Q and A thread - Angus is peppered.

SideSteel wrote: »

melissa112 wrote: »

Hi, and thank you for sharing your knowledge here.

I have a question regarding strength training. I am female, currently 5ft2 and 152lbs. My first goal weight is 133lbs, then I will see from there.

I started doing the C25K workout, running 3 times a week. Im only on the 2nd week but already feel better, can run further without feeling out of breath. I'd like to continue with this but I'd also like to do some strength training. I wouldn't really want to work out more than 5 days per week.

I can't go to the gym but I do have two dumbbells at home (if loading all the weight onto one the total would be 18.5kg, so not much if using two). I also have two plates which are 7.5kg each. I'm willing to buy some other weights or additional ones but I can only do at home workouts. Is it pointless with such low weights? I want to retain some muscle while losing weight and see better changes to my body than just doing cardio alone.

Do you have any advice? Any suggestions on equipment to buy at home (within a reasonable budget) or is it not going to be beneficial with such little weight?

Do mainly like the cardio so that I can eat a bit more (I'm on 1200 cals per day), but is 3x per week too much?

Thanks so much in advance

1) Yes it will be beneficial compared to not using the weights.

2) Here are two potential options to consider:

- Buy a set of adjustable dumbbells. You can get a decent set of adjustable DB's for a pretty reasonable price on amazon and this would give you pairs up to at least 50lbs or so.

Of course, you'd then need to get a decent program to run. There's a thread floating around the forums with a long list of training programs and perhaps you could find on there. When I write home based DB programs for clients they usually consist of:

Goblet Squat
DB Bench or DB floor press depending on whether they own a bench
Standing DB press
Some type of DB row
DB RDLS and/or single leg hip thrusts

And of course sometimes we incorporate bodyweight movements, and direct arm work/calf work.

- Check out You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning for bodyweight programs you can do at home.

3 times per week cardio is quite likely to be fine, just monitor how you feel so that you're not getting behind on recovery. Since running tends to actually be fairly high stress, monitor joints/soft tissues to make sure you're not getting aches and pains showing up after weeks of doing it.