, so not pointless to me.

    I'm not saying this will work for you, but it is working for me.
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
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    I've been using dumbells during maintenance and definitely notice a difference. I started with very little (no) muscle and even the 5 lbs. were a struggle at first.
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
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    I think doing something rather than nothing is great! Maybe you'll decide you like it and as you get stronger you want to lift heavier. Or not:)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Here are a couple of programmes that will get you started.
    Make adjustments so they fit your strength now, and work toward completing them.
    I did these programmes. They gave me the initial strength and confidence to move on to a heavy lifting programme.

    (Need to do edits to add links as I'm on my phone :'( )

    Cheers, h.

    Bodyweight.
    https://www.nerdfitness.com

    Hand weights.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U0bhE67HuDY

    Lifting programmes.
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
  • pavingnewpaths
    pavingnewpaths Posts: 367 Member
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    charlenekapf wrote: »
    6 lb dumbbells won't do much in the way of building muscle. when you say "tone" you really want that lean muscular look, I assume, without getting "bulky". Lift challenging weight preferably at a gym. you can do squats, deadlifts, glue bridges to help with your core and glutes. arms you can target from doing machines and shoulders, cable work. I also know if you don't want to go this route people love Kayla's BBG programs...that may be more your style if the above doesn't sound appealing.

    Hmm, not really. I don't want that toned muscular look. For example, my arms are kind of flabby from losing fat, and I want to lose that, but I don't want cuts. If that makes sense?
  • pavingnewpaths
    pavingnewpaths Posts: 367 Member
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    middlehaitch wrote: »
    Here are a couple of programmes that will get you started.
    Make adjustments so they fit your strength now, and work toward completing them.
    I did these programmes. They gave me the initial strength and confidence to move on to a heavy lifting programme.

    (Need to do edits to add links as I'm on my phone :'( )

    Cheers, h.

    Bodyweight.
    https://www.nerdfitness.com

    Hand weights.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U0bhE67HuDY

    Lifting programmes.
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    This is perfect! Thank you!
  • pavingnewpaths
    pavingnewpaths Posts: 367 Member
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    ummijaaz560 wrote: »
    I dont think you can "tone" much of anything with those 6lb dumbells. In order to get stronger you have to progressively lift heavy *for you*.

    That "toned" look you want is muscle. You want to reveal yours under the fat you're losing while dieting.

    I dont know whats heavy to you, but I bet its more than those 12lbs. I would look into a beginners strength program like strong lifts 5×5, or starting strength, and Strong curves by bret contreras.

    There's also body weight programs like, "convict conditioning" and "you are your own gym".
    What ever you choose stick with it and you will see results.

    If your goal is to maintain lean mass, your diet should be protein filled, as lifting will keep those muscles as you lose the weight.

    Good luck.

    I think you'd be surprised by how very little arm muscle I have. When I used to go to the gym, the lightest arm machine weight was too heavy for me. But yes I might try a program. Thanks though!
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    The way to stay "soft" looking is to just maintain a little extra fat. Too much fat is what's making you look flabby, undermuscled may exacerbate this.

    Any strength training is better than no strength training and whilst I do heavily advocate lifting heavy if you have access to the equipment and it appeals, it's not the only way to strength train and it's not really how I do it either.

    "Toning" isn't a thing. You maintain muscle whilst losing fat, the less fat, the firmer you'll look. Whether that's "cut" with a lower body fat percentage, or just nicely firm, with a slightly higher body fat. You can build muscle after you're done cutting and as a woman, you're not going to suddenly look like Arnie, it will just continue to help you look firm and fit.
  • pavingnewpaths
    pavingnewpaths Posts: 367 Member
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    The way to stay "soft" looking is to just maintain a little extra fat. Too much fat is what's making you look flabby, undermuscled may exacerbate this.

    Any strength training is better than no strength training and whilst I do heavily advocate lifting heavy if you have access to the equipment and it appeals, it's not the only way to strength train and it's not really how I do it either.

