Lifting at home -- modifying Stronglifts or similar?

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lovetolose17
lovetolose17 Posts: 31 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello. I currently do mostly cardio workouts (HIIT with light dumbbells), and I occasionally lift at home, but I would like to focus more on building muscle and would like to follow a plan so I am not just randomly picking strength exercises.

I love the idea of Stronglifts, but I work out at home. I have a set of Powerblock Elite weights 5-60 pounds each. I don't have a Power Rack or a spotter. I do have a bench that adjusts from an incline bench to a flat bench.

For those of you in a similar situation, is there a lifting program you would recommend? Should I just try the five Stronglifts with as much weight as I can do without feeling unsafe? I could squat with the Powerblocks on my shoulders. Maybe more reps? I'm afraid this defeats the purpose, so I am looking for recommendations.

Thanks for any input.

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  • Scotty2HotPie
    Scotty2HotPie Posts: 143 Member
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    Yeah... You might have a hard time doing stronglifts for any period of time without a barbell and plate weights. Hopefully, you'd be able to exceed to the 60lb dumbbells within a few months. So you would be looking at increasing reps instead of upping weight.

    Personally, I love dumbbells for pressing exercises like bench and shoulders. They're good for the rows too.

    Doing goblets squats with dumbbells is a great exercise, you're just limited to the amount of weight you can find with dumbbells. My gym goes up to 100 lbs.

    Good luck
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Here are three dumbbell-based programs:

    * Fierce 5 (note that there are several variations from beginner to advanced, 3-5 day, plus a dumbbell program) - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=162916931&p=1266578971&viewfull=1#post1266578971
    * Frankoman’s Dumbbell Only Split - https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/frankoman-dumbbell-only-split.html
    * Full body dumbbell routine (note: women and men can use the same rep range, if you want to go low do it, if you want to go high do it. I promise that neither will make you gain or lose a Y chromosome.) - https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/dumbbell-only-home-or-gym-fullbody-workout.html
  • azazel833
    azazel833 Posts: 23 Member
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    lovetolose17 wrote: »
    Hello. I currently do mostly cardio workouts (HIIT with light dumbbells), and I occasionally lift at home, but I would like to focus more on building muscle and would like to follow a plan so I am not just randomly picking strength exercises.

    I love the idea of Stronglifts, but I work out at home. I have a set of Powerblock Elite weights 5-60 pounds each. I don't have a Power Rack or a spotter. I do have a bench that adjusts from an incline bench to a flat bench.

    For those of you in a similar situation, is there a lifting program you would recommend? Should I just try the five Stronglifts with as much weight as I can do without feeling unsafe? I could squat with the Powerblocks on my shoulders. Maybe more reps? I'm afraid this defeats the purpose, so I am looking for recommendations.

    Thanks for any input.

    https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/dumbbell-only-home-or-gym-fullbody-workout.html
    The squats I do are one leg Bulgarian squats
  • lovetolose17
    lovetolose17 Posts: 31 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Thank you very much for the suggestions and links. I did have to look up "goblet squats," but I am familiar with the other exercises and am going to try to follow a plan.

    jemhh - the links are great. I'll definitely go as heavy as I can. I'll let you know if I get too "big" or "manly" (because we all know that's such a big problem for women). [<-- I hope sarcasm was apparent.]

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    lovetolose17 wrote: »
    Thank you very much for the suggestions and links. I did have to look up "goblet squats," but I am familiar with the other exercises and am going to try to follow a plan.

    jemhh - the links are great. I'll definitely go as heavy as I can. I'll let you know if I get too "big" or "manly" (because we all know that's such a big problem for women). [<-- I hope sarcasm was apparent.]

    Great!

    I love goblet squats (high and low rep :smiley: .)

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