    "Toning" isn't a thing. You maintain muscle whilst losing fat, the less fat, the firmer you'll look. Whether that's "cut" with a lower body fat percentage, or just nicely firm, with a slightly higher body fat. You can build muscle after you're done cutting and as a woman, you're not going to suddenly look like Arnie, it will just continue to help you look firm and fit.

    Yes exactly, I'm aware that it takes A LOT to get that "toned" look and that's not what I'm aiming for. But as far as I know there are two ways to approach it? Lifting heavy vs lifting a lot with light weights? But yeah, I'm just trying to achieve the "firm and fit" look as opposed to making a lifestyle out of toning. Thanks for putting it so eloquently.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    pavingnewpaths wrote: »
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    The way to stay "soft" looking is to just maintain a little extra fat. Too much fat is what's making you look flabby, undermuscled may exacerbate this.

    Any strength training is better than no strength training and whilst I do heavily advocate lifting heavy if you have access to the equipment and it appeals, it's not the only way to strength train and it's not really how I do it either.

    "Toning" isn't a thing. You maintain muscle whilst losing fat, the less fat, the firmer you'll look. Whether that's "cut" with a lower body fat percentage, or just nicely firm, with a slightly higher body fat. You can build muscle after you're done cutting and as a woman, you're not going to suddenly look like Arnie, it will just continue to help you look firm and fit.

    Yes exactly, I'm aware that it takes A LOT to get that "toned" look and that's not what I'm aiming for. But as far as I know there are two ways to approach it? Lifting heavy vs lifting a lot with light weights? But yeah, I'm just trying to achieve the "firm and fit" look as opposed to making a lifestyle out of toning. Thanks for putting it so eloquently.

    There are many ways to strength train. Lifting heavy just gets you the quickest results. Body weight, lower weight/higher reps, moderate weight/moderate reps, high weight/low reps. They are all valid but will give results at a different speed and of course your calorie intake matters too.

    As you only have one dumbbell, it may be that it's only appropriate to use for a few exercises. So look into bodyweight too to supplement the things you can't do with that weight. Make sure to do full body too so you don't end up with imbalances that will lead to injuries.

    I personally do bodyweight cardio as my cardio for the most part and lift moderate with adjustable dumbbells. But my moderate is probably hella light for some people. It's all totally individual. And whilst I am still in a deficit I don't expect to make any significant strength gains at this point (looking forward to maintenance so I can finally crack proper push ups! I am close but no cigar and have been stuck for a while, it's fine).
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    And honestly, your goals may change as you become stronger and get into it more. I was never really too much interested in any sort of weight training but now I love throwing my dumbbells about a bit. I don't think I'll ever want to lift heavy but you just never know, I've surprised myself a lot over the last 18 months!
  • pavingnewpaths
    pavingnewpaths Posts: 367 Member
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    And honestly, your goals may change as you become stronger and get into it more. I was never really too much interested in any sort of weight training but now I love throwing my dumbbells about a bit. I don't think I'll ever want to lift heavy but you just never know, I've surprised myself a lot over the last 18 months!

    Yeah, that's definitely true. I may be opposed to it right now simply because abs and toned arms seems so far-fetched that I don't even want to entertain the thought, haha. I just want to get over my first hurdle which is ANY exercise at all will do. So yeah, so far I'm doing that above video which basically covers arms and abs, and I'm going to start doing a squat challenge so that covers glutes.

    I'm not even sure whether the 12 lbs is light or moderate but I guess at this point they're moderate? I'd have to try them out and see how many reps I can do before the tears start coming :tongue:

    I need to find a way to do cardio (I live in an apartment and if I try the at-home programs my neighbors may truly kill me). I mean, my BF has a black card at planet fitness so if I've ever got any free time I may just head to the gym with him for some interspersed cardio workouts. But typically, I'm moving around A LOT in the day so that should help hopefully.

